Nintendo, get some new ideas

OpinionDebug writes:

Mario has been in over 200 different games. Now, I quite like Mario - he's a cool guy, but it's the Mario spin off series that really get me. You know the ones I mean: Mario Kart, Golf, Baseball, Tennis. This is the norm for most of us, the next Mario sports games, buy it if you like it, and forget it if you don't. That's not good enough for me, though.

[sonarus]

sigh. Maybe if people stopped buying the crap maybe nintendo would stop making it. As far as nintendo is concerned, they operate where there is money to be made. They will milk mario for all he is worth

[PS360WII]

better yet Nintendo haters get some new ideas ^^ (oh see what I did there ^.-)

[Surfman]

why not a Mario Hockey?

[ianp622]

Why not Mario Cricket? How about Mario Shuffleboard? Mario Badminton? Do we really need another one?

What they should do is go the Super Smash Bros route and put in some characters we really don't expect.

[KeiZka]

Why? They have a solid working idea, why change it too drastically? If they were to change the makeup of the game, they'd have to do it gradually.

[Kaz Hirai]

First we have "Mario Brothers", then "Mario Kart", then "Mario Party", then "Mario Golf", then "Mario Tennis", then "Mario Galaxy", then "Mario Goes To The Shop", then "Mario Gets Tonsillitis", then "Mario Eats A Pizza", then "Mario Fights An Alligator", then "Mario Buys A Dog"!

Nintendouche- enough Mario!

MWAH-HA-HA-HA!!!

[KeiZka]

Oh the foaming! Heh. I am mildly amused everytime I hear the common cries of "MIIILKIIING!" sound in the distance...

I still do not understand how it is wrong to market games of different types with same characters, especially since those characters are rather iconic to gaming? It's only good marketing at that point. And cry as much as you want, they are still differing games, or can you say at face value that Mario Strikers and Galaxy are exactly the same kind of games? They may have the cast in common, but that's quite minimal. Or how do you call those 3 Jak & Daxters on PS2 alone? Or god knows how many God of Wars by now already, seeing how young IP it is?

See what I did there when comparing Mario and other marioverse characters to those two gameverses?

[bootsielon]

I don't think the standard "Buy it if you like it, don't if you don't" is enough. There should be an IP law where you can't just milk IP with crap quality products. Even our local Nintendo fanboy Sidar agrees, but unfortunately, DubC thinks they have different gameplay. Again, if I only wanted fun and not an interesting story or an inspiring idea, I'd play with toys and be 2 years old.

[ItsDubC]

So Mario Kart and Smash Bros have the same gameplay? Right... lol

And since when was a lack of story and inspiring idea synonymous w/ adolescence? Even you can think of countless adult activities that have neither, so your toy-for-2-year-old attempt at condescension fails.

I suppose you'd rather have Nintendo release games w/ new characters but have almost the exact same gameplay, a la the FPS phenomenon.

[TheExodus]

"There should be an IP law where you can't just milk IP with crap quality products." Umm, this article is about Nintendo, not EA.

[bootsielon]

"So Mario Kart and Smash Bros have the same gameplay? Right... lol"

Yeah, right, I guess that's all you can get from what I said... but evidently, that's not what I'm talking about. Smash Bros is an inferior fighting game, i.e. it's not really serious, at least not as serious as most fighting games on the market. While I had lots of fun with Melee, I'd rather play old school Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat or killer instinct any day. The only thing that saved that game for me was the creative modes like target time-attack, story mode and challenge mode. Still, it's annoying to see Nintendo milking the characters. Nintendo's games actually sell more than they should given the actual effort put in them; just because Nintendo is the "Disney" of video games, their games suddenly sell even though many of them are utter crap. Which takes me to what I was really talking about... Wii sports, Wii play, Mario & Sonic... that is not really innovative gameplay, that is only a change of input. Most of these games don't even have online play, and those that do play horribly, and as inferior parts of professional sports simulators. Seriously, these aren't innovative sports games, these are sports games with Mario and Sonic characters; the worst part is that, despite their inferiority, they sell more because Soccer mom's don't know what else to get to their children.

