Is There Another End to the Platform Era?

Are platformers in trouble?



Again?



Sunset Overdrive for the XBox One had platformer elements and didn’t really do much of anything. 8 weeks in and its being outsold by the dismal Nintendo Land and the can’t-believe-I-am-still-in-the-charts Mario Kart Wii. The Super Mario games on the WiiU despite decent software-to-hardware ratio barely moved WiiU sales---combining the sales of both games and they still trail Super Mario Galaxy by at least 4 million copies, and trail New Super Mario Bros. Wii by over 20 million.

In case nobody noticed, but LittleBigPlanet 3 came out. In case nobody noticed, it did quite poorly. It trails the original by 4 million copies and can’t even outsell the Vita version---which didn’t do much better either. Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze also came out in 2014, and disappeared off the face of the map by not even hitting its first million copies. The mediocre and jarring Game Boy Color version of Donkey Kong Country sold better for crying out loud.

Last but not least, we have Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker make less than a whisper on the sales charts, not even crossing 500,000 copies. Not saying that I was right in that it should have been a Wario game (the franchise averages 2 million copies per entry, while missing a sequel for the past 6 years), but it does make you think why not label Wario on a game that has you collect money….

Come to think of it, where was Wario on the coin-crazy New Super Mario Bros. 2---which also is part of the downward trend as it sold less than a third of what the original New SMB sold….

So of course, with the sales of the genre on the downward spiral, the question is why, and the next question is how to end the trend? My main theory is that you can find far, far cheaper simple platform games on tablets, on smartphones, on webpages promoting television shows, and many other sources when compared to other genres like sports games, like shooters, and sandbox gems like Grand Theft Auto. Platform games are simpler to create and entertain so therefore you will find plenty of choices cluttering the market, leading to games like Tropical Freeze slide underneath the radar. There are still lots of seventh generation carryover sales, leading to the new-gen games suffering.

The bigger problem is that the high-budget high-profile platform sequels have lately absolutely failed to display why it’s superior to the previous installment and display why you should fork over the money to buy another game in the series. New Super Mario Bros. U was a launch title, yet still looked and played exactly like the Wii version. No level editor, no new characters, no major gameplay changes, and no additional goodies worthy of checking out. Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze looked exactly like the Wii (and 3DS) installments, while failing to bring back the popular Kremlings villains that we had grown to love during the SNES days.

The lack of diversity and creativity is tarnishing the platform genre right now. Treasure Tracker might seem clever, until you realize that it’s just a spin-off from another WiiU game (Super Mario 3D World). Sunset Overdrive is at least a hybrid of Tony Hawk, third-person shooter, and platform---total shame it didn’t create Halo or Destiny sales. However Mario, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Sockman, and Mega Man hasn’t seen dramatic changes or improvements in years, while other platform franchises have been eerily quiet for an even longer period of time (Banjo-Kazzoie, Conker, Earthworm Jim, Wario, Gunstar Heroes, Contra). This isn’t the first time the platform genre had a drought (Sixth Generation anyone?) but was saved in the seventh generation because of the influx of new platform franchises and revivals as well as the rise of indie gaming. But the overkill of games may have led to the fatigue.

To get out of the current funk, we need the platform genre to take the next step forward. Mario should find new and innovative ways to get from the beginning to the end, while simultaneously changing the rules on the 3D platform series. Sonic should refocus on speed and intensity, and should stop imitating the others. Wario, COME BACK ALREADY! Wario Land 2 and 3 are some of the finest platform gaming you’ll ever experience because of its extremely unique level design. Lastly on a personal level, I would love to see Earthworm Jim make a comeback and have an image makeover for the new generation.

Bottom Line: The platform genre has seen better days, as 2014 gave us acclaimed games that were outsold by all the competitors and seventh generation installments. It could be the fatigue, it could be the familiar looks that lost appeal to the gamers, it could be the overwhelming competition from all types of technology, and lastly it could be the slow transitioning to the next creative step. Whatever the reason, the sales are sliding, and it’s affecting even deserving games. The Age of the Platformer is done, and unless the designers can concoct some new recipes, it’s going to be this way for a while….



…especially for Nintendo, which thrives on the genre…..

The Legend of Zelda Should Retire

Is it time to retire The Legend of Zelda?



This conversation actually happened at Epcot in the Japanese Pavilion:

Woman 1: Oh look, Legend of Zelda…
Woman 2: Wait, is Zelda still even a thing?
Me (interrupting): Zelda is ALWAYS a thing!
(The women laugh and move on, leaving me with a dejected, disappointed look because I had to defend the great franchise that gave us Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, and Majora’s Mask)





 


I have to defend a franchise that used to create THIS kind of reaction!?!?!?!



