Wednesday, April 27, 2005
This dog tastes perfect
I see you sitting pensively in your favorite chair. Your Nintendo DS is lying on the table beside you; its screen flipped open as you move your eyes across its dual screen design and ergonomic buttons. You reach over at one point and remove the stylus, hold it in your hand and imagine using it. You think about the tremendous upside bubbling out of your tiny system, but only stare bleakly at its dull black screen as you pine for a new game to be released. The Nintendo DS is the most innovated system ever released and offers gameplay potential that you cannot even fathom... but developers are just too scared to try to maximize the thing. And for their laziness, or lack of imagination, you are destined to sit in your chair and imagine what could have been.
Or maybe your destiny involves virtual puppies.
The latest issue of Famitsu, one of the most respected magazines (an oxymoronic statement if you're only used to the crap US gamers are forced to read) in existence, has just given Nintendogs a perfect score. This isn't like IGN giving a 9.9 to Jade Empire, a game that is seemingly rife with problems. Famitsu does not dish out high scores merely because hype, or possibly a bucket or two full of cash, has swayed its judgment. In fact, according to Wikipedia, only five games in the history of gaming (or however long Famitsu's history dates back) have received a perfect 40 out of 40 score.
The idea that Nintendogs has joined the ranks of Soul Calibur and Ocarina of Time in the holy annals of video game perfection was simply shocking at first. Nintendogs can be considered a video game in only the loosest of definitions. It is, in essence, a next generation version of the annoying, beeping monstrosity known as Tomagachi that was banned from classrooms in the 90s. The biggest difference, the evolution that has spurned this genre forward, are the components that make the DS itself potentially the most important video game system released since the PSX paved the way for mainstream gaming a decade ago.
The DS, more than any video game system ever released, is attempting to draw in people who would not consider themselves gamers if you stapled controllers to their hands and beat them with flaming hot craw daddies. By creating games that let you physically interact with characters on screen via the touchscreen and even communicate with them using the built in microphone, "games" can be created that appeal to people who have never known the simply joys of jumping on a goombas head. To someone who has snuck up on a smart talking ten year old and bashed him upside the head in Halo 2, the idea of raising a too cute for its own good virtual puppy does not sound like a great idea for a game. A real life puppy, with soft fur and a penchant for digging up my prized roses, is too irresistible to avoid. But to play with a puppy that has no real feelings, a Matrix being if you will, seems like a waste of time to the vast majority of gamers out there.
But, according to Famitsu at least, this does not mean that a worthwhile experience cannot be had. Different types of gamers need different types of games. So just like there are realistic racers and stealth games for hardcore game players who have horrible taste in gaming, the Nintendo DS offers quirky, virtual world experiences that can be viewed as more interactive, and potentially more successful, versions of the insanely popular Sims series. The Nintendo DS may survive by appealing to your girlfriend or your mom, whose stomachs churn at the site of Kratos' weapons of death, while offering instant thrills for pure gamers with arcade style hits like Wario Ware and Yoshi's Touch and Go. While many people, including readers of this site, consider the NDS a failure at this point because of its limited selection of games, it hardly seems fair to me. The NDS is not trying to compete with the PSP, GBA or any other system ever created. By offering unique experiences that can appeal to anyone who is willing to give interactive entertainment a try, the DS is set to integrate itself into the fabric of society in a big, big way.
If Nintendogs and the potential the NDS exudes has whet your appetite for different types of gaming, tune in next week for a preview on the mind bending experience that is Electoplankton. If you're not sold yet, you really need to see this game in motion.
Or maybe your destiny involves virtual puppies.
The latest issue of Famitsu, one of the most respected magazines (an oxymoronic statement if you're only used to the crap US gamers are forced to read) in existence, has just given Nintendogs a perfect score. This isn't like IGN giving a 9.9 to Jade Empire, a game that is seemingly rife with problems. Famitsu does not dish out high scores merely because hype, or possibly a bucket or two full of cash, has swayed its judgment. In fact, according to Wikipedia, only five games in the history of gaming (or however long Famitsu's history dates back) have received a perfect 40 out of 40 score.
The idea that Nintendogs has joined the ranks of Soul Calibur and Ocarina of Time in the holy annals of video game perfection was simply shocking at first. Nintendogs can be considered a video game in only the loosest of definitions. It is, in essence, a next generation version of the annoying, beeping monstrosity known as Tomagachi that was banned from classrooms in the 90s. The biggest difference, the evolution that has spurned this genre forward, are the components that make the DS itself potentially the most important video game system released since the PSX paved the way for mainstream gaming a decade ago.
The DS, more than any video game system ever released, is attempting to draw in people who would not consider themselves gamers if you stapled controllers to their hands and beat them with flaming hot craw daddies. By creating games that let you physically interact with characters on screen via the touchscreen and even communicate with them using the built in microphone, "games" can be created that appeal to people who have never known the simply joys of jumping on a goombas head. To someone who has snuck up on a smart talking ten year old and bashed him upside the head in Halo 2, the idea of raising a too cute for its own good virtual puppy does not sound like a great idea for a game. A real life puppy, with soft fur and a penchant for digging up my prized roses, is too irresistible to avoid. But to play with a puppy that has no real feelings, a Matrix being if you will, seems like a waste of time to the vast majority of gamers out there.
But, according to Famitsu at least, this does not mean that a worthwhile experience cannot be had. Different types of gamers need different types of games. So just like there are realistic racers and stealth games for hardcore game players who have horrible taste in gaming, the Nintendo DS offers quirky, virtual world experiences that can be viewed as more interactive, and potentially more successful, versions of the insanely popular Sims series. The Nintendo DS may survive by appealing to your girlfriend or your mom, whose stomachs churn at the site of Kratos' weapons of death, while offering instant thrills for pure gamers with arcade style hits like Wario Ware and Yoshi's Touch and Go. While many people, including readers of this site, consider the NDS a failure at this point because of its limited selection of games, it hardly seems fair to me. The NDS is not trying to compete with the PSP, GBA or any other system ever created. By offering unique experiences that can appeal to anyone who is willing to give interactive entertainment a try, the DS is set to integrate itself into the fabric of society in a big, big way.
If Nintendogs and the potential the NDS exudes has whet your appetite for different types of gaming, tune in next week for a preview on the mind bending experience that is Electoplankton. If you're not sold yet, you really need to see this game in motion.
// posted by Tom @ 9:11 AM 
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