Nintendo to enter Edutainment

[Katanga Askar]

EDIT: Sorry, that wasn't sensible me talkign there. Edited out.

Edited March 21, 2009 by Katanga Askar

[Indigo Rush]

Why are people so upset? Nintendo does edutainment all the time.

The used Mario plenty of times.

Please see "Mario's Early Years, Mario Teaches Typing, and pretty much any other educational game that was released on a Nintendo system.

I don't see a problem with Nintendo being a family system. The more reason for parents to get their kids a game system and eventually get them involved in Sonic.

[Roareye Black]

Many may not be Nintendo's own titles (their domination of their own format really irked many publishers last gen), but on the Wii there are a lot of actually good games. If you haven't found any, either you're purposefully blinding yourself to their existence or you can't be bothered to find the diamonds in the rough. And there's a lot of rough, I will admit, but that kinda comes with the territory of being in the top spot (sadly it's a lot more obvious here than on PS1/PS2).

But yeah, there are good games.

I'm well aware of the good games. Just seems to be a distinct lack of them compared to other systems. Wii missed out on many many sterling and innovative titles. The games on Wii that are raved about, even by the "hardcore" aren't distinctly innovative, just different to the Wii's usual fannybollocks.

As for the idea of edutainment, nobody has denied that Nintendo has made them in the past. I remember the Aesop's Fables series with the Noah's Ark game. Doom engine, running around with a slingshot shooting dogs in the head to "save them". Madness and Sparta all in one. It's quite funny to see the reaction the name of edutainment has gotten since the trend of making them died out during the SNES/Mega Drive era. Sega made Wacky World and Ecco Jr to try and pander to that audience but in the rise of Saturn, PS1 and N64 the entire genre seemed to have fallen into a hole somewhere to be forgotten. It came back first on DS, and now on Wii. Technically aren't games like Dr Kawashima's Brain Training already edutainment software anyway?

Roareye Black.

[Kernel Machinegun]

Just when it seemed the Wii was trying to score a more hardcore audience with games like MadWorld and THotD: Overkill, this happens.

Yeah, they've had edutainment games before but come on, I never expected it to rise again.

[Patticus]

Edutainment on a family friendly console as popular as the Wii may not be the first thing that might spring to mind when I think what would go great on the system, but after some thought it looks inevitable, and could take off in a big way by appealing to the childhood academia parental crowd.

I'm well aware of the good games. Just seems to be a distinct lack of them compared to other systems. Wii missed out on many many sterling and innovative titles. The games on Wii that are raved about, even by the "hardcore" aren't distinctly innovative, just different to the Wii's usual fannybollocks.

Some are - or at least they pioneered great 3D control schemes - and some aren't. The console might be touted as innovative (but I'll leave the arguments over that to people more qualified to judge; industry professionals), but that doesn't make innovation a pre-requisite for every good game the system plays host to.

Technically aren't games like Dr Kawashima's Brain Training already edutainment software anyway?

Yes they are. I bet half of the Wii's ones will feature Mario and co though. The other half will effectively be Brain Training++, probably.

[Tiller]

Hahaha

Man, that would not go over well with the gaming community. And yet I have a sneaking suspicion that at E3 it is still exactly what is going to happen.

Anyone up for a friendly wager?

I'd like to take you up on that. At first, they'll do the sales chart thing and showcase how badly Wii Fit raped the sales of every single game (It just toppled Halo 3 in lifetime sales). Then, they'll showcase a couple more broad audience games. After, they'll introduce this concept and completely forget about 3rd party stuff.

I'll laugh so freaking hard to mask how much I am weeping on the inside.

But seriously, if anyone can pull off proper Edutainment, its Nintendo. As long as I get more games that I would play on my Wii, there is nothing wrong with branching off and creating a bigger empire.

