WiiWare is a giant pile of horse$hit.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

Man the games keep getting worse and worse for this. Just this week they have released some bean bag toss game. Avoid this thing like the plague but do indulge in the wonderful Virtual Console. Oh and if somebody could burn down the Gameloft studios development computers it would be much appreciated. WiiWare has a very small handful of good games but I do not know why they insist in letting clone-making unimaginative Cellphone companies make console games. Honestly it is great the the quality ports of classic shmups on the Virtual Console are actually smaller, better designed and more enjoyable then the hellspawn that are the WiiWare games.

I think the current idea is to take the most mundane of competitions such as competitive eating or tossing bean bags and shovel it at casual gamers. The excitement of the new software must dwarf the "gay wagglefest" that the games boil down to. I LOVE the huge selection of classic shmups and new shmup games for the Wii. I HATE the squandered potential that the WiiWare channel has become. The Wii provides many good shmup options if you missed some classic titles that can be said without a doubt. This is a bitch and moanfest about the WiiWare concept which could have been a great sucess.

I say Gameloft is currently the source of all evil.

Take a look at their cellphone game linup and you will agree. We are talking a Paris Hilton themed Bejewled game here folks.

WiiWare be damned, I'll take those affordable quality Virtual Console games please. What does this mean? Is it possible that people were actually making better games in the early 90's I think that is is a definate yes. This new breed of shovelware has no staying power because these modern shovelware games lack soul, character and style.

[Elixir]

Joke post? Virtual Console is garbage. You're paying for region-locked roms with very limited options, you realize this, right? There's nothing "quality" about that at all. Emulators do everything the Virtual Console does and more, and to top it off they're also completely free and obviously look superior on a PC monitor.

The problem with Nintendo's stance in the gaming industry is that developers are given the option of adding useless shit (see: waggle, shake shake, ouendan spinners, dawn of sorrow emblems, etc) which make their games look retarded, and they always opt for it. The Wii and DS are so incredibly easy to develop for that every man and his dog can release a game, hence why the Wii is currently getting a single worthwhile game e very 5 months. It's just like I'm owning a Gamecube all over again.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

This is not really about the Virtual Console. It at least offers some options for classic television gaming. I don't mind supporting good companies.

Don't sidetrack the thread. This is intended to discuss the current state of the WiiWare concept.

There are a handful of decent games I will admit but many of them look like a 4 year old retard's first game with Game Maker.

[Elixir]

WiiWare at least offers new games to the casual audience. They're shitty games, so they blend in almost seemlessly with the Wii library.

Virtual Console offers a revision history at an overpriced rate with next to no configuration.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

They are not all new games. Some of the Gameloft garbage is based on their cellphone nonsense.

[Elixir]

It doesn't matter. Look, nobody gives a shit about cellphone gaming, apart from Apple who abused it to promote the iPhone. And since cellphone gaming is almost non-existent, pretty much everyone will be seeing these games for the first time on WiiWare.

[Frederik]

I say Gameloft is currently the source of all evil.

Data Design interactive isn´t that bad in the evil category, either.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZOYo0nJ5oo

I´m certainly no expert on the video game business, but I´d say that even with the ridiculously high console sales, the endless stream of shovelware on both the DS and the Wii has the potential to backfire pretty badly.

[trivial]

Only for the types you have to coach about their google results. Impulse buyers don't really have an online presence, so there's no way to say for sure.

[Udderdude]

I´m certainly no expert on the video game business, but I´d say that even with the ridiculously high console sales, the endless stream of shovelware on both the DS and the Wii has the potential to backfire pretty badly.

I totally agree, I'm surprised there hasn't been a backlash allready. Maybe because their primary market doesn't even realize what they're buying is mostly crap .. :/

[lgb]

It goes right against the original Nintendo plan, but it works.

[Necronom]

Is it possible that people were actually making better games in the early 90's I think that is is a definate yes. This new breed of shovelware has no staying power because these modern shovelware games lack soul, character and style.

