My argument is no such thing. My argument is that there are more “hardcore” games on the Wii than the fanboys give it credit for. I’m under no delusions that the system’s library isn’t overflowing with shovelware. But there are a lot of great gems in there that people seem to miss.
But again, a Metacritic score doesn’t say what type of game a game is. The score itself is just an average of reviews. But how does that score being under 75 make an off road racing game like Excite Truck non-hardcore? Is it the motion controls? Is it the fact it’s not in 720p like Sony’s off road racer for the PS3?
Why is MotorStorm without question a hardcore game (to hear Sony’s PR tell it) and Excite Truck isn’t?
I think there’s multiple definitions of “hardcore” floating around here:
Fancy PC-like graphics
Extremely competitive game with a high skill ceiling (for top-level play)
“Mature” titles with lots of gratuitous violence
Well received critical consensus
Obviously, the Wii’s hardware handicaps #1. I’d argue lack of online multiplayer and floaty motion controls seriously limits #2. Nintendo’s stance on #3 is pretty obvious (there are a few exceptions), and we’ve just covered #4.
Now, as to why Motorstorm vs. Excite Truck, I’ve never played either so I can’t tell you. MotorStorm looks like a pretty “meh” game to me too. But I’m guessing MotorStorm has something in the #1, #4, and #2 categories that Excite Truck doesn’t.
True (although we might be in disagreement as to the usual effects of #4 on gameplay) I’m just giving you what the popular definitions are. I don’t really care much for #1 and #3 either.
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Huh? I thought I gave a pretty precise definition. A game where someone that’s put 100+ hours into practice can consistently annihilate someone that’s only put in 10, and someone that’s put 1000 hours in can consistently annihilate the 100 hour guy.
Examples: Starcraft. Quake. Street Fighter. Counter-strike. Games that are nigh-impossible to master, have immense followings, tournaments, and leagues devoted to high-caliber play.
Yeah, but it still gets really shaky. For instance, go to any fighting game forum and ask about Super Smash Bros., go get popcorn and watch the massive flame war ensue on whether it’s a “proper tournament worthy fighting game” or not.
Unless I’m mistaken, however, SSB:Brawl has pretty minimal Wiimote gestural input stuff, right? I think it just has one use in game (smash attack), and lots of people prefer using the gamecube controller anyway, correct?
Correct. Some people take issue with the “random” elements (which are almost entirely optional). But there is no doubt in my mind the game is of “tournament” caliber, along the likes of Street Fighter and any other fighting game. A newbie does not stand a chance in hell against a veteran, despite the low-barrier of entry. I’ve played the game competitively (I’m pretty damn good at it), and the upper-tier players consistently smoke the lower ones.
That’s great and all. Now when your friends move across the country to stay in the industry, see how you feel about online play. Or you might be like me, where you hang out with lots of gamers, but most of them won’t touch a fighting game, say, with a ten foot pole. Your local gaming doesn’t do you much good then either.
I won’t claim that it’s not more entertaining to be in the same room and yelling at one another, but just because you’re one of the lucky minority that can do that doesn’t mean you need to claim that people who like online play don’t have any friends, thanks.
I’m sorry if my preference somehow offended you. I’m not quite sure what your issue is–you’re largely attacking a strawman, as I never contested any of those points. Obviously if one has no local gaming friends, online is the way to go. But to argue that local multiplayer gamers represents a “minority” is going to take a cite for me to believe it. Particularly as the Wii is primarily based around that concept (hence the name itself, according to Nintendo–Wii Sports, an offline game, isn’t one people often play alone). Console gamers got by just fine before the advent of online–let’s not forget online console gaming started a mere six years ago.
Furthermore, just barely over half of Xbox owners are also Gold subscribers–meaning half are playing without online at all Cite. And this represents the most “connected” of the three consoles. Then you have to factor in that subscribing doesn’t preclude someone from playing local multiplayer as well. So until you have some specific numbers, I’ll remain skeptical of your claim that local gaming is a “minority.”
I never said that, and I implore you to reread my comments if you actually believe that.
I’ll admit the numbers are most likely a bit skewed for a number of reasons, and it doesn’t define “pay for online play” (i.e. do “catch-all” subscriptions that work for a multitude of games like Xbox Live Gold Memberships count towards this, or does it have to be something specific like World of Warcraft?) but I don’t think even without the ambiguity it’s going to exceed 59% by any wide margin, especially in light of RB’s cite above. And yes, before anyone says it, I know pay to play doesn’t account for things like free FPS servers and Wii online play, but again, without a cite to the contrary I doubt it’s going to exceed 59% by any wide margin (and probably not at all).
They list where they collect their data from on the last few pages in case you need sources.
Good find! I was fairly confident a majority of people were still playing local multiplayer (whether in addition to, or instead of online play). And according to their stats, the number of playing locally is actually increasing year-over-year (which granted, I’m sure is the case for online gaming as well).
New York Comicon. I liked the Wii game more overall, the wiimote was a superior pointing device than the 360 controller. Plus, it felt more like unlicensed particle accelerator, you know?
As for the animation… well, memories of The Real Ghostbusters helped. Wasn’t quite the old Animated Series look, but it was animated well and lively.
I never got into that cartoon, even though I was probably the target demographic, but I’ve heard people these days list it as one of their all-time favorite kids cartoon series. I personally don’t mind that they aren’t exactly like the cartoons. Especially the white/light blonde haired Egon.
Ghostbusters seems like one of those rare games, where a majority of each version is the same basic game, but the Wii version has not only the inherited advantages of it’s controller, but a pretty slick style to that may be more attractive to some over the other iterations.
I have to wait to see if I’m going to get the game at all. Cash is tight. I still have my eye on both. I was leaning towards PC, but now I think it’s going to be Wii… it would feel like an “unlicensed particle accelerator”. One little thing I love about the Wii that doesn’t get brought up much is it’s speaker. It serves some fun and practical proposes. Like you listen for sound cues with when you’re playing some games, or you hear the particle accelerator charge.
