stealth toilet
Moderator
For my latest Toilet Bowl I picked a topic that has been tossed around these boards already. I tried to give a bit more of a comprehensive look at all of it, but whether I was successful or not is for everyone else to decide. Like it, hate it, post up here.
(You can also read it here: http://www.egameaddiction.com/gameaddicts/content/view/225/2/1/1/)
(You can also read it here: http://www.egameaddiction.com/gameaddicts/content/view/225/2/1/1/)
Reinventing the Wiill
Oct. 1, 2006
By stealth_toilet
The gauntlet has been thrown down, with an unusual amount of vigor (http://www.gamespot.com/features/6157683/index.html?tag=features;title;0). With two system launches mere months away the Tokyo Game Show has had a lot to offer gamers in terms of news. None has been more talked about than the overdue release of Wii specifics, more specifically, the price points. And while the internet is quite astir with every arrogant blowhard throwing his two cents into the inter-hat, there's no cents in this arrogant blowhard following suit. The $250 dollar price tag seems to either have been expected or inflated. The price of Virtual Console games is either a steal or a deal. The required $60 for a fully functional second controller (that is $40 wii-mote and $20 nunchuk which apparently is not a necessity but an accessory) is either part and parcel of the Nintendo package or an outrageous extortion. To be fair, I suppose I should mention that there are those who do not advocate either black or white, but fall somewhere in the gray areas (see: PC gamers. See also: gangly, pasty skinned morlock-esque creatures originating from times and places best forgotten), remaining awkwardly silent while the eternal fanboy bickering mobile lurches heavily onward... but those people are neither noteworthy nor cleanly, and I shan't waste one more single word on them so long as they agree that I have noticed and dismissed their moot presence.
With that assertion out of the way, I must say I am always rather fascinated to see how news of this sort clearly shows the varying colors that compose the gamer spectrum. Certain issues demand a fair amount of mud slinging, but in this case I felt obligated to take a step back and try to view the bigger picture. I, as most gamers, have fervent opinions which I must express via anonymous online forums, but my actual position on this specific spectrum seems to be the color of blurple; which means I'm not sure where exactly that is, if that is even a place. Those who frequent the egameaddiction.com forums will no doubt concur amongst themselves that I am being paid (quite well, I might add) by Sony to achieve my PhD in Spindoctory, but the truth of the matter is simply that I have no stake or claim in this argument either way. I do not currently own an Xbox 360, PS3, or Nintendo Wii, and apart from the occurrence of some completely unexpected turn of good fortune it will be an unearthly long time before I have the ability to purchase any one of those. And as everyone knows, without personal monetary investment in an object, idea, or political state, it is impossible for one to have strong opinions on the subject. Thus, the color of Sony does not make up my rainbow, despite evidence that may seem to prove the contrary.
Having said that, I can't help but feel Nintendo is up to their old tricks again (more exactly, the trick where they take candy from an unexpecting baby, and then snatch the baby's wallet once it begins to cry). Having been through the rigorous Nintendo cycle of shame, the one that involves spending as much money on add-ons, extras, and peripherals as I did on actual hardware and software, I can't help but grieve for the unsuspecting generation that is about to enter that cycle. I know all too well what it's like to walk into a store willing to pay any price (i.e.$40) if it means walking out of the store being able to play (with the help of an expansion pak) the latest Zelda installment. Nintendo knew this mentality then just as well as I do now. I assumed that was just the way things worked. I believed that in the end it was worth it, that I had made a good decision, and that my purchase was well warranted. But the truth of the matter was such that I was young, innocent, vulnerable to advertising and hype, and all too ready to throw down $40 for a backup flux capacitor if it meant I was able to play Majora's Mask. Some might say that I am simply holding a grudge for my own mistake, but I trusted Nintendo, and they took advantage of me. I'm the victim here, so don't put me on trial!
My point is simply that Nintendo has a bad track record of conning gamers into paying more than they should for the games they want to play. The Wii is a console that is already shaping up to be no exception to that rule, indeed it may very well become the prime example of that rule. With some games using the wii-mote ($40), others using the wii-mote and nunchuk ($20), and others using the gamecube controllers ($25), not to mention the possibility (probability) that the DS ($120-$150) could be used as a Wii controller, plus the various controller shells that were shown at E3 ($?), you're looking at a helluvalotta money on "standard" system controllers alone. This is especially true if you plan on entertaining some friends with your new Wii and you want to buy a couple extra controllers for multiplayer games. As a wisened gamer who has learned the value of a dollar the hard way (Nintendo fan, 12 years) I simply cringe at the realization that a misbehaving child with a bad case of the gimme-gimme's and an eye for Nintendo could bankrupt his parents before he has a chance to whine for game. That, my friends, is just not right.
However, I do not want to get my “hate on” for Nintendo, because they’re not the only videogame company that likes money. In their defense I can say that at least Nintendo doesn’t charge $20 for an extra two controller ports like some other unscrupulous console developers do. And Microsoft’s $50 DVD remote which, in essence, unlocks DVD functionality like it’s some kind of hidden special easter egg, is downright inhumane, sadistic, or as I like to say, Billgatesian. And even if a whiny child’s eye is not fixated on Nintendo’s products, but the latest Microsoft or Sony ones, said child’s parents will probably be just as bankrupt either way once they acquiesce to their little brat’s demands. So it seems that every gamer has to put up with a certain amount of corporate exploitation regardless of the race, creed, or religion of the videogame hugonaut they endorse. Which in turn may be the exact reason why gamers get their hate on for each other as soon as news of this sort bubbles to the frothy surface; it makes us blatantly aware of the fact that the videogame industry is just like a giant virtual casino, and as such the house always wins. It doesn’t matter whether you play the slots, the roulette table, or Sega’s miniature horsetrack, you’re going to end up pumping more money into the game than it’s really worth. But that’s not important; we all know that going into the casino. The perceived goal of coming out of the casino in some way ahead has been completely shattered, and so what matters now is making sure we come out less behind than everyone else. Such is the petty and ignoble path of “I told you so”’s we are forced to walk as console gamers. But we can take comfort in the fact that there is something to be said for possessing the constitution to enter the casino in the first place. Is the Wii’s actual value less than what Nintendo is charging? Perhaps, but those who go all in now will undoubtedly receive the biggest payoff.
