Dead Pixels has 41 chronicles

1. Taking the Wii (Owners) to Task
   

   Player Chronicle -- Posted on Jul 22 2009

   Taking the Wii (Owners) to Task
   
   
   Dead Pixels
   by Ryan M. Eft
   7/22/09
   
   I've long held that the most interesting feature of most magazines is the Letters to the Editor. Here in this otherworldly realm, you find anger, vindication, mirth and a lot of stupidity that makes the rest of us laugh. And every once in a great while you come across a decent point.
   
   Such is the case in the August issue of Game Informer. On the letters page, one Patrick Borelli takes Wii owners out behind the virtual woodshed.
   
   "I'm one of the few who bought (Madworld). (Gamers) cry on internet forums about Nintendo failing its hardcore audience. I'm starting to think...the hardcore audience has failed Nintendo."
   
   Them's fightin' words.
   
   Game Informer, rather than choose sides, replies by fanning the flames:
   "Hardcore Wii owners, Patrick is calling you out. What do you have to say in your defense?"
   
   I happen to think that's a great question. I don't own a Wii just yet, and I can't promise I'd have bought a game like Madworld if I did. But I do have to wonder. It seems like every time a good game releases on the Wii that doesn't have Mario in it, the same fans who howl their heads off about the system being for toddlers and grandmas walk right past it on store shelves without so much as a backward glance. Even worse is the refrain I often hear when I directly challenge this blatant hypocrisy.
   
   "Well, I'll probably pick it up when it's used."
   I'd like to take a moment here to discuss how the economic lifespan of a used game is spent.
   
   1. Someone gets tired of a game.
   2. They trade it in for an amount much lower than what it will be sold for.
   3. The store in question sells it for a price much higher than what it was bought for.
   4. The company executives get paid vacations to the Bahamas.
   5. The developers get laid off.
   
   There's no doubt that used sales make up a portion of a great many businesses. But I couldn't swear it's more prevalent in any other industry than it is in video games. Certainly, people have a right to sell their stuff and stores have a right to buy it, but that's a whole 'nother discussion. My point is, if you whine about a lack of "hardcore" games on the Wii, and then you wait for a used copy of, say, Okami, you remain a part of the problem you've been fussing about. While I'd love to live in a world where every good idea is automatically recognized and developed and the creators get rich (certainly would make my life better), the fact is the world flows on money, and when a game like Madworld sells but in a way that prevents money flowing to the company that made it, the problem mounts.
   
   Naturally, part of the issue is that "hardcore" games on the Wii often don't have a recognizable face to them, which is the kiss of death. In the gaming industry, maybe more than any other, people don't buy what's quality, they buy what they recognize. You could put Mario's face on a case with a blank disc inside, and it would still fly off the shelves like birth control at an Arkansas Wal-Mart. Whereas you could make a game that measures, scientifically, as the greatest game of all time, starring an unknown characters, and it would sit there for months, gathering dust, alone and unmourned, until it was down to twenty bucks and all hope of a return on investment had faded beyond sight.
   
   I'm not arguing here that the Wii is a bastion of quality, original gaming design. That would be foolish. I'm simply observing that those glimmering islands in the sea of crud that is the Wii software library are usually ignored by the same people that clamor for them. It'll be interesting to see what responses Wii owners offer Game Informer next month. If even one person says "I usually buy those used", I will find their house, and egg it.
   
   Twice.
   ______
   
   Note: below, in the comments, you will find a few games to keep an eye on, as well as info. These games definitely do not fall under the category of minigame collections. Buy at least one of them, brand new, on release day, and strike a blow for good.

   
   

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Dead Pixels has 3 comment s on this chronicle.

1. Kaptainwow
   Posted On Jul 22 2009

   Tatsunoko vs Capcom later this year. Took home best fighting game of E3, and its a wii exclusive. I guess wii owners need at least one good fighting game.

2. JackDaniels624
   Posted On Jul 22 2009

   Well I may be able to disagree with you for once...Mad World may be for a more mature audience, but is it actually a good game? I know I may be a bit prejudice here, but I think it's gonna be like No More Heroes. Everyone who plays it seems to love it, but I seem to be the only one who realizes how truly awful the game is. Seriously that game was so repeditive, and what wasn't repeditive was just plain boring! What's sad is No More Heroes seemed like a game right up my alley, extremely violent and funny, much like Postal 2...And like Postal 2 it had technical issues. But Postal 2 was actually, you know, still fun! I'll still rent Mad World even though my senses tell me I'm gonna hate it (and I know this sounds like BS, but for the most part my predictions on how much I'm going to enjoy a game are usually extremely accurate! I've been wrong a few times, but again, for the most part all it takes is a trailer and I can usually tell)

3. Dead Pixels
   Posted On Jul 22 2009

   A magical list. Buy one of these brand new and do the Wii a hardcore favor. Feel free to comment here on any other good games for people above the age of five and below the age of eighty-five.
   
   Fragile
   http://wii.ign.com/articles/836/836728p1.html
   
   Cursed Mountain
   http://wii.ign.com/articles/995/995147p1.html
   
   Muramasa: The Demon Blade
   http://wii.ign.com/articles/988/988450p1.html
   
   Now Available!
   
   Little King's Story
   http://wii.ign.com/articles/100/1005964p1.html
   
   Madworld
   http://wii.ign.com/articles/960/960344p1.html