4 Reasons Why Nintendo Is Successful

Pretty much everyone has heard of Nintendo. In fact, everyone I’ve ever met has heard of Nintendo. Or at least, one of its games. But how come everyone seems to know about Nintendo anyway? What makes Nintendo so successful, that if I ask a random guy on the train who made Mario, he would (probably) know?

So here are some of my thoughts on this:

1.    Nintendo comes up with original and practical ideas

You might’ve heard of this one for a lot of things, but trust me, it’s actually impossible to think of a truly original idea. I’m sure Nintendo’s had its fair share of lawsuits on copyrights and etc, but there are some ideas and concepts that blew out the rest of the gaming world. 

Take Super Mario Bros - possibly one of the world's most iconic games in all of history, had a control scheme and jumping system that blew every other game out of the water. It was one of Nintendo’s brainwaves. It amazed the gaming world … and that’s what original and practical ideas do.

2.    Nintendo always has a thing for polish

Really, it’s true. For pretty much every Nintendo product, there’s always some sort of polish in it. Especially how they create the controls and how it responds back to you. 

Remember the old DS? Well, Nintendo wanted to make it seem better by introducing the DS Lite and it kept going and going. Just polishing up the last one for the next. Plus, compared to others, Nintendo’s controls/gameplay/presentation are always fine-tuned to the maximum, while others tend to overlook these things.

3.    It’s more than what it seems with Nintendo

Because there are some true geniuses in Nintendo, there’s always more than what meets the eye in their products. Diamonds in the rough, as they say. Skyward Sword’s an example. At the start of the game, all of the events come together to make you actually like Zelda’s character, so you feel like she’s a friend. And when she’s kidnapped, you want to rescue her – just like Link. It’s these amazing things you don’t really notice that make Nintendo stand out so well.

4.    Nintendo has amazing people in it

Think about it; without Satoshi Tajiri, Shigeru Miyamoto, Eiji Aonuma, and the like, Nintendo wouldn’t be what it would be now – and Pokemon, Mario, Zelda, etc, would not have existed. And if they didn’t exist, what would the gaming world be like? 

And what about their revolutionary ideas? Most of which brought a trend along with them. Motion gaming? Touch screen gaming? Manual targeting? There’s probably more, but they all come back to Nintendo’s amazing people.

Without the above, Nintendo would probably be struggling in the gaming world. But, because it does have the above, Nintendo remains an absurdly strong competitor in the gaming world. Yep. And plus, I can’t wait till the Wii U.

1001 Games You Must Play Before You Die

In this huge world of gaming, there are some true masterpieces. Especially The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. (I've been playing it for a while...)

A very nicely named book named "1001 Games You Must Play Before You Die" cab serve as a guide for your pre-death gaming. It's basically a compilation of many games, from the old 70's to 2010, handpicked by game critics around the world.

Ok, maybe you don't HAVE TO play every game, as some of the suggestions can be a bit off track. But there are some pretty good suggestions in there, and it makes for a useful little read, though an extremely heavy one. 1001 games is a lot, trust me.

If you're a hardcore gamer, then I reckon this'll become your next guide to life.

My Game Creations

You know how sometimes there’s a game that you really like … and the developer hasn’t made a sequel for it? Or if there’s a huge flaw in a game that you think you can fix up?

Well, I’ve gotten those feelings a lot in the past, and so I came up with a couple of my own ideas for a game. But back then, they were more of a lingering thought, than something I’d bother to record down on paper.

So now, I’ve decided to share it with the Internet – here’s a list of some of my ideas:

·         A sequel to an old RPG called Sudeki – a game called Sudeki II (obvious much)

·         A minigame collection – and I haven’t found a name for it.

·         A fantasy/sci-fi shooter - and I’m thinking up of names

·         A spin-off for Dead or Alive; more specifically the character Kasumi

Granted, it’s not much of a list, but these are growing ideas. I’ve spent most time on Sudeki II, mostly because it was my first idea. Here’s a little introduction:

Sudeki II

Now, the first Sudeki was pretty mediocre– it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t mind-blowing either. Somehow, I took a weird liking to it, and I really wanted to know more about it. And one day, an idea hit me; I could just make up Sudeki II myself! And back then, I didn’t have much of a life either.

Might I add that the cover girl seems to have a fear of clothing...

Basically, Sudeki II is an action adventure RPG, like Zelda, and while it’s not as open-ended as the likes of Skyrim, it’s going to have some of the open-world traits of the latter. I’m still working on the plot, but it’ll continue soon after the original, and I’m starting to get a good image of the combat system – it’s going to be like an action game, and after playing a bit of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, it’s probably going to resemble it. The art direction will follow the first game, and I’ve taken some inspiration from Fable as well.

Minigame Collection

After playing minigame collections like Wii Sport and its sequel, Wario SmoothMoves, Go Vacation, and others, I felt a bit inspired by them. And I also noted the huge list of terrible minigame collections. So I wanted to create a good minigame collection. And that was it.

