Today's Valkyria Chronicles 2 update isn't as big as the previous ones, but at least we get sone information on a new character: Forster Clementia (that is featured in a new video).
Forster is a scientist that lives in a small castle connected to the academy via a drawbridge, and often appears on the premises of the school. She has made a name for herself in the study of artificial valkyrie, and seems to know a lot about the valkyrie race in general. She also seems to have a deep connection with the empire.
The mysterious scientist that also happens to be a sexy lady was, indeed, another anime stereotype that Valkyria 2 was missing.
The rest of the update is another video about Aban feasturing a runin with Juliana Eberhart, and a gameplay video showing how battlefield orders will work, that will be very familiar to the ones that already played Valkyria Chronicles.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
New Videos for Valkyria Chronicles 2: Familiar Faces
My job willl still keep me busy until the end of the week, preventing me from updating the blog regularly, but of course I can't miss reporting the thursday Valkyria 2 news.
Many were wondering if characters for the previous games were to make an appearence in Valkyria 2, given that the game is set two years after the first. Looks like we have our answer, as Alicia Melchiott and Welkin Gunther are both part of the cast. Each of them has a new movie.
Alicia is now taking care of the bakery in the Lanseal Academy, and Gunther, that now works as an university teacher, ofter goes to see her.
Both will also appear as playable character when "certain conditions are fulfilled" and will play prominent roles in the story.
We already chaught a few glimpses of Princess Cordelia, but now she finally has her own video. Her new appearence reflects the change in her personality. In the two years passed between the two games she has grown greatly as a ruler, and she's no more ashamed of hr Darksen identity.
There's also a new video about the BLiTZ system, that explain multiple battlefield areas. While in Valkyria Chronicles battlefields had a single area, Valkyria Chrocnicles 2 will feature battlefields formed by multiple maps, linked through the bases. Once a base is captured, the player will be able to move his soldiers through it to another area.
The blog shows several new pictures and quite a few further bits of information. By buying the 6th volume of the Valkyria Chronicles anime DVDs players will be able to unlock two guest characters. A special anime version of Alicia and Lamarr. Also, Two guest characters (the support soldier Minc and the sniper Julius) will be coming from the manga "Valkyria Chronicles: Wish your Smile", that will be published in the new Famitsu Web manga page "Air Raid", starting tomorrow (November the 13th). Of course we don't know if those characters will appear in the western version of the game, and how they'll be unlocked.
Many were wondering if characters for the previous games were to make an appearence in Valkyria 2, given that the game is set two years after the first. Looks like we have our answer, as Alicia Melchiott and Welkin Gunther are both part of the cast. Each of them has a new movie.
Alicia is now taking care of the bakery in the Lanseal Academy, and Gunther, that now works as an university teacher, ofter goes to see her.
Both will also appear as playable character when "certain conditions are fulfilled" and will play prominent roles in the story.
We already chaught a few glimpses of Princess Cordelia, but now she finally has her own video. Her new appearence reflects the change in her personality. In the two years passed between the two games she has grown greatly as a ruler, and she's no more ashamed of hr Darksen identity.
There's also a new video about the BLiTZ system, that explain multiple battlefield areas. While in Valkyria Chronicles battlefields had a single area, Valkyria Chrocnicles 2 will feature battlefields formed by multiple maps, linked through the bases. Once a base is captured, the player will be able to move his soldiers through it to another area.
The blog shows several new pictures and quite a few further bits of information. By buying the 6th volume of the Valkyria Chronicles anime DVDs players will be able to unlock two guest characters. A special anime version of Alicia and Lamarr. Also, Two guest characters (the support soldier Minc and the sniper Julius) will be coming from the manga "Valkyria Chronicles: Wish your Smile", that will be published in the new Famitsu Web manga page "Air Raid", starting tomorrow (November the 13th). Of course we don't know if those characters will appear in the western version of the game, and how they'll be unlocked.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Valkyria Chronicles 2 new videos and characters revealed
This week has been kinda brutal as my job took over a big slice of my gaming time, but nothing can get in the way of my thursday Valkyria Chronicles 2 news.
Today's update of the official website includes a few new videos. The first is focused on the BLiTZ system. It will be extremely familiar to anyone that played the first game.
