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Nail-on-the-head-hitting article on maturity in gaming

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:04 am
by Eraser
Perhaps this explains to people why I find Nintendo's Mario and Luigi games far more interesting than GTA or Halo and why I'm such a big supporter of Nintendo's strategy which many people brand as "childish":

http://www.revo-europe.com/news.php?nid=8620

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:17 am
by MKJ
bit opinionated innit ?
theyre preaching to the choir, ofcourse itll hit the nail on the head

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:25 am
by Eraser
Nah, revo-europe actually sports quite a few articles that are slamming Nintendo for certain things. Before the revolution was in the spotlights like it is now, they often criticized Nintendo for their rather awkward marketing strategies and just not delivering for the gamecube. Not too long ago there were also two articles, the first about why Revolution would be a complete failure, the other about why it would be a big success.
They often shine their light on both sides of the argument in ways like that.

In this case, the article is ofcourse written in a pretty nintendo-centered way, but I guess that's what it's revo-europe.com for, but the kind of reasoning from this article will apply to gaming in general, not just Nintendo.


edit:
do you disagree with the article then? Do you find naked women and guns coupled with shallow gameplay more mature than brain-cracking puzzle games that feature an excessive amount of pastel colored characters?

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:30 am
by Mr.Magnetichead
OMG shut uo you fags! Go Pkay a real game babies! Like Halo!

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:37 am
by MKJ
Eraser wrote:

edit:
do you disagree with the article then? Do you find naked women and guns coupled with shallow gameplay more mature than brain-cracking puzzle games that feature an excessive amount of pastel colored characters?
im quite neutral on the subject actually. i dont think T&A make a game more mature, but that doesnt mean i automatically think a game is worse because of it

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:59 am
by mik0rs
Meh fair enough.

My main beef with Nintendo is that (at least the last time I saw them) is that the fucking HUD's text always seems to be too big and cartoony. You don't need your score taking up a quarter of the screen. No real problem with them aside from that really.

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 12:03 pm
by Eraser
MKJ wrote:im quite neutral on the subject actually. i dont think T&A make a game more mature, but that doesnt mean i automatically think a game is worse because of it
Well it doesn't nescessarily make it less mature, but the most important aspect of the article is that it certainly doesn't make it more mature. A game like Super Mario can easily be more mature in terms of gameplay depth than a game that features little more than explosions and T&A. Unfortunately, the latter type of game is the trend of the gaming industry these days.

A colorful, non-violent and non-sexual presentation of a game doesn't nescessarily mean that it's not a mature gaming experience, while such games are often branded as immature and childish and thus not interesting to play, while the opposite is often true.

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 12:18 pm
by MKJ
that i agree with \o/

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 3:45 pm
by Transient
Eraser wrote:Well it doesn't nescessarily make it less mature, but the most important aspect of the article is that it certainly doesn't make it more mature. A game like Super Mario can easily be more mature in terms of gameplay depth than a game that features little more than explosions and T&A. Unfortunately, the latter type of game is the trend of the gaming industry these days.

A colorful, non-violent and non-sexual presentation of a game doesn't nescessarily mean that it's not a mature gaming experience, while such games are often branded as immature and childish and thus not interesting to play, while the opposite is often true.
Agreed. :icon14:

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 5:21 pm
by +JuggerNaut+
Eraser wrote:
MKJ wrote:im quite neutral on the subject actually. i dont think T&A make a game more mature, but that doesnt mean i automatically think a game is worse because of it
Well it doesn't nescessarily make it less mature, but the most important aspect of the article is that it certainly doesn't make it more mature. A game like Super Mario can easily be more mature in terms of gameplay depth than a game that features little more than explosions and T&A. Unfortunately, the latter type of game is the trend of the gaming industry these days.

A colorful, non-violent and non-sexual presentation of a game doesn't nescessarily mean that it's not a mature gaming experience, while such games are often branded as immature and childish and thus not interesting to play, while the opposite is often true.
aye

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:16 pm
by Geebs
Despite my previous post disappearing, it's still a sixth-form rant.

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 6:01 am
by glossy
Eraser wrote:
MKJ wrote:im quite neutral on the subject actually. i dont think T&A make a game more mature, but that doesnt mean i automatically think a game is worse because of it
Well it doesn't nescessarily make it less mature, but the most important aspect of the article is that it certainly doesn't make it more mature. A game like Super Mario can easily be more mature in terms of gameplay depth than a game that features little more than explosions and T&A. Unfortunately, the latter type of game is the trend of the gaming industry these days.

A colorful, non-violent and non-sexual presentation of a game doesn't nescessarily mean that it's not a mature gaming experience, while such games are often branded as immature and childish and thus not interesting to play, while the opposite is often true.
I just can't believe nobody has released a decent action (and not necessarily side-scroller) game like Super Mario in its cartoony style, but matured up a little to include explosions, guns, etc.

