So originally I had intended on this blog being about the gaming community as a whole, and I was going to talk about the Nintendo Fanboys, and then talk about the “Other” Fanboys, and then last but not least just talk about trolls in general.

But it was then that it hit me that games like Modern Warfare 2 were going to sell 7 million copies on their first day whether I hate that type of game or not. Or that the gaming community as a whole has become nothing but little children that are being force fed garbage time after time and yet they eat it up and are completely blind to the great content that is out there.  I do miss  games like Super Metroid or Duck Tales, but I also look forward to games like Mass Effect and Tales of Graces! With all this being said, let me just say a few words to each member of the gaming community:

“The Others” : I consider these to be the gamers that spend more time on Wii forums but are actually “fanboys” of the 360 or the ps3, and actually dislike the Nintendo Wii for “everything it stands for this generation.” Their statements always start with “looks like crap” when describing a Wii title or “this is why Nintendo has turned their backs on the hardcore, the wii is nothing but a toy.” The only thing I really have to say to these guys is this: You are the ones who forgot what gaming use to be about and it’s about time you grow up and move on. The argument that so many gamers use against the Nintendo Wii is that it has become a gaming console for the “casual,” yet if you actually ask someone to define what casual stands for, you will get as many different definitions as you do people. It’s seriously time we grew up and stopped treating every argument like a 50 pound orangutan throwing feces everywhere, and start realizing that Nintendo is just Nintendo, and there are no words to describe the Wii other than a successful console that could.

“The Ninty Fan” : Okay seriously, if you don’t own stock with Nintendo or if you aren’t the Marketing department of Nintendo; Get the Heck Over Yourselves!! Nintendo can screw up you know? One of the things that makes us human is the fact that we screw up every once in awhile, and I hate admitting it just as much as anyone else, but even Nintendo has their faults and we should embrace these faults and make sure Nintendo understands our complaints so that they can make a better product the next time. And one more thing: learn to fight back. If the 50 pound orangutan is throwing feces at you then it would probably best that you didn’t throw feces back, instead you must evolve and learn to put a cage around the orangutan and slowly drain the oxygen out of the room.

Everyone else: I understand that complaining about Nintendo this generation is the easy thing to do, but since when is having games that allow others to sit down and play with you a bad thing? Since when do we judge a book by the TV it runs on? And since when did the Marketing departments at the big wig studios such as EA stick mind control devices into your skull that told you there really is such a thing as a “hardcore” game, and those are the only games you need to buy? Also why does every game have to sell over 1 million to be successful? Just because a game has to sell a lot on the 360 to be successful does not mean it will have to sell that much on the Nintendo Wii to be successful, the development cost are a whole lot less for the Wii and many games have been successful without having to sell over 300k!

In conclusion: This one was much shorter than my other ones, but I am tired and I almost didn’t even do the part 3 to this one because of the recently events with Dragon Age: Origins and Modern Warfare 2. When games like Modern Warfare 2 sell over 7 million in their first day, while games like Dragon Age: Origins will be lucky if they break the 1 million mark: then I truly believe the gaming industry as a whole has lost it’s own grip on reality. No wonder games on the Wii don’t sell all that great sometimes, it’s not like great games on the other consoles sell as good as the mediocrity  that is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Part 2 can be found at: http://anothertomorrow.net/?p=106

When the Nintendo Wii hit the market is was hard to sort through all of the mini game collections / party games on the system to find the “diamonds in the rough.” But was this the fault of Nintendo? As the years went on the party games began to slow down and almost completely stop, but then Nintendo did something that nobody else saw coming; WiiFit. With the unheard of success of WiiFit the re-insurgence of low quality games hit the market once again with the theme of exercise in attempts to cash in on the popularity of WiiFit. It might come to surprise some of you reading, but my beef is not with the “casual” games that have come to the wii, in fact I would actually say that some of the casual games on the Nintendo Wii have done it 100 times better than a lot of games that were created for the core audience.

The problems I have with the Third Party developers arises when I see games like Dead Space: Extraction and think about what must be going through the heads of the companies behind a game like this. When I look at successful games like The Conduit or “No More Heroes” it purplexes me how Activision and EA haven’t learned from other companies about what is good or bad when it comes to releasing games on the Wii. Let’s look at some of the things that Third Party Developers could do better when it comes to their games on the Nintendo Wii.

