With E3 around the corner, everyone can speculate all they want about what’s really coming, but no one knows for sure. Nintendo needs to live up their word of satisfying the “core” gamer. Up until now, they’ve essentially left hardcore gamers on the back burner. Casual is what they’re aiming for, but neglecting those who got you here won’t help.
What bothers me about this is Nintendo’s definition of a “core” gamer. Back in early May, Nintendo Senior Marketing Director in Europe, Laurent Fischer, stated that people who spend ten hours or more on an internet flash game are core gamers. Really? I know a ton of people who play quirky flash games for countless hours a week at work to pass the time, yet none of these people would touch a gaming console. To consider them core gamers make me seriously question what Nintendo will be presenting at E3.
Moving on from the core gamer statement, Fischer decided it was time to take umbrage with those who spend extra money on Virtual Console and Wii Ware titles by saying those looking for extra storage are just geeks and otaku. Come on now, Laurent. These are the people that are helping to pay your salary. These people want extra storage so they can continue to shell out their hard earned cash to buy more product. These are the hardcore gamers. Yet again, Nintendo manages to offend. Granted, Fischer apologized for his statement, but it should have never happened in the first place.
Another area of contention between Nintendo and hardcore gamers is the online realm, where Nintendo has continued to lag far behind the competition. The adoption of friend codes is the first, and probably the biggest issue hardcore gamers absolutely hate. It’s bad enough having to enter a long numerical string to play a game with a friend, but the fact that each of you has to enter the other’s code coupled with the fact that every game has its own unique number means you’ll be entering these forever if you want to play online with those close to you. I have a few good friends who live far away and we like to get together for a few rounds of Super Smash Bros. Brawl or Mario Kart every weekend. When we first got it all setup, we all had to enter 9 codes each (there are four of us total, so each had to enter a system code and two game codes for the three other people). One of my friends almost gave up because it was so ludacris. To really capture any online presence, Nintendo needs to either do away with friend codes or at least make it one universal code for the Wii system. Otherwise, people will stop trying to play with friends.
The other problem with Nintendo’s online play has been lag. Whether it’s poor network performance or poor game code, popular online titles like Super Smash Bros. Brawl have been plagued with lag since their launch. And because of the Wii architecture, don’t expect patches or game fixes like you would see on competing systems. The online experience needs to be fluid, and that’s another issue where Nintendo needs to step it up.
If you combine all of these issues, you can really see how Nintendo has seriously neglected the hardcore gamer in an effort to pull in those who don’t usually play games. Tack on the lack of quality third party support as well as the repetitive mini-game style of many first party titles, and it’s easy to see why many Wii’s are sitting collecting dust around the world. I seriously hope that Nintendo steps up and fulfills their promise to appease the core gamer at E3, because up until now, they’ve done a good of shunning the hardcore crowd.
The Nintendo people from Europe have said a lot of silly things lately; about how core gamers are people who play flash games and how the Wii doesn’t need a hard drive, it’s only the geeks and otaku. I hope what they say don’t reflect to what NoA really decides here.
My expectations from Nintendo at E3, regardless of the possibility:
Better online capabilities/community (voice chat, the death of friend codes, better online servers.)
More third party support and hardcore games.
A hard drive
Maybe some DLC
Wait isn’t what other systems have accomplished and isn’t this what people have been yearning for? Same shit, different day eh. But at least Nintendo is making a good name for the community as the media sees it and we”ll see what kind of bombshell will Nintendo announce at E3.
shame on you nintendo, shame on you
Quality vs Quantity
That is why I dont have a wii nor drive a Ford
[...] Article here [...]
HOW DARE YOU INSULT NINTENDO!
1-Graphics Sucks
2-All of your games had bad controls
3-You think if you got a control like that you will be the best but you’re not
4-Nintendo is nothing.
I have a wii and i play it 10 hours every day but , Nintendo SUCKED.
I love articles written out of complete ignorance. Where to begin.. Ok First its the hardcore that abandoned Nintendo not the other way around. THE N64 and GC were hardcore gamer machines yet most of the hardcore were off playing the casual friendly PS1 and PS2.. Then when Nintendo decides its had enough and changes focus people cry.. I just dont get it. You probably didnt own a N64 or a GC but feel you have the right to call Nintendo out for not catering to you on this one console? Complete BS.. OK lastly. Niether Nintendo nor anyone that works for Nintendo ever said that only geeks on otaku want storage. What he said was they are the only ones that keep crying about a HARD DRIVE. Now maybe you are new to this tech thing but HD are not the only storage solution on the market. Thats what Nintendo was talking about. Yet you have to try to spin it to make them look bad. Oh and to the 12 year old that just posted a Quality over Quantity comment.. SO you never owned a PS product before? If you did then your entire argument is blown apart. Anyone who truly believed what you just said would have bought a GC last gen and skipped over te shovel ware infested PS2. Pretty sure you didnt do that. Pretty sure you dont even understand what quality vs quantity really means.