[Patticus]

If this year's E3 was going to be another 08 one I'd say they'll take centre stage, however as we all know this year's E3 (at the start of June, don't forget it!) is set to be a welcome return to the extravaganzas of years gone by; Nintendo stated that so long as it remained what it was last year it did not feel right to display 'core' games there. Edutainment will still be present, yes, but whether it will take centre stage this year... remains to be seen.

[PSI Wind]

"Hardcore"(Most games to me are for both parties)Games

Zack & Wiki:Quest For Barbaros' Treasure

SSBB

SATSR

AC:CF

SMG

Okami(Better than PS2 ver.)

Wario Land:Shake It!

MK Wii

S&TBK

Nights:JOD

and many more.

You guys should know the shorten titles and respect my opinion.

If Nintendo makes these good games. Great. Bring more gamers to the market.

[ShadiWulf]

"Hardcore"(Most games to me are for both parties)Games

Zack & Wiki:Quest For Barbaros' Treasure

SSBB

SATSR

AC:CF

SMG

Okami(Better than PS2 ver.)

Wario Land:Shake It!

MK Wii

S&TBK

Nights:JOD

and many more.

You guys should know the shorten titles and respect my opinion.

If Nintendo makes these good games. Great. Bring more gamers to the market.

1. Animal Crossing isn't hardcore, maybe core, but it's not hardcore. Actually, none of the games on that list are hardcore, doesn't mean they are bad, they just aren't hardcore.

2. Nintendo didn't make all those

3. they are all OLD

Edited March 22, 2009 by ShadiWulf

[Sean]

The gaming community just needs to chill the fuck out. I can't comment on the selection of so-called "hardcore" titles on the Wii objectively, because frankly, all three consoles don't have that appealing of a game selection for me.

Even though there has been intense rivalry and flamewars about video games since the dawn of time, I can't really walk anywhere without seeing a "hardcore vs. casual" debate somewhere. I don't really understand what is meant to be accomplished in such arguments, other than condescending the other side over something fundamentally retarded.

If anything, "casual" ought to be the preferred side because "casuals" do just that - they play games without the need of drama.

You guys should know the shorten titles and respect my opinion.

Sure! Except-

Okami(Better than PS2 ver.)

Wait, what?

[PSI Wind]

^ OK, Gameplay IMO is better as its more faster.

Anyway. I bet 99.9% of you guys havn't played Zack & Wiki. Its one of the hardests games EVER!!!!

Edited March 22, 2009 by PSI Wind FTW!

[SuperStingray]

I don't like to seperate games into hardcore and casual. As far as I'm concerned, there are only two types of games: fun and not fun.

Edited March 22, 2009 by SuperStingray

[PSI Wind]

^ Give this man a fucking medal.

he has logic!

[Tornado]

If Nintendo can do this right (Brain Age on the Wii), this will be fantastic. If this ends up being Mario is Missing...Again! then I give up.

Zack & Wiki:Quest For Barbaros' Treasure

SSBB

SATSR

AC:CF

SMG

Okami(Better than PS2 ver.)

Wario Land:Shake It!

MK Wii

S&TBK

Nights:JOD

Three games (Okami, which isn't a Wii game anyways; Brawl; and Galaxy)! Secret Rings and Wario Land are arguable (particularly Wario Land), but none of the rest are really what one would call hardcore. Journey of Dreams probably would be if Sega didn't remake the original for the PS2, Japan exclusive or no.

To be fair, I can think of a few more (one of which was even released quite recently), but hardcore Wii games largely don't sell because hardcore Wii players are becoming an incredibly rare occurrence.

That being said, I prefer to look at it the way SuperStingray does anyways.

but that doesn't make innovation a pre-requisite for every good game the system plays host to.

I'd actually argue the opposite. If it doesn't make at least some (good) use of the Wii functionality, one might as well just buy the (usually inevitable) PS2 version. I make exceptions for most Nintendo games, simply because they can only be played on the Wii and they usually allow GCN controller use anyways.

[ShadiWulf]

True Hardcore

Everyone knows that is true hardcore. SAAYGAAAAAH

I enjoy non hardcore games too, but there is such a thing as hardcore games.

