JC Barnett Claims Super Smash Brothers Brawl Is Unfit For The Wii
By William on Sunday, January 27th, 2008 at 12:33 PM PST In Game Companies, Game Consoles, Game Platforms, Nintendo, Nintendo
Lately, we have heard only good things about Super Smash Brothers Brawl, but now a Japanese game developer who uses the alias “JC Barnett” has expressed concern for the new Nintendo Wii title. Surprisingly, I basically agree with his opinions of Super Smash Brothers Brawl and the Nintendo Wii. He believes that this game will confirm the fact that the Wii is not appealing to hard-core gamers and that future developers need to stick to casual games for the system. He also mentions that he believes that the Wii may not even be part of the current console war. I have believed that for a while, but it’s not a very popular opinion to have these days. I have always felt like the Wii had a different market than the Xbox 360 and PS3, but somehow people find that hard to believe. For whatever reason, fanboys tend to get all bent out of shape when you mention that the Wii is a “casual” system. I’m not sure why because it really is a casual gaming option.
Is the Wii the wrong system for a game such as Super Smash Brothers Brawl? I’d have to say with certainty that it probably would have been better on the Sony PS3 or Xbox 360. Considering it’s only on the Wii, it will probably sell really well though, at least for a while. I hope you fanboys out there don’t try to go off on me for this opinion. There’s nothing wrong with the Nintendo Wii, but it’s certainly just a different kind of system than what you get with the 360 and PS3.
Here’s what he had to say:
As a spurious prediction I’d say we may see a promising start with the usual drop-off over the next few months and sales figures that would make anyone proud but that are still lower than expected, a bit like Super Mario Galaxy. If Sumabura [Super Smash Bros. Brawl] doesn’t sell that well it would be proof positive that the Wii isn’t a hard-core friendly platform. I suspect already that it isn’t, but a title like this could prove it once and for all.
This also means the Wii is out of the “console war”. It has its own market distinctly different from its competitors, whom must fight amongst themselves for their own top spot. Both Microsoft and Sony are making wooing noises to the casual market but they’ll have a hard time stealing customers from the big N.
So any publisher looking to make money on the Wii must squarely look at casual and avoid hard-core at all costs.
Via VGM
The majority of gamers are casual. There’s nothing wrong with that. I never said hard-core gamers were the majority.
But it’s as if everyone is saying that there are two distinct markets out there, one for hardcore gamers and one for casual gamers…..that’s stupid. there is one market out there, the gamer market, some people are more into gaming than others but that does not mean that there are two markets…….there is one big pie that Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo want a piece of, and right now Nintendo owns the largest piece of that pie.
There definitely are different markets out there. A senior citizen isn’t going to purchase an Xbox or PS3 to play games on, but they may very well pick up a Wii. The Wii isn’t targeted to specific groups for the most part and many of their customers aren’t even what most would consider gamers.
The difference between a Wii and the other two systems is huge honestly.
@manofteal,
You’re absolutely right. Thats why I said the following:
“So, sure, 360 and PS3 are targeting a different market, but only different in that its much narrower. The Wii is targeting a different market in that its targeting everyone.”
Its all part of the same market. Thats why its crazy to say these consoles are not somehow competing with each other. The people who try to segment the market are the people trying to rationalize that the Wii is selling so much better than the other too, and those are mostly just fanboys who feel bad that a last gen piece of hardware is massively outselling their baby.
Here’s the deal. Every generation, one console, more than the others gets the attention of consumers and sells many more units. Last gen it was the PS2, before that the PS1, before that the SNES and NES. This gen, that console looks to be the Wii. Thats neither good nor bad. It’s just the market. The only people who care are fanboys. Bring on the great games, us non-partisan gamers don’t care where the great games come from or which console sells the most.
As a gamer since the invention of videogames I agree with Humpfree. I have owned various systems since the Atari 2600. I never once thought consoles are hardcore gaming. What makes Halo, Resident Evil, GTA hardcore??? True hardcore gamers are on the PC. Anyone remember RPGs of old? The Ultima series, Might and Magic, Bards Tale these are hardcore games. Presently I think most hardcore gamers have moved onto MMORPGs and are awaiting games like Age of Conan. If you want to know what hardcore gaming truly is join a hardcore guild on a MMORPG. It will consume your life and you will be going to a console for a break from your PC. Then you laugh at comments like this stating that XBox and PS3 are for hardcore gaming. In closing I think the Wii is a breath of fresh air its fun and appeals to everyone.