Something like this ... Except maybe minus the awesomeness of the MotionPlus

I was thinking I’d take a Wii Sport Resort-like take on the game, except with a few touches of Go Vacation, like an explorable island. I was thinking I might take it even further, to even a Sims type game.

Don't ever judge a game by it's cover ... even if it looks absolutely gorgeous.

Fantasy/sci-fi Shooter

I came up with this not too long ago – I was watching a friend play Halo, and after that, I watched Excalibur Brothers do a review on a game called Undying, and those two games gave me some inspiration.

I haven’t really thought the game through – just a few floating ideas that don’t really mesh together. Maybe guns and hands for sci-fi magic?

Dead or Alive spin-off (Kasumi Gaiden?)

After watching one of the Dead or Alive 5 gameplay footages I found on YouTube, I was pretty excited. And Kasumi, one of my favourites, was looking pretty awesome

And after the “bloody disaster” (as quoted by IGN) that was Ninja Gaiden III, I wanted a ninja game that would satisfy my need for action, and a good storyline, as opposed to the confusing betrayal after betrayal in Ninja Gaiden III.

Just imagine this in Ninja Gaiden style...

So I put Kasumi and Ninja Gaiden together which = Kasumi Gaiden!

It’s still a working process, but I’ve had several ideas, like manipulating past and present together for storyline, and exploring in more detail about ninjas, and Kasumi’s clan – the Dead or Alive games didn’t give too many details about the actual ninjas.

You might be hearing about these games later, in my blog, so keep an eye out! It’d also be great if I had opinions too, so if you think something is wrong, or you’d like to suggest something, comment on the article!

Fable - The Journey: Destined or Doomed?

Microsoft’s Kinect hasn’t had the best life as a peripheral. It turned out to be one of those gimmicks where you go “oh yeah, I’ve got it, but it don’t really use it” and it sorta sits in the corner for a couple of months. A bit like all of those Wii peripherals, but not quite as bad. (Wii Zapper, Wii Tennis Racket, Wii Balance Board, etc…)

But will Fable: The Journey change what we see of the Kinect? Well, actually, I doubt it. Let’s see what it’s got now.

Apparently, you use gestures to create magic spells and attack enemies, and you use imaginary reins to control your “off rails” horse. And you can yell out spells for more effect, or something like that. And something about healing your horse, or hurting it more. Bad news is that there are no guns. No swords. Just magic.

So are all of these new add-ons really worth it? On paper, it sounds wonderful.

… But basically, in reality, you wave your arms around in a really annoying combination of frustration and desperation, trying to get the damn Kinect to work.

This has probably applied to 40% of Kinect users.

And when you try to yell out the spell and all, it probably doesn’t register your voice, and you end up looking like an idiot who has confused Earth and Albion.

The only thing more annoying is when Nintendogs do this.

And when you try to heal your horse/hurt it even more, you are completely baffled by the confusing moral system. Molyneux said that if you heal your horse, then something else will die, or you can simply hurt the horse more. I think it’d be better just to do nothing.

I hope Theresa doesn't get height sickness or anything...

And knowing Molyneux, some of this might be less then what it sounds like. 

But, even though some of this might turn out badly, some of it does sound promising, like if you use more emotion in your voice when you’re yelling out spells, it detects louder sound waves and produces a stronger spell. The fact that it’s off rails is also a good indicator – the Fable series would just not be the same.

But will this all unfold nicely? Will this game finally make people turn to Kinect? Personally, I don’t think so. It will probably make a nice addition to the Kinect’s line-up of weak but amusing games, and some of these promises will, like other Kinect games, make for an interesting change.

Fable: The Journey might not be a masterpiece, but it (hopefully) won’t be a disaster either. It might be destined to become the sole breadwinner of the Kinect ... or it could be doomed to another disappointed gamers' cupboard. Either one.

Pokemon - Is it absolute Trubbish?

Everyone’s heard of Pokemon. Whether or not you’re a diehard Pokefan or not, there’re some huge issues with some of the latest entries. Is Pokemon trying and dying? Oh yes it is.

Let’s take a look back on the old Pokemon Red and Blue, shall we?

Created in 1996 by Satoshi Tajiri, its fame has its roots from a little game about a boy (and you can only ever play as a boy) who can somehow command the strongest creatures in the universe ... and is still about 11 years old.

Back then all you had were:

·         1:1 battles in a turn-based style.

·         151 Pokemon who actually represent real animals, plants, and weird thingies.

·         Some typical RPG stuff (fetch quests *cough cough)

·         A whole ton of stuff to do after you’ve beaten the storyline

And most of all, Pokemon gave you a magical motivation to get everything you can in the Pokemon universe.

Now let’s fast forward to 2011’s Pokemon Black and White.

