Videogaming247 has done some delving into the US Patent Office’s latest received applications and have discovered Nintendo filing some rather interesting suggestions, and by interesting I mean ‘interesting, but lame’. Obviously not content with taking the casual gaming market and saturating it with titles that everybody can play without any difficulty, the company has their sights set on making ‘real’ games easier for everyone too.
Yay! That’s just what we want: no challenge whatsoever to anything we’re playing. All the info after the jump.
The patent, filed in Shigeru Miyamoto’s name, is apparently centered on “role playing…action adventure… and action role playing games”. I’m not even going to spell it out for you, like this patent hopes to for your games, so I’ll let the text itself speak:
In these games, a core story or scenario is previously set, and the game is played in accordance with the story or the scenario…in some of these games, a volume of the story or the scenario is too large, and therefore a lot of time is needed for clearing the game. There is a problem that these puzzles and the like are too difficult…and the game may not be cleared to the end. As means for solving the problem, disclosed is a game control method for lowering the difficulty level of a game by presenting, while the game is being played, a hint for allowing the game to be continued.
That’s the patent, in essence. Basically, Nintendo seems to think that nobody has time to play games these days and so they’ve decided to make it easier for everyone. Reading this patent over, it’s beginning to sound like giving a cleaner a Dyson, just to make their job a little easier and to speed up the whole process. In other words, it feels like Nintendo are defining gaming as a chore.
Alright, arguably, it could be a valiant attempt by Nintendo to get casual gamers interested in ‘real’ games; the Super Marios and Metroids of the company. And that’d be great if that’s what Nintendo are doing. However, because of the way it’s been worded, the patent application sounds like it’s defining gaming as a boring activity, a necessary evil, and that this patent will help make the experience fun and enjoyable….isn’t that what gaming’s supposed to be about anyway?
However, one thing that’s really got me wound up is Nintendo’s constant use of the term ‘digest save-data’. What does it mean, and why is it seriously bad news for ‘real games’? Find out on page two.
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Gayyyyyyyyyy.
@ Benton
Seriously!? how does that bit of info make the idea homosexual!?
Also, how long before Microsoft decides to jump on the band wagon and add this, what with them trying to include the casual gamer more (Avatars)
That’s what Nintendo have been doing since 2005. Wii Music and the latest Zelda rumours are merely the latest iterations.
A music “game” where you can’t hit the wrong notes or do anything out of time? Score!
Next we need a FPS (Fallacy Paintball Sim) where you can’t miss a shot or take any damage. Score!
@ outcast6
In response to your first question: welcome to the internet.
In response to your second question: forever.
I agree that as a “hardcore” gamer, this is somewhat troubling, but I can understand the idea of toning down the difficulty for the casual gamers.
Let’s take SG’s own Lesley (whom I use as an example because she is well-known on the site and to readers. Absolutely no offense to her). Anyone who listens to the SG Pink Show knows that Lesley has had many frustrations during her co-hosts’ attempts to convert her to hardcore gaming. A game gets too hard and thus she doesn’t play it at all. By lowering the difficulty, she completes the game, and fulfills that sense of accomplishment (because in the end, that’s the appeal of any video game). While it may not sound like an accomplishment to a veteran gamer, it just means her standard is lower; in the same way, an olympic athlete has a much higher standard than someone just beginning an exercise regiment, which doesn’t reflect poorly on the novice athlete.
That being said, the second half of the patent information provided in this article is just nonsense. “Digest save-data” defeats the whole purpose of playing the game, of getting that accomplishment. (But Yamster has ranted enough on that point to make it proven
). The only way I could see that function as useful would be to show a friend a particularly cool part of a game that you’ve already passed in your normal playing….still, if it’s that cool, there’s probably an internet video somewhere showing the same thing.
I am a casual gamer and the only two games series that I have “finished” are megaman and paper mario. That doesn’t keep me from playing other games and I think hard games are fun personally even if I don’t finish them. the thing about wii music is that it has the quickest responce time out of all the music games I have seen. The other games that are music oriented I hit the button or strum at the right time but by the time it reaches the system( I have played it on an x-box as well as a wii) it is to late and says that I played incorrectly
How is it troubling? They’re giving you the option (that’s the key word here) to do this. They’re not forcing you to skip right to the end. You people just use Nintendo as an easy target.
ridiculous…
seriously though who plays that many rpg’s on the wii or ds?
Actually, this sort of makes sense. For Nintendo. You simultaneously make it easier to finish the game, while still allowing you to create a fair sized game. There’s plenty of content there for the serious gamer who wants to play through it properly, but the casual gamer can finish it quickly if that’s their aim.
Remember that games companies actually want you to play through the games quickly. That way you’ll want to buy a new game, giving them more money.
Oh, and RPGs are about the only thing I do play on my DS.
This isn’t bad at all for ANYBODY, no matter how “hardcore” you are. This is an OPTION – you’re not forced to skip any part of the game, you can do whatever you want.
This feature basically lets you hand over the controller to a game designer to play through a part you’re stuck at. I can think of plenty of times when that would have come in handy. Sometimes it’s just not clear what you’re supposed to do, and it can be VERY frustrating trying to figure it out.
This is GREAT news, people! It also means that it will help get all of those “casual” gamers into buying real games. They won’t have to be intimidated by difficulty anymore – regardless of their skill level, they’ll be able to have those wonderful experiences we enjoy when we play great games.
Er, if you don’t like it, you can just not use it, you know…