Nintendo lost the support of hardcore game developers to Sony when they stabbed Sony in the back over the PSX. Sony was smart enough to lock up the Final Fantasy series, Breath of Fire, Metal Gear, Castlevania and etc. all of the games that made us love the NES and the SNES were gone and as any gamer can tell you the games make the console and not the other way around. If Nintendo no longer has the titles that I want to play then why should I stick with them. They haven’t ever done anything for me and the Wii continues this trend. No FF13, no good 3rd party titles nothing but Zelda, Mario and Metroid and while I enjoy these games I find that their are others that I would rather play.
In truth I think that the direction of gaming is mostly negative and the reason no current gen console really dominates is because they lack the abundance of great games like the PSX had.
Someone gets a blog and they think they have the right to state false statements. Look at your “tag cloud” and you’ll see who’s dick your sucking.
@ Garrick:
Maybe you can tell me what Nintendo’s dick tastes like?
Hey-yo.
Ok, let’s see, where to begin.
@Charles – I did and still do own every Nintendo platform (both console and handheld) since the NES was released in the US. I’ve been playing Nintendo games and platforms since probably before you were born. If you want to read into Laurent Fischer’s comments to come to your own conclusions, fine. But everyone else in the gaming world knows what he said. How you want to call that false is beyond me. Enjoy being a Nintendo fanboy.
@Garrick – Yeah, you’re a real winner. If you want to find me more Wii related news to write about, go right ahead. As is it, there hasn’t been much going on with any Nintendo platforms compared to the competition, which is why they get more news. It’s not my fault Nintendo doesn’t do much to garner attention from the gaming press. Once they do something newsworthy, we’ll write about it.
DB Alert…
@Charles
You are obviously a Nintendo employee and/or investor, dont worry, your stocks wont plummet because the author decides to question Nintendo’s current strategy or better yet lack of…
Additionally I aint 12 but it didnt matter if I was because most 12 year olds I know would write a more intelligent response than yours. But if you need me to school you, let me know and I’ll be more than happy to create a SWOT analysis for Nintendo or the gaming industry itself, what can you offer us…BS!
Embrace feedback and evolve!!!
BTW, Nintendo was again named the LEAST green tech firm.
Do you want to interpret this differently as well?
Mario Kart Wii lists all the friend Wii codes you have already added to your system. Mario Kart Wii lets you send them and invite with just a click of the button. No need to enter their MK code at all. Please get your facts straight before writing false information.
Nintendo didn’t abandon the core gamer, it just that they want everyone to play the wii, not just core gamers. So, third parties maked casual games for the wii. Also, yes, there are some games that are not for casual gamers on the wii, a lot of them( the big musts and almost all the games that are not for casual gamers). Even if there are problems with online, the wii is still a consloe that the core gamers play and casual gamers play. Because of that, the wii is the console that sells the most, because everyone can play it. Oh and, every stupid guy that insult nintendo can bite my shiny metal ass.
@Charles
“THE N64 and GC were hardcore gamer machines yet most of the hardcore were off playing the casual friendly PS1 and PS2..”
PS1 and PS2 games were casual friendly? I thought the majority was RPGs, action-adventures, and shooting. The only “casual” friendly game that was for the PS2 was DDR. Final Fantasy, Street Fighter, Metal Gear Solid, DBZ, and many more games in that category is casual friendly? OK!
“Now maybe you are new to this tech thing but HD are not the only storage solution on the market. Thats what Nintendo was talking about.”
No I’m not new to this tech thing, your just extremely retarded, really. Have you read the articles about Wii owners running out of memory even on their SD cards? It’s a pain in the ass having to put certain Wiiware/VC games on the SD card to DL more games. Oh and yeah you can’t even play the games on your SD card you have to re-transfer them back on the console which even takes more time. Sometimes you have to take your head out your ass and have a fair opinion instead of being a loyalist. I understand you guys are defending Nintendo, but seriously don’t be so bias and face the current problem.
@tarextherex
I’d go on to argue with you, but you said, “Oh and, every stupid guy that insult Nintendo can bite my shiny metal ass.” and look at how you used the word “maked”. Hypocrite.