The rest of the update is completely centered on the cast. A new video is dedicated to Kober Briksam, the stern homeroom teacher of Class G. He used to be a soldier during the war against the empire, but his eyes have been severely wounded, forcing him to retire from the army and join the Lanseal academy as a teacher. His apparent cold-hearted attitude has the purpose of teaching his pupils the severity of war. A second video introduces Lawrence Kleifheart, the headmaster of the Lanseal academy, third son of a distinguished family of military tradition, he's known for his years of impeccable service in the army. After a serious wound to his arm he began a new career as the director of the academy.
The blog section of the site also introduces some more between Aban's classmates:
-Frank Martin, stern and strong older sister of Nicol Martin (that has been introduced a few weeks ago). She despises her brother's weak attitude.
-Liner Tristram, idealistic and strong headed, he joined the academy to protect his friends and his hometown. His hobbies are body building and mountaineering.
-Sophia Collins, the stereotypical mature "older sister" anime type. Refined and flirty.
-Helmut Bode, cold and calm ex-imperial soldier distinguished during the war against Gallia, he was sent to Lanseal military academy by imperial order, as a "sign of peace" after the armistice.
-Mishrit, a Darksen, she's the top ranked student of G class, calm and confident in her learning abilities.
That's all for today's update, the game's cast is definitely shaping up more and more as that of a school life anime, the "strong headed friendly type", the couple of "opposite siblings", the "neesan", the "studious meganekko" and the "transfer student", all fit perfectly into anime stereotypes. It'll be interesting to see how they'll fit in what is, in the end, a war story.
Today's update of the official website includes a few new videos. The first is focused on the BLiTZ system. It will be extremely familiar to anyone that played the first game.
The rest of the update is completely centered on the cast. A new video is dedicated to Kober Briksam, the stern homeroom teacher of Class G. He used to be a soldier during the war against the empire, but his eyes have been severely wounded, forcing him to retire from the army and join the Lanseal academy as a teacher. His apparent cold-hearted attitude has the purpose of teaching his pupils the severity of war. A second video introduces Lawrence Kleifheart, the headmaster of the Lanseal academy, third son of a distinguished family of military tradition, he's known for his years of impeccable service in the army. After a serious wound to his arm he began a new career as the director of the academy.
The blog section of the site also introduces some more between Aban's classmates:
-Frank Martin, stern and strong older sister of Nicol Martin (that has been introduced a few weeks ago). She despises her brother's weak attitude.
-Liner Tristram, idealistic and strong headed, he joined the academy to protect his friends and his hometown. His hobbies are body building and mountaineering.
-Sophia Collins, the stereotypical mature "older sister" anime type. Refined and flirty.
-Helmut Bode, cold and calm ex-imperial soldier distinguished during the war against Gallia, he was sent to Lanseal military academy by imperial order, as a "sign of peace" after the armistice.
-Mishrit, a Darksen, she's the top ranked student of G class, calm and confident in her learning abilities.
That's all for today's update, the game's cast is definitely shaping up more and more as that of a school life anime, the "strong headed friendly type", the couple of "opposite siblings", the "neesan", the "studious meganekko" and the "transfer student", all fit perfectly into anime stereotypes. It'll be interesting to see how they'll fit in what is, in the end, a war story.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Lunar Harmony of Silver Star goes back to the past
We already knew that Lunar: Silver Star Harmony (slated for release in Japan on November the 12th) will have additional content compared to the original, and even to the old glorious "complete" edition. What we still didn't know is that as part of this new content, we will be able to play part of the events happened before the first game.
In an additional scenario, the player will be able to take part of the four heroes of the past, Dyne, Ghaleon (that will become the game's main villain), Lemia (Mia's mother) and Mel (Jessica's father), in their quest to free the goddess Althena from the clutches of the evil Aiferun.
This will give us a new insight on the events that led to the beginning of Lunar's storyline, and for the first time will let you catch a glimpse of the first Dragonmaster, Dyne, that remained more or less a misterious figure on the previous iterations of the game.
You can see screenshots and pieces of artwork of this new "old" scenario on the Japanese portal Gpara.com.
In addition to that, looks like that this remake will bring back the "bromides" (basically some fanservice shots of the game's heroines you can see the old ones of the Playstation version here). More than 10 will be available, even if it's unknown if there will be new ones or they'll just be the same that were available in the playstation version of the game.
The previous remakes of the game after "Complete", have always been characterized by a low level of polish and an astonishingly small number of additions and improvements. This "Harmony of Silver Star" definitely looks different. GungHo has seems to have added a lot to this fantastic classic game. That's definitely good. The new generations deserve to experience the Lunar saga (that's probably still the best JRPG saga ever created) in it's best shape.