"And since when was a lack of story and inspiring idea synonymous w/ adolescence? Even you can think of countless adult activities that have neither, so your toy-for-2-year-old attempt at condescension fails."

Even I? lol, wow thanks for the failed attempt at condescension DubC, you huge ass hypocrite. Anyway, I'm looking for something adult, not something for teenagers that may even be found on the Wii. If you've played Indigo Prophecy, you'd know what I'm talking about. The gameplay is as fun and simple as a Wii game, but it doesn't insult our intelligence in that they give us retarded characters for children, and it is one of the few games that have a storyline that makes you think, that makes you feel lots of things, which is well written with well developed characters, and high production values, much higher than most Nintendo games save for Zelda. Every part of the game, from the art style, to the music, to the story is perfect, and the gameplay is also fun. But that's something Nintendo seems not capable of delivering.

"I suppose you'd rather have Nintendo release games w/ new characters but have almost the exact same gameplay, a la the FPS phenomenon"

Don't confuse me for an Xbox fan. For the last decade, I've played on Gamecube, N64, PS1 and PS2 mostly. Of course, as a Nintendo fan, you seem unable to realize there is innovative gameplay outside of Nintendo. Nintendo will remain many gamers' and reporters' darling company since it was the first gaming company they knew, as it used to be for me, which is part of the reason why it is seen as sacrilege to give Zelda an "8.8", even though Nintendo games are highly overrated, because it seems that the press is willing to turn a blind eye to the low production values many of them may have; hell, even Zelda TP had midi music in this day and age of 7.1 surround sound. Anyway, my point is, making aside the pro-Nintendo bias a lot of people have, you would realize that PS1 had way more innovative games than N64, despite N64 having Mario, DK, Zelda, Smash Bros, you name it. And PS2 raped Gamecube in game quality and diversity. Those were awesome times for gaming since the best selling platform was also the one with best games; it just coincided that the platform of choice for hardcore gamers was also the one for casuals, since it was cheap, and it had great franchises.

I know it must be a hard pill to swallow for you, but honestly, Nintendo came and dumbed down gaming. By appealing to consumers' ignorance, making them think they were getting the same or something better because of a gimmick and a cheap price, they've changed gaming forever, and definitely not for the good. As most Wii reviews of 3rd party games say, where one could say there's way more objectivity than for 1st party titles (made by the holy Nintendo), the games suck. The Wiimote failed to deliver on its promise. After all, gameplay is not input dependent, it's dependent on simulation. You could have the best controller ever, but if you machine can't perform simple calculations, then all goes to the sh1tter. Too bad the controller is far from being the best ever. You can't play most games or the experience is worse, and those that play well, could play very well without it. I'm fine with Nintendo having a cheaper machine, but by cheaper I would think of price only, not value. But nintendo products' value is definitely as low as it gets. The games aren't even worth the material they're burned on, and the console isn't even worth the amazing minimalist design.

There is hope, however. Nintendo is way behind on the online scene, so they will be, like the LIFE magazine, obsolete before they know it. Through remote play the playstation and xbox brands will become more about services than consoles, and they'll offer much better experiences in every way through streaming by broadband, with graphics constantly updating (thank remote play for that), better storylines, and even input methods. Nintendo will require their stupid way of doing things and they will eventually have the smallest install base because again, they're all about "fun" and "everyone, including kids and grandparents, are invited", and are in no way related with other forms of entertainment.

There is gonna be something much better than the Wii in a not so far future, and after that Nintendo is gonna have so much competition from better positioned companies with more vision of the future, that they will end up as a third party, or as a failing first party of their own system, as they were 2 years ago.

[ItsDubC]

Interesting that you felt compelled to PM me that long-winded wall-of-text "masterpiece" after posting it here just to ensure that the precious moments of your life spent on writing it weren't all for naught.

We get it bootsielon, Nintendo's recent success pisses you off to the point at which you can't just leave it alone; you have to go on an anti-Nintendo crusade to try to convince everyone that your opinion is fact.

