Jump to content


Narcidius's Content

There have been 139 items by Narcidius (Search limited from 29-March 23)


By content type

See this member's


Sort by                Order  

#77446 Starfox Wii U at E3?

Posted by Narcidius on 08 May 2012 - 10:24 AM in Wii U Games and Software

... yeah, I think what made the original Starfox and SF64 so amazing was the presense of the big, interactive action set pieces and the frenetic action (things which have all become kind of staples of AAA game production in recent years). I'm not sure that Nintendo could stick with the original formula and end up with the kind of mind-blowing experience that fans are begging for, if only because that kind of experience has become so common.

The cinematic feel of the first two games seems important - the sense that these big, gorgeous worlds are just coming at you, and making you react to events with speed and precision. This doesn't require the game to be "on rails", I suppose (originally, my favorite level from SF64 was Katina), but it does require a certain kind of cinematic, action-oriented pacing. The RPG/Adventure elements always felt like an awkward departure from this core, to me, and left me feeling that I was playing a different (albeit somewhat interesting) franchise.



#77417 "The Intended Platforms UE 4 is aimed at have not been announced" Say...

Posted by Narcidius on 08 May 2012 - 07:02 AM in Wii U Hardware

^ Nollog nailed it people. He didn't mean the consoles havnt been announced, he meant they havnt announced which consoles ue4 is meant to operate on.

Grammitically, he didn't need to say "intended" and "aimed". It makes that sentence confusing, especially when being read.He should have said, "the platforms this is intended for have not been announced."


or... "we have yet to announce the platforms for which this is intended"... if grammatical precision is absolutely paramount :P anyway, i agree that nothing conclusive was said...

but hey, in relation to the whole frustration regarding "the games industry" and DLC... I realized not too long ago that I actually ended up paying $90 for Gears of War 3, after adding the cost of the DLC season pass to the original cost of the game... so yeah, I get the point about feeling a bit hustled. But you know what? I'm actually ok with it. I appreciate that games are expensive to develop and publish, I like all the bells and whistles that come with high production values and traditional packaging, and the slow feed of extra content is welcome to me. The digital/new media age has spoiled me a bit, but at the end of the day I am still a fan, and fans of all stripes have always been ready to shell out ridiculous amounts of cash for overpriced merchandise!

Also... I remember paying $70 for a game on many occasions during the "good old days" of gaming (talking SNES here)... and that was in 1992 dollars!



#76921 WiiPad Rumored to use Android OS:

Posted by Narcidius on 04 May 2012 - 09:13 AM in Wii U Hardware

Well, Nintendo and Google already do work together (on the ES operating system, at least), so it's not so farfetched a rumor as it might seem... still, it's my understanding that the controller itself only streams content (not generates it), so I don't think that the "tablet" itself will run an OS.

I would personally love to see Nintendo team up with a marketplace like Android to provide media content... that would mean a lot more content with a lot less burden on Nintendo!



#76705 Metroid Prime Online multi-player mode ideas.

Posted by Narcidius on 03 May 2012 - 08:17 AM in Wii U Games and Software

"americanized-militaristic-mindless"?  I don't think that's a very descriptive title as far as the behavior sets you are objecting to... it sounds like some political rhetoric is getting mixed up in your otherwise very careful analyses... also, it's kind of offensive to me as an American.

If you mean that the kind of gamers that like games such as CoD are accustomed to rapid killstreaks, twitchy or knee-jerk play mechanics, and simple structures of play, then I could understand what you are saying... but I'm still not sure about which of those elements you find objectionable.  Are you saying that you would prefer the Metroid multiplayer to differ from one of these (or similar areas) in terms of mechanics?

Or maybe do you mean the social ettiquette of players on many of these types of games?  The swearing, trash-talking, whining, threatening, belittling, and berating of new or inexperienced players?  I could also understand that objection... do you want a kinder, more polite and more inclusive "crowd" for social gaming?

I agree that the best use of multiplayer for a Metroid game would be for co-op... I would really like that... though I also get the point about Prime being so successful due to its sense of loneliness and isolation.  A versus mode would have to include some of these great ideas about complex maps with world enemies, or interesting objectives and puzzle-solving elements included.