In an additional scenario, the player will be able to take part of the four heroes of the past, Dyne, Ghaleon (that will become the game's main villain), Lemia (Mia's mother) and Mel (Jessica's father), in their quest to free the goddess Althena from the clutches of the evil Aiferun.
This will give us a new insight on the events that led to the beginning of Lunar's storyline, and for the first time will let you catch a glimpse of the first Dragonmaster, Dyne, that remained more or less a misterious figure on the previous iterations of the game.
You can see screenshots and pieces of artwork of this new "old" scenario on the Japanese portal Gpara.com.
In addition to that, looks like that this remake will bring back the "bromides" (basically some fanservice shots of the game's heroines you can see the old ones of the Playstation version here). More than 10 will be available, even if it's unknown if there will be new ones or they'll just be the same that were available in the playstation version of the game.
The previous remakes of the game after "Complete", have always been characterized by a low level of polish and an astonishingly small number of additions and improvements. This "Harmony of Silver Star" definitely looks different. GungHo has seems to have added a lot to this fantastic classic game. That's definitely good. The new generations deserve to experience the Lunar saga (that's probably still the best JRPG saga ever created) in it's best shape.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Selvaria is back in Valkyria Chronicles 2! Box Art and new media.
As every thursday, Sega treated us to some Valkyria Chronicles 2 news and media.
First of all, something really surprising, Selvaria Bles, the imperial general that was a personal favourite of many during the first Valkyria game will be back in the sequel as a guest character allied with the Gallian forces. But there's a catch. The code to unlock her will be given only to the ones that preorder. Given the way she left the scene in the first game, I'm curious to see how she will be introduced and if she'll play any part in the story (doubtful). In any case, I'm quite happy to see her back, and I'm pretty sure I won't be the only one.
You can see some art and a gameplay screenshot with her below.
Also, the box art of the game has finally been revealed. You can see it above.
Two videos featuring Baldren Gassenarl and Odrei Gassenarl have been added to the character section, featuring the moment in which they first learn about the main characters and the Lanseal unit. and a whole new fansite kit has been released in the download section, delivering a whole slew of new screenshots that you can enjoy in this flickr gallery. Some of the screenshots also hint to the possibility of having to fight against class A in what seem some kind of training battle.
First of all, something really surprising, Selvaria Bles, the imperial general that was a personal favourite of many during the first Valkyria game will be back in the sequel as a guest character allied with the Gallian forces. But there's a catch. The code to unlock her will be given only to the ones that preorder. Given the way she left the scene in the first game, I'm curious to see how she will be introduced and if she'll play any part in the story (doubtful). In any case, I'm quite happy to see her back, and I'm pretty sure I won't be the only one.
You can see some art and a gameplay screenshot with her below.
Also, the box art of the game has finally been revealed. You can see it above.
Two videos featuring Baldren Gassenarl and Odrei Gassenarl have been added to the character section, featuring the moment in which they first learn about the main characters and the Lanseal unit. and a whole new fansite kit has been released in the download section, delivering a whole slew of new screenshots that you can enjoy in this flickr gallery. Some of the screenshots also hint to the possibility of having to fight against class A in what seem some kind of training battle.
The more I read about this game, the more excited I get. The return of Selvara is a quite smart move on Sega's part, Hopefully this preorder bonus will be available even to us westerners when the game will cross the Sea of Japan (or the Pacific, depening on which side you live) next summer.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Assassin's Creed Lineage released. Awesome.
Awesome is really the only word to describe the short Assassin's creed movie Ubisoft released today. Hybride managed to bring the Assassin's Creed 2 universe to life wuth a quality very similar to theatrical movies. I can only hope that they decide to make one sooner or later, but looking at the effort put into this series of shorts, I'd say we can definitely wait for an announcement about that sooner or later.
The only flaw, unfortunately, is the mispronunciation of some italian words and names (like "Stefano" with the accent on the "a" instead of the correct one on the "e"). Since they decided to use some Italian words in the dialogue (a choice that I personally don't like too much, mixing languages simply doesn't make much sense), they should have at least hired a native speaker consultant.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Ar Tonelico III detailed
Yesterday, during an event in Tokyo, Banpresto finally detailed the upcoming PS3 JRPG Ar Tonelico III, to be released in Japan on January the 28th, 2010.
The game wil be the first of the series to use 3D graphics, with a lovely cel shaded style that fits the series perfectly, and will be paired with beautiful anime cutscenes. You can see quite a lot of screenshots and artworks on the Japanese website Game Watch, and the new official trailer below.
