The latest behavior from our good friends, the hardcore gamers, is that they are blaming Microsoft’s behavior with the Xbone, as well as the Game Industry direction, entirely on the Wii and ‘casual gamers’. This is why the hardcore deserve no sympathy and why they deserve the Xbone.
If there is a hardcore gamer reading this, let me ask him a question.
What would an anti-Industry game console look like?
It certainly wouldn’t placate to third parties.
It would be affordable for the consumers’ benefit instead of a console company subsidizing the hardware for third party companies.
It wouldn’t follow the AAA model. It offers games for everyone and not just within a narrow demographic strip for FPS shooters.
Classic games from the 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32/64 bit generations would be offered to compete with today’s games.
It would be 100% backwards compatible.
This console was the Wii. The Game Industry hated the Wii and talked smack about it even after its rocketing success (and it was rocketing). Many of us who had been boycotting the Game Industry recognized the console for what it was and bought it immediately. I bought my Wii on launch day (which places me in an exclusive club compared to the other Wii owners), and I have never bought a game console at launch before. So what possessed someone who never purchased a game console in nearly decades to rush out and buy one at launch?
Those who keep saying the Wii sold due to so ‘casual gamers OMG’ marketing are so far off into the Land of Stupid that you deserve the Xbone. The more the Wii went against the Game Industry, the more successful it became. My favorite part was putting out a new 2d Mario game for the Wii for holidays even though the Game Industry has made it damn clear 2d platformers are a ‘dead genre’. 2009 NPD results have a record amount of Wii sold skyrocketed by the ‘dead 2d platformer’ hahahaha.
The Wii was so revolutionary that not even Nintendo understands its appeal. The concept of a consumer orientated console that is anti-Industry and even anti-Nintendo (was there any mention of Nintendo or its IP in Wii Sports? Or of 3d as Nintendo’s passion has been for the past several decades?) was so shocking that only its sales performance shocked in equal amount. Then, I hear people say, “But the sales slowed down.” Yes. Did you not notice Nintendo was trying to re-unite with the Game Industry and kept putting out products against their consumers’ wants? Mario Galaxy DVDs so those 2d Mario fans convert to 3d Mario (the game Nintendo would rather make), Wii Music, Metroid: Other M, Animal Crossing Wii, and various other lazy crap. Much of Nintendo’s problems today are because of the consumers punishing Nintendo for their behavior at the latter parts of the Wii lifecycle.
All the people saying the 3DS sales are ‘good’ are showing us they don’t deserve to talk about sales at all. Nintendo is taking it in the shorts in order to move the 3DS with price cut after price cut. And yet, it still is falling behind the DS. “The 3DS has such an amazing library.” Bullshit. The DS had an amazing game library. 3DS is good only if you like Fire Emblem, Monster Hunter, and the generic Nintendo staple games. Nintendo is not crowing today about the 3DS for a reason. 3DS shows that Nintendo didn’t understand the DS success just as the Wii U shows that Nintendo didn’t understand the Wii success.
What gamers do not realize is that the NES was an ant-Industry console. The Game Industry DESPISED the NES. You have no idea how much they hated the NES. The Industry will frame their disgust in a context such as buying cartridges (i.e. they taking a risk) or content policing (oh no! The NES isn’t a PC!). I watched third party companies do everything they could to try to crash the NES. Trip Hawkins of Electronic Arts was the worst. If it wasn’t for the EA board threatening to fire Hawkins unless he put games on the NES, EA never would have signed on.
The Game Industry wasn’t happy with the SNES or Genesis either. They couldn’t control these game orientated console companies. It wasn’t until Sony and, later, Microsoft that they could find a non-game console company to put out a PC box and massively subsidize it. They expect this to be the norm now. Microsoft and Sony wont’ be able to afford to do this much longer. Then what will the Game Industry do?
When I saw the details about the Wii, I thought, “Finally! Someone made a perfect game console for ME!” When I see the details about the Xbone, I think, “Finally! Someone made a perfect game console for the hardcore.” They deserve this console. They truly do.
“But Malstrom, don’t you worry that all consoles will be like the Xbone in the future?” No. The Xbone isn’t about expanding the audience or anything of such. It is about obtaining as much revenue as possible with the limited audience they have. It is to squeeze blood from a stone. What other way is there to interpret the banning of used games, do console online checks every 24 hours, and the like? People who are boycotting the Game Industry, such as myself, will continue to boycott it. More will join my side and our ranks will swell. Those that go over to the Xbone will get reamed and probably convince themselves how much they enjoy getting reamed. They deserve what they get. In the same way, those who invest heavily in a Sony or Microsoft console and are shocked how used they are don’t get my sympathy. What do you expect from a non-game orientated console company? The Atari Crash had non-game companies make games. Today, we have non-game companies make consoles. Why are you surprised that Sony and Microsoft consoles keep highlighting non-games like watching the Price is Right?
The Wii was all about games. Some games may not be to your taste. But only a moron would expect every game to be to their taste.
The Wii was the BEST home gaming machine made since the Super Nintendo. Until the hardcore gamers realize the Wii’s true role in being the Anti-Industry force that it was and how Wii is the closest cousin to the Atari 2600 and NES, then the hardcore gamers deserve to be Xboned over and over again.