So you probably got a ton of emails on the confirmation of Project Café, but let me take a look at a certain word: surprise
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“It became difficult for developers to surprise customers with the current Wii.”
Usually I would call that a diplomatic statement to attract 3rd party developers, but the word surprise has been buzzing around quite a lot. But where does Iwata get this idea from? Let’s take a look at Nintendo’s most important games this generation, both on DS and Wii, since they were both a success.
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-Nintendogs
The only thing remotely surprising about this game are the various Nintendo toys you can get for your puppy, such as a Mario hat. But other than that there is nothing surprising. You take care of your puppy, feed it, pet it, take it for a walk, take part in various competitions to earn money, which you spend on more stuff for you dog. Nintendogs is EXACTLY what you would expect from this game.
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-Brain Age
You may get surprised how old your brain is, but that’s it.
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-Pokemon (any version)
The core of the game has not changed since GameBoy. Sure, there are new creatures (which look crappier by each generation IMO), but they don’t change anything concerning the game’s core. You still battle Gym leaders, collect pokemon and explore the world.
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-Mario Kart (both DS & Wii)
It’s Mario Kart. There is online play and a few more items, but nothing surprising.
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-New Super Mario Bros
The only thing surprising about this game is that it actually exists. Seriously, when I first saw gameplay video I was like “WTF, the Super Mushroom is back!?”. But the game itself is as standard as it gets. Desert world, ice world, sky world, lava world… Only mountain world and jungle world felt fresh.
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-WiiSports (Resort)
It is exactly what the title suggests. But I guess in Iwata’s world no one wanted WiiSports, so it had be forced down their throats by bundling it with hardware.
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-WiiFit (Plus)
Even though WiiFit is a new kind of game/program, there is still nothing surprising about it. You get exactly what you expect, a product that helps you lose weight.
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-WiiPlay
Same as WiiSports.
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-Mario 5
While it was surprising that New Super Mario Bros. existed, this one was considered impossible. Only days after the e3 it became clear to me that this was actually Mario 5 and not a DS port with multiplayer tacked on. As for the game itself, it looks like the DS game, it has the exact same worlds in the exact the same order and almost the exact same name.
And now let’s take a look at the other side, Nintendo’s most surprising, mind-blowing and game changing titles:
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-Zelda Phantom Hourglass
This game is just forgettable. I’d say it is between mediocre and bad, which is already unacceptable for a Zelda game.
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-Zelda Spirit Tracks
While PH was forgettable, this one is an unplayable piece of s***. I already sent you a long email about this game months ago (it is on your blog) and I don’t even want to be reminded of it anymore.
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-Metroid: Other M (aka MoM)
Lol
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-Super Mario Galaxy (1&2)
Well, it sold a couple of million copies, can’t argue with that, but it mostly sold to existing 3D Mario fans. The second one completely failed in its mission to convert 2D Mario fans, despite being as easy as it gets and having a freaking DVD on how to play Mario.
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-WiiMusic
Not sure if this was intended to be surprising, but the song list came as quite a surprise. I would be having more fun if I was drumming on a plastic bucked to the soundtrack of Smash Bros. Brawl.
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So in conclusion, surprise has nothing to do with how well the game is liked. In fact, surprise can actually be bad.
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Why is surprise bad?
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Games are expensive. When I am about to buy something I want to know what I am buying, I want to know if the product will satisfy my needs. People buy things to get job done. So it only stands to reason, that if I buy a product with certain expectations I will be disappointed if those expectations are not met.
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So if I buy a Zelda game, I expect to be set into a vast overworld, to fight evil monsters, search creepy dungeons for new weapons, grow stronger… But in Nintendo’s book that is boring, it has already been done. So they lock you onto a train and force you to sit through annoying companions.
The same thing happened with Star Wars. In Lucas’ grand vision the prequel trilogy makes perfect sense. Young Anakin makes perfect sense to him, but the audience says “No, that is not Star Wars, we demand evil Darth Vader”. The only people who actually do like the prequels are those who were children and saw the prequel movies first, since those were the ones that set their expectations. (as an anecdote, I let my 12-year old brother watch the old trilogy first; he disliked the idea of watching the old movies instead of the new ones, but after a few minutes he was hooked. When we came to The Phantom Menace, he did not even bother to finish it)
Can you imagine buying a pack of soap only to find out it smells like vinegar? That has never been done before – for good reasons. Or how going to a football game where the players bounce around on trampolines? That is not football, neither American nor European.
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If we assume that the reason why entertainment sells is the same as for every other product, i.e. that people want a certain job to get done, then surprising the audience by not providing what was promised is the worst idea ever, even worse than UGC (a UGC Zelda at least could be make like a Zelda, but there is no saving grace for Spirit Tracks).
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But what about games completely new, that do not rely on old brand names? Surprise is still bad. People buy products to get a certain job done. So if they do not know what the product is actually about, how are they supposed to know which job it can perform? Such a game would be either skipped or picked up from the bargain bin for a few bucks.
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I agree it wasn’t surprise that was the moving factor for the Wii. The surprise people want from their video games is for it to come from the gameplay. A good game is constantly surprising. Civilization is a good game because I never know when those dirty Aztecs will nuke the Babylonians. But if the game was made as in ‘surprise! Now Civilization will be cell-shaded’, I’d be ‘WTF! Why is that necessary?’.
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Nintendo’s dogma of ‘surprise’ is nothing more than telling the customer to shut up and eat it. ‘Surprise’ is to allow the Nintendo developers to have perfect license in how they wish to make a game.
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When Metroid: Other M was facing criticism, Sakamoto responded, “But… we must do things differently. We must surprise.” Hear that, Metroid fans? Would you be unhappy to have gameplay resembling Super Metroid? What do you say? I thought so. You would not be unhappy at all.
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Just like when a new Civilization game comes out, I do not want ‘surprise’ in it. What I do want is a solid game that I can happily replay over and over.
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