31st May 2005, 2:18 PM
Quote:With Nintendo taking the number 1 spot, it all comes down to "If they want to". They want to take it without being aggressive, which I dont understand... maybe they just want to spend as little money possible?
I think that's definitely part of it, but the biggest part is simply that they are doing what they think is right... whether or not it'll actually help them or not. And, of course, what they think is right is being driven by what they think the Japanese market needs, not the American one... oh well.
Quote:I don't mind that too much if it stays in MMORPGs, particularly since that's not a genre that I play too much or at all really. But, if they start selling games in small parts, I'll sell my Xbox360 [if I get one] and never touch it or its games ever again.
It's annoying enough as it is, with just that one genre affected... this would be a horrible, horrible idea for MS to try. I definitely also hope it doesn't happen.
As for the article... it's a good list. The only problems come from challenge -- doing some of those things, like much better AI, no invisible walls, being able to jump over foot-high rocks, and not spend three hours going around to find the pickaxe and destroy the thing (to make up an example), reduce load times, better camera... those things are done as they are because it's so much harder to do them well. Not every team can. Still, there should be more of an effort made on those issues than there is now, for the majority of games, and the article is absolutely right to criticize them.
The other major category there is marketing... advertising the CG and not the ingame graphics, saying games are longer than they are, or have more features than they do (or making up irrelevant 'features' for the bullet-list) etc. This is done as it is of course because the companies know people are gullible and will listen... those kinds of things I just don't expect to see change. Not with the human race involved, anyway... the advantages of using deceptive marketing are just far too great for this kind of stuff to change, sadly.
Anyway... the best part is undoubtedly #14. :)
Oh, there is one I disagree on... #19, jumping puzzles in FPSes. When done well they can work just fine, as Jedi Knight for example shows.