Imho, there aren't many devs out there any more who can come up with games that are simple and still "deep" gameplaywise. Seems this kind of knowledge from the arcade and 16 bit days is mostly lost and the only ones that are rediscovering it to a certain extent are the doujin and amateur game makers like Kenta Cho, Cactus, Konjak, 2D Boy etc.
Another thing is the lack of good artwork for small downloadable or NDS games - for every World of Goo or Castlevania (Ecclesia) there is a bunch of unimaginative and generic bullcrap nobody asked for.
It's really a shame that devs like Cave who seem to still have this knowledge refuse to give the Wii a chance and go for the more profitable mobile phone games instead...

[benstylus]

It goes right against the original Nintendo plan, but it works.

The original Nintendo Plan was strong-arm business tactics to force developers into NES exclusivity. And there was lots and lots of trash on the NES.

The "quality over quantity" plan that you are bringing up wasn't so much a Plan from Nintendo, but a PR spun way of saying "everyone wants to develop for playstation, so we don't have as many games."

[Observer]

They are not all new games. Some of the Gameloft garbage is based on their cellphone nonsense.

You are not wrong! Those fuckwads have been promoting themselves over here at several univs, telling us how great the cellphone gaming is and how much of an awesome and renowned company they are!!! Good lord, I'm glad to see different opinions now...

We even applied for a job there with some friends! Jeez. I'm glad they haven't called me and that I started learning C++ and retrieving info on my own. Screw them. I assume they just want cheap workers and pay them in our local devaluated money, do all the crap over here, and then sell it for dollars/euros outside.

It's hilarious you people brought this... It can't be coincidence. I'm not a believer of coincidences.

Pity Gameloft wasn't responsible for the massacre and destruction of the otherwise mediocre/standard Protöthea for PC. One of the few shooters next to Dark Rage. Blame Ubisoft as well. Turning a strange and quite awful game with barely any music into a total piece of garbage with a Doom rip off OST is one hell of a job. The worse? The Wii version looks even more amateurish and incomplete than the original!

These people are destroying any chances for us to make real games... I'm determined to eventually make my own stuff.

[Udderdude]

I wouldn't mind getting my own games up there, but after visiting Nintendo's developer application page, they apparently require you to have your own office space (A home office doesn't count). Maybe it's better that it doesn't get mixed in with all that other shovelware .. :/

[Drascin]

I´m certainly no expert on the video game business, but I´d say that even with the ridiculously high console sales, the endless stream of shovelware on both the DS and the Wii has the potential to backfire pretty badly.

Not on Nintendo's front, at least on the DS. Yes, there are thousands of games on the DS, and many of them suck, but this doesn't do anything to counter the fact that the number of good games in it is also huge. Nintendo is not going to lose sales because companies do sucky stuff as long as there is also great stuff in it... and there is, for a lot of demographics (I play sidescrollers and RPGs, my mom plays puzzles and logic games, my sis plays mostly minigames... we had to have a DS each because we couldn't agree on a gaming schedule).

For the companies making the shovelware... those can have a backfire, maybe, but certainly not on the financial front. They're not risking money, really. The cost of making most of those games is almost nil. The only thing they can lose is the trust of their buyers for future titles. Which is a greater problem than they believe, granted, but not one that is going to be noticeable before a couple years.

Now, the Wii... that is a greater problem for Nintendo, because, well, there just aren't as many awesome games to keep the console a good deal as there are in DS.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

The sad thing is that there are many independent developers that would love a chance to developers for a console but do not have an "office". Independent developers are not bound by cliche ideas and ripoffs. Instead you get bloated cellphone companies that are worried about loosing money so they create generic boring games.

[320x240]

I wouldn't mind getting my own games up there

What about XBLA? That would surely have been the better choice among this generation of consoles. Do they still demand HD graphics?

[320x240]

Imho, there aren't many devs out there any more who can come up with games that are simple and still "deep" gameplaywise. Seems this kind of knowledge from the arcade and 16 bit days is mostly lost and the only ones that are rediscovering it to a certain extent are the doujin and amateur game makers like Kenta Cho, Cactus, Konjak, 2D Boy etc.

I believe there are 'lots' of people that could make games like that but they can never seem to get a foot inside the console part of the industry. The PC market seems to be dead with regards to these kind of games, unless places like Steam could support them.