If the music through the game will be even near to the quality of the track used for the trailer, we're in for a treat for sure. After all music plays a central role in the Ar Tonelico series, and this third chapter will be no exception to that rule.
While the Reyvateils (a race of artificial humanoids able to use the power of the hymnos to attack their enemies) of the Ar Tonelico series always fought using music, the third chapter will use the Adaptive Music technology of the CRI Middleware to actually create the music in real time.
The game is still set in the world of Ar Ciel, and more precisely in it's third tower. Inside an immense structure named Soul Cluster there are two cities, Clusternia, ruled by reyvateils, and Archia, ruled by humans. The relationships between the two cities are very tense.
Clusternia is divided in districts. The Reyvateils' district is a perfect utopia ruled by Original and Beta Reyvetails. Every aspect of one's life in the district is planned to achieve a comfortable and serene lifestyle. Near the base of Clusternia there's the Slaves' district, where humans live in slums made of small and poor houses. Humans are basically treated as servants and subject to the rule of Reyvateils.
The story will start in the village of Aoi Valley, situated at the very border of the slaves' district, inside the weather control system. Due to it's location the wind always blows very strong.
For now three characters have been revealed:
Aoto: he's a disciple in Tower construction, he's very reckless and hard headed, but also characterized by a strong sense of responsibility. Initially he isn't really interested about the political rule of Clusternia, but he starts to antagonize them after meeting Saki and witnessing the destruction of his village. He's voiced by Noriyaki Sugiyama (well known for having lent his voice to Uryu Ishida in Bleach).
Saki: Escaped from the Archia laboratory, she's been created for an unknown us purpose. Her escape several years before the beginning of the story apparently jeopardized some important plan, and that's why she's forced to hide. When put in a strong state of stress she can use a power named "miracle". She's voiced by Mai Goto.
Finnel: She's a clumsy and goofy Beta Reyvateil that works as a barmaid at the Yokkora restaurant. She seems to be the key of an important plan originated from the government of Clusternia, and to have a peculiar ability to get in trouble. She's voiced by the popular Eri Kitamura.
During the game Aoto can "dive" in the spiritual world of each Reyvateil, called Cosmosphere, deepening his bond with them and chosing between various personalities that will affect the way in which the reyvatail fight. Such personalities are represented by different clothes, that increase the power of the Reyvateil when worn (in a SailorMoon-Like transformation).
During battles Aoto's task will be to defend the Reyvateil behind him so that she will have the time to unleash her power without being harmed.
When the power of the reyvateil is unleashed, the R.A.H. system is activated, combining several elements chosen by the player to create music dynamically. If the combination is correct the power created will be devastating.
Ar Tonelico III definitely looks like a top-notch title and marks the passage of another popular JRPG franchise to the current generation of consoles. Now that the PS3 is starting to become really popular in Japan due to the price cuts, we can definitely expect the JRPG genre to bloom again, as the PS2 will finally reach it's well deserved retirement even for smaller developers. We'll have to see if Microsoft will try and keep up the JRPG push that they attempted during the beginning of this generation, but at the moment, expecially due to the strong sales in the domestic market, the PS3 definitely looks more and more likely to take the title of JRPG queen back from it's rival.
Personally, I can't be more happy to see the JRPG genre raising to glory again, after the slow start. We've been fed even too many western games with their generally mediocre stories (besides a few lovely exceptions) until now, and a rebirth of the Japanese gaming industry can only be welcomed as a positive fact for classy gamers. I have a good feeling, and I'm quite sure that we'll see quite a few interesting games announced in the next few months.
The game wil be the first of the series to use 3D graphics, with a lovely cel shaded style that fits the series perfectly, and will be paired with beautiful anime cutscenes. You can see quite a lot of screenshots and artworks on the Japanese website Game Watch, and the new official trailer below.
If the music through the game will be even near to the quality of the track used for the trailer, we're in for a treat for sure. After all music plays a central role in the Ar Tonelico series, and this third chapter will be no exception to that rule.
While the Reyvateils (a race of artificial humanoids able to use the power of the hymnos to attack their enemies) of the Ar Tonelico series always fought using music, the third chapter will use the Adaptive Music technology of the CRI Middleware to actually create the music in real time.
The game is still set in the world of Ar Ciel, and more precisely in it's third tower. Inside an immense structure named Soul Cluster there are two cities, Clusternia, ruled by reyvateils, and Archia, ruled by humans. The relationships between the two cities are very tense.