I really don't understand the term "mindless" as it is commonly being used on these forums, and I don't think that it has proved a very helpful term.  Many gaming enthusiasts from across the world have been rather devoted to games that feature simple, repetitive processes which demand little higher-order thinking.  I find "militaristic" similarly unhelpful, as I doubt that it is being used technically.  If we're simply talking about a fascination with the military and/or military operations, then I don't see the problem.  Cultures across the world and throughout history have been fascinated with (and even glorified) the military, and many great games (not talking about CoD here) have used this fascination as a foundation.  If you find CoD itself to be irreverent toward life, misleading in its politics, or dangerous in its sanitization of violence, then I might see a productive dialogue (and I might agree with you).



#76698 what is a hardcore gamer....

Posted by Narcidius on 03 May 2012 - 07:39 AM in General Gaming

yeah... all of these "standards" seem really, really arbitrary. For Nintendo's purposes I really do think they just mean "people who will buy lots of games". Why would they care about whether or not a person is psychologically affected by their friends' choices, or knows how to disassemble and reassemble a PC in a minute and fifteen seconds flat?

to be honest, everybody here (including myself, I know, I know) sounds like a blowhard every now and then when pushing their definitions and opinions about what gaming is all about... and I think there's a big lack of self-awareness when people turn up their nose at "kids who only play games for x or y silly reason". What, like you REALLY know what you mean by "gameplay is all I care about"? Like you never find yourself enjoying a game that a hundred million 8th graders also happen to like, just because THEIR reason for liking it is the cool poster with the guy holding a really big gun? Come on...

That's like pretending that you don't enjoy fast food or junk food, simply due to the fact that fine cuisine is "better". Better for what? For complexity? For skill of composition? For profound possibilities of reflection and existential bliss? Sure. For quick energy? For facilitating social interaction? For comfort? For excitement? Maybe not.

Also, what's with the tacitly accepted disparagement of "violence" in games, and the somewhat bigoted insinuation that violence is something only "Americans" like? Um............ last time I checked, "violence" was a staple of the industry. I don't think that Mario crushes his enemies in the spirit of peace and goodwill. If people are somehow arguing that "sanitized" violence - violence that is disguised as non-violence by clever puffs of smoke or the absence of blood - is somehow not violence... well then that's a different discussion.



#76368 what is a hardcore gamer....

Posted by Narcidius on 01 May 2012 - 11:47 AM in General Gaming

Hardcore gamers tend to care less about graphics then casual gamers. While some specialize in a single genre, they typically have fairly diverse taste in games, frequently playing a wide variety of games from different genres. They'll often seek out obscure and older games, based on word of mouth or positive critical reception. Hardcore gamers put good gameplay above all else, and don't mind if a good game has poor (or even nonexistent) graphics, sound, characters and plot.


I like this a bit... probably because I feel like it allows for multiple definitions of greatness in a game. But 'graphics' is another one of those vague terms - 8-bit-style pixel art can be beautiful or ugly just like any other art style, and I prefer to play beautiful games (even old ones, or text-based adventures with clever and engaging narration) rather than ugly ones... so I don't entirely agree with the "gameplay above all" mantra as it is here defined... I think all of those "unimportant" things have to factor into a holistic idea of "gameplay"...

As far as "hardcore" goes... I think Nintendo, when it says that it wants back hardcore gamers, pretty much only means that they would like to have some customers that actually buy games. They're a business... *shocker!*... and they need to have a platform that encourages developers to produce games by offering the reasonable expecation of profit. Millions of households own a Wii + exactly one game (WiiSports)... millions more own a Wii + a few shovelware games that they thought would be fun at parties. This really does not encourage developers to make games for a platform.

Perhaps we personally find "bloody" games distasteful, or believe that CoD offers a very simple and uniteresting gameplay experience. Perhaps we have some sort of Freudian complex surrounding impressive visual prowess and would rather not allow the people who enjoy such games to be elevated by the title "hardcore" - which suggests a certain prestige or prowess or dignity or good taste or whatever... but I think that ultimately none of that matters to Nintendo when it says it wants the hardcore gamer back. I really think that all they're saying is "please, people that buy games, come back and buy those games on our platform, so that we can continue to sell consoles and thereby have the income to continue making the games that WE want to make".



#76355 Eternal Darkness 2 Wii U?

Posted by Narcidius on 01 May 2012 - 09:21 AM in Wii U Games and Software

I LOVED this game on the 'Cube. It was intense, it was intriguing/compelling on every level, it was expansive (multiple playable characters over centuries of timeline, and it all worked well... amazing!), and it was pretty innovative, too. This would be a great 3rd party exclusive to have in Ninty's pocket.

