Or Maybe I'm Just Crazy?
This E3 has brought one thing to my attention that I just can't let go. I don't know why, but I have to vent and maybe somebody out there can help me figure out what's going on in my head. Are the people in the "games media" giving the games out there a fair shake?
I don't really know where to begin so I guess I'll just come out with the sort of biggest thing on my mind: why is everybody just writing off Nintendo games right now? After this E3 all I hear is how great Sony and Microsoft are doing, but nobody seems to be talking about the Nintendo Consoles. And here's the thing, I'm not just talking about Mario and Zelda, I'm talking all of the showings from developers like High Voltage, Climax, and even big wigs like EA and Ubisoft. The only things people seem to be interested in are the big-budget spectacles of the other two consoles, and that's fine, that's understandable, that's great. I'm excited, too. But I'm ALSO excited for Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, New Super Mario Bros Wii (though I do loathe that title), and Red Steel 2. Yet I never hear anything about the ambition of these titles.
I am aware that Climax had a big showing of the new Silent Hill, because IGN has something like a 15 minute walkthrough of the game posted on their site. So somebody else had to have seen it, right? But why am I not hearing about it? That title sounds hell-of ambitious, but it's being shadowed by sequel after sequel. People keep talking about how great Modern Warfare 2 is, and sure that's fine, but it's still just more Modern Warfare. I'm never one to complain about more of the same (because hell, I really want Mario Galaxy 2, and would be a flaming hypocrit to say otherwise), but am I asking to much to at least have discussions for new games? Scribblenauts was at E3. Have you heard of it? Not likely unless you listen to IGN's Nintendo Podcasts or maybe caught this little article burried deep within the trenches of G4's The Feed, where it was called the sleeper hit of 2009. Okay so one person recognized it and is claiming that it's one of the most original, ambitious titles this year. So why is nobody else in the games media, the very people who are supposed to be bringing us these kinds of features, talking about it? Instead it's just article and podcast over and over about how great the new God of War looks. (Here's a hint: It promises to be God of Warrier than the first.) I'm not saying they're wrong for being excited for God of War, just because I'm not. That's fine, that's their thing. But you can NOT deny the ambitious titles and the inventive titles just because they don't have the budget of the nextUncharted. I know not every outlet can catch this, but if I have to go digging around the netscape to find articles on the titles I'm interested in, and that I think deserve a broader look... Well I just feel like something's wrong there. But I understand where the personal bias could be an issue.
It just seems, as I've stated but will do so here to signify wrapping up, that the bigger budget sequels that are easy to get excited about are always the stories plastered on the front page. Even when people do pay attention to Nintendo consoles, who I still feel get very much snubbed by the gaming media as a whole and with a grotesque amount of unfairness, all they tend to focus on is the Mario's and the Metroid's. Meanwhile new games like The Grinder get swept on by and lost in the torrential force of the "main stream." And if we can't count on our press of choice to do so effeciently... and maybe this is me looking into a much more grim and exagerated future... but why would people make new games only to see them underperform and get lost because they didn't have 15 million bones to throw their game's boxart onto subway cars?
So yeah, I'll admit it, this stems mostly from Nintendo getting snubbed on all my E3 wrap up coverage accross the board, but it's not just them it's all the games that try so hard to squeeze onto the smaller consoles. I don't even want to get into the argument about me not thinking that God of War is at all a decent series, or why I think New Super Mario Bros. Wii (bad name withstanding) is one of the most exciting titles for me, personally. So that's not what I want to hear from people on the comments. No, I am not a fanboy. I'm just a fan of video games who thinks that some of the more exciting games are getting left behind in the virtual dust, and I don't want to hear any of those comments either. I'll save you the trouble: You're wrong about that. Moving in?
I'd love to hear any rational, thought out comments you people have. Maybe show me that I'm just missing something, or maybe help me to understand that while on to something, I'm not quite on the right track? Or even agree with me, that'd be nice. God knows that happens like once a month, if that. It's nice to feel right now and again, you know?
-Make it a good one.
Randy "Dr. Randle" Marr
PS: While I have you here, if you're one of those people that's pissed off about Left 4 Dead 2 (another title I don't much care for), can you do me a favor and go dance in traffic? I'd really like to never have to hear about how you're not going to buy the new Left 4 Dead because "the color pallete is to bright." You're an idiot and an embarassment to logic. Thanks.
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