Clusternia is divided in districts. The Reyvateils' district is a perfect utopia ruled by Original and Beta Reyvetails. Every aspect of one's life in the district is planned to achieve a comfortable and serene lifestyle. Near the base of Clusternia there's the Slaves' district, where humans live in slums made of small and poor houses. Humans are basically treated as servants and subject to the rule of Reyvateils.
The story will start in the village of Aoi Valley, situated at the very border of the slaves' district, inside the weather control system. Due to it's location the wind always blows very strong.
For now three characters have been revealed:
Aoto: he's a disciple in Tower construction, he's very reckless and hard headed, but also characterized by a strong sense of responsibility. Initially he isn't really interested about the political rule of Clusternia, but he starts to antagonize them after meeting Saki and witnessing the destruction of his village. He's voiced by Noriyaki Sugiyama (well known for having lent his voice to Uryu Ishida in Bleach).
Saki: Escaped from the Archia laboratory, she's been created for an unknown us purpose. Her escape several years before the beginning of the story apparently jeopardized some important plan, and that's why she's forced to hide. When put in a strong state of stress she can use a power named "miracle". She's voiced by Mai Goto.
Finnel: She's a clumsy and goofy Beta Reyvateil that works as a barmaid at the Yokkora restaurant. She seems to be the key of an important plan originated from the government of Clusternia, and to have a peculiar ability to get in trouble. She's voiced by the popular Eri Kitamura.
During the game Aoto can "dive" in the spiritual world of each Reyvateil, called Cosmosphere, deepening his bond with them and chosing between various personalities that will affect the way in which the reyvatail fight. Such personalities are represented by different clothes, that increase the power of the Reyvateil when worn (in a SailorMoon-Like transformation).
During battles Aoto's task will be to defend the Reyvateil behind him so that she will have the time to unleash her power without being harmed.
When the power of the reyvateil is unleashed, the R.A.H. system is activated, combining several elements chosen by the player to create music dynamically. If the combination is correct the power created will be devastating.
Ar Tonelico III definitely looks like a top-notch title and marks the passage of another popular JRPG franchise to the current generation of consoles. Now that the PS3 is starting to become really popular in Japan due to the price cuts, we can definitely expect the JRPG genre to bloom again, as the PS2 will finally reach it's well deserved retirement even for smaller developers. We'll have to see if Microsoft will try and keep up the JRPG push that they attempted during the beginning of this generation, but at the moment, expecially due to the strong sales in the domestic market, the PS3 definitely looks more and more likely to take the title of JRPG queen back from it's rival.
Personally, I can't be more happy to see the JRPG genre raising to glory again, after the slow start. We've been fed even too many western games with their generally mediocre stories (besides a few lovely exceptions) until now, and a rebirth of the Japanese gaming industry can only be welcomed as a positive fact for classy gamers. I have a good feeling, and I'm quite sure that we'll see quite a few interesting games announced in the next few months.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Dragon Age Origins PS3 to hit the US on november the 3rd
The special announcement made by Bioware today on the Playstation Blog was that (only in the US) Dragon Age Origins for the PS3 will be released on november the 3rd, at the same time as the PC and 360 version. Unfortunately Europe will continue to be the gaming ghetto, and will follow later this November at a date still to be determined.
Thank you for nothing Bioware? The funniest bit is that the announcement was made on the first touted "live chat" of the European Playstation blog. So basically Bioware came to us to tell us "sorry mates, you're still second rate customers, better luck next time".
They also commended the power of the PS3 saying "We are really happy with the results on the PS3. It was our first experience and we were really impressed with the power of the machine. I think fans will love the end result!" and graciously let us know that they're exploring Home but they have no plans for it at the moment.
Finally, there will be an HDD install, but it's not mandatory.
In any case, I personally advise everyone that has an half decent PC to get the PC version (I sure will). The slew of new content and the graphics enhancements that the PC modding community will bring to the game are too good to pass.
Seriously, if you have a PC that's not from world war 1, and you get the non-moddable console version of games like this one, you're ripping yourself off.
If you still didn't preorder it, you can on Amazon.com for PC, PS3
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Tank warfare introduced to Valkyria Chronicles 2
It's thursday and as usual Sega updated the Valkyria Chronicles 2 official website. Of course our resident Valkyria fanboy is here to report about it (even if on the fly, I'm at work... pretty bad day today...).