1) Where is the Advertising?

Time after time I see games come and go on the Wii that get almost 0 advertisement space (anywhere) and then it also happens to be these exactly same companies that refuse to promote their own product, that complain about the sales time after time. The issue here is actually a complicated one, and will continue until the end of the Nintendo Wii’s life cycle if something doesn’t drastically change. I believe the whole “No money for Advertising on the Wii” mentality started at the beginning, back when Wii Play and Rayman Raving Rabbids where a complete success and all the companies had to do was ride the popularity of the Wii straight to the bank.

Do you remember when you were growing up and everyone always told you that the first impressions where always the most important? Unfortunately I believe that a bunch of lazy developers learned early on that if you selling a game for the Wii could be done with little to no advertising, and yet they never lost this mentality. I’m almost 100% sure that this idea of games selling on the wii with a “Grassroots” technique has carried over into present day on way more than a few games, and can also show why a few games get almost no advertising space even though they could be huge successes.

This is only a piece of the puzzle though and for the other piece of the puzzle I will look at Dead Space: Extraction; the prime example of a game gone terribly wrong when it comes to advertisement. I can remember the first time I learned that Dead Space: Extraction had even been released, it was an interview of EA talking about how horrible the sales had been. I can’t remember everything from my Marketing classes 2 years ago but I do know one thing: if the first time your costumers find out about your product being out, is when you are complaining about the sales of your product, you have done something horribly wrong. The real question really comes down to why EA didn’t Market the game in the first place! While the answer to that question can only truly be answered by EA themselves, I’m sure the Marketing of The Conduit had something to do with their strategy.

For months I have heard numerous people complain about the sales of The Conduit and I’m sure even the people at EA where paying attention to the sales of The Conduit to see how a well advertised game could do on the Wii. The biggest problem with this approach actually arises when you realize that The Conduit ended up selling enough for it’s publisher to be extremely happy with it’s sales and has even warranted a sequel, and the fact that The Conduit was also a new IP while Dead Space was the second game in the series! EA should have marketed the heck out of Dead Space: Extraction, but most importantly they should have actually listened to their player base.

2) Don’t necessarily listen to us 100% of the time, but a bone here and there is actually nice.

This section is very simple: When it seems like almost everyone you talk to is against the idea, don’t expect the game to sell well. This section can actually be about much more than just the Nintendo Wii, but unfortunately it also feels as if 3rd party developers take the install base of the Wii much less serious than the other consoles. When EA told everyone that the Dead Space game on the Wii was going to be an On-rails Shooter there was far more people complaining about the decision than praising EA for their choice. Now that Dead Space: Extraction is out and the sales are far from good, I almost wonder if EA wishes they could go back to early development and change this game to what the gamers wanted, instead of what “they” felt would be better for us.

Another game that disappoints me is the Madden franchise on the Wii which started as my favorite console to play the Madden games on back in 2006. In fact that year Madden ended up selling a lot of copies on the Wii and it was an excellent game that many of my friends and family enjoyed playing. Then it started as a small change here and there, and before we knew it the Madden games had changed completely on the Wii: The players in the game looked horrible, the game started acting more like a party game than a football game, and the advertising / box art became more of a gimmick than anything else. Instead of moving forward with the Madden Franchise on the Wii; EA decided they knew what was best for the Wii players and completely “revamped” something that didn’t need to be changed to begin with. The sales for Madden on the Wii this year were abysmal and I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before EA removes all support for the Nintendo Wii claiming that the owners of the Wii are the problem, which brings me to my third point:

3) Stop blaming the gamers for your mistakes and start looking at what you did to deserve the sales!

I don’t think I need to say anything about this, I’m pretty sure it speaks for itself.

4) Stop trying to create gimmick games, and give us something new!

“Madden, Dead Space: Extraction, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Soul Caliber: Legends, and Dead Rising: Chop Til You Drop”

What do all of these games have in common? Well if you guessed that all of them where all created under the impression that they would sell because they put a little bit of “Nintendo Wii waggle” into the game, or because another game in the same genre did incredibly well so they were trying to create the exact same gimmick, then you were correct.