I tried to kickstart the development of an RTS/Action game in this style a little while ago, but my inexperience at that point along with lack of supportive team meant it fell through.

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 6:08 am
by Chupacabra
glossy wrote:
Eraser wrote:
MKJ wrote:im quite neutral on the subject actually. i dont think T&A make a game more mature, but that doesnt mean i automatically think a game is worse because of it
Well it doesn't nescessarily make it less mature, but the most important aspect of the article is that it certainly doesn't make it more mature. A game like Super Mario can easily be more mature in terms of gameplay depth than a game that features little more than explosions and T&A. Unfortunately, the latter type of game is the trend of the gaming industry these days.

A colorful, non-violent and non-sexual presentation of a game doesn't nescessarily mean that it's not a mature gaming experience, while such games are often branded as immature and childish and thus not interesting to play, while the opposite is often true.
I just can't believe nobody has released a decent action (and not necessarily side-scroller) game like Super Mario in its cartoony style, but matured up a little to include explosions, guns, etc.

I tried to kickstart the development of an RTS/Action game in this style a little while ago, but my inexperience at that point along with lack of supportive team meant it fell through.
arent there arleady games out there like that?

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 8:21 am
by glossy
Chupacabra wrote:
glossy wrote:
Eraser wrote: Well it doesn't nescessarily make it less mature, but the most important aspect of the article is that it certainly doesn't make it more mature. A game like Super Mario can easily be more mature in terms of gameplay depth than a game that features little more than explosions and T&A. Unfortunately, the latter type of game is the trend of the gaming industry these days.

A colorful, non-violent and non-sexual presentation of a game doesn't nescessarily mean that it's not a mature gaming experience, while such games are often branded as immature and childish and thus not interesting to play, while the opposite is often true.
I just can't believe nobody has released a decent action (and not necessarily side-scroller) game like Super Mario in its cartoony style, but matured up a little to include explosions, guns, etc.

I tried to kickstart the development of an RTS/Action game in this style a little while ago, but my inexperience at that point along with lack of supportive team meant it fell through.
arent there arleady games out there like that?
Nothing big or that could be taken seriously that i know of (Nerf ArenaBlast comes to mind... :()

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 10:23 am
by Canis
I like pikmin.

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 11:35 am
by o'dium
Theres a game coming out next month in the UK (I could buy it now import though, i'm thinking seriously about it).

its the follow on to one of the best games i've played in the alst few years.

It has ZERO guns in it.

Its mario and luigi 2. And I cant fucking wait.

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 11:37 am
by o'dium
mik0rs wrote:Meh fair enough.

My main beef with Nintendo is that (at least the last time I saw them) is that the fucking HUD's text always seems to be too big and cartoony. You don't need your score taking up a quarter of the screen. No real problem with them aside from that really.
I just want to hit on this for a second...

How many people game on a portable still?

The 360 is aimed at people with huge HD ready TV's... Yet PDZ has crosshairs that are about 2/3 inches wide on my TV...

Give us an option to control size damn it, i cant see jack shit with some game huds these days.

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 12:33 pm
by Grudge
glossy wrote: I just can't believe nobody has released a decent action (and not necessarily side-scroller) game like Super Mario in its cartoony style, but matured up a little to include explosions, guns, etc.
Jak & Dexter, Rachet & Clank?

Btw, don't bad-mouth Halo. It's an excellent game that just happened to collect a huge mainstream following due to it's multiplayer capabilities (as in, there were more or less no competing titles when it launched). Most mainstream players haven't even touched the single player campaign.

It's all the "live the life of a criminal" GTA clones, anti-terrorist tactical Tom Clancy games, "realistic" rice racers, and crappy movie tie-ins that should be blamed.

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 12:34 pm
by Grudge
Plus, common plebs in general have no imagination whatsoever, hence their tendency to stick to sports games and racers.

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 12:40 pm
by o'dium
EA? Whenever theres a game that doe sbetter than them, they jsut buy the company, and turn the game to shit...

It nearly happened to Burnout, but even that has a new game every week now... i just bought Revenge, only to find them making Revenge for the 360 too...

Anyways, what I want, and what I always wanted, was for people to use graphics in an old school way.

Take Mario. Take the sunshine engine. Take the visual style, and gameplay of Mario World. Combine them. Give me a 3D platformer, on its side, like the old days, but with sexy graphics. Sure New Mario Bros. (5) is doing that, but its not out NOW damn it :@

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 2:36 pm
by bitWISE
Sex, violence, and language make a game mature simply because they are inappropriate for younger gamers. But I've never used "maturity" as a way to rate games or appear to be better than anyone else.

I suppose I would have to be involved in a maturity debate or witnessed a maturity debate to understand and agree with this article.