Besides a new clip featuring some dialogue between Jerry and some secondary characters, today's update is mainly centered around tank warfare, with the first movie featuring a tank in action and with the introduction on the blog of of another new character, class G's tank driver, Lavinia Lane (in fact we were missing another anime stereotype, the tomboyish female mechanic).
In addition to it, there's also another chatty and giggly video-interview in the download section that you will probably find interesting only if you can understand Japanese.
Besides a new clip featuring some dialogue between Jerry and some secondary characters, today's update is mainly centered around tank warfare, with the first movie featuring a tank in action and with the introduction on the blog of of another new character, class G's tank driver, Lavinia Lane (in fact we were missing another anime stereotype, the tomboyish female mechanic).
In addition to it, there's also another chatty and giggly video-interview in the download section that you will probably find interesting only if you can understand Japanese.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Breaking News: Nintendo fanboys are a dying breed, again
Earlier this generation, looking at gaming sites dedicated to multiple consoles, It was quite easy to spot a lot of Nintendo fans. After a couple very harsh generations for their brand of choice, they were finally able to be the ones standing on the podium of the best selling console, jeering and laughing at the Playstation and Xbox fans.
You couldn't criticize Nintendo and their marketing choices without being hit by a tsunami of angry fanboys in pretty much every site you visited.
Now the Wii is still way ahead in total sales, but the Nintendo cheers seem to have considerably lowered in numbers and volume. Nintendo fans are growing silent and starting to isolate themselves in their few little Fort Alamos where the Nintendo fanbase is still strong, more or less like they used to do during the previous generations.
It's actually not surprising. Their numbers have lowered considerably since the initial Wii craze, as many fans turned into disgruntled customers. One of the most common sentences in many, many gaming forums is "I used to love Nintendo, but now...".
It's obvious that the few that still resist in their blind faith have to move somehwere where they're not made fun of as soon as they talk about that Shigeru Miyamoto poster to which they pray every night before bedtime...
But Nintendo fanboys are still there, even if hidden, and expecially if you visit their own sites, you can still hear their excus... ahem, the reasons why they still love Nintendo:
- But the Wii sells the most of all home consoles!
This is, of course, the most common. Too bad that it sells the most to non gamers, that play on it for a while and then slap it in a closet to gather dust.
- But Nintendo makes great games!
Granted, while I personally can't care the less for any Nintendo franchise that isn't Metroid, because of the childish and fluffy undertones that they have to squish in basically every game they make, they do still make a few quality games. Unfortunately only a fraction of the first party line-up and a very negligible percentage of the third-party games aren't enough to satisfy most discerning gamers, expecially when the technology inside the bowels of the console isn't powerful enough to support truly deep games, forcing developers to perform miracles to obtain results that would be considered barely decent on any other home console (and probably even on a PSP...).
- But Nintendo games are a bridge between gamers and non gamers!
This is probably the personal favourite of many Nintendo fanboys that try to depict Nintendo as the messiah that will show the light to the non-gaming crowd and usher the unbelievers into the heaven of gaming. As if.
For every game that might, in the light of a miracle, push a non-gamer towards gaming, there are ten Wii games that will kick him back to the limbo of casuals, and Nintendo markets those games much more strongly than any core or core-like game in their line-up. Every single Nintendo piece of advertisement pushes users or potential users of their console towards their fluffy, childish world of super-casual gaming and away from core gaming. There are probably many more gamers that, in their blind love for Nintendo, became casual gamers, than non-gamers that saw the light and became core gamers.
The problem lays exactly there. Many Nintendo fans are surprised that the (few) core games on their console of choice are overlooked by fans of other consoles or by most multiple-console owners, that continue to call the Wii a console for casual gamers.
Unfortunately most of the times they don't ask themselves the reason why that happens.
Who is at fault? Third parties that continue to drool tons upon tons of unsightly shovelware with the "Original Nintendo Seal of Quality" on the cover?
The Gamers that don't support the few core games that are released on the Wii, making them, more often than not, fail miserably in the sea of oblivion?
No.
The culprit is none other than Nintendo.
In this day and age, a company is identified strongly with their marketing, and if such marketing is strongly condensed on certain demographics, that group becomes the target of the company and strongly characterizes the general perception of it, both in the eyes of the consumer and of other companies.
Nintendo is probably, between the three "big" console makers, the company that spends the most on TV ads, and that solidifies a lot their target with those portrayed in such ads. One would think that they would diversify, but they don't.