[jonny5]

I wouldn't mind getting my own games up there, but after visiting Nintendo's developer application page, they apparently require you to have your own office space (A home office doesn't count). Maybe it's better that it doesn't get mixed in with all that other shovelware .. :/

there is more than XOP in the udderdude dungeon?

youve been holding out...i expect to see some of these games at the next meet......

shmups or not...i hope there are some puzzle games

[Udderdude]

I wouldn't mind getting my own games up there

What about XBLA? That would surely have been the better choice among this generation of consoles. Do they still demand HD graphics?

I don't think the HD graphics would be that much of an issue, but pretty sure they have the same list of requirements. Plus you need to fork over a couple thousand to have the game verified and tested by one of their testing divisions or some crap.

[Udderdude]

I wouldn't mind getting my own games up there, but after visiting Nintendo's developer application page, they apparently require you to have your own office space (A home office doesn't count). Maybe it's better that it doesn't get mixed in with all that other shovelware .. :/

there is more than XOP in the udderdude dungeon?

youve been holding out...i expect to see some of these games at the next meet......

shmups or not...i hope there are some puzzle games

The puzzle game I made isn't real-time, so I don't know how much you'd like it. I need to start making more of my own stuff, though.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

There is only one way to fight this. We programmers must demean ourselves into making freeware flash shmups playable on the Wii web browser. Wait....that is a horrible idea.

[Udderdude]

There is only one way to fight this. We programmers must demean ourselves into making freeware flash shmups playable on the Wii web browser. Wait....that is a horrible idea.

Flash is terrible for any highscore game, it's easy as hell to lag down your PC and make the game crawl. You can make Flash record the frames per second but that only helps so much .. (Maybe reject your highscore if your FPS lagged too much? lawl)

[Pixel_Outlaw]

There is only one way to fight this. We programmers must demean ourselves into making freeware flash shmups playable on the Wii web browser. Wait....that is a horrible idea.

Flash is terrible for any highscore game, it's easy as hell to lag down your PC and make the game crawl. You can make Flash record the frames per second but that only helps so much .. (Maybe reject your highscore if your FPS lagged too much? lawl)

Therein lies the joke sir.

[Specineff]

I hope we're not headed for another crash. Wasn't an excess of consoles and a steady flow of shovelware exactly what caused the first one?

[Aru-san]

I hope we're not headed for another crash. Wasn't an excess of consoles and a steady flow of shovelware exactly what caused the first one?

AFAIK, it took one single shovelware game (COUGHETCOUGH) to cause the crash. Who knows? Maybe in the future, we'll be seeing lots of Wiis, 360s, and PS3s in a random landfill somewhere in the world.

Or maybe said shovelware game was just the spark and the other shovelware was the powdered keg.

[bcelmo]

if you ask me nicely i can actually go down and burn some gameloft offices as they are a few blocks away from where i live, here in bucharest

[Udderdude]

There is only one way to fight this. We programmers must demean ourselves into making freeware flash shmups playable on the Wii web browser. Wait....that is a horrible idea.

Flash is terrible for any highscore game, it's easy as hell to lag down your PC and make the game crawl. You can make Flash record the frames per second but that only helps so much .. (Maybe reject your highscore if your FPS lagged too much? lawl)

Therein lies the joke sir.

I also gave a decent solution to the joke itself. I think. >_>

[Pixel_Outlaw]

if you ask me nicely i can actually go down and burn some gameloft offices as they are a few blocks away from where i live, here in bucharest

No they would just use it as inspiration for a crappy game where you have to match colored blocks to "give rescue orders to the fire fighters".

[Observer]

if you ask me nicely i can actually go down and burn some gameloft offices as they are a few blocks away from where i live, here in bucharest

No they would just use it as inspiration for a crappy game where you have to match colored blocks to "give rescue orders to the fire fighters".

An image says it all. This is the promotional triptych they gave to us:



Time to cry in terror! And they had contracts with Ubisoft... I'm now 100% these people are responsible of the bullshit Protöthea Wii port. I mean, turning an already regular/bad game into something infinitely worse is one sight to behold.