I think the discussion around what constitutes a hardcore gamer is an interesting one. Eagle is quite right when he said “If you want to know what hardcore gaming truly is join a hardcore guild on a MMORPG. It will consume your life and you will be going to a console for a break from your PC.” That is precisely what I did a year ago, I bought a Wii as a means of breaking myself off of WoW, which I had been cracking out on for almost 2 years. It was somewhat successful, I quit WoW within 5 months, and I occasionally play the Wii, about once a week. However the dichotomy is not that clear cut. I can imagine becoming quite engrossed in a game like Halo, although from my understanding Crysis is a better game in practically every respect. One game that I play more often than anything on my Wii, is Rock Band and I dont even own an XBOX. I also expect this dichotomy to change over time as gaming interfaces/peripherals develop and become more integral to the gaming experience. Rock Band is a really good demonstrations of this phenomena, because the attachment rate on that game is amazing, 2.5 million songs downloaded over its first 2 months is nothing to sneeze at.
I do think the term hard-core is defined a little differently by people on here. Typically I define hardcore gamers as those who play games competitively and spend a majority of their free time playing games.
I have read statistics showing that most Wii owners play around 12 hours a week.. but there really haven’t been any reliable studies done on that recently.
“I’d have to say with CERTAINTY that it PROBABLY would have been better on the Sony PS3 or Xbox 360.”
What kind of lousy writing is that? Are you certain it would be better on PS3 or XBOX? Or do you just think it would be likely?
In any case, Nintendo is a software AND a hardware company. Statements like this are useless because the Smash series and the characters are married to the hardware, and would never appear on other consoles. In fact, the reason I bought a Wii has nothing to do with the controls; it’s because of the first party titles I knew would come. Maybe what you mean is that if the Wii was more powerful, the game would be better. And if the Wii was more powerful, it would be more expensive, would sell less, and would provide Nintendo less profit to maximize games like Smash Bros.
Go write for foxnews/kotaku you sensationalist hack.
I’ve read the posts, and one post actually said:
“…Nintendo not trying to reinvent the wheel with their online play, they should simply recreate XBox Live.”
I got rid of Xbox because of Xbox Live. Yearly fees and online play with people who want to tell you about the glue they just sniffed, is not my idea of fun. I do not want Nintendo to jump on the bandwagon and do what everyone else is doing. The world is full of sheep waiting to see what the other sheep are doing.
Nintendo’s Friend Codes is great. It’s Free. I play with friends/family instead of “griefer’s and strangers. It has weather, news, internet browsing as well as other channels (and more being added as time goes on). It gives more than the other 2 consoles out of the box and costs less.
Nintendo does not give me what I think I want. They surprise me by giving me what I did not know I wanted. They innovate, surprise and try to take an original approach. They do it with their hardware and they do it with their games. Nintendo is a leader, not a follower.
SSBB would not be better on PS3 or 360.
Life would be better for Xbox 360 & PS3 owners, if they could play SSBB on those respective systems.
When you spend a lot more money on 360 (+ LIVE subscription) or PS3, you may feel that something is missing. You start wishing you had games like SSBB to play on them. [If this is what the author meant, who could disagree] I also missed the type of games that Nintendo offered when I HAD a 360.
I’ve been playing Nintendo games since the arcade game Donkey Kong, I have complete admiration for their contribution to entertainment generally and gaming in particular. However, when I see kirroc pan XBox Live and sing praises to Nintendo Friends Codes, I fully understand and appreciate why gamers despise Nintendo fanboys.
Well Kirroc, if the Wii had the online base that Xbox does I would probably own one. Live is the best online service for a reason, and it involves $50 a year. You say that’s to much? Go play on Sony’s online service and just try to tell me it’s better without lie’n. Also look at MMORPG’s where you can pay $15 a month for a single game. Wii is nice and all, where you play only with friends and all that stuff but you just proved this articles’ point. This is not a hardcore gamers system. I love the Wii for what it is, pure amazing fun that never ends. But a game like this should be online with huge competitions, player ratings and the ability to play anyone in the world. All I want for SSBB is matchmaking. Give me that then instead of playing my friends Wii I’ll go buy my own.
