In your last post, you wrote this:
“Aside from a few Gamecube fanatics, no one is going to buy the Wii U for Zombie U”
Do you realize that you are developing a blogging lingo that only your most hardcore followers/fanatics will understand?
I’ve been reading your stuff your years, yet that sentence only vaguely made sense to me; presumably because I live in the *now* and don’t juxtapose everything Nintendo does now and what audiences like now with what Nintendo did in the past and audiences liked in the past. Gamecube fanatics? WTF? It’s a zombie game! If it sells well, its an early indicator that Nintendo is reaching the hardcore audience it wants to reach out to again, if it doesn’t, oh well. Do you think that the entire game industry revolves around Malstrom’s tastes, and that whatever doesn’t float your boat won’t sell? Think again!
Haha. It’s always good when a line gets a response.
The gamecube almost destroyed Nintendo’s home console business. “But it was profitable,” is the only silver lining anyone can say about it. Nintendo knew if they didn’t radically change their direction, they may not be in the home console business for much longer.
I can understand people liking some Gamecube games. But lately, perhaps due to nostalgia or something else, there have been people openly declaring the Gamecube is a ‘fantastic console’. Based on the decline it caused Nintendo, the Gamecube cannot be considered a ‘fantastic console’. The same goes for the N64. One might say the SNES as well but the SNES, unlike the NES, had a competitor and still sold well worldwide. The N64 and Gamecube only sold in North America.
From my observation (and this is just my observation), the people who are hot to trot for Zombie U are those who are big fans of the Gamecube. I suspect this might be due to love of Resident Evil series such as Resident Evil 4. Shouldn’t Zombie U appeal to those who liked Resident Evil 4?
“Do you think the entire game industry revolves around Malstrom’s tastes…?”
No. But I’m old enough and experienced enough to make educated guesses at games that are nowhere near my taste. For example, World of Warcraft no longer appeals to my tastes. But I know what the consumers of it want.
Do you think Iwata and Reggie have taste for every single type of game out there? Of course not! They have to make educated guesses since not everyone at Nintendo likes every type of game. If they can do that, and do that well, why can’t we take a stab at it?
I do know that gamers like a ‘meat and potatoes’ approach to gaming. Zombie U will be interesting for a while, but it will fall to the wayside for the more typical game. Zombie U strikes me as ‘forced’ in much of its game design. After one trip on that rollercoaster, will gamers want to go back to ride again and again? I’m betting they’ll get tired of it and want something more traditional.