Somehow, names like Reshiram and Zekrom made it in, representing something like this.

Yeah, I don’t think yin and yang look very much like these dragon-esque ... erm, things?

Here’s a list of other blemishes in Black and White:

·         A tried-and-true-and-tiring formula; I think we’re all getting a bit sick of how it starts you off and how everything flows

·         The new gimmicks (the eye-hurting 3D-ish perspectives, triple battles, new moves) are really more of an excuse to say “we’ve run out of ideas.”

·         Another bunch of weak Pokemon in the lineup makes others overpowered

Sooo true...

·         Some of the Pokemon just don’t make sense; in naming and concept

Oh my god. What has happened to this thing?! And more like,  what the hell is it?!

·         It’s lost the “beginning of an adventure” and “world at your fingertips” sort of feeling.

·         It’s also lost the “youth-ish” feeling; you look about the teen-ish age in Black and White. Why would you want to be capturing weirdly named creatures rather than playing Modern Warfare 3 or Skyrim at that age?

Pokemon’s fallen from its original feeling, and yet, is still basically doing the same thing Red and Blue did for years. Now, the feelings have fallen to an all-time low, the creators seem to use robotic generators to create the new nonsensical Pokemon, and the “Pokemon” feeling seems to weaken just a bit with each game.

Although, it’s not like it’s the worst game of the Pokemon series. Black and White does have its redeeming features, and it is trying to appear more unique.

From Mewtwo ...

... To Trubbish

But the bottom line? Pokemon, I’m sad to say, but you’re starting your fall from Mewtwo, to Trubbish.

8 Ways To Cope With In-Game Frustration

We all get frustrated at hard games. And it’s not a smart way to tackle insanely hard bosses/puzzles/glitches.

1)    Take a long shower

It’s one of the best options. Most of the time, the solution to your incredibly hard boss fight/puzzle of other problem hits you like a brick when you’re showering.

2)    Take a nap

This sometimes doesn’t work, but when you’re frustrated, after a good nap, you can tackle your problem ... again. And if it doesn’t work, nap again. And remember to do stuff like do the dishes.

  

3)    Eat chocolate/or similar dessert

Sweets are good for you! Especially when you’re mad! Chocolate does a really good job of making you happy ... but drinking five cans of Coke, eating a chocolate cake, stuffing yourself with caramel ice-cream, and heaping yourself with sugary candy works too! Just be careful with what you eat....

4)    Hit/Break/Smash/Punch something

This method works well with violent people ... which is pretty much everyone. Little brothers/sisters are good targets, but just watch out for who’s viewing the scene. But pillows work too, and the floor is good as well. If you have fists of steel, that is.

Swearing also vents out that anger. Try not to do it in front of people you don't need to be swearing at. 

5)    Listen/Sing to your favourite music

I’ve used this way quite often, and it works pretty well; just dance up a little jig and sing along (in case you’re a bad singer, don’t try this with other people listening.) Let the music wash away your anger....

6)    Watch a comedy show

Ok, it might be the 100^th time you’ve watch this really funny episode of a comedy show, but it puts you in a good mood. Laughing solves everything. Laughing a lot, and choking on the candy/ice-cream/cake/chocolate you ate earlier might not be a good idea. But then again, laughter is the best medicine.

7)    Play a sport (if you’re a sporty person)

If you’re a sporty person, this option might be a last resort-type thing. But at least when you volley/kick/hit/etc the ball to someone, you can vent out that anger. It’s worth a try.

8)    Play an easy and DESTRUCTIVE game

Everyone loves this. Breaking stuff makes you feel good. And the easiness helps too. If you don’t have such a game ... bad luck. Boom time!

A Welcome to Gaming!

Hey all!

This blog is all about gaming. It's got a bit of this, bit of that, and pretty much sums up what's happening in the gaming world, and a little bit more. I've got some hardcore critiques on games, some interesting lists you might want a peek at, a few articles where I compare games, and well, maybe some trivia to go along the way! Oh, and all of it has my wacky sense of opinion in it!

Erm, why are you all staring at me... Did I say anything weird?

Of course, I'll be writing different types of articles; they'll be put into categories, which you can access on the navigation bar at the top of the page - which means if you like a certain type, you can read about all you want!

Here's a short description of the categories:

• VS: A comparison between two gaming concepts
• 10 Things: It's not always ten things, but it's a list of gaming trivia on a topic
• Gaming News: The title is pretty self-explanatory.
• Reviews: When I say reviews, I don't just mean games; I mean stuff like a game's graphics, or maybe a console.
• Trivia: It's some miscellaneous stuff, like links or actual trivia that I've found

Just saying, at the moment I'll post once per week or so, but later, I'll start posting more, like 2 - 4 times per week.

I welcome all questions, comments, and opinions, so if you have anything to say, post in the Comments area. If you like my blog, please subscribe!

Cheers!