All-Access Gaming: Feedback

I've received a few responses to my All-Access Gaming article. I really appreciate readers taking the time and effort to chime in with their opinions (whether positive or negative). And so the least I can do is share them...

Steven writes, "Hi Glen, it's been a while since I've written in. Usually I just do so to congratulate your marvelous coverage and offer anything I feel might help spur more compelling thought. This time, though, I'll have to ask you to excuse me in advance, cause I'm having an anxiety attack or something.

Before I even finished reading the new article, "All-Access Gaming," ( https://www.nsidr.com/articleview.php?articleid=469 ) I was spun into a tizzy of panic. Most of the article comes off, to me, as pre-emptive damage control, as if you're trying to compensate in advance for the predictable back-lash from the gaming public when the Revolution's controller is revealed and it turns out not to be the second coming of Christ.

After all the speculation and suspense and even the promise of the code-name: "Revolution," Nintendo really has set themselves on a kind of pedastal and gamers expect something mind-blowing. If this article was in Nintendo Power, that's absolutely how I'd see it; an attempt to shift perception away from focus on that one key factor that will likely disapoint everyone because it's not as "revolutionary" as a trancendant religious experience, by focusing on the whole package and hilighting how it all comes together to live up to it's name.

From N-Sider, though, while you don't really have the same vested interest monetarily, I know you all bear a considerable emotional investment, just as I do. But even so, it's hard to understand how any of you could hope to effectively sway public opinion. Even though the quality of intelligent writing, professional journalism and rational contemplation from N-Sider is undoubtedly second to none, you must realize you're only one site on a wild Web full of loud nonsense that drowns you out.

When I read articles like this that feel like last, desperate attempts to hold on to something we both cherish dearly, I can't help but feel like your approach borders rationalization; like you're making excuses for the seemingly irrational, eccentric, and arguably self-destructive decisions made by today's Nintendo.

At the same time I wonder how you can have so much to say without addressing the hot-button issues that are swirling around us in the rest of the gaming world. Revolution is "underpowered," trying to fight an uphill battle with risky tactics and an already tarnished public image -- and now the highly controversial announcement that it won't support High Definition display. There's no way you guys can be blissfuly oblivious to these concerns. And while I can see your position -- that Nintendo really is different and doesn't need to compete, and is more profitable in gaming than Microsoft or Sony -- it's little comfort when I am so personally put off by what is becoming a "Nintendo difference" that feels just a little too Howard Hughes.

Connectivity on my Gamecube has been nothing but a frustration and a barrier to me, as I don't have a Gameboy Advance and still don't want one. The screen is just too small, and the novelty of taking games with me that I don't have time to play while I'm away from home isn't as dazzling to me now that I'm not 12. "Connectivity" to me just means the games I pay $30-$50 for have features locked out unless I buy a handheld device I don't want. That has not been a positive Nintendo difference for me.

Nintendo DS is no better. Again, my eyesight is fine (20/14 last time I was tested) but I just don't feel right playing games on such a tiny scale. The even bigger issue on DS is that I definately don't want to play Castlevania with a stylus! That's a specific example, but I hope you can see what I mean: touching is not good. So there's a whole other library of games; investments from major names in the industry that I'll never pick up because I'm locked out by hardware that puts me off.

The revolutionary difference in philosophy at Nintendo seems to be inventing new ways to shut me out as a life long dedicated Nintendo gamer. If Nintendo's other current platforms are indicative of their approach to the Revolution, I worry that I will really have no place in gaming left to go.

All-access gaming sounds fine and all, but it's not without even more potential annoyances and lock-outs. How am I to take advantage of Wi-Fi when I don't have a home router and am probably 60 miles from the nearest hot spot? Backwards compatability is great for me since I love my old games, but loud-mouth Nintendo haters already complain when a classic game is offered for sale again. They argue that Nintendo is "forcing" them pay again for games they already own (ignoring the fact that entire generations of new gamers have never had the opportunity to experience those milestones like Legend of Zelda).

Just the idea of having such an unusual console is a potential disaster. Radically unique hardware means that its entire library (even third party offerings) may be exclusive to the Revolution, but it may also mean that no ports of successful software from the other consoles is possible.

