NWO said:
If your going to make a new franchise you DO NOT launch it near the end of the console but instead near the beginning of it to give it some exposure and incase it becomes a "hot" game.
Just imagine if Halo launched now instead of being a launch title for the Xbox. You wouldn't be able to make a sequel to it and all the momentum of it being hot would be killed by the next console coming out.
This logic is so flawed that it isn't even funny.
Who
cares about making a new
franchise? That's like putting the cart in front of the horse. What happened to the art of making a great
game? That's what I think is important as a consumer.
Sure, it's nice to see a game turn out so well and become so popular that one or more sequels are made as a result. But, each game should be made with the intent that it, in and of itself, is the complete experience.
I remember reading an interview with Naughty Dog, where they said they design each and every game thinking that there's always the possibility it could end up being an utter flop in the market. If there's a storyline involved, the could stand on its own without needing some teaser "cliffhanger" ending, so that the few people who did enjoy the game would be fulfilled in knowing that the story could satisfactorily end right there. Thankfully, all of the seven games they've released since 1996 have been extremely high quality, and none have flopped.
With all of that in mind, I don't see the fact that the GameCube is over three years old as being any sort of excuse for Nintendo to throw all concept of originality out the window. I do see that PlayStation 2 and X-Box aren't any younger (in the US, at least), and this isn't preventing owners of those systems from being treated to potential A-class games like
God of War or
Jade Empire.
If Nintendo is merely content to pop out cookie-cutter Mario games ad hominem because the hardware is old, then it sends a message that they think they've already "lost" this generation, and don't feel that they need to "try hard" to draw new people in anymore. It also sends the message that they are a company that is stuck in the past, and has no ability to grow, adapt, and change in response to consumer demand. This will surely be fresh in people's minds when the new systems come out in a year or two.
Remember, a video game system is only as good as its games.
NWO said:
And another thing why do people want "new" titles from Nintendo but in these Xenon threads all people do is gush over the fact that they want to see Halo, DOA, Perfect Dark, PGR, NG, Conker, Banjo, MA, and all of the other well known franchises on the XBox. Nobody bitches about them needing to make new franchises infact people don't even bring that up at all.
Why not? As I said earlier, if a game turns out very well and becomes popular, then people hope that they'll have a sequel. They want a new
Halo or a new
Project Gotham Racing because that's what they enjoyed before, and they've become proven properties as a result. But, I'd guess they also don't want to see
Halo Tennis or
Project Gotham Go-Karts, because then that would obviously be an attempt at a quick money grab, and would be deleterious to the image and integrity of the game universe that the original developers intended.
If:
A. Nintendo's long list of proven franchise characters are eminently recognizable, and
B. Nintendo's games are good regardless of what characters appear in them
Then, pray tell, why aren't we seeing
Star Fox Tennis or
Zelda Kart?