As the article points out, of course, Silicon Knights needs a LOT of hand-holding. I believe them when they say that Epic screwed them over a bit when Too Human was in development... but unless Nintendo is working with them directly on every level during development (like they did with the first one), I'm not sure that the final product will be worth the wait.



#76348 Nintendo Needs A Halo

Posted by Narcidius on 01 May 2012 - 08:28 AM in Wii U Games and Software

They do need a generic First Person Shooter, I agree.


Sarcasm, anyone?

... but really, I think the OP was talking about a game that filled the function of Halo (solid, complex mechanics, cool visual styling, and a decently rich narrative structure with the opportunity for deep lore). Uncharted does SOME of this for the playstation (the basic mechanics are a bit unpolished, the play is a bit linear, and there's very little opportunity for lore), as does killzone, infamous, and god of war... but I think that a lot of sony's difficulty (other than prohibitive price) has to do with the lack of that one title that really nails all three aspects.

I agree that Nintendo needs this. Their internal focus has always been on play mechanics - which really makes sense as a bedrock starting point for game design. But to really capture nerddome in its entirety (I'm not talking about the so-called "graphics whores" or kids that just want to look cool, here), you need a world that offers everything in one package.

I agree that Retro is currently the best candidate to do this, from many angles... but I have yet to see them foray into the realm of a truly new IP...



#76068 What Wii U Tablet innovations would U like to see?

Posted by Narcidius on 30 April 2012 - 09:41 AM in Wii U Hardware

I guess the title of the topic is broad enough to post usage ideas for games... right?

I'm thinking...

- tablet screen for endoscopy in surgery games (or robot/nanoprobes fixing circuitry or spying) while the main screen can keep an eye on vitals...
- LOVE the build management in rts games (or minimap/unit grouping management) idea
- LOVE the persistent sniper-scope idea (oddly enough, this also allows for the most precise aiming possible, given that there would be the sticks for movement and camera as well as the controller positioning for pinpoint aiming on-screen, potentially eliminating the complaints with both bounding boxes and fixed-center dual-stick or mouse aiming... though the whole system of movement together might prove disorienting or overly complicated)
- tablet player controlling a gunning turret on a vehicle, while the main screen player drives/flies
- dashboard for complex simulators, with flipable switches and pushable buttons represented on the tablet screen.



#76064 Nintendo Needs to Talk About the Wii U Before E3

Posted by Narcidius on 30 April 2012 - 09:06 AM in Wii U Hardware

I certainly agree with the sentiment of the OP. It would increase my own sense of positive expectation if very small snippets of teaser artwork, or perhaps cryptic tweets, were slowly-but-steadily released to the webernet to keep us uber-fans salivating. I think that this kind of info would also do good things for the marketing of the system at large (speading awareness of new and intriguing gaming concepts to pique curiosity), while allowing Nintendo to keep their oh-so-precious focus on games.

I do agree, of course, that the ultra-high-expectation crowd is an ultra minority right now. My brother, to judge by the amount of money that he has spent on Nintendo products, would certainly seem to be a big Ninty fan... but he frequently has to be reminded about what the WiiU even is when I bring it up in conversation... for the majority of gamers, it seems that the system really isn't on the radar at this point.

I suppose this could be used to support both sides of the argument. On the one hand, lack of awareness about the product might mean that Nintendo doesn't have to worry about frustrated expectations (because they don't exist). On the other hand, lack of awareness about the product might mean that Nintendo really ought to work on generating some real buzz. Of course, one could always argue that the best time to do that is, in fact, a couple of months before release...



#76058 How can you out-do the existing Networks?

Posted by Narcidius on 30 April 2012 - 08:33 AM in Wii U Hardware

I'll be pretty happy if I can just get persistent access to social networking features (chat/messaging) via the touchscreen, during games and whatnot. Realistically, given Nintendo's (even recent) history with online functionality, and given the generally reliable premise that the service will be free, I can't expect miracles of networking bliss!

Now... if I'm shooting for the stars here, I would love jump in/out features to be supported, spectator modes for everything, unified leaderboards/stats accessible from friend's profiles, etc.



#75279 Miyamoto: We Will Introduce New Nintendo Characters Soon

Posted by Narcidius on 27 April 2012 - 06:52 AM in Wii U Games and Software

Always nice to hear that Miyamoto-San is cooking up something new... I guess new characters could mean a new franchise, or some new faces in an existing one.

I guess we'll have to see what becomes of it...



