Nintend'oh!

Oh, bro. Come on.

Tsk, tsk, tsk Nintendo. What happened to you? You used to be cool. If someone were to tell me 15 years ago that Nintendo would be creating what is essentially the new Dreamcast, I'd say "You're out of your damned mind. Go home! You're drunk..." And here we are today. How the mighty have fallen. Let's go back about 30 years shall we?
Back in the 1983 we had the storied and now legendary "Video Game Industry Crash". There were approximately 60 gazillion consoles saturating the market. Grassroots developers were spewing out shoddy, hastily developed games like the infamous "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial". The entire ordeal left dozens of developers bankrupt and several consoles went the way of the dodo. Back then, video games weren't the staple of popular culture that they are now. It was a niche market, and it was completely feasible that it could disappear forever. Enter Nintendo.

Emerson Arcadia... wut...?

The Nintendo Entertainment System hit the scene in the U.S. in 1985 and things started to turn around. Not only was it a powerful system with impressive specs, but the quality of its games were unparalleled. Marios and Zeldas and Contras, oh my! Sega would challenge them shortly after by one-upping them with the Genesis, but Nintendo returned fire with the Super NES. While there were rivalries in the video game business in the past, none were as fierce and storied as the Genesis/SNES rivalry. Both of these consoles were true gamers' consoles, and they constantly fought for supremacy, making us, the gamers, all winners. The SNES's library of games was probably the greatest collection of games ever put together and made it the clear winner of that "war". Then things started to change... Enter Sony.
This time, the Playstation was the gamers' console. While Nintendo was clinging to old cartridge technology, Sony's Playstation was embracing these newfangled disky type thingies called "'CDs". Sony made it very easy for 3rd party developers to cheaply make games for their platform. Because of this, the PS1 has an enormous catalog of games, 1,238 games to Nintendo's 296! Admitedly it was all quantity over quality. But, like the shotgun effect, some were hits. And boy were those hits hits! Final Fantasy VII, Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil... new and edgy and in 3D!

oooOOOOoooooo, fancy! CDs and stuff!

Over in Nintendo's camp, the games for the new Nintendo 64 were churning out in much smaller volume, but they had a much higher percentage of hits. Along with the Nintendo staples Starfox, Mario and Donkey Kong, hits like GoldenEye, Perfect Dark and various professional wrestling games were taking the gaming world by storm. However, this is around the time Nintendo stopped playing nice with 3rd party developers
and still hadn't really loosened up regarding gore and language. N64 games are markedly more family friendly than the PS1's.
This only got worse in the next generation and this time it  really showed. The Gamecube was decimated by the Playstation 2 and Microsoft's new Xbox. This time, Nintendo had the technically weakest console in comparison to its competitors. And now that there were TWO options for developers besides Nintendo, it was much smarter financially to make games for the more developer-friendly consoles in the Xbox and PS2. Gamers often viewed the Gamecube as "for kids", which wasn't helped by Nintendo's line of games for the system. Gamers were getting older, the adult gamer was a large demographic now. They were starting to get a bit tired of another Mario game, another Zelda game and another Smash Bros. game.

Nintendo decided to do something different. For the next generation, Nintendo developed the Wii. Once again, Nintendo had the weakest hardware and lacked 3rd party hardware support, but this time they geared it towards a different fan. Nintendo made the genius move of appealing to the untapped casual gamer market. Now mothers, fathers, little sisters, great uncles and the family hamster could join in the fun. For a while this worked great. Wii Sports, Wii Fit, Wii This, Wii That. This, coupled with the Wii's lower price point, put Nintendo right back on top. Or did it?

Yeah, how'd that work out for you?

After a few years, the mothers, the great uncles and yes, even ol' Chip the hamster were losing interest. After all, they're casual gamers and their interests lie elsewhere. After a couple of years they migrated away to smartphones for games like Angry Birds and Candy Crush. To be fair, there was no way for Nintendo to predict that. So what was left for the rest of us "true" gamers? A weak system, lacking in high definition graphics and a library games made for kids. Gamers flocked to the competitors for edgy, hi-tech hits like Halo, Gears of War and Uncharted. Nintendo, meanwhile, was releasing yet another Mario game. Eventually, Nintendo tried to play catch up and released the Wii U. And here we are today.
Not much has changed; the Wii U is still the technically weakest system, it's still a nightmare for 3rd party developers to make games for them and they're still releasing yet ANOTHER Mario game and yet ANOTHER Zelda game. Don't misunderstand me, Nintendo still makes very high quality games, and there's nothing inherently wrong with the Wii or the Wii U. However, when is the last time Nintendo created a new IP? It seems that all they've made for the last 10 years is Marios and different Wii sports. By the end of the Wii's run, there was a pretty bad stigma surrounding the Wii name, so instead of distancing itself from that name, they call the next console the Wii U? Most people probably think it's just a Wii peripheral (of which there are many).
While the folks at Nintendo clearly love videos games, I think they're a bit detached from reality. They need to do something to compete. The Wii U is a flop, they admit that at least. They've lost vast amounts of dough for three years straight now. Luckily, they have a huge cash pile from the Wii's short heyday, but I can't imagine that will last much longer.

