THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)
Fun Stuff => CLIKC => Topic started by: ArcAirbender on 09 Jan 2009, 17:37
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http://kotaku.com/5127816/developers-respond-to-nintendos-hint-system-patent
Today a Nintendo patent came to light for a hint system which would allow gamers to essentially let games play themselves.
While I agree that such an "automated" way of playing can bring new posibilities like gags, humor, drama and other deep, complex emotions, it is my opinion that videogame already has those in the shape of cutscenes, intelligent programing & level design; likewise, if you need a tutorial on how to do something or how to complete a level so you can achieve progress in the game, I would point, like Jonathan Blow did, that there is a deep flaw in the way the title was made.
Videogames, to me, represent an active way of interaction; to hinder such interaction (hinder at best, muder at worst) should be considered an act of involution.
From full duplex to half duplex. I want to comunicate back, I want my actions and opinions to have weight and consecuences in that world.
Interactivity is an integral element of what sets appart video games and films, for instance. And considering that the video game industry is giving the film industry a good run for its money, I would think twice to spend such a behemoth effort to make videogames play like movies.
I have considered the posibility that maybe this is the way for video games to, in a not so immediate future, consume the film industry. Maybe like cellphones did to PDA's, or how the internet is doing with every other mass media outlet. But to me, it keeps coming back to the uncanny valley. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_Valley )
What do you guys think about it?
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Problem is, will the games still buy themselves. I should be noted that some games play a lot like movies. MGS 4, Mass Effect, and GOW2 are the ones that come to mind.
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I hear the sky is falling, too.
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Imagine being able to play a game with all of the benefits of characters, story and goals, but without having to spend 10 to 20 hours of your life to enjoy doing so.
Imagine being able to get things without any of the effort! Imagine if you could skip to the final scene of the game and press a button to defeat the boss! Those 10 or 20 hours creating a shiny character and learning what's going on are fun. They are the meat of the game. I don't get the point of this.
On the other hand, hints systems built into games are probably a good idea. This isn't the way to do it, though. Something along the lines of Mirror's Edge, where important parts of the level get more coloured the longer yu're stuck? Moving the camera to focus on a key bit of the level if necessary? If I can come up with two ways off the top of my head that wouldn't hugely break the concept of a game, then surely developers can think of more and better ones.
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Hell, just a simple arrow or bread crumb trail will get me out of almost every hole I dig myself into. Sometimes a reminder of how to do a special move would be convenient, but you don't need a video for it, just a little prompt on screen.
I could see this as a way to get more people into playing 'core' games, because they'll have had that sort of introductory experience that gets them accustomed to how to play games without help. Since I don't know what they're planning on doing with this, though, color me skeptical.
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My roommate played through Prince of Persia without playing the game. Its really easy, you just search youtube for someone who recorded a playthrough of the game.
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YO DAWG I HERD YOU LIKE MOVIES SO WE PUT A MOVIE IN YOUR GAME SO YOU CAN WATCH WHILE YOU PLAY.
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Nintendo has been on a pretty good role for innovation. Im going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it will be incorporated positively.
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I like much of Nintendo's stuff, but this just seems like another ploy to get people who don't game sucked into gaming. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but not a good one either. As Supersheep said, though, there is a plethora of better ways to go about this, rather than taking control of your avatar. If I'm playing a game, I want interactivity to be present, if not constantly, then nearly so. Oh, well... if Nintendo thinks they can make a profit off of something, they're going to do it. And they see major profits in casual gamers.
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I for one would absolutely love to be able to finish Bioshock without having to play through all that crap.
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Nintendo has been on a pretty good role for innovation. Im going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it will be incorporated positively.
what
Name the last Nintendo game that wasn't a sequel or an old character in a new scenario. Without google.
The Wii and the DS show that Nintendo is capable of creating new kinds of gameplay, but they consistently stick to mario, metroid, zelda, the same people we've always seen for 20 years.
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And games playing themselves sounds like a new gameplay mechanic. You know, one of those things they have a pretty good track record of innovating.
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Remember ladies and gentlemen:
Innovation is doing the same thing everyone else is doing but having a new character do it.
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I think a more appropriate description of Nintendo is that they can create interesting new game play devices (DS, Wii) and then fail to make any games that use them in an interesting way.
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Name the last Nintendo game that wasn't a sequel or an old character in a new scenario. Without google.
Pikmin
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Didn't they just make a pikmin sequel for the wii?
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They informed the world that they were working on it. That's about it.
*checks Wikipedia*
Apparently they will be re-releasing Pikmin 1 and 2 on the Wii with new controls.
Nintendo wants your monies, they want it so bad.
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Name the last Nintendo game that wasn't a sequel or an old character in a new scenario. Without google.
Pikmin
Really all their franchises are derivatives of games they made years ago.
Starfox (early 90s)
Metroid ('86, I think)
F-Zero (early 90s)
Donkey Kong (1981)
Nintendo has a knack for selling you your games again. They don't make game consoles, they make money printers.
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Once again I have to very very very very fucking severely question the notion that familiar characters means you're playing the same game again. Why do I question it? Because it is bullshit.
If anything, it's the best way to get new gameplay and new innovations to become mainstream. A profitable game has more impact than an unknown game.
Zelda games that innovated: Legend of Zelda 1, Ocarina of Time, Phantom Hourglass
Mario games that innovated: Mario 1, Mario 3, Mario 64, Galaxy
Metroid games that innovated: Metroid, Super Metroid, Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 3
Donkey Kong games that innovated: Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Country, Jungle Beat
And I'm sure there's tons more that I'm not even considering because they're not part of the main series of their respective franchise.
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Yeah, I really have a hard time buying into the idea that a familiar "brand" cannot provide an unfamiliar experience. I mean, are we really going to say that WarioWare is like Mario Kart DS because they both have Wario in them?
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I guess it could be helpful for, say, beating the Water Temple on OoT, but I'd probably end up letting it play the whole thing.
three weeks of my life...
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man, fuck that water temple.
fuck it straight to hell.
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I tried...and failed beating that water temple with a GAME GUIDE...WITH PICTURES. And yet my friend can beat it in like...an hour. It's not fair.
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It's not human.
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Water Temple isnt so bad, what ruined me was setting the little Zora girl on the button in the whale temple.
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The part of the Water Temple that always got me was the shaft in the middle, where you had to raise the water level and then go underneath the block that was now floating to find a key.
If you had the Biggoron's Sword, the Dark Link was pretty easy (but still one of the coolest battles by far).
As for Nintendo's track record:
I'd rather play a game that advances on established gameplay elements with characters I know and and love than a game with new characters that is essentially like anything else on the market. And sequels thereof.
Essentially, I'm looking at you, Halo. And a lot of FPS games.
I guess I'm a bit of a Nintendo fanboy, though. I had a Gameboy and SNES growing up, so I have a real soft spot for a lot of Nintendo characters. Especially concerning the Metroid and Zelda franchises. Those games made me feel like a god.
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I tried...and failed beating that water temple with a GAME GUIDE...WITH PICTURES. And yet my friend can beat it in like...an hour. It's not fair.
I got a guide.
At one point it said
"If you cannot figure out how to lower the water level again, you should walk up to a wall, bang your head against it several times, and scream I AM AN IDIOT! I AM AN IDIOT"
I could not figure out how to lower the water level again. I am going to find the guy who wrote that and KILL HIM SO HARD!