http://wii.ign.com/articles/992/992615p2.html
I normally hate IGN and, especially, Mark Bozon, but I find something interesting about the way he, a supposed hardcore game, is describing what makes Grand Slam Tennis so difficult and what makes it so enjoyable.
Basically, he points to the way you actually need to learn the mechanics of the game to succeed and the way you actually need to learn what movement patterns do what. He does mention time, but he only mentions that it does not hinder your ability to learn. What he says echoes this old post of yours:
This is what Matt has been saying about WiiSports Resort too. Maybe the hardcore will get behind this aspect of the Wii? Or maybe Bozon and Matt are just old school gamers disguised as hardcore gamers…
I think you are right that Bozon is looking at the game in the context of how a Wii customer sees it. He isn’t playing it and saying, “Why isn’t it in HD? Oh EA!” or something dumb.
Whether or not Bozon is right in his review we will see when the game is in customers’ hands. It’ll be nice if the game is as addictive as he says.
What I thought was spectacular about the review was that Bozon didn’t rely purely on his own opinion. While Bozon probably likes his opinion, and it will ultimately guide the review, he had other people play the game while he watched. He used their reactions in his review.
Matt instinctively did the same thing with Wii Sports. Remember, this was before Wii sold 50 million. He could not have known the game would have as huge as impact on the game industry since Super Mario Brothers. So he goes and gets the girls in the marketing department. And, he noted his surprise, as all the girls played Wii Sports happily. He ended up giving the game an 8.0 which is IGN for saying, “This game is quality but… I don’t know how much quality!”
Did you know that Matt has bought “The Blue Ocean Strategy” (did so back in 2004 I think)? I don’t expect these guys to have interest in the business strategy since they became game reviewers to review games, not read business books. But he did buy it (unlike some other *ahem* journalists out there).
With the huge Wii sales, I have been puzzled why game journalists do not see it as an opportunity for expansion. They could serve all these new gamers. Instead, they attack them! I heard IGN was looking to expand in the direction of serving these new gamers, though I do not know any more than that.
But back to Bozon’s review, I agree with you that it was good that he was measuring the game on the new values we cared about. No one is going to buy the game for ‘omg graphics’ or whatever we used to buy tennis games for. The way how he talked about it reminded me of old fashioned arcade games where, since we were inexperienced players in the 1980s, we had to learn how to play and were very satisfied when we became skillful in it.
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