Seriously, I am seriously asking this question: Is it time to retire Zelda? Is there anything left for this franchise to give? The gamers are not as invested as they used to be, the sales are not as strong as they used to be, the brand has gone from legendary to nostalgic, and worst of all with the “timeline” actually being fully explained it doesn’t leave much room at all for more installments before more chronological controversy. Link to the Past 2 should have been a glorious, massive event that would move 3DS hardware like nothing else. Link Between Worlds should have launched the franchise into the sales stratosphere as it’s the sequel to one of the greatest video games of all-time. It should have gotten the same amount of anticipated hype as Grand Theft Auto V or even Smash Brothers U. Back in the heyday, it would have been a massive deal. Now, it’s just another sequel---which is a shame because Zelda isn’t just another game series. The luster is fading, so is the interest:

GTA Series (Playstation Sales):
GTA: San Andreas: 20.81 million (13% hardware share)
GTA IV: 10.33 million (12% hardware share)
GTA V: 19.35 million (23% hardware share)
Average: 16% Hardware Share




Super Mario Series:
Super Mario Galaxy: 11.21 million (11% hardware share)
Super Mario Galaxy 2: 7.38 million (7% hardware share)
Super Mario 3D Land: 10 million (20% hardware share)
Super Mario 3D World: 2.90 million (33% hardware share)
Average: 18% hardware share




Mario Kart Series:
Mario Kart Wii: 35.04 million (34.5% hardware share)
Mario Kart 7: 10.48 million (26% hardware share)
Mario Kart 8: 4.03 million (46% hardware share)
Average: 35% hardware share




Pokemon Series:
Pokemon Black/White: 15.03 (10% hardware share)
Pokemon Black/White 2: 7.83 million (5% hardware share)
Pokemon X/Y: 12.56 million (31% hardware share)
Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire Remake: 7.11 million—and climbing (18% hardware share)
Average: 16% hardware share




And now Zelda:



Skyward Sword: 3.86 million (4% market share)
Ocarina of Time 3D: 3.56 million (9% market share)
Wind Waker HD: 1.25 million (14% market share)
Link Between Worlds: 2.37 million (6% market share)
Average: 8% hardware share

8% of owners of the consoles own a Zelda game on average within the past 7 years. Although the number is decent, it’s still an extreme far cry from the numbers manufactured in the late 90s:



Ocarina of Time: 23%
Majora’s Mask: 10% (Released right before Gamecube launch)
Wind Waker: 21%


The worst part is while the gaming industry as a whole has expanded to great financial, quality lengths, the Zelda franchise has been stuck in neutral. Blame it on whatever you want; rising competition, the rise of the Western Hemisphere RPGs, Nintendo’s ill-fated decisions about the franchise (I am leaning more towards this reason), The Legend of Zelda’s status as the top-notch gaming name in the industry has pretty much faded.

Really, really doesn't help that Link to the Past 2: A Link Between Worlds was not a WiiU title but instead released on the more hardware-restricting 3DS handheld. 


Once upon a time, it was right underneath Mario as the biggest franchise in all of Nintendo. Nowadays, Smash Bros. does better, Mario Kart does better, Pokemon does better, and even Japanese favorite Monster Hunter has been doing better. So what should Nintendo do to bring back the love, mystique, intrigue, and interest to the Legend of Zelda franchise?


End it.



The worst thing Nintendo ever did was create and announce an official timeline to the Zelda series. What that did was eliminate all debates, all theories, and all conversations as to what game fits where. Can you imagine what would have happened if they had explained what was in the briefcase in Pulp Fiction? The movie wouldn’t carry the independent classic flavor that it carries today. Sometimes a little mystery adds spice to the production. Look at what happened to Lost when it started giving away all the answers—the show stopped being the satisfactory gem that it was in Season 1 and 3 (2 was a Writer’s Guild-created mess). But with the Hyrule Historia pretty much eliminating all clouts of doubt and confusion, Zelda condensed itself into another franchise with a storyline (albeit still a great storyline, but with no wiggle room for personal theories). Now, Majora’s Mask despite all the evidence pointing that it might be about Link’s death---is part of a not-so-accepted canon timeline in the Child Link Timeline. The mystery is all gone. The mystique isn't as engaging.





Sidebar: Of course, many of you can argue that if we not take the overdramatic and drastic route and simply give Zelda to another company to work on it, it might give us a fresh take on the series and might rejuvenate it similar to how Pokemon X/Y revived the Pokemon brand with its very different look. There is a chance that all we need is a Link to the Past-like quality and image level-up to fix its placement in the gaming world. But that’s an argument I have made before, and I don’t see Nintendo handing the reigns to someone else…





But we can shove Zelda back into the limelight with a Hail Mary idea: give it a trilogy, its final three games for the WiiU or the Future Nintendo System. Give the gamers one last rousing, massive Link-led adventure that will span multiple games, multiple worlds, and maybe even multiple storylines. End all the timelines, end all the canon, and put the final chapter into the legendary hero’s saga. Sometimes knowing where the finish line is allows for the creators to throw everything left in the tank to create a memorable finale. It will shove Zelda right back into the gaming conversation knowing that the end is definitely near.

