The Wii and them “dying” genres
Outside the happy place that is the world of indie, homebrew and even PC games, in the rather bland deserts of mainstream gaming, that is, things can get pretty boring, pretty fast. Publishers churn out samey game after samey game while only paying attention to current trends, holiday deadlines and ad budgets. Innovation is feared, games are considered as franchises, sequels are a constant plat du jour and pushing graphics is still considered the way forward. Gaming really isn’t the wildly interesting beast it used to be. It’s mainstream, safe and unoriginal. Heck, even whole genres (niche or less so) are periodically wiped out.
Enter Nintendo and the Wii, a console so underpowered, so (relatively) cheap to develop for, so ridiculously popular and with such a uniquely versatile controller, that, not only allowed, but actually encouraged developers and publishers to innovate and even revisit them so-called dying genres previously only available for the PC gaming crowds or us retro gaming maniacs. A breath of fresh air really, even when taking all those shoddy Wii-ports and mini-game collections into account.
In what practically is less than a year the Wii has already been graced with a variety of puzzle games, strategy games, pinball games, 2D games and retro remakes, though the most impressive trend has been the revival of the rather forgotten and sadly unpopular genres of the light-gun and the traditional adventure game. The Wii Remote, you see, is perfectly suited for both point-and-click and point-and-shoot action, whereas the console does indeed prove itself as a welcoming home for the unususal. To realize the fact we already got such great additions to those genres as Ghost Squad, Zack & Wicki, The Umbrella Chronicles, CSI Hard Evidence and Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None, is to realize that something is finally changing. What’s more, there is… ah… well, more to come.
Posted on March 3rd, 2008 by konstantinos
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Alas, Agatha Christie has been getting harsh reviews.
I’ve found that the 360 has been “typecast” as a FPS and sports console. An RPG like Mass Effect is certainly excellent, but at the the same time, large parts of it are familiar to those who have played KotOR. I also know from game developer friends that Microsoft thoroughly emphasizes graphics whenever games are discussed.
As a result, I play only a handful of 360 games.
It appears that the XNA Community Games will be the field of experimentation for the 360. I played the Culture demo from the GDC 08 conference and saw a kind of game I’d expect to see on the Wii.
Eight of the top rated 360 games on metacritic are FPS, followed by 4 racing and 2 role-playing games. With the Wii, there’s nowhere near that kind of concentration of a particular type of game: they are a mix of platform, sports, puzzle, party, action, and role-playing games.
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:59 amActually having already played Agatha Christie on the PC, I must admit it’s not the best of adventures around and that the Wii version is virtually (bar some silly tacked-on gestures) identical to the 3 year old PC offering. Still, it’s a very atmospheric, flawed but enjoyable game. Besides, the story is ace an so is te acting.
Oh, and indeed the Wii has variety going for it, though I do wish for a Virtual Console that would be on par with the LIVE arcade, which, apparently, is the best thing on the Xbox 360. Not, that the RPGs are something to ignore either…
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:23 amI think, in a way, XBLA is the equivalent of Virtual Console and Wiiware. But you’ve made an excellent point. Here are some of the things I think VC needs to do:
XBLA sometimes updates classic games, both graphics and features such as online multiplayer.
‘Classic’ games aren’t just console games of yore. They can be card and board games.
You don’t have to buy a new controller for XBLA games.
XBLA has downloadable demos, and VC doesn’t. And apparently Wiiware titles won’t either.
That said, XBLA interesting content has been sparse lately. And I seldom buy an XBLA or VC game.
Personally, I’m just waiting for Chrono Trigger and Earthbound.
March 3rd, 2008 at 12:50 pmWhere are those zombies from? Me love zombies
March 3rd, 2008 at 6:28 pmHaven’t really followed Earthbound dear guttertalk, but I have to say Chrono Trigger does sound interesting. And them upgraded retro titles are exactly what I was hoping for the virtual console. Oh, yes, and some Speccy classics don’t sound that bad either.
The zombies Roys luv are directly from RE Umbrella Chronicles.
March 4th, 2008 at 6:22 am