It almost feels like some of the big Western Developers simply look at the Nintendo Wii as a console full of nothing but trash, and therefore deserves more trash and not a single quality game. A lot of people try to discredit others by saying that the Wii is underpowered and that the wii isn’t capable of games like Mass Effect in quality. This is completely untrue when all you have to do is look at the incredibly quality of Nintendo games that have come out this generation or even look at an incredible game such as Muramasa: The Demon Blade by a small Indie company, which looks and plays better than most games created by development teams with ten times the money.

I constantly read articles about companies complaining about the “quality” of the Nintendo Wii and how they refuse to create good games for the system. Companies such as Infinity Ward are usually the first ones to take a shot at the Wii when they get a chance. The only response I can give for companies like Infinity Ward or Valve is that I think they could produce an excellent experience on the Wii, and by not doing so, they are hurting themselves by limiting their own potential this generation. Step out from your little shell and see how great a game created by your development team could be on a system like the Wii, and you might just be surprised by the sales figures at the end of the day, just look at Treyarch.

5) In Conclusion

I would just like to say that the Nintendo Wii has a chance to immerse the gamer deeper into your game than you have ever been able to do to this point on a home gaming console. Nintendo has done an incredible job to this point at producing one triple A title after another since the release of the Wii 3 years ago, but Nintendo cannot keep the gamer satisfied 365 days a year for how ever many years the Nintendo Wii will be around. Wouldn’t it be a great concept if companies actually created incredible games for the wii that actually had big development budgets and even bigger marketing budgets?

I don’t know what the Third Party Developers are so afraid of, but game like Monster Hunter Tri are already proving that a game with a big budget on the Wii can sell Millions. It’s funny how when you set out to create a game that the gamers want, instead of following everyone else, you find yourself in a nice place. We don’t want more games on the wii, we just want more Quality Games on the Wii, that’s all we ask, and that’s all we want. Stop using the Wii user base for your own experiments so you can give the quality titles to everyone else but us, we would like you to give us some quality titles as well!

Part 1 can be found at: http://anothertomorrow.net/?p=85

Part 3 can be found at: http://anothertomorrow.net/?p=142

Three and a half years ago the gaming community was changed completely with the unveiling of the little white box known as the Nintendo Wii. Everyone was talking about it during E3 and it was apparent from Nintendo’s standpoint that the Wii might actually be able to carry them out of the mudslide they found themselves in with every new generation of home gaming consoles. Part 1 of this 3 part series will talk about the things that Nintendo has done wrong and / or right during this generation of gaming, and even where they might need to go next. (In Part 2 I will talk about Third Party Developers, and in Part 3 I will talk about the gaming community as a whole.) So without further a-due I give to you: Exploring the Nintendo Wii (Part1 of 3) -

Ever since I was 6 years old I was trained, just like so many other gamer my age, to look forward to the next Mario game, or to save up for the Nintendo console first, and then worry about the other consoles as you either 1) get more money or 2) they come down in price. At least that was what I always thought, and it wasn’t until I got into college that I learned the shocking truth; the number of Nintendo console buyers was decreasing exponentially over the period of Nintendo’s life and 3rd party developers were running away from Nintendo like they where the black plague after the whole N64 vs Ps1 fiasco. (Yes the Gamecube came out right as I was starting college) With the success of the Nintendo DS it was only a matter of time before Nintendo used what they had learned from their hand-held systems and translated these ideas to their home console market. The biggest problem that Nintendo faces today is that they aren’t evolving from the success of the wii, and with it they might just find themselves in Sony’s shoes 5 years from now. Let me explain:

1) Nintendo: Why does it seem that you could care less about anybody but yourself?

As a Public Relations Professional I am utterly appalled by the way your present yourself to everyone else in the world. Over the last 3 years you have gone from best in show to laughable at E3, you have shown a lack of support for 3rd party software, and you have even become reclusive in the information you present to the public.