The Final Zelda Games can tie up all loose ends, can wrap up the entire tale in a nice package, and can give us one final showdown between Link and Ganon. It can give gamers one final chance to say good-bye to all the worlds they had visited over the years, far beyond the regions of Hyrule. All the memorable characters and villains can make one final appearance. And finally, it would give closure to the interesting and complex relationship Link and Zelda have. This final trilogy will allow for the Legend of Zelda to end on its own terms, instead of just dragging along its legacy through the dirt like Capcom’s Mega Man or Rareware’s Banjo-Kazzoie (Both used to be huge and successful, now has-beens).

Of course, this idea will never be accepted. A good percentage of you will disagree with me. Extremely sure Nintendo will continue to create Zelda games for as long as they don’t flop like Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. Even though it does not sell anywhere near as much as Pokemon, it still does make money...just not 90s Zelda money.

Financially, it may not be the best move. But in terms of quality, I think it’s time to end Zelda, give it a final (epic) bow, and place it into Nintendo’s vault, where it can someday rise again and start from scratch.





Because of course, we will have to reboot and restart The Legend of Zelda a decade later….

How to Hardcore Your Next Nintendo System

Nintendo might be the first to bow out of the race.



Miyamoto has already discussed looking into the future, as the WiiU is getting no more major Super Mario titles (Which is a bummer because the system is lacking that AAA Mario game ala Mario 64/Galaxy) and after 2015 there really isn’t much to look forward to (Come to think of it, would it kill them to do a Mario 64 HD remake?). The 2015 lineup shows some promise but with the lack of pure marketing coming from Nintendo one can’t help but believe the end is near.

Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Brothers did move hardware, did sell plenty, but it still wasn’t enough to overcome the obvious third party issues and lack of software when compared to the competition. The main owners of WiiU hardware and software are your hardcore fans and those few duped into thinking it was going to be another revolutionary Wii system. In a classic case of history repeating itself, The Nintendo WiiU was a slightly more successful version of the infamous Sega Dreamcast. Of course the main difference is that Sega totally sunk after the Dreamcast, while Nintendo will stick around for at least another decade thanks to being the best first party developer in the land & because of its still strong grip on the handheld industry.

The question is, what now? What do you do from here? Where should Nintendo go from here? Although I have no say as to where the company is going, I do have an idea as to what the next Nintendo system can deliver. It would pretty much be the ultimate hardcore Nintendo system, a N64 for a new generation while also appealing to the old-school crowd. It would challenge the creativity of the Nintendo fanbase while simultaneously create a tight-knit community that would allow each person to be more than just an avatar, but instead a voice and a wholesome personality.

We can start with the first step, which is the types of games we will be seeing. Nintendo didn’t do a good job exclaiming how the WiiU was the first HD Nintendo system. The idea of HD Metroid, F-Zero, and Golden Sun should have had us salivating for hours. Instead, it was the Usual Suspects getting the HD treatment as well as the Virtual Console treatment—2-D Mario, Mario Kart, Smash Bros., Donkey Kong, Zelda; while we have to wait at least another year for Metroid, Earthbound, Kid Icarus, Fire Emblem, Wario Land, and many more. With the new system, they need to reach farther back in its history and give us long-awaited sequels and also throw in some new IPs that the company desperately needs.

Wario has gotten little to no love, although Wario Ware is an addicting franchise and Wario Land I-III remain one of the best platformers you’ll ever play. And where the heck is Waluigi’s own game? Nintendo Sports needs to make a comeback, as we can definitely use another Waverace, 1080 Snowboarding, Excitebike, Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, Mario Strikers (Need to claim that European gaming crowd) and Punch-Out. For the new generation some franchises need to evolve into deeper, more engrossing games like Kirby, Pokemon (ESPECIALLY), Professor Layton, Mario RPG, Golden Sun, among others. The lineup needs to be Nintendo IP heavy, since the third-party scene in Nintendo is about empty. Nintendo has to whether reach out by licensing a few of their franchises to third-party publishers, or instead nab a few indie companies to make games with their lesser-known and lower-hyped gaming series. However they do it, Nintendo needs to rev up its first and second-party production schedule. They have no backup. Nintendo is fighting this war on its own.