While they do display people of varied age ranges in their commercials (from kids to the elderly), the behavioir of such people is always the same. They behave like kids, with big faked smiles, lots of cheers and a demeanor that would make most core gamers cringe in pain and disgust.
Personally, every time I see a Nintendo commercial, I can only feel ashamed about the possibility that many non-gamers may think that people that play games on consoles are like the ones portrayed. To be identified with those absolutely dumb-looking, fake-smiling, nonsense-spewing cretins is indeed a shameful affair.
That, of course, reflects even in Nintendo's choice of testimonials. Just to make an example, here in Italy the most recent Nintendo testimonial is Juliana Moreira, a TV starlette that since her debut intentionally plays the "dumb as a box of rocks" girl role. Unfortunately if you're not Italian I doubt that the youtube video linked above will properly convey the "oh my god, what a total airhead" feeling she intentionally (and probably artfully) gives every time she opens her mouth, but I'm pretty confident that looking at Nintendo commercials you'll easily be able to find your local equivalent.
Such a choice of testimonials, of course, ends up amplifying the "Nintendo is for dumb kids" effect that their whole marketing campaign conveys.
Can't be surprised, in the light of this kind of campaigns, that people perceive the Wii as a console for non gamers, and most brave attempts to create core games on it end up in failure. Dead Space extraction is just the latest victim of that trend.
Core gamers are only a mere fraction of the Wii installed base, and it's very safe to assume that any core game developed on the PS3 or the 360 (whose installed base is smaller, but almost entirely made of core gamers) will sell more than the same game developed on the Wii. Third parties have no reasons to develop most of their core franchises for the wii, simply because Nintendo's marketing doesn't support their efforts at all.
It's quite obvious. You don't sell a Ferrari in a bicycle shop, after all.
As Nintendo is the only culprit of the image they built for themselves, they are the only ones that can overturn it. Unfortunately, for that to happen, Nintendo needs to face a crisis. The current slowdown of sales may be the beginning of such a crisis, expecially with the fact that the recent price cut and that aberration named Wii Fit plus didn't really manage to make a consistent impact compared to the price cuts of the PS3 or even the 360. With the extremely strong line-up of upcoming Sony and Microsoft exclusives (and multiplatform games that aren't on the Wii) , things are starting to look rather bleak for Nintendo.
Personally, as a gamer, I like to see every console succeed, but I'd like more to see Nintendo starting to respect core gamers again and then succeed. That's why I can only hope that the little crisis they are facing now will turn into a full blown emergency, forcing them to realize that casual gamers are fickle, have no brand loyalty and will jump ship as soon as the competition offers something better at an affordable price. With Sony's motion controlker and Microsoft's Natal in the pipeline, the Wii is looking more and more like a child's toy.
They already lost a good portion of their fanboys. Hopefully they will realize that and stop the bleeding. Respect the gamers, and the gamers will respect you. It's that simple.
You couldn't criticize Nintendo and their marketing choices without being hit by a tsunami of angry fanboys in pretty much every site you visited.
Now the Wii is still way ahead in total sales, but the Nintendo cheers seem to have considerably lowered in numbers and volume. Nintendo fans are growing silent and starting to isolate themselves in their few little Fort Alamos where the Nintendo fanbase is still strong, more or less like they used to do during the previous generations.
It's actually not surprising. Their numbers have lowered considerably since the initial Wii craze, as many fans turned into disgruntled customers. One of the most common sentences in many, many gaming forums is "I used to love Nintendo, but now...".
It's obvious that the few that still resist in their blind faith have to move somehwere where they're not made fun of as soon as they talk about that Shigeru Miyamoto poster to which they pray every night before bedtime...
But Nintendo fanboys are still there, even if hidden, and expecially if you visit their own sites, you can still hear their excus... ahem, the reasons why they still love Nintendo:
- But the Wii sells the most of all home consoles!
This is, of course, the most common. Too bad that it sells the most to non gamers, that play on it for a while and then slap it in a closet to gather dust.
- But Nintendo makes great games!
Granted, while I personally can't care the less for any Nintendo franchise that isn't Metroid, because of the childish and fluffy undertones that they have to squish in basically every game they make, they do still make a few quality games. Unfortunately only a fraction of the first party line-up and a very negligible percentage of the third-party games aren't enough to satisfy most discerning gamers, expecially when the technology inside the bowels of the console isn't powerful enough to support truly deep games, forcing developers to perform miracles to obtain results that would be considered barely decent on any other home console (and probably even on a PSP...).
- But Nintendo games are a bridge between gamers and non gamers!
