Tuesday, August 16, 2005
It's going to be a long winter
The life of a Nintendo fan is rough. I know that hardly comes as news to anyone who has been playing games since the mid-90s, but sometimes I just take a step back and realize how ridiculous it has become. Ever since Sony entered the scene and lured away all the third parties Nintendo had shat on for years, Nintendo fans have had to wait for just a few releases a year to satiate their gaming needs. For the most part this hasn't been a very big problem for me. Fortunately, I do own the "other" system so, even in the darkest days of summer, I always have something to play. That really isn't making the news that Zelda: Twilight Princess has been pushed back to next year any easier to take.
Even though the industry is growing larger ever year it seems like the amount of titles I actually want to play is shrinking rapidly. Don't get me wrong, I still love playing video games. The majority of popular titles just plain don't appeal to me anymore, though, and finding hidden gems like Cookies and Cream is getting harder and harder. Time and time again Nintendo has rescued me from the swamp of mediocrity flooding the market with a new take on one of their classic franchises. Yes, Nintendo has a tendency to recycle ideas, but they are one of the few companies I can still count on.
Off the top of my head, I was only really looking forward to 4 console games for the rest of the year: Perfect Dark Zero, We Love Katamari, King Kong and Zelda. That's just about it. There are 5 - 15 Nintendo DS games thrown in there, depending on what actually comes out, and more titles I would love to play but would never actually buy (such as Ultimate Spiderman) but only four titles I was openly drooling over. That isn't very many games at all. With Zelda pushed back into God knows when and the Xbox 360 most likely being too expensive to pick up right away, that leaves me with a sequel that promises to be short though fantastic and a licensed first person shooter. That's about it for me.
What really pisses me off about this delay is that we've been crushed with hype for 18 months already, and it will be almost two years when the game finally comes out. I enjoy the anticipation of a big title as much as the next person, but sometimes you just have to draw the line. I understand why Nintendo showed footage for Zelda at E3 2004 - they needed something to draw focus away from competitors. But they knew full well they wouldn't be able to get it out that year. I would love to see companies focus their efforts at E3 to games that are actually going to come out by the end of the year. I would love for companies to show a little restraint in announcing titles too far in advance. Yes, hype can be a good thing, but it can also burn people out. I'm sure Zelda will be amazing, possibly the best game of the generation, but no game is worth waiting two years to play. How much sweeter would the debut have been if, after showing the jaw-dropping video, they had a nearly complete demo on the show floor?
Now what does Nintendo do for the rest of the year? I heard the theory that Nintendo is only pushing Zelda back to give room to the Nintendo DS, but I can't imagine Nintendo would be that arrogant. Yes, a few extra games will definitely be sold, but I think a lot more people will take a look at the Xbox 360. Perfect Dark Zero is most likely the biggest title coming out this year now, and you can be sure Microsoft will take advantage of Nintendo's blunder by finally starting the hype machine of their new uber console.
Nintendo really has to get it together in the next generation. I love Pikmin, Metroid and the rest as much as anyone, but they need a steadier flow of releases and they need to finish their titles on time.
Just wanted to add one note to this column - I am thrilled that Nintendo is willing to take a financial hit in order to deliver the best game possible. That is why Nintendo is my favorite video game company. I just wish they didn't start hyping the game so long before it came out and moved up a few titles, like Kirby, to fill Zelda's void.
Even though the industry is growing larger ever year it seems like the amount of titles I actually want to play is shrinking rapidly. Don't get me wrong, I still love playing video games. The majority of popular titles just plain don't appeal to me anymore, though, and finding hidden gems like Cookies and Cream is getting harder and harder. Time and time again Nintendo has rescued me from the swamp of mediocrity flooding the market with a new take on one of their classic franchises. Yes, Nintendo has a tendency to recycle ideas, but they are one of the few companies I can still count on.
Off the top of my head, I was only really looking forward to 4 console games for the rest of the year: Perfect Dark Zero, We Love Katamari, King Kong and Zelda. That's just about it. There are 5 - 15 Nintendo DS games thrown in there, depending on what actually comes out, and more titles I would love to play but would never actually buy (such as Ultimate Spiderman) but only four titles I was openly drooling over. That isn't very many games at all. With Zelda pushed back into God knows when and the Xbox 360 most likely being too expensive to pick up right away, that leaves me with a sequel that promises to be short though fantastic and a licensed first person shooter. That's about it for me.
What really pisses me off about this delay is that we've been crushed with hype for 18 months already, and it will be almost two years when the game finally comes out. I enjoy the anticipation of a big title as much as the next person, but sometimes you just have to draw the line. I understand why Nintendo showed footage for Zelda at E3 2004 - they needed something to draw focus away from competitors. But they knew full well they wouldn't be able to get it out that year. I would love to see companies focus their efforts at E3 to games that are actually going to come out by the end of the year. I would love for companies to show a little restraint in announcing titles too far in advance. Yes, hype can be a good thing, but it can also burn people out. I'm sure Zelda will be amazing, possibly the best game of the generation, but no game is worth waiting two years to play. How much sweeter would the debut have been if, after showing the jaw-dropping video, they had a nearly complete demo on the show floor?
Now what does Nintendo do for the rest of the year? I heard the theory that Nintendo is only pushing Zelda back to give room to the Nintendo DS, but I can't imagine Nintendo would be that arrogant. Yes, a few extra games will definitely be sold, but I think a lot more people will take a look at the Xbox 360. Perfect Dark Zero is most likely the biggest title coming out this year now, and you can be sure Microsoft will take advantage of Nintendo's blunder by finally starting the hype machine of their new uber console.
Nintendo really has to get it together in the next generation. I love Pikmin, Metroid and the rest as much as anyone, but they need a steadier flow of releases and they need to finish their titles on time.
Just wanted to add one note to this column - I am thrilled that Nintendo is willing to take a financial hit in order to deliver the best game possible. That is why Nintendo is my favorite video game company. I just wish they didn't start hyping the game so long before it came out and moved up a few titles, like Kirby, to fill Zelda's void.
// posted by Tom @ 9:17 PM 
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