#75271 Nintendo Investor Meeting News

Posted by Narcidius on 27 April 2012 - 06:12 AM in Wii U Hardware

Guys it is so bad, if its true.. That means also wii U will come without this special nintendo patent of blu ray disc? It will be discless? lol


Woah, calm down... he said that BOTH will be available. They are introducing digital downloads (which is why he was talking about it so much, because it's new for them), but regular, hard-copy packaged games will still be available. lol, I admire your ability to converse on a forum in your second (or third? how many do you speak?) language... it must give you a few scares every once in a while, though!



#75041 Good Read: "Why Xenoblade Chronicles HAD To Look Like horse scat"

Posted by Narcidius on 26 April 2012 - 01:31 PM in General Gaming

hm... very thoughtful (and thought provoking) article.

as a person who enjoys both major types of games the article talks about (the "narrow" HD and the "expansive" SD, to be crass) as well as many more types of games (like small indie projects and high-concept meta-games like S&SW:EP), i never really thought about the weight of consumer expectation and how it affects the industry's ability to move flexibly between graphical styles.

while i think that the author somewhat underestimates the pace at which development tools will catch up with technological benchmarks (and therefore allow small developers the ability to make big, complex, AND pretty worlds), i do acknowledge that the industry has been heading down the road of Hollywood unsustainability for quite some time now.



#74946 Epic Making Metroid

Posted by Narcidius on 26 April 2012 - 07:31 AM in Wii U Games and Software

NO! That's bad news! That would be absolute horrible!
Metroid is about exploring and figuring out puzzles to get from point A to point B, and not a mindless shooter, because Epic Games only produces mindless shooters!


hey now! that's as unfair as saying that nintendo only makes games about fuzzy animals hugging each other. it's NOT a bad idea because epic is somehow incapable of making a nuanced, engaging game. it's a bad idea (if it is one... i'm still undecided) because i'm not sure that epic's strengths align well with metroid's very peculiar "ethos"... which involves, among other things, the core mechanic of recursive exploration/discovery that you mentioned.

I hope for a mindless metriod shooter, a direct copy of halo. :P


man i like this guy's posts... oh sarcasm, the wonders of humor/wit/perspective you enable!



#74942 Crysis 3 not coming to Wii U:(

Posted by Narcidius on 26 April 2012 - 06:52 AM in Wii U Games and Software

Crysis 3 use's DX11(microsoft).NINTENDO is not going to pay for anything Microsoft


the game doesn't REQUIRE the use of DX11, it is simply built to take advantage of the features afforded by DX11 on PC. It also gets a lot of performance out of GL-based APIs such as that on the PS3 (though I admit that the porting wasn't as good for that platform)... and it COULD be built to get significantly MORE performance out of the WiiU's hardware than out of the other two consoles, one would presume (either by using APIs provided in Nintendo's dev kits or by writing their own hardware coding).

bottom line, crytek LIKES to build games that push the limits... . wiiU won't give them this opportunity to push into undiscovered territory when compared to the horizons offered by PC development, and it won't YET (unlike xbox/ps) fulfill the other possible business motivation of assured profits to offset the cost of porting. if it won't push them (what they want), and they can't even be sure that it will bring in money (what they and their publishers need)... then what is their motivation to make it happen?



#74939 Epic Making Metroid

Posted by Narcidius on 26 April 2012 - 06:33 AM in Wii U Games and Software

man, this just seems like the absolute most unlikely of all the unlikely rumors I have heard so far (at least, the ones that people are taking seriously)... is it even POSSIBLY true? would I even WANT it to be true?

... this coming from a big Gears freak... i'm not sure that epic loves any nintendo franchise enough to give it the proper treatment.



#74488 What do you want from the Wii U Graphically?

Posted by Narcidius on 24 April 2012 - 02:02 PM in Wii U Hardware

To be able to play games.


give that man a gameboy!

but seriously... the biggest reason by far that i care about the wiiu's hardware specs is, as others have mentioned, its relevancy to the next generation of consoles.  i want this console to get continued 3rd party support well into its life cycle.

i like looking at pretty games, i dont think there's anything wrong with admiring complex aesthetic processes, and i feel that visual complexity often increases my enjoyment (even for so-called "cartoony" games)... but at the end of the day i don't really need the bleeding edge of technology to impress me... nor do i think that such is affordably achievable at a comfortable/reasonable console price point.