Quick edit for my last post*
@Charles
“THE N64 and GC were hardcore gamer machines yet most of the hardcore were off playing the casual friendly PS1 and PS2..”
PS1 and PS2 games were casual friendly? I thought the majority were RPGs, action-adventures, and shooting. The only “casual” friendly game that was for the PS2 was DDR. Final Fantasy, Street Fighter, Metal Gear Solid, DBZ, and many more games in that category are casual friendly? OK!
“Now maybe you are new to this tech thing but HD are not the only storage solution on the market. Thats what Nintendo was talking about.”
No I’m not new to this tech thing, your just extremely retarded, really. Have you read the articles about Wii owners running out of memory even on their SD cards? It’s a pain in the ass having to put certain Wiiware/VC games on the SD card to DL more games. Oh and yeah you can’t even play the games on your SD card you have to re-transfer them back on the console which even takes more time. Sometimes you have to take your head out your ass and have a fair opinion instead of being a loyalist. I understand you guys are defending Nintendo, but seriously don’t be so bias and face the current problem.
@tarextherex
I’d go on to argue with you, but you said, “Oh and, every stupid guy that insult Nintendo can bite my shiny metal ass.” and look at how you used the word “maked”. Hypocrite.
Basically the hardcore gamers that should buy the Wii are the ones that love Nintendo’s stable of franchises, i.e. Mario, Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Mario, Star Fox, etc…
anytime one of your biggest sellers is katamari damacy, you’re pretty much a casual system. seriously, do you really believe all 100 million PS2 owners were hardcore gamers? I’m sure out of the 120 million PS2s and the 21 Million Gamecubes, there were more hardcore gamers on the Cube percentage wise and numberwise.
now when Nintendo get to be the big console with a boat load of casual games, it gets hounded, where as the PS2 was praised.
and before you call me a PS2 hater, note that my favorite games are the Metal Gear, Kingdom Hearts, and Onimusha series.
I think people should at least wait until after E3 ‘08 before judging the Wii.
I honestly think every one of these companies has alienated the hardcore gamer. Why? They don’t seem to give a shit anymore. They put out incomplete, untested, mediocre titles, and it’s basically up to us to do their QA/QC for them. The games they put out that ARE good, are too short. Only a small handful of companies are doing right by gamers. Nintendo on the DS end is one of those companies. But on the Wii side, not even close.
My DS gets used ten times as much as my Wii which is pretty sad. There was such a hype to run out and get a Wii and then once you had it, there was nothing to do with it except play Mario games or bowl.
^^Same here.
Note: i said that everyone that insults nintendo can bite my shiny metal ass because I’m tired of them when they always say the same stupid arguments. In every nintendo related article, there are always nintendo haters who say the same stupid arguments. So, you guys just shut up.
@Ex-PGX Keep in mind that it was only $20, less than the usual retail price for any other games.. Not to mention it was a better puzzle that all can enjoy unlike the Wii games that were made from half-baked ideas.
My only Nintendo complaint is that they baited me into buying a Wii and I have nothing that I find worth playing on it. The DS, I love it to death. I still play my N64. The Gamecube I use for Phantasy Star Online (although the servers are dead, so I’m stuck offline). But the Wii, I kinda feel cheated that I have that one system with nothing that I want to play on it except for Fantasy Zone.
I never knew there’s a PS:O for the Gamecube lmao.. I have for the PS2 that’s why and PS2 is still somewhat going strong right now with a few more titles I’m waiting for.
PSO for the Gamecube had the best controller, the one with a keyboard built-in.
heh, and now look at all of u, E3’s over, the wii sucked, E3 sucked, and ur all still sitting around with ur thumbs up ur ass, lolz go by a real system like the 360, or at least stick with whats good, i still play ds and ps2.
Nintendo cries when games like Madowrld and No More Heroes dont sell well and dont know why and dont realise they are the problem because they drove away the people who would of bought and played these games with all there Junk games and made them sell or trade there wii in for a Ps3 or Xbox 360 or both and little good games on the wii and its virtual console games releasment look from when it first came out and up to now how many Nintendo 64 games are there also how many good wii games compared to the big load of bad port and junk gimmick shovel ware out now. I like stuff from Nintendo like Wii Fit etc but come on wheres the games like Strfox, Donkey Kong etc so much untapped potential going to waste I hope after E3 Nintendo gets in to gear and focuse on games and get more 3rd Part Developer and Publishers to make good games for the wii and not just once every 4 months i mean every few often and make up for when it was released up to now with all the junk thats on the wii