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[Mariolee]

I prefer cartoony graphics over realistic ones most of the time, but Nintendo games look too homogenized in general.


All these games are cartoony but none look like it was made by Nintendo, I wish they explored more in their aesthetics.

Even in Smash Bros. where designers tried to make them the same style they look radically different.

 

[Refreshment.01]

Uhhhh... I'm really not sure what you mean by that. I'm pretty sure that aside from visual novels and dating sims, most Vita support dried up in 2013 and didn't benefit at all from things like cross-play outside a handful of titles, which inevitably didn't sell the handheld adequately. If you have specific examples, I'd be happy to address them, which shouldn't be hard with the "substantial" support it apparently got in this regard.

First i'll clear the following:

"Crossplay" and "Crossplatform". i used the the "crossplatform" term about a possible Wii U strategy not strictly in the Sony sense but in a more general one. im talking abour having the same game on multiple platforms and by this it doesn't mean they should interact in some way.

Well the PS Vita first half of 2015 in Japan had more games (or not far from) what the 3DS got in that time frame. Nintendo release schedule for a given year tends to be more second half loaded but the fact is it doesn't make it any less impressive that a 4 million base console that only Japan cares about had that substantiall release list in comparison to one that has sold over 18 million.

I've been strongly considering recently that when Wii U development was being firmed up, they saw they lost the casual market and knew Wii U was going to be a stinker for them. So their priorities would have needed to change much too far into the console's development when it became clear there would be little to no casual gamer retention, for it or the 3DS. A sudden influx of titles for that starved their previous and upcoming console in a bad way. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place, without a clear end game since their desired end game disintegrated like it never happened and they're just riding this out, much to our chagrin as we grimace at Wii U's limping across the race track and not even making it to the finish line. I'm not even 100% sure that the Gamepad was part of their original design, but there's nothing to suggest that either way, so it's just... there, almost a half-measure to what should have been.

It's why we're seeing these plans you suggest showing up in the next hardware cycle from them: it was just too fucking late for Wii U. It was a stillborn console.

The Gamepad was in the cards even before the original Wii was released. Nintendo was just expecting the right time in terms of technolgy and cost to introduce a screen in the controller.

The company had had that little itch for decades now, they finally scratch it and ended up getting a rash cause of it XD

 

[KingBroly]

Even in Smash Bros. where designers tried to make them the same style they look radically different.

I like the approach Smash took from Brawl to U/3DS, especially because it resulted in 1080p. I think if it was 720p it would've looked more like Brawl, I'd like to think. But as is, it looks super clean.

Nintendo needs more games visually like Metroid Prime 1-3 (Not Federation Force or Other M) and Twilight Princess (w/o super-compressed textures) to have them stand out just a bit more from the standard Nintendo fare to bring in a bit wider demographic.

 

[Terrell]

Not so much that it's the future direction, but the idea of them taking a dark and moody series and making it more "family friendly" is really off-putting and doesn't really come across as respecting the brand or holding it in high regard.

I have a few words for you on this subject:

Halo Wars
Shadow the Hedgehog
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo and Pocket Fighter
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Uncharted: Fight for Fortune
... and countless other examples of developers and publishers not "respecting their brand".

I'll say it clearly: Spinoffs. Mean. NOTHING.

I don't mind cartoony graphics, but after a straight decade of the stuff from Nintendo, I want something different visually from Nintendo and their brands. Bright Colors from Nintendo are dull, because they've done it to death. Is that so much to ask?

If bright colors have been done to death, the other side of the spectrum has already been cremated and had its ashes spread,

And again... it hasn't been a "straight decade" of the stuff from Nintendo unless you're being deliberately selective of what does and doesn't qualify as a Nintendo game.

I like the approach Smash took from Brawl to U/3DS, especially because it resulted in 1080p. I think if it was 720p it would've looked more like Brawl, I'd like to think. But as is, it looks super clean.

Nintendo needs more games visually like Metroid Prime 1-3 (Not Federation Force or Other M) and Twilight Princess (w/o super-compressed textures) to have them stand out just a bit more from the standard Nintendo fare to bring in a bit wider demographic.

OK, I can see a lot of reasons to hate Other M, but what the hell was wrong with it visually, exactly?

It's like you're re-writing history in your mind.

 

[Snakeyes]

Here's the problem: We're already getting uniformity of presentation FROM NINTENDO. Almost everything from them is cartoony looking. Mario, Kirby, Zelda went there but had to walk back a tiny bit, Metroid is going there and the fans have rioted because of it, DK, Yoshi, Splatoon. The list goes on. And the games that aren't cartoony-looking don't get the same kind of push or support.

I'm not asking for some Sexualized Gore Fest here, I'm asking for variety. People talk about Nintendo not having content variety, but they're lacking presentation variety as well, and that hurts them just as much, if not moreso because it feeds into the perception of 'lolkiddieNintendo.'

Agreed.

The only way you remove the "lolkiddieNintendo" is if, yes, you end up with Sexualized Gore Fest. Oh, and it's gotta be open world, too, can't forget that. And everything must be grey or brown or heavily muted colors, with the occasional bright explosions, shiny metal and lasers for that "blue and orange" everyone loves.

There are few gaming-related arguments that I dislike more than "there is no middle ground for more grounded content from Nintendo between Mario and Blood, Sweat N' Tits".

Mirror's Edge Catalyst has a colorful, yet mature presentation and is not a sexualized gore-fest.

ReCore has a more grounded artstyle with colorful characters and is not a sexualized gore-fest.

Street Fighter V is also pretty colorful compared to the likes of KI and MKX.

Horizons Zero Dawn is set in a colorful futuristic world that has been reclaimed by nature. It doesn't seem to be a sexualized gore-fest.

The jetski levels in Kinect Sports Rivals are quite colorful and somewhat realistic without being overly cartoony. A similar art style could be a very good fit for a new Wave Race.

All of these strike me as the type of games Nintendo could be investing in to broaden their portfolio of flagship IPs without going full dudebro.

The funny thing is that three out of four Nintendo-funded mature games for the Wii U fall smack dab in the "sexualized gore fest" description; Bayonetta 2, the new Fatal Frame and Devil's Third. Nintendo aren't against funding these types of games, but they always seem to pick the weird ones that have very limited appeal. This is where creative input from western first-party studios could come in handy.

Calling out an entry of Zelda on consoles for looking overtly cartoonish is cherry-picking and you know it. They stuck with that look on portables because they're cheaper games to make that way for the DS and 3DS owning audience, but have largely stuck to some variation of a more mature Zelda game on consoles. Even the recent one looks somewhat like it's going for a Miyazaki film/moving painting vibe that I can't quite put my finger on.

It's not that Zelda is overly cartoonish, but it's certainly more cartoonish than it needs to be. When you look at the series' sales throughout the years and see Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess at the top, it becomes very clear that most people prefer Zelda games that, while still stylized, look darker and more realistic. In this case, Nintendo are forcing a more light-hearted artstyle on Zelda even though the market has already spoken loud and clear to the contrary.

 

[BronzeWolf]

You are still not acknowledging the fact that there ARE games that fall in the middle amongst Nintendo's lineup.

Whatever it's your opinion, and I think it's not relevant for the thread.

 

[thefro]

The Q&A transcript is now up in Japanese