#74433 Crysis 3

Posted by Narcidius on 24 April 2012 - 10:37 AM in General Gaming

while i somehow doubt that crytek will choose to put a lot of specific love into this title for the wiiu, i would still really like to see it come to the system. i thoroughly enjoy the franchise (yes, even crysis2).

i could really see crytek doing some work on a ground-up title for wiiu - just seems like something that they would be good at, and interested in doing (especially considering some of the comments that have been made) that really pushes the system's hardware. no telling when this woud happen, though... so i'd take crysis 3 for now!



#74398 Indie Games and Nintendo

Posted by Narcidius on 24 April 2012 - 07:19 AM in General Gaming

So... has anyone else been really stoked recently to follow the Kickstarter phenomenon, and watch developers get to make some fairly big-budget games without even involving publishers? I mean... a cool $3.5millionUSD for DoubleFine's point-and-click adventure is really an astounding budget... and all fan supported!

This got me thinking, however... most of the bigger games on the site are planning to release (eventually, anyways) on pretty much every platform known to man (even the Vita)... except for a Nintendo platform. This is a real letdown...

I know that people on these forums have said that Nintendo makes it unusually difficult on indie developers... and not ever having tried to become a Nintendo dev, I'm not sure if this is true. What i do know is that there seems to be a slow-tide movement in games, polarizing the industry between enormous, hollywood-esque AAA titles and small, homespun indie games (many of which have great merit).

Given this mounting trend (as well as the general awesome potential of giving developers a platform for making their off-the-wall ideas become reality), doesn't it behove Nintendo to make the process as easy as possible for indie devs?



#74395 Should Nintendo Be Interested in Making Phones?

Posted by Narcidius on 24 April 2012 - 07:06 AM in General Gaming

Don't know about you, but I'd feel like a total a-hole just holding my 3DS up to my ears. :P


lol... this (the form factor) really is a big deal, i guess. you'd have to use a bluetooth headset all the time, and then things start getting really cost/battery prohibitive for the average consumer, especially as the idea in the first place was maximum portability and minimum complexity.

i think i agree that mainstream gaming (there will always be an 'arcade' niche for console-like products) will move away from consoles eventually... and i'm genuinely impressed by some of the great horizons being explored by indie developers on mobile platforms (just tell me Sword & Sworcery:EP isn't an awesome game). but this really hits on the big frustration of the current crossroads in technology. the more portable you make something, the less physical real estate you have for essential things like viewable space, input devices, etc. but the less portable you make something, the less likely people are going to be to spend the majority of their time with it in our current "always-on-the-go" mindset. what to do, what to do...



#74024 Should Nintendo Be Interested in Making Phones?

Posted by Narcidius on 23 April 2012 - 09:38 AM in General Gaming

Hm... these thoughts make a lot of sense to me. Especially compelling seems to be the demographic argument (that people of the target age to appreciate an "N-Phone" probably won't want to/be able to pony up the cash to own/maintain one), as well as the worries about size/performance issues at the moment.

Ultimately, however, I suppose it always comes down to Nollog's point that Ninty's "business DNA" is wired toward making games (an end which the hardware serves, not visa versa), and that they would never really be GOOD at providing an iPhone-like experience... still, it will be a sad day for me when I have to download Mario as an app on my iPod.



#74023 Wii U MUST be next gen..

Posted by Narcidius on 23 April 2012 - 09:18 AM in Wii U Hardware

See, the thing with these kinds of topics is that the damn console hasn't even been released yet and people are saying either WiiU blows because of it's specs or WiiU rocks because of it's specs, when the actual spec report hasn't even been released yet either. We won't truly know until the WiiU comes out, and even then, we still have to wait another year or so before PS4 and 720 get their chance in the spotlight. I can actually speculate on what the system would BE like, but most of you guys are already on the bandwagon and saying statements like "WiiU DEFINITELY will trample Sony and Microsoft" without even experiencing the actual consoles yet. This is why debates like these are pointless and ends up going nowhere.


QFT... while my GUESSES are certainly more in Desert Punk's realm, at the end of the day they are only guesses and nothing more... and it's healthy for me to remember that. All the logic and analysis of factual possibility in the world (or all the wishful thinking and selective quoatation of 'sources' in the world, for that matter) will not arrive at any kind of cartesian certainty about the WiiU's specs. For all we know, Nintendo could still decide to sell us a $600 console with a totally different enclosure design, which would feasibly allow them to include some high-end hardware (for a console)...