[Sean]

The only thing that makes a game hardcore is whether a player perceives it as such. This whole "hardcore vs. casual" grouping system was started by the community alone.

You guys remember Super Smash Bros. Brawl. You know what that game was intended to be? That's right, a party game!

[ShadiWulf]

No one is hardcore compared to this guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCvzzBSfyko

(watch from 30 sec mark)

[Patticus]

I agree Jake, but I'd go further and suggest that there is in fact no such thing as a hardcore game; there are only hardcore players.

[Stephen]

I dont really like this because its the parrent or gaurdians job to teach there kids how to count and not mario

[Roareye Black]

I dont really like this because its the parrent or gaurdians job to teach there kids how to count and not mario

Yeah but you know they won't. Parents are too fuckin dumb to be able to read numbers on a box, such as age certification it seems. I doubt they know how to count. May as well let Mario do it, may improve society a bit. Certainly can't hurt.

Roareye Black.

[Phos]

Nintendo dissapoints me. A simple, casual game that anyone can play can be fun for even the most hardcore (Flower anyone?), but they're content to stick all this crap on their console.

Like someone said before, the Wii is getting dangerously close to becoming an expensive leapster. I can't help but wonder how many of the "casuals" (aka, people who but the Wii for Wii sports) are actually going to buy any successor the Wii might have. Most of the people who bought it play it for a bit, then it collects dust.

[SuperStingray]

Nintendo dissapoints me. A simple, casual game that anyone can play can be fun for even the most hardcore (Flower anyone?), but they're content to stick all this crap on their console.

Like someone said before, the Wii is getting dangerously close to becoming an expensive leapster. I can't help but wonder how many of the "casuals" (aka, people who but the Wii for Wii sports) are actually going to buy any successor the Wii might have. Most of the people who bought it play it for a bit, then it collects dust.

I'm not so upset about the casual games they're making for the Wii so much as that the lack of difficulty is seeping into even some hardcore games. Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, Wario Land: Shake it, etc. They're all ridiculously easy compared to their predecessors. (Well, maybe not Galaxy, but it's still pretty damn easy.)

Besides, IIRC, Nintendo said themselves that they're going to focus more on casual family games while leaving hardcore games to second and third parties.

[Patticus]

They still have core games in development, Stingray - their Zelda teams make nothing outside that franchise, for example.

First look at Nintedutainment via a patent?

Mario: Animal Raper Extraordinaire

A new patent application Nintendo has filed in the U.S. tips its hand to a potential new focus for the game-maker, and no, it is not core gamers.

I'm no patent inspector or IP attorney, but what's being described here looks like an application of the Wiimote, not some new hardware or peripheral. By using the Wiimote inits pointer mode, kids (or those with developmental disabilities) work on activities such as identifying shapes, recognizing letters and colors and animals. The software will offer some audiovisual cue and the little tyke will use the Wiimote to register the correct answer. For example, What is Mario fondling in this picture? That's right, he's fondling a SKUNK. (OK, he's fondling a cat.)

Using the Wiimote's motion capabilities, kids can simulate certain chores or personal hygiene tasks, reinforcing their necessity and teaching responsibility for them. Mario and Pikachu are depicted in the filing as characters involved in this game. The application also makes reference to other licensed characters, like Dora the Explorer and Bob the Builder.

Siliconera found the filing yesterday. This isn't proof of an actual product under development. Nintendo could also be working on something along these lines that comes out completely different. But it does give a good hint that Ninty's taking a hard look at the edutainment market.

[Sega DogTagz]

Mario: Animal Raper Extraordinaire

Is there an alternate meaning to that word that I am missing???

Animal Husbandry is one thing but I think that takes playing with loose terms a bit too far.

C’mon Nintendo, you can think up better proto names than that.

Edited March 23, 2009 by Sega DogTagz

[goodone121]

I think the post above yours was joking.