-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Why Nintendo hasn't made a sim racing game?
- Thread starter sublimit
- Start date
Chiaroscuro
Member
Wiktor
Member
Based on experiences of other devs. Maybe Nintendo is some magical entity that can completely disregard what every other dev went through, but somehow I doubt that.
We're not talking about making some quirky game. Nintendo would have to compete directly against people with far biger skillset, experience and at decade of building their physics engines and databases.
maybe if Nintendo would be willing to throw like 100 mln dollars into the project they could brute force it.
Haunted
Member
It always struck me as odd that Nintendo simply chose to not serve a number of fairly popular genres, historically. (sim racing, FPS, TPS, sim sports (Football, Ice Hockey, American Football). They did have some forays into realistic baseball and basketball games, but it still seems like they're not really interested in serving these any time soon.
It's of course no problem to do so if you have strong third party relations that will take care of these genres you're not covering yourself, but... well.
It's of course no problem to do so if you have strong third party relations that will take care of these genres you're not covering yourself, but... well.
Auto Modellista, solid PS2/GC racer.
Wiktor
Member
They actually tried to sell this as a perk with the Wii to major publishers, by the way.
At least at the time, the common refrain was that publishers can't compete with Nintendo. So Nintendo argued that they had left these giant chasms in their library that third parties were already well suited for. They didn't make realistic/gritty games, or shooters, or violent games in general. There's plenty of space for you on our platform where you're not competing with us at all!
It turns out that's not really what publishers wanted, and it's pretty clear at this point that they want the opposite; they do want the first party publisher to pave the way with their own games first before they bring their own. Unless you'd like to argue that Halo has significantly deterred third parties from making their shooters on Xbox.
timetokill
Banned
I mean, not that EA is supporting them anyway now, but I think a big part of why they never made (realistic) sports games was because doing so would make EA abandon them.
They may not do it still because they don't want to permanently burn that bridge. Baseball isn't an issue because EA doesn't make them (hardly anybody does), and because Nintendo owns a major league baseball team so it makes sense for them to invest in or leverage that.
Yeah, but... why not? They don't make simulation games until they make them, right? Rules are meant to be broken.
I'd love to see them branch into other genres. In my opinion they make the very best video games in today's industry, really hitting a nice balance between triple-A polish and ludonarrative/gameplay-focused design. I bet they could make an absolutely super sim racer, especially given how derivative that sub-genre is at the moment. The opportunity is certainly there for something novel and fresh.
And I'm sure they could marry it to the usual "Nintendo charm" in some unorthodox way, so that the game would appeal to even Wii U owners that normally wouldn't touch a sim racer. It would just take a little creative thinking. Maybe they could throw the guys currently working on Splatoon at the problem once that game is finished?
And I don't buy the "but the Wii U couldn't do the graphics", that's nonsense; with the caliber of Nintendo's artists and a little smoke & mirrors programming, I'm sure they could make a stunning looking racer on Wii U.
MisterGrey3000
Member
Nintendo's software ecosystem can't really support a big-budget realistic-looking sim racer because it isn't the kind of genre that appeals to their core audience (Nintendo fans who like sim racers are probably a vocal minority at best) or mainstream target demographic; AFAIK they generally sell like complete crap on Nintendo's consoles.
Plus, a lot of their developers don't have the specific skill-set or knowledge to make those kinds of games and it's not worth wasting time gaining that stuff when Mario Kart and games like it are much more profitable, easier for them to make, and a much better fit for their software ecosystem.
Their marketing and branding is also incredibly unappealing to the kinds of people who like sim racing games.
It just makes no sense for them to invest in their own Forza or GT from any sort of perspective that isn't selfish or completely illogical on the part of the people asking for them to do so.
Lmfao!! Good stuff! !
Astral/H3X
Member
It's enough that they made the worst mech sim of last gen, I guess
Can't tell if this is a dig on ACV, or wrongfully comparing AC to MechWarrior...
That's the logic behind the creation of stuff like PSASBR.
Astral/H3X
Member
I think Nintendo in general shies away from things that require licenses etc. I guess it just seems like too much work and having to adhere to others rules etc. Then again, they do some weird stuff every now and again like the Mercedes MK8 DLC, and Nintendo have done licensed sports stuff in the past, but that was the N64 days when Nintendo pursued those types of experiences with things like Goldeneye etc.
I guess one way you could see it is that Nintendo like to have a face attached to each of their games, so much so that the Wii Fit mascot itself is a character these days. Not many Nintendo games are devoid of a humanoid character, or a mascot of sorts.