Now... for Nin_Stream's comments... I agree that Red Steel 2 and MadWorld both suited the Wii's abilities very well (as did Okami, WiiSports and a handful of others), which is why I mentioned the Skyward Sword example in the vain hope that readers would take the time to try to hear what I was saying before going into beast mode. Sure, the AI in MadWorld stinks and Red Steel 2 has some pretty severe frame-rate issues, but the cell-shaded look worked very well for the Wii, and I wish more developers had gone in that direction.

My original point was not that developers can't work within limitations... they've been doing that since the very beginning! My point was that there are many, many types of games out there with many different graphical styles, and a system hoping to achieve widespread acceptance should aim to create the kind of hardware that will support these games and these graphical styles. I repeat, there is nothing INHERENTLY wrong with liking Call of Duty. I personally do not enjoy it... but that doesn't mean there's something wrong with it. Some of the COD games have an engaging storyline in campaign and a fast-paced, tightly-built multiplayer component that competitive players really, really enjoy.

Here's the deal. I only ever owned Nintendo systems until I left for college (NES through N64), and I bought EVERY system (handhelds included). My brother bought a GameCube when I was at college, and I came home and played that on weekends too. I never got into Halo during the college days, even though it was all the rage, because I still preferred Smash Bros. when it came to competitive multiplayer fun, and I was loyal to the big N.

But it was the Xbox360 that brought me back to gaming after my college days were done (with no peer influence, as none of my adult friends play games). It was Gears of War that filled me with the same awe and wonder at where games could take you - narratively and experientially - that I hadn't experienced since Mario64. Aesthetic complexity is a valid component of enjoyment in interactive media, as is the compelling mechanics of hitting cover hard and laying down suppresive fire so that your brother (who is playing with you cooperatively) can flank a hardened enemy position. Man, stuff like this is why we play games, just as much as the endearing characters, deep exploration, and head-scratching puzzles in a game like Zelda are why we play games. Have you ever just stared at some of the buildings in the first GoW game, as the dust swept across the ruined landscape and sun filtered through the cracks in the windows? The point is that you can like both (or even just one) without villifying the other.

If Nintendo is trying to draw in a large variety of gamers, it needs to pay attention to what a large variety of gamers want, and to provide a system that will accomodate them. That is all I'm saying.



#73636 Nintendo's Online Service

Posted by Narcidius on 21 April 2012 - 03:34 PM in Wii U Hardware

Like the others, I want all the features. But the feature i want most, is download full retail games. If a game cost $40 in the United States, in my country the cost is like $75 - $80 US dollars. So in the eshop the prices will be the same that the prices in the United States. 3DS too Nintendo.


wow, i never really thought about that problem... or realized that that was the case, I guess. I know that I've heard a few gamers on these forums complain about the move to digital distribution, because they don't have reliable high-speed internet in their country. is this largely the case outside of the US, or only in a few specific countries?



#73374 Should Nintendo Be Interested in Making Phones?

Posted by Narcidius on 20 April 2012 - 12:55 PM in General Gaming

So... Nintendo is pretty clear regarding how they feel about smartphones as gaming devices. Iwata says that phones, as non-dedicated gaming devices, can't offer the rich, deep experiences that are ultimately satisfying to their fans. Reggie has said that the company is not - and probably never will be - interested in making a phone.

But... and I'm not just parroting the silly doom-and-gloom-consoles-are-out analysts here... SHOULD they be?

The thing with phones is that - unlike a gaming device - you kind of have to have one (or at least it's becoming increasingly expected in our society that we will have one). We (speaking as the representative consumer, here) feel that it is essential for us to have a phone... and as long as we have to have one, we feel that it would be silly for us NOT to choose a phone that also has so many other things we want (like access to social networks, streaming video, email, web access, books, utilities for performing everyday tasks, and yes, GAMES). Once in the possession of such a device - one that seems to offer so many genuine opportunities for rich media - we feel that it is cumbersome and unnecessary (or at least annoying) to bother with DVD players, separate music players, laptop computers, or even to carry around a second device for gaming...

I get Iwata's argument... and I agree that smartphones, such as they are, will never replace the experience of gaming with sticks and buttons. But why not simply make a gaming phone with sticks and buttons, then (like Sony's phone, but much, much better)? The iPhone has some games of very broad scope and very deep value (few, I grant it, but they are there). It can be done, and done well... and iPhone sales are exponentially greater than iPod sales (which can do everything the iPhone does except for make calls), simply because it is also a phone.

So... why is Nintendo uninterested? And should they be?




Anti-Spam Bots!