I knew it was an incredibly bad idea to get mixed in with the Nintendo fan boy crowd, but Engadget had a story today that I just couldn’t pass contributing too. After forty back and forth comments between people I think I am going to take my hat out of the ring and bring it over here for my one reader to ponder.
I don’t want to go down the road of taking up space here for information you can get from the link above but basically what was a story about Nintendo not showing their new system at E3 turned into a “Visual Style Over Game Play” or “Game Play Over Visual Style” debate.
Any one that knows me knows which answer I jumped on first… I am an eye candy whore! And on top of amazing visuals I want realism, and if possible and warranted in the game: gore, violence and cursing would be nice additions. I want my “Next-Gen” hardware to surpass all my expectations and I am all about the specs and numbers and the greatness it can pose to my future gaming experience. I expect my XBOX 2 and PlayStation 3 to be at the $300 mark and I know that Microsoft and Sony will make me want it.
So taking that into account, and my various comments in the discussion on the Engadget site, why did I do one excruciating 19 hour play through of Doom 3 and eagerly put it back on the shelf but yet gave an entire year of my life to Animal Crossing and its horrid visuals? Doesn’t Doom 3 possess everything that I wanted in a video game as mentioned above? The closest thing you can do in Animal Crossing in regards to telling another animal to “Fuck Off!” is to not fetch their damn notebook that they left somewhere. Why did Mike and I fight over who got to go to Nook’s store every morning when he opened at 9:00 to get first dibs on furniture?
So is game play more important than visual style? And do games make up the ultimate future of a game system and not how many polygons it can push? For me it is a tough call. Using Animal Crossing as an example, if Nintendo would have released another version for GameCube I would have bought it in an instant and kissed another year of my life goodbye. But do I give a shit about the portable version they have coming out for their handheld system? Absolutely not… because I loathe the Nintendo DS.
I really don’t see where I am going with this conversation which is the exact reason I stopped posting on Engadget and brought my feelings over here. Maybe “Player From Day One” Dwayne or “Game Developer” Karl can help me realize my true feelings here.
January 19th, 2006 at 12:39 pm #Mickey
Hmmm… why do you hate the DS? I know reasons exist, but I like that Nintendo took a pretty risk with it. I sold my GBA when I got a DS as a gift, and now I use it to mostly play GBA games.
But I still like it!
January 19th, 2006 at 12:39 pm #Abraham
Well in one word: Stylus. I mean I can appreciate where Nintendo was going and trying to break the mold and all that stuff. I just don’t want to play Metroid with a stylus… call me crazy.
When Animal Crossing DS comes out I really will be seriously tempted, but again, for the game and not the system. However by then I may have a handful of PSP games that I will care about just as much. Nintendo better hurry!
January 19th, 2006 at 12:40 pm #Monica
Okay, knowing you and “game developer” Karl, as I do, I sincerely believe there has to be a delicate balance between “eye candy” and a “video game”. Not being a gamer myself and knowing that I will probably never pick up Doom3 and play it, I have to say that the place most video games fall flat on their face is in their entertaiment value. Since I don’t play games (and mostly view them on the sofa sitting next to Karl) I have to say that I see a really good games as a 60 hour interactive movie. Something where you can connect with the characters, make a decision that can ultimately lead to their survival or death, and feel a great sense of accomplishment when you make the right choices. Video games should be the alternate reality that we all wish we could live in. Whether it be fighting off psudo zombies for 4 weeks straight while obtaining every arsenal ever invented or getting up every morning hoping to find that last piece to complete that new set of furniture for your house, the game has to give you a reason to keep picking up the controller. Most video games now a days think they can tempt people in with pretty graphics but as soon as people realize they can get the same thing at a theater for 1/8 of the price they put it back down. Just my 2 cents and coming from a someone who played Harvest Moon GBA for 6 months straight, I don’t have a lot of weight on this topic but I do live with a very passionate gamer