I guess one way you could see it is that Nintendo like to have a face attached to each of their games, so much so that the Wii Fit mascot itself is a character these days. Not many Nintendo games are devoid of a humanoid character, or a mascot of sorts.
But Nintendo has made a sim racing game. Some even consider it the best jetski game or racing game of all time, that in a whopping 64-megabit cartridge.
The GameCube one was fun too
Scooter155
Member
I'm sure I'm biased (and probably wrong) but I can't think of a single time Nintendo saw a successful franchise and thought "Hey, we should copy those guys..."
They always kinda do their own thing and usually create whole new genres in the process. Making a sim racer that apes games that have been around for decades seems like it'd really be going against their grain, doesn't it?
They always kinda do their own thing and usually create whole new genres in the process. Making a sim racer that apes games that have been around for decades seems like it'd really be going against their grain, doesn't it?
Interesting that people think that they don't have a studio capable of making such a game.
Monster Games used to specialize in racing games - they are not owned by Nintendo I think but they still only work for them anyway. They made Excite Truck and Excite Bots before moving on to 3DS with Pilotwings Resort and 3D ports of older Wii games.
Monster Games used to specialize in racing games - they are not owned by Nintendo I think but they still only work for them anyway. They made Excite Truck and Excite Bots before moving on to 3DS with Pilotwings Resort and 3D ports of older Wii games.
shadowsdarknes
Member
This, too.
Probably due to the licensing costs. The last time they funded anything like it directly was when they ported Ridge Racer over to the N64, and that had all fake cars and was more arcade than sim
And even if they wanted to license, there's already entire car lines signed exclusively to EA / Sony / MS or whatever so they'd be just left with the scraps left over from those franchises
And even if they wanted to license, there's already entire car lines signed exclusively to EA / Sony / MS or whatever so they'd be just left with the scraps left over from those franchises
People suggesting Wave Race are aware it's an arcade racer right? Just because you aren't chucking turtle shells or shooting lasers doesn't mean you're a sim. Just because you have a satisfying and complex physics engine doesn't mean you're a sim either.
It's worth noting that NCL puts a lot of emphasis on physics modeling in their R&D and almost always have (going back to the arc and inertia of Mario's jump in 1985). It's part and parcel of why their games consistently feel so good to play. They most definitely have the chops to push that in a more realistic arena, I just don't think they'd want to. At least not without breaking things down and making it accessible and "fun", and that point you're making an arcade game anyway (Pilotwings, Wave Race, Wii Sports, etc).
Cheeseman Battitude
Member
Racing sims have never really had a home on Nintendo consoles as far as I can remember. At least not since there was the definition that a racing game was a sim.
fredrancour
Member
Because more often than not, Nintendo productions have been guided by what interests the major developers. The time they explicitly talked about marketing considerations, we got the Wii and ds. Therefore I'm assuming that no developer in a position of power gives a damn about sim racing.
Scooter155
Member
Dude... too soon.
Co-own at best given Midway made the last game.
And that's more Outrun or MAYBE Need for Speed and less GT or Forza.
I wonder whether it's declining interest, or just that everyone's gravitating towards a few tentpoles given that only the most diehard REALLY would want more than 1 or 2, maybe 3 hardcore racing series to follow (or so I'd think, you're getting most of the same cars and even tracks in each.) If it's declining for reasons other than gravitation I really do wonder why, given that I'd think there'd be sustained interest in games that let you simulate racing with hot cars you could likely never realistically afford, nevermind push to the limit in constant racing.
Or not once you stop to think about stuff like Hot Wheels or Transformers, and especially RC cars. Even if a kid sucks at them it's not as if the controls are inherently complex (it's mainly realistic physics being a bitch) and it can just be fun to go fast on a track so I can see even a 3 year old having fun crashing into things on an empty track.
There was a cartoon racer on PS2.
As well as GameCube
This is usually what decline looks like, by the way. The few winners win an increasingly large share, and everyone else falls away, until all that's left are the top 2-3 players with virtually no new entrants.
Classic JRPGs (i.e. in the vein of FF or DQ) are an excellent example of this. One could argue that the entire console software market is contracting in this fashion.
Rising_Hei
Member
It's much much harder to do a sim than what they usually do, so... they just don't bother
Nintendo = Dozens, and they buy studios from time to time...
Eww... Polyphony = 1 studio
Nintendo = Dozens, and they buy studios from time to time...
Muchi Muchi Pink
Member
V
Vilix
Unconfirmed Member
WR: Blue Storm didn't sell well enough for Nintendo.
What you just said is not only incorrect but also irrelevant.
sublimit
Banned
It doesn't have to be a "big-budget realistic-looking