A Theory on Games: The Nintendo Effect Debunked?

[Argon]

What with the rather unfortunate sales of MadWorld and GTA:Chinatown Wars, the analysts are up in arms and the hardcore game devs are sorry they laid eyes on the Wii. Some say it's because the Wii really is owned by old people, kids, and girls. Some say it's because of the recession. All that aside, I had to start thinking about games in general, and I've come to an interesting hypothesis.

I feel like there are two overarching categories of "fun" when it comes to video games:
1. Highly competitive, "thrill of the hunt" games that pump adrenaline and are fueled by your drive to win. Most competitive sports fall into this category, as do FPS, RTS, and other games. There's a clear notion of "winning means someone is losing." It doesn't have to be a real person, it could be that ugly Zombie staring you in the face, but you are given the option and often the duty to cut him down, and show him who's boss. You play these games to win.
2. Games which tickle a "pleasure spot" in our minds, that make us feel good, without increasing our pulse or making it feel like we have to "win" something. The Sims is one of these games. Brain Age is one of these games. Super Mario Galaxy is a little bit of both, but most of the fun is running around the world and experiencing the wonders. The first Zelda probably wasn't one of these games, but TP definitely puts emphasis on experiencing the world. Katamari Darmacy, Tetris, Solitare. Ookami. These games focus less on the ends (winning/losing) and more on the means (getting tetrises just feels awesome. Admit it). Viva Pinata is one of these games.

Now comes the tricky part. I feel like the people who own 360s really like type 1 games, and the people who own Wiis and DSes really like type 2 games. As we well know, Viva Pinata performed pretty disappointingly, and so have MadWorld and GTA CW. Is this really some recession game or age/gender/hardcore-ness issue?

I feel like Nintendo's philosophy pursues the second type of fun, specifically avoiding the first. And that a lot of third party titles (say, God of War, or Halo) actively pursue the first over the second. I love Zelda, because I love the puzzles and the world it immerses me in. I love how the boss fights are exciting, interesting, and yet not cruel gauntlets of button mashing. I know the thrill of pulling a gravity hammer on someone, or sticking some guy before he can even see me. It's not the same thing.

Is it possible that the people who play Nintendo games, don't play third party games as much, because it's just a different kind of fun? I can't explain how RB2 performed other than pointing the finger at GH which is winning simply by virtue of brand name recognition, but it would explain why MarioKart Wii, which honestly is the worst MarioKart I've ever played, sold so well. And why MadWorld flopped. MadWorld is awesome. Not deep, not amazing, but it is filled with moments of pure awesome.

Thoughts?

[vrrroom]

Debunked? All you did was put a sugarcoated spin on the now proven factual argument of "Nintendo is for kids and casuals."

[Fyrus]

Rock Band may not have sold as much copies, but with DLC it's probaby been more successful than GH.

[dz06lt]

viva pinata sold well enough to garner a sequal and a spin off party game so i dont think you can say it has had terrible sales

[rbbdrooger]

It's a good theory. I can agree that the games that fall under #2 have a broader appeal, even though I enjoy the games that fall in the first catagory more.

[tr1p1ea]

You dont think that its a little early to be calling the sales of some games that only just launched disappointing?

[rbbdrooger]

Originally Posted by tr1p1ea

You dont think that its a little early to be calling the sales of some games that only just launched disappointing?

The sales in the launch month are usually a pretty good indication. Of course, there are exceptions. I wouldn't be surprised if GTA Chinatown Wars sales pick up due to word of mouth.

[Olorin]

Games on Wii often seem to have longer legs than on other systems. Maybe it's mostly the first party games, but Boom Blox also started out with disappointing sales and ended up with over half a million sold (which they were happy with)

And don't Mario Kart and Brawl fit in your first category ? Those games can be pretty competitive and both sold very well.

[Argon]

Originally Posted by Olorin

Games on Wii often seem to have longer legs than on other systems. Maybe it's mostly the first party games, but Boom Blox also started out with disappointing sales and ended up with over half a million sold (which they were happy with)

And don't Mario Kart and Brawl fit in your first category ? Those games can be pretty competitive and both sold very well.

Mario Kart and Brawl CAN be pretty competitive. I agree wholeheartedly. But are they as competitive as Gran Turismo or other 360 and PS3 racing franchises? Mario Kart Wii has more rubber banding than any previous edition, which already had enough rubber banding to make the game exploitable. We all know when to use our lightning bolts: when we're in second, or when we see our friend jumping over something.

Brawl...brawl is less competitive than Melee. And it also has the "balancing" factors of items, and furthermore, let's get to the core of it: they're both fun to play, even if it's your first time. This isn't true of, say, Tekken, or Halo, or GoW, especially if you're playing online.

GTA:CW and MadWorld are both titles which probably went through a LOT more development time and money than Boom Blox. What I'm more inclined to believe is that people who buy "hardcore" games buy now, buy repeatedly, bury often. People who buy "casual" (and vrrroom my point is that casual games can be different KINDS of fun in ways that hardcore games don't even aspire to) games buy when they get interested, which doesn't correspond to release day.

[PirateThom]

No company is going to say they're disappointed with sales. EA were happy with Dead Space and Mirror's Edge sales as well.

There's a lot of games that should sell more, and it's not just on Wii.