The second major aspect I would work on is the avatar concept. The Mii creation feature is pretty neat on the WiiU, as your character can drive in Mario Kart and can fight in Smash Brothers. With the new Nintendo system, we need to expand this feature exponentially. We need the ability to have our persona participate in more games. We are talking Mario Party, Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, Mario Strikers Charged, Punch-Out, Waverace, MLB Power Pros (underrated baseball gem), Wario Ware, as well as the next generation of Super Mario, Smash Bros., Mario Kart, and perhaps even Professor Layton and Pokemon. And of course we can throw in some new IPs, perhaps a few JRPGs and a few shooters?

Each avatar can have a ranking depending on how many games he/she is participating in and how many online matches they have won. Each avatar should have their own house to decorate to show off to anybody within the Nintendo network. And even cooler whenever you win contests or tournaments, have a trophy room to show off all your Nintendo-related accomplishments. This part will especially be awesome once you can create a Mii for the massive 3-D Pokemon game that Nintendo should make in the coming years.

We need more game collections. Nintendo gamers are definitely willing to spend the money, and the Pokemon sales year after year is a good example. But we need more game collections like Metroid Prime Trilogy and Kirby Anniversary Collection. We are talking about a Super Mario World Collection, Handheld Zelda Collection, Metroid Collection, Professor Layton Collection, and even a few cluster collections like Mario and Luigi Gamecube Collection, 1990s Donkey Kong Collection, among others. We could definitely use some more HD remakes of older games that can use a visual facelift. Eternal Darkness HD anyone?

Deeper first-party lineup, stronger Mii/online support, stronger link-to-the-past lineup of games, what’s the next one? The big one. This is where you reward the Nintendo fans for all their patience: the next system should be the Nintendo Entertainment Studio. This machine will not just allow us to play video games, but will allow us to MAKE video games to share to the world. The Mario Maker is a fantastic idea because Nintendo fans are the most creative in terms of gaming cult audiences. From the masterful HD jobs to the unauthorized localizing of Japanese games to even the clever YouTube videos of modded Mario levels, Nintendo fans are something special. So why not give them the ultimate freedom of making games, levels, mini-games, maps, and other goodies throughout the ninth generation? Think Little Big Planet on generation-lasting steroids.



Mario Maker 2 needs to happen. Mario Kart Maker needs to happen. As well as Smash Bros. Mod, Wario Ware Mini-Game Maker, Mario Sports Course Maker, F-Zero HD Track Editor, Kirby Level Maker, Zelda Dungeon Maker, Mario Paint 2, Mega Man Maker, Art Academy 2, Sonic Level Editor, Advance Wars Battle Map Maker (Probably the only series that can directly take on Call of Duty), Mario Party Maker, and much more. Let’s also throw in some updated versions of classic sandbox games like SimCity, RPG Maker (With Nintendo sprites) and Roller Coaster Tycoon. With the Nintendo Entertainment Studio, you can make your own levels, characters, maps, music, movies, and more---and then be able to share them with others on the massive Nintendo network. You won’t just be playing games, you will be making them. And even better, after beating that Mario game, you still aren’t done because there are hundreds of levels online to choose from to continue the experience. Even actual popular developers can contribute long after they are done with the original game.

The Nintendo Entertainment Studio offers this massive online experience of creation and sharing because it will make up for the obvious lack of games that will hamper the hardware. Third-party issues will not go away, so why not wildly make the first-party games appealing by allowing the gamer to become the developer? With enough people, you will never run out of courses to race in or dungeons to try to conquer. The lasting appeal would be pretty much endless, and would give the system more years of life even during the weakest of periods.

Nintendo since 2000 has had to adjust the rules of its gaming practices because the competitors have so much more money to spend. The Nintendo Gamecube was a smaller machine that used smaller disks. The Nintendo Wii was an extremely underpowered system that relied on revolutionary gameplay to make its profit and win the war. Lastly, the WiiU relied more on the controller than hardware strength to create its array of entertaining games—although the gamble hasn’t exactly paid off. With the Nintendo Entertainment Studio, it expands the first/second party offerings to include the gamers themselves to see what they can deliver. It doesn’t matter if the XBox OneTwo or the PS5 are more powerful, if there are 1,000 Zelda dungeons to choose from online the competition has no chance.

Bottom Line: Nintendo needs to embrace the niche audience that has kept them afloat for the past four years. Giving them unprecedented access to screw around with their favorite franchises would be a most magnificent reward, and a gift that would keep on giving. There are more Nintendo fans than the WiiU would lead you to believe. 50 million 3DS sales is no surprise, the fanbase just hasn’t been ready to embrace the console side---yet. With the NES (See what I did there?), Nintendo can satisfy its deepest of fans while also entice curiosity for new ones. Solution for the future is simple: make more games, make more collectables, deepen the online features, and lastly make the system also double as an empty canvas of unlimited potential.