I have been a hardcore gamer for 20 years. The only new console I own is Wii. I play hardcore games on it. Smash Brothers Brawl is hardcore. I’m buying it.
I’ve downloaded Breath of Fire 2 and Shining Force, and I’ve already milked 60+ hours out of the 16 bucks I spent on them together. Add in 200+ hours for Zelda TP, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Paper Mario, Metroid Prime 3, Zack and Wiki, and Endless Ocean. Is still don’t have the time to get everything in those games, and I probably never will – and I have to deal with all the new releases coming out this year.
Oh yeah, add in a bajillion hours spent with friends on Wario Ware and Wii Sports.
Is the Wii hardcore? Yes, it is hardcore as hell. As hardcore as a stripper snorting coke in the ghetto.
even with a 50 dollar fee, XBL is the best online service for consoles. It’s still a matter of opinion, but there’s a reason it’s free other places.
Believe me, the PSN will not be free forever. It’s free now because it has to be.
Back in the day, all the games we had were more casual, by todays standards.
I think it’s the people who are hardcore, not the games themselves.
If you play Wiisports for 4 hours every day, people would argue “that game isn’t hardcore” but the person plays it hardcore.
It’s taking casual gamers and turning them hardcore.
It’s broadening the interests of hardcore gamers by increasing the number of hardcore gamers.
@joanthan,
“Wii is nice and all, where you play only with friends and all that stuff ”
I have several Wii games that I take online and I don’t usually play with people I know. You can play anyone online, for free, with no friend codes. The friend codes are only to play with people already know in real life.
No, I don’t like friend codes, but I’m willing to put up with them for a free online service. The Wii online is solid and lag free. Wireless out of the box is really nice. I’ve been gaming online for free for over a decade. As cool at LIVE is, its just not worth the money for the extra bells and whistles. Wii and PSN online are both plenty good enough even though they are not technically the BEST services. To me FREE is the best service, as long as it works, which LIVE has had more trouble with than the other two.
the best things in life are free?
@weclock,
Something like that. But seriously, I think its easier for the younger kids to accept LIVE because they haven’t had years upon years of free online gaming to poison their perceptions of what is worth charging for. I just think the user experience on LIVE is nice but totally unnecessary and that they should not force people, who simply want to game online, to pay money for a bunch of advanced features that they may or may not want. I understand some people love those features, but I guarantee that if basic online multiplayer was added to LIVE silver, there would be VERY FEW gold subscribers.
you are all just cranky because the wii is selling more then the PS3 or Xbox, you could say it isn’t apart of the console war because it is so far above the other consoles.
This is not true.
The Wii appeals to hard core gamers just as much as the PS3 and 360 do.
The Wii has Super Mario Galaxy, Resident Evil, and many other games like that.
And, Super Smash Brothers will NEVER EVER be on the PS3 or 360. EVER.
Its a Nintendo only franchise, so stop getting your hopes up.
Brawl will only be on the Wii. ONLY FOR Wii.
Wii IS AWESOME! AND HARDCORE!
Heh, I wish I could see the look on the author of this articles face when he saw how many copies brawl sold in 1 region. Halo sold 1.8 mil in 1 day world wide brawl sold 43% of that in 1 region. Let’s add the other 2 later and have a nice laugh about it.
Just so you guys know; wii fanboys = core gamers; you know the ones you complain about… their quite a few of them aren’t there.
Seriously that brawl sales beating out the pinicle of “core” in its own region (Devil May Cry) on the worlds major “core” consoles (Xbox360 & PS3) must of been like a tall glass of stfu. But I’m sure 2008 is going to host more hack-writers looking for clicks and google spots, frustrated publishers who can’t see outside of the box, and lazy developers who want to rehash their ps2/Xbox engines instead of making new ones.
Talk about something more constructive – like how Nintendo is sharing their intelligence with 3rd parites now, and that they released new dev tool kits for online play.
Seriously, do you feel satisfied making articles like this? I know we all have to take the Good, the Bad and the Ugly from time to time – but I dont understand how you can still make articles like this in late 2007.
Wii is good and all but I still love my Ps3 thats just me, but I would get an Xbox too… articles like these are a shame to all writers who could of had your job and have done it better.
Unless of course this is your hobby and this is your blog – then do what you want, your the one paying the bills… I’ll just avoid this site.