Either the “passionate gamer community at large” is tired this week, or the Wii has turned a corner. Why? It’s just a hunch, nothing concrete really, but the public perception of that little white console appears to be changing for the better.
Infendo freelancer Samfish (read: meaning he gets paid even less than zero!) was out in the field this week, taking notes, names and otherwise making some keen observations. What he saw was interesting, to say the least.
Have the so-called “hardcore” gamers started to come around on the Wii and its standard definition graphics, sound and storage capabiltities? Head on over the wall that we call the jump to see’and respond to’Samfishs’s astute observations.
It began with MadWorld, which we’ve covered pretty in-depth this week, but it didn’t end there. This little adventure started with that title, and the lack of a negative response about its Wii exclusivity, and turned into an all-out debate about another well-known title. In the end, the unthinkable: notoriously “high-end” gamer message boards and comment threads came to the defense of our plucky duct-taped console. To a grizzled, stubborn fanman such as myself, it was no surprise (my soapbox broke long ago from overuse), but to you fence-sitters or passersby, well, read on!
It seems like “they” have finally accepted the Wii and really embraced it in the last few days!
Take Mad World, most notably…in all the comment sections in blogs and message boards I frequent, for example, not once did I see any Nintendo-hating troll say something like “The Wii doesn’t deserve a game like Mad World!” Instead, it’s all been, “Wow this looks awesome” or (less often) “I don’t think this game is my cup of tea”.
But aside from the regular Nintendo-hating jack asses, there was nary an insult hurled at the Wii. It was odd.Check it out:
http://kotaku.com/5009168/madworld-a-fun-romp-through-dismemberment
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/15/platinum-games-madworld-eyes-on-first-screens/ (you’ll find me jibbering away in this one about how great Mad World will be!)
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=295914
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=294367There’s almost no Wii hate in any of those comments! I was wondering why I wasn’t feeling slightly irritated the last few days. Mind you, I’m not saying it’s 100% by any stretch…but reading through, you can get a good feel for the tone, I think.
But it’s more than that, though. Read the tone on the Beyond Good & Evil 2 threads:
http://kotaku.com/391065/beyond-good–evil-2-is-for-ps3-360 (there’s one Wii troll here, but he gets shouted down)
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=295854There are quite a few people arguing that it should have been on the Wii. The discussions are relatively civil (for a video game discussion on the internets…). The usual canards about “this game deserves HD graphix STFU!” and others that people use to write off the Wii weren’t really brought up. People suggesting that BG&E2 would be best suited for the Wii weren’t met with disdain! I’ve honestly not really seen that since the Wii was announced!
Also note the near universal praise for Lost Winds from gamers of all stripes (at least the multi-console owning ones…and ignore Game Spot) [Which we also covered this week — Jack]
Anyhow, just a smattering of my observations. Maybe I’m crazy and you’ll provide me with endless counter-examples, or maybe I’m just jumping the gun. Maybe GTA IV finally gave the babies their binkies. Who knows? But being the fan of all things Nintendo that I suppose I am, I haven’t felt the urge to go into Nintendo Defense Force mode much in the last week, which is unusual!
So, are the vocal minority members out there just too engrossed with Grand Theft Auto IV at the moment, or is the earth truly shifting under us? With Wii Fit coming soon, and E3 just around the corner, it’s in this blogger’s biased opinion that a Perfect Storm is brewing, bigger even than 2007, and it won’t be letting up until well after December. If at all.
[Thanks for the research, Samfish!!!]