Kenzan Reviews The Video Game Market

[DrDetroit]

Good read, I'm surprised you gave the 360 a B- since it's the system for our general demographic, and I can't turn around without having someone raving about Halo or whatever.  I'm pulling for a massive PS3 turnaround too, but I know that's not going to happen.  Anyway, glad to see you didn't give the 360 an unabashed A++++.

I think a B for the Wii is completely fair based entirely on the issue with the library, though their commitment to keeping their games at or below $50 and the nostalgic qualities of the virtual console (three games a week aside) bumps it up to a B+ IMO.  The controls are incredibly addictive, and for me, it serves an overall purpose.  This system, more than any other, has proven to be an incredible stress reliever, and I only have a few games unique to the Wii with a handful of VC games.  Being able to bowl a few games or box a few rounds at 2 in the morning because I don't want to think about work anymore rocks exponentially more in this capacity than my old standbys (Any GTA, State of Emergency on PS2). 

I hold onto these things forever (I still have my Sega CD and 32X), and in that regard this system is even better for someone in my situation.  I don't have the time to invest in massively complex game after massively complex game.  My wife likes some of the old Nintendo games on the VC, and she is more or less normal.   Plus, even if with the inevitable major hardware upgrade in the next decade, it's going to be good when we have kids, because no child should grow up not knowing the opening chords from Super Mario Brothers.  It might not be a man-sized system in the increasingly narrow and archaic sense of masculinity, but then again, nobody ever accused hardcore gamers of being socially aware, philosophically competent or capable of intense self-awareness.  It is a fun system, and that is the entire point of it. 

I was thinking about buying a 360 next summer if I pass my prelims, but I'm more and more uncertain about doing that.  The fact that it's more or less all shooters and sports games that are more fun on the Wii really detracts from its value.  I have enough violence in my life without Halo, thanks.  The number of people who have had to send their system in for repairs also makes me really nervous, because I want to be able to turn my system on 10, 15 years from now and have it work.  I treat these things like long term investments and not a short term expensive compulsion.  If you're going to do that, just go legit and become a gambler, the casinos are a much bigger rush than anything your system can offer.  Does anyone have anything good to say about the 360?  I need to know.

[Brick Prior]

The Wii's accessibility factor is amazing- nothing beats a group of folks ranging from their late twenties to their early sixties getting around before the Super Bowl and playing drunken Wii Sports golf.  My dad still can't find a Wii on the shelf around here- he just wants to sit and surf the internet on his big screen TV for cheap.

As far as other systems go, I plan to pick up an Xbox 360 eventually because I actually dug the Xbox the first time around... sans Xbox Live shenanigans, of course.  Getting online to get my ass kicked in DOA (no Halo multiplayer here- even close friends of mine are fucking weird about that game) only to hear the wonderful verbal stylings of a 12 year old obsessed with the word 'fag' and various racial epithets at three o'clock in the morning on the weekends has lost its charm.  I did, however, think that the original Xbox was a much better alternative to the PS2 during the last generation; it reminded me of the Dreamcast with the diversity of its game library, only it had a much larger user base and was, you know, successful.

There is, of course, the possibility that I'll get a PS3.

...yeah, I'm lying.

[Sasha Kenzan]

http://attackedbygorillas.com/2007/09/27/kenzan-reviews-the-video-game-market/

Also, once again, do not stray from civil discussion.

[Sasha Kenzan]

Actually, there are some good points to the Xbox 360 for a casual "pick up and play for 15 minutes" gamer.  All you really need is Dead Rising and to skip the cinemas.  I usually don't like sandbox games, but fighting a horde of zombies that have invaded a shopping mall and using whatever you can find as a weapon is amazing fun.

Also, the big draw for a gamer such as yourself would be the Live Arcade.  There are a lot of really awesome classic games that the VC doesn't have that would make it worth your time and money.  There are some great games on there, too... not just classics, either, but fresh, new games with simple gameplay that remind you why you're a gamer in the first place.  Look at the list of games on there... so much fun is available.  EDIT: Also, and my words can't really stress my excitement here, but Ikaruga and Radiant Silvergun, two of the best vertical scrolling shooters you'll ever play, will be available for the Live Arcade sometime in Q4 2007.

I was really tempted to give the Wii a B+ based on the VC (I mean, they did put Breath of Fire 2 on there) as well, but the stream of games is just too slow for my liking.

[SaikyoCrusher]

For myself, I'm still happy with my PS1, but if it comes down to it I'll go with the Wii. Nintendo is like an old friend long missed.

[Architect of Awesome]

As Kenzan can probably tell you, I'm a huge 360 fan.  The VC is great (Ninja Turtles is still an awesome side-scroller), and the game selection is broad enough to satisfy even my rabbid ADD.  While I'm not a drooling, scream at your mom, hump your corpse Halo player, I have enjoyed the franchise quite a bit over the years (I'll talk more of that over in another thread), and Dead Rising is simple fun to the max.  I make it a point to play my 360 games at least once a day, no matter what's going on.  I love that machine, and I will keep loving it until it dies and Microsoft has to send me another one.  And that machine will be loved until IT dies, and Microsoft releases the X-Box Take Your Money, and I buy that.

The Wii on the other hand, begins to annoy me.  The constant assault on my eye nerves when I walk into the store is appalling.  I'm all about innovation in conrols, and I know that graphics don't make the game, but for crying out loud, the staggering amount of crap that shows up for this sytem makes me want to vommit.  The VC on the Wii makes me yearn for the simpler days again, but it's not enough anymore.  To be honest, my Wii has gone untouched since I beat Metroid, and if Nintendo doesn't come up with something good soon, it may go untouched for quite some time.  I.  NEED.  MORE.

While I can't really conteset Kenzan's ratings, I feel that the Wii (despite is revolutionary controls) is the weaker of the two consols overall.

[Axel Night]

One large complaint among developers is that the Wii has to be coerced into producing next-gen results.  One angry developer for EA put it as "two Gamecubes taped together".  This is hardly new territory in console gaming.  In fact, it has been the foundation of console development since the dawn of time.  You have a limited pool of resources, and he who puzzles them together in the prettiest and funnest way wins.  That's why NES games from the early '90s look infinitely better than they did 5 years before.  The programmers learned the tricks and tweaks to make the system work for them.

So, in this, Nintendo isn't at fault so much as they just were the only ones to make a console.  Everyone else made a low-end PC (a tradition slowly initiated by, I believe, the Dreamcast, when Sega chose to use some actual PC parts to save on development costs).  Perhaps a stale move, since almost every developer out there today is a PC developer.  Nintendo isn't lacking 3rd party support because people don't want to take the risk.  They lack it because no one knows how to program a console anymore.  So in some respects, the Wii has no place being compared to the PS3 or 360.  They're almost not even the same market.

I'm curious to see how the Wii's slightly tighter grip on the market takes consoles in the next generation.  While I can't say I don't like the 360 or PS3, I don't like the overall direction.  I have visions of $1000 consoles with printers and Microsoft Office.  I'm tired of PC gamers telling me their computer can do anything a console can, but with services like GameTap handing me almost 1000 games for the same as 2 NES VC titles a month, Microsoft porting their 360 games to Vista (don't get me started on that rant), and more new titles coming out every month than the PS3 has even promised us in its, thus far, lifetime, I lack sorely for counter argument.  At least with a Wii, I can look the PC gamers in the eye, prance about with my wiimote, and shout "hey, look what I can do!"  And if I look retarded whilst doing so, it matters not.