This is probably the personal favourite of many Nintendo fanboys that try to depict Nintendo as the messiah that will show the light to the non-gaming crowd and usher the unbelievers into the heaven of gaming. As if.
For every game that might, in the light of a miracle, push a non-gamer towards gaming, there are ten Wii games that will kick him back to the limbo of casuals, and Nintendo markets those games much more strongly than any core or core-like game in their line-up. Every single Nintendo piece of advertisement pushes users or potential users of their console towards their fluffy, childish world of super-casual gaming and away from core gaming. There are probably many more gamers that, in their blind love for Nintendo, became casual gamers, than non-gamers that saw the light and became core gamers.
The problem lays exactly there. Many Nintendo fans are surprised that the (few) core games on their console of choice are overlooked by fans of other consoles or by most multiple-console owners, that continue to call the Wii a console for casual gamers.
Unfortunately most of the times they don't ask themselves the reason why that happens.
Who is at fault? Third parties that continue to drool tons upon tons of unsightly shovelware with the "Original Nintendo Seal of Quality" on the cover?
The Gamers that don't support the few core games that are released on the Wii, making them, more often than not, fail miserably in the sea of oblivion?
No.
The culprit is none other than Nintendo.
In this day and age, a company is identified strongly with their marketing, and if such marketing is strongly condensed on certain demographics, that group becomes the target of the company and strongly characterizes the general perception of it, both in the eyes of the consumer and of other companies.
Nintendo is probably, between the three "big" console makers, the company that spends the most on TV ads, and that solidifies a lot their target with those portrayed in such ads. One would think that they would diversify, but they don't.
While they do display people of varied age ranges in their commercials (from kids to the elderly), the behavioir of such people is always the same. They behave like kids, with big faked smiles, lots of cheers and a demeanor that would make most core gamers cringe in pain and disgust.
Personally, every time I see a Nintendo commercial, I can only feel ashamed about the possibility that many non-gamers may think that people that play games on consoles are like the ones portrayed. To be identified with those absolutely dumb-looking, fake-smiling, nonsense-spewing cretins is indeed a shameful affair.
That, of course, reflects even in Nintendo's choice of testimonials. Just to make an example, here in Italy the most recent Nintendo testimonial is Juliana Moreira, a TV starlette that since her debut intentionally plays the "dumb as a box of rocks" girl role. Unfortunately if you're not Italian I doubt that the youtube video linked above will properly convey the "oh my god, what a total airhead" feeling she intentionally (and probably artfully) gives every time she opens her mouth, but I'm pretty confident that looking at Nintendo commercials you'll easily be able to find your local equivalent.
Such a choice of testimonials, of course, ends up amplifying the "Nintendo is for dumb kids" effect that their whole marketing campaign conveys.
Can't be surprised, in the light of this kind of campaigns, that people perceive the Wii as a console for non gamers, and most brave attempts to create core games on it end up in failure. Dead Space extraction is just the latest victim of that trend.
Core gamers are only a mere fraction of the Wii installed base, and it's very safe to assume that any core game developed on the PS3 or the 360 (whose installed base is smaller, but almost entirely made of core gamers) will sell more than the same game developed on the Wii. Third parties have no reasons to develop most of their core franchises for the wii, simply because Nintendo's marketing doesn't support their efforts at all.
It's quite obvious. You don't sell a Ferrari in a bicycle shop, after all.
As Nintendo is the only culprit of the image they built for themselves, they are the only ones that can overturn it. Unfortunately, for that to happen, Nintendo needs to face a crisis. The current slowdown of sales may be the beginning of such a crisis, expecially with the fact that the recent price cut and that aberration named Wii Fit plus didn't really manage to make a consistent impact compared to the price cuts of the PS3 or even the 360. With the extremely strong line-up of upcoming Sony and Microsoft exclusives (and multiplatform games that aren't on the Wii) , things are starting to look rather bleak for Nintendo.
Personally, as a gamer, I like to see every console succeed, but I'd like more to see Nintendo starting to respect core gamers again and then succeed. That's why I can only hope that the little crisis they are facing now will turn into a full blown emergency, forcing them to realize that casual gamers are fickle, have no brand loyalty and will jump ship as soon as the competition offers something better at an affordable price. With Sony's motion controlker and Microsoft's Natal in the pipeline, the Wii is looking more and more like a child's toy.
They already lost a good portion of their fanboys. Hopefully they will realize that and stop the bleeding. Respect the gamers, and the gamers will respect you. It's that simple.
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