I realize you must all be completely weary from all the long-winded niTendo r teh d00m3dz0rz rants like mine, but it's so very disconcerting that while I'm terrified that Nintendo is revolutionarily differenting themselves out of business -- or at least out of my reach -- you guys are beating a PR drum that Reggie himself can't dance to.

Before I finish placing the blame for all my defeatist paranoia at the actions of a company you are no way responsible for on your shoulders, I have one question. Which one of us is more senile: me or Satoru Iwata? I mean, sure, Nintendo definately created the modern industry we know as gaming, but...

"We invented the current way a console is played - in front of a television and holding a controller...." Personally, I do seem to recall sitting in front of an old TV, holding a controller, (then called a "joystick") playing a console... called Atari 2600.

Glen responds: You're clearly entitled to your interpretation of the article. However, I would still like to defend my intention behind writing the piece. I wrote it specifically as an informative article and also to stir up speculation on the "wireless communication" aspect of the console, which has for the most part not been speculated upon.

To address some of your other points: Nintendo is giving the option of traditional control to traditional gamers and is also giving the option of new, intuitive control to new, intuitive gamers. I don't think Nintendo is trying to shut you -- the traditional gamer -- out at all. I assume the new Zelda interests you, right?

Us traditional gamers parade around demanding realism from our games. We want realistic graphics! We want realistic Zelda! Nothing is wrong with that. But at the same time, I wonder why we don't also demand more realistic interactions with our games? Pressing the A button to slice your enemy with a sword is not realistic. However, touching and using your voice is much more intuitive and realistic. And that's the direction Nintendo is moving in. Just because some people resist change, doesn't mean that change shouldn't happen. Besides, Nintendo is providing an interim step to make that change more smooth -- traditional GameCube control will still be available on Revolution.

Not supporting online wasn't the downfall of Sony and Nintendo this generation. So how can we claim that not supporting HD will be one's downfall in the upcoming generation? Revolution might be under-powered, but being under-powered didn't stop the PlayStation 2 and it didn't stop the Game Boy. In the end, it's about the games. If Revolution can create new experiences in the realm of impact made by titles such as Grand Theft Auto 3, Goldeneye 007, Final Fantasy 7, Halo, Pokemon and Super Mario Bros...then Nintendo has a very good chance of kicking ass and taking names in the upcoming generation. At the end of the day, that is all there is to it. And no one can predict that in advance.

So this is why we inform and speculate about what's going down. And why there's absolutely no reason to predict gloom and doom or money and glory at this point in time. The video game industry is and has always been unpredictable.

So thank you again for taking the time to share your concerns -- we definitely hear ya -- but sit tight for a little bit longer and then email us and let us know your concerns again once full details on the Revolution have been revealed. By the way, Iwata is crazy but so was Yamauchi. You'd have to be crazy to have taken the chances on NES, Donkey Kong, Game Boy, Virtual Boy, and Pokemon.

Ink writes, "I always love your adult in-depth discussion of Nintendo. I am especially fond of your last article discussing the Revolution. I think you hit the nail on the head when you discussed having a controller that would be able to act as a portable gaming device. I think it is apparent that Nintendo has been moving in that direction already. I am thinking about the connection between the Game Boy Advance and GameCube. Remember in Animal Crossing you could hook up the Game Boy and download the island to play or send NES games to the Game Boy? How about the mini game you could send to the Game Boy in Sonic Battle 2?

I would like to add the DS will have connectivity with the Revolution. This has enormous potential to further add to that movement. In addition, that connection would allow for Revolution games to potentially take advantage of the mic and touch screen.

I think by Nintendo going this route the cost wouldn't be that much. History shows that many customers have bought both the 'Cube and Game Boy(s).

Glen responds: I proposed a portable gaming device as one idea. However, I don't think it will come to be for one very important reason: price. It would alone defeat the notion of all-access gaming and is the reason Nintendo's GCN-GBA connectivity failed to take-off. But, we'll see. Nintendo has been moving in this direction for many, many years. In fact, I'm confident that we'll see Revolution and Nintendo DS connectivity. There's no reason Nintendo can't offer NDS demo downloads via the Revolution.