Much of your argument seems to rely on your assumption that I'm some blind Nintendo fanboy and therefore don't see "what's really going on." Newflash: The last Nintendo console I owned before the Wii was the SNES, and have owned a Saturn, PS1, Dreamcast, and Xbox since then. And hey, I'll even let you know when I get my PS3. I fully recognize the Wii's shortcomings just as I recognize the shortcomings of other consoles. However, I do not go about trolling the PS3/360/Wii sections as you have done in the Wii section for months now because quite frankly, there are better ways of spending my time.

Admittedly tho, you tend to spout the most articulate of the anti-Nintendo arguments in the Wii section, and I've enjoyed dismantling your efforts since you began your crusade. Thank you for your part in fostering discussion here =)

[PS360WII]

Boot I just have to say that when you say a new input isn't innovative I just have to point out that to innovate means to introduce something new. So while you don't believe a 'new input' is innovative it's the definition.

Smash is a multiplayer dream and as such is a great fighter. You don't get as many combos but you still need practise and patience to beat a seasoned player.

I realize I'm talking to a brick wall for you feel your opinion is truth but give it a rest you only hate because Nintendo is popular once again.

[ChickeyCantor]

" hell, even Zelda TP had midi music in this day and age of 7.1 surround sound. "

....And With a damn reason, The music changed depending on your actions. And i dont mean changing as in a different theme, but instruments, velocity per instrument, muting of an instrument etc etc.

This is what nintendo is about, behind all that there are also smalls stuff gpoing on they give attention too.

the only thing you see is MARIO,ZELDA ETC ETC but you never actually really knew what they were about.

btw boot did you know that If you take a concept that already exists and put your own stuff in it, you could consider that as innovation?

[onewinedangel]

maybe its gonna be a mario waterpolo or mario party 3.34434324+8
mario gta, mario goes wild ,mario universe ,mario stupid ,mario i dont care ,mario virtual eating or wii eat ,wii fock,wii die,wii are loser ,wii wasted our money ,wii play 6,metroid prime 23213213.4412 or the legend of zelda link to the sodomy .
Comn, Nintendo hasnt had an original iddea ever (dont say the wii mote was ,cause i have been playing all those kind of motion games ,sometimes with better mechanics, since the playstation eye ),invent a new franchise all ready im sick of mario and his family ,zelda ,metroid and starfox , u have made good games but they are alll the same since 1989 comn i want something new and not a gimmick controler

[sumfood4u]

Comming out this fall heres a Demo lol!

[njd82]

Thank You.

[xplosneer]

Mario Cart is the original spin off from the days before 64...but the rest have to go. Mario Baseball? Give me a break. Don't kill my favorite character with light stuff that I don't want to play, rather, focus on the next big thing and make it perfect.

[Alcaponedyou]

where mario plays mario on the wii?

[Skerj]

I think that would somehow destroy the universe or cause an interdimensional rift.

[MOTO-X]

They should have Mario barbershop with guest appearance by Ice Cube and Eve.. That would be sick.. I bet mario could give some nasty fades

[RecSpec]

No offense but some of the Mario spinoffs are the best arcade sports games out there, EA BIG (does that even exist anymore?) can't even come close!

[TheREALHarryEtTubMan]

Teel that to the company ALMOST EXACTLY copying their motion wand... and its still goign to fail right along with the Xbox 360. No one wants it. LMAO bots.

[Jim Crowslaw]

LMAOO that was funny, but how about a Mario game where the purpose of the game is to create a new innovative Mario game? Itll be called Super Mario Unparallel

[Rayko]

I would really want a Mario ice hockey, that would be one of the best mario multiplayer games next to mario kart. Yihaa today I will play mario kart....wiiiiihiiii.

[wiizy]

i see nothing wrong with maximizing the greatest known game character of all time.. but im sure nintendo is already working on new ideas. who brought along the wii remote or wii fit.

[sleepyk]

Nintendo is all washed up and yet people still buy the same thing over and over again. They sell well, but are out of original ideas.

[BrotherNick]

Mario Idol? Make up lyrics to your favorite Mario tunes! You will look like a nerd and a bad singer. :D

[ChickeyCantor]

i would like to have MARIO PAINT .....R_R

[Surfman]

should make a Grand Thief Mario, Metal Mario Solid, Mario's Sex Party, etc.