Yaawwwn.

Some are calling for Nintendo to either A) Let 3rd parts devs make games based on Nintendo IPs (Bethesda made Zelda?) or B) Allow Nintendo games to be released for other platforms (including mobile). While these might help, I can't realistically see Nintendo doing this... yet. One interesting idea that's been thrown in the mix is for Nintendo to make a Netflix for video games. Good idea! One low monthly fee and bam! Access to Nintendo's entire library. Personally though, I feel Nintendo should wipe its hands clean of the Wii U, cut their losses, and make a new exciting system. One that can compete. Overhaul your sorry excuse for 3rd party support and get back in there! This is shaping up to be an interesting generation.


Did you enjoy this article? If so, and you enjoy reading about gaming news, reviews and culture, please subscribe!

The AvP Conundrum Part III

In Part II, I discussed the gameplay for each species as well some other nuances. Here, we go into multiplayer and features and finally conclude this conundrum.


Multiplayer:
In a lot of ways, 2010's Aliens vs. Predator did it right. The game modes are certainly appropriate. Besides the traditional Deathmatch, Species Deathmatch, Domination and Survival modes, they brought us Infestation and Predator Hunt. I think the concept is good for all of these, but the execution was off. The problem with a game like this is that it's hard to design a level where no species has the advantage. The dark, claustrophobic tunnels level, for example, clearly gives the Xenomorph a huge advantage. Moreover, Rebellion, god bless 'em, gave both the Predator and the Alien the "Instakill" ability by hitting the E key at the right moment (ei. behind an enemy or in front of a stunned enemy). The problem with this is that it allows Xenomorph and Predator players to spam the E key. This wouldn't be a problem if the timing window was smaller or the ability had a cool down. This and level design need to be addressed. Larger, open areas where they can keep enemies at range are the Marines' playground. More levels like that perhaps?

Other must-haves: 

Gore
Both of these fantastic franchises have always been what those in the movie biz call a "hard R". That's Rated R. Language, sure. But mostly gore. Not gratuitous gore, but not restrained gore either. Again, 2010's AvP got this right. They pulled no punches, but didn't over do it. They were faithful to the source material. These are brutal creatures! They don't slit throats and strangle victims, they disembowel their prey! This needs to stay in an AvP game!
Original Music
The soundtrack for both of these franchises is iconic. James Horner's orchestral score to Aliens is perfect for the material and the setting. Alan Silvestri's suspenseful score to Predator, with the use of bongo-type percussion and jungle-type beats really captures not only the mood but the Predator itself. Both of these scores are laser etched into the fanbase's memory, invoking an almost Pavlovian response when heard, with or without accompanying visuals.This needs to be in-game, whether completely pulled from the films or somehow made into an amalgamation and it needs to be dynamic. Tone and mood is so important for this franchise.



This is the tone and mood setter, just the thought of trekking though the jungle with Predator's iconic score surrounding me bring goosebumps.
Original sound effects
As with the music, the sounds of these franchises are iconic. The Pulse Rifle's almost electronic bangs and the guttural animal-like growls of the Predator and everything in between. Why would you bother to change these, not only are these sounds perfect and loved by the fans, it seems like it would be less work to use these as opposed to making new ones.
Abilities portrayed in the movies 
While the games, over the years, have included many of the iconic abilities of all three species such as motion sensors and cloaking, some are missing or have no implementation in multiplayer. For example, the Predator can record sounds and essentially "throw" that sound somewhere to attached a prey to that location. I'd like to see this ability in multiplayer. I can see players falling right into the trap if you playback the sound of a Xenomorph or Marine being killed.
Additionally, how about being able to place sentry guns as a Marine or spit acid as an Alien? There are too many to discuss, really, but think this would add a lot to the asymmetrical warfare that is AvP multiplayer.
Mission Editor,
I realize this is asking a lot, but fact of the matter is, fans have been imagining and creating scenarios in their heads with these nightmare creatures for decades at this point. Let the players have the ability to create whatever scenario they want. An entire company of Marines with armor and air support assaulting a Xenomorph hive in an icy tundra or stalking a small Marine base in the middle of a desert as a Predator. You think or it, you create it, complete with scripts and triggers. Not only is this feature fun, but it adds to the lifespan of the game by giving unlimited replayability.

Co-op Mode
Need I say more?

Bro-Ops!

Conclusion:

I realize much of this is cautiously optimistic to say the least, but as I said in part I, if the game is to be huge, then a huge game needs to be made. These are big-time, AAA franchises and need a big-time, AAA budget and team. Aliens: Colonial Marines failed miserably. While many point the finger at Gearbox (the developer) I feel it's a cautionary tale against publishers (Sega in A: CM's case). This theoretical AvP game would have to be crowd funded and given an open deadline and developed by a team that are fans first. This is why we'll likely never see a truly "great" AvP game (or movie). It needs to be big... big enough to meet the insane standards made by fans that have been in love since day one. This is Game or Die, last surviving blog of this conundrum... signing off.

Forever locked in battle... through subpar games.

Did you enjoy this article? If so, and you enjoy reading about gaming news, reviews and culture, please subscribe!