Let’s start with E3, the pinnacle of all things Video Games in the world, and most importantly one of the only mediums Nintendo announces new games at. 3 years ago Nintendo came away with almost every “best in show” award and wowed everyone with a constant stream of reveals and insights into their new console that would ultimately become the most sought after gaming console of this generation. Every year since then Nintendo has failed in the presentation department of E3, between a lackluster and completely laughable 2008 showing to the slow paced and “more sales figures than video games” approach of 2009. It’s because of these presentations that little by little Nintendo is becoming what I would consider the little black sheep of the gaming industry, and gamers everywhere are even starting to feel embarrassed that they actually own a Nintendo Wii! 3 Years ago when I was standing in front of the Video Game store waiting for the shipment of the Wiis to arrive; and I was proud of the hardware I was about to buy! Nowadays I’m still very proud of my Wii and the games that I own for it, but there is a slight bit of dread that comes with the Nintendo Wii every time I see “party” games outselling great Third Party games or Nintendo themselves marketing one of their mini game, games, to the general public and completely forgetting about other titles such as the “Metroid Prime Trilogy”.

Dear Nintendo:   We all know you have made a lot of money this generation and all we ask is that you help out your Third Party developers a bit more, and start paying attention to the core gamers who have stuck with you since the NES days. I know it might seem like we left you years ago, but the Gamecube still sold over 20 million units, and we were still here holding your hand as you made it back to the top. We don’t want the Third Party Developers to leave you again, we like having games like “The Crystal Bearers” and “Epic Mickey” on the wii and we want these games to stay.

So I guess what we the gamer are trying to say is – help your Third Party Developers a bit more, so that we (your core fans) don’t find ourselves stuck in another Gamecube Generation once the Wii has run it’s course. I want to see franchises like Mass Effect or Metal Gear Solid to find a home in a Nintendo Console, and I want to see you succeed, but if you keep up your current approach to the Nintendo Wii, you might just find yourself in Sega’s shoes after your next Generation.

2) Transparency

Ok Reggie I’m calling you out! Every year you say you read what the players want from forums and other mediums, and year after year it seems as if you fall farther and farther away from reality. Every word out of your mouth has to go through my “Spin Filter” because it seems as if everything you say isn’t completely the truth, or you seriously don’t care about anything but the money anymore. I believe it was Iwata who said recently that he feels that Nintendo failed when it comes to First Party games and getting them out in order to sell more Wiis. I believe the problem Nintendo is facing right now is a Marketing Division in the United States that doesn’t understand what the Gamers want, and any time they do open their mouth it almost seems as if they aren’t listening at all! Here’s an excellent idea that might just blow your mind: Step aside Reggie and Cammie, and let the younger generation present your vision and goals from now on. The gaming industry as a whole seems to be forgetting what we enjoy seeing at things like E3 or Nintendo Press Conferences, Energetic individuals who truly care about the gamer and the community they are presenting too!

Every year I watch the Nintendo presence at Media Conferences, and year after year I think about how so many of my friends could do so much better than the Reggie / Cammie duo. Somewhere along the line it feels like you lost your gamer mentality Reggie, and we as gamers can feel it every time a camera is placed in front of you, or whenever you have one on one interviews with others. I want the old Nintendo back where you walked out on stage and everyone cheered because “Our Hero the Regginator” has returned to us and is going to prove once again why Nintendo is the stuff of dreams! Nowadays it seems as if  Miyamoto is the only one with that power anymore and we must wait on him to ever hear something that isn’t chalk full of “media spin”.

Stop acting defensive and tell us what you know – Work with the gamers to create a Nintendo that can rival the SNES days – Listen to what we have to say because this might surprise you, but we actually know what we are talking about sometimes. Show us more transparency in the decisions of Nintendo of America, and listen to us when we might just say something that you don’t like because farther down the line it might come in handy to know how we feel!

3) In Conclusion

With success comes a lot of criticism, and for the most part it seems that a lot of people dislike the name Nintendo this generation. The truth is, the wii is successful because Nintendo has done more things right than wrong this generation; but just because you are successful does not mean you can’t learn from your mistakes and get better. The Wii has really brought a lot of niche developers to it’s doorstep, and with it a lot of great games that I couldn’t have enjoyed had you gone a different route this generation. The Wii is a great console, and with the Christmas Holidays and 2010 looking like the best years for the Nintendo Wii, I am excited about the future of this console!

One day we will all look back at how the wii changed gaming as we know it, but how much is Nintendo willing work towards a  change in their own egotistical mentality?

Part 2 is up at: http://anothertomorrow.net/?p=106