by Playfuls Staff |
2nd June 2006
On Wednesday, videogame critics have crowned Nintendo's next-gen gaming console Wii and EA's up-coming game "Spore" as the most original ideas in the computer games industry.[more] Most independent critics have mentioned that the industry has lately relied on sequels and films to gain its profits, instead of bringing new features to life and giving players new reasons to buy a game.
One of the important assets that Wii had in its favor was the recent E3 event. The public just went crazy and waited for hours just to get a glimpse at how Wii will look like and how Will it entertain its buyers. They saw that the revolutionary controller (by the way, Wii's code-name was Nintendo Revolution) will allow them to play for instance sports games almost like in real life. "It's a great story, and it's something different," said Geoff Keighley, co-chairman of the Game Critics Awards, an independent group of journalists from 37 North American media outlets that cover the videogame industry. "It proves that you don't necessarily have to spend $20bn on a big blockbuster game to stay competitive and get attention," he said, pinpointing at the rapidly rising cost of developing games for Sony's upcoming PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360.
Building a game for Nintendo Wii is expected to be a whole lot less expensive than for PS3 or X BOX 360, which on the other side provide staggering video effects and a more realistic physics (the up-coming PS3 will use the new "Cell" processor that delivers graphic capabilities almost like a very powerful computer). But they also cost twice as much as Wii.
Wii also won for 'Best Hardware' and Nintendo's Wii Sports title took home the prize for 'Best Sports Game'. EA's "Spore", an original concept by Will Wright, creator of "The Sims" best selling series, won the 'Best Original Game', 'Best PC Game' and 'Best Simulation Game'. It will put players in the situation of "guiding" a creature from its cellular status to conquering the entire Universe.
Other winners that deserve to be mentioned are Assassin's Creed, by Ubisoft, and Microsoft's "Gears of War". Keighley called the new pool of ideas a good sign for the $28.5bn industry, which has begun to show signs of fatigue as its audience tires of sequels and film-inspired games."It shows that this industry can create great ideas that are also great games. It's also great to see that publishers are willing to bet big with original property," Keighley added.
A recent post-E3 poll organized by Famitsu, the ultimate gaming magazine in Japan revealed something no one would suspect: Nintendo Wii tops Sony Playstation 3 and XBOX 360 in customers' preferences.
How did Wii succeed in beating its competitors? Well, it's hard to explain since the console hasn't yet made its stores debut. One reason would definitely be the name. Wii was chosen, according to company officials, because it would suggest the english word "we" and would also pinpoint towards the global gaming community that Nintendo wants to build. At the beggining everyone laughed at the unusual name, but it's now Nintendo's turn to laugh since irony and smiles have brought to its future gaming console a huge pre-release popularity, almost like in"Da Vinci Code"'s case. Who would remember for example that Wii's code name was Nintendo Revolution? Now everyone is anxiously waiting for Rayman Ravinrabbit or the new adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, future titles for Wii.
Another good reason are the pre-launch trailers, which focus on a high level of fun, and deep immersion into the game, with the help of the revolutionary controller. Wii has definitely gained popularity by including different categories of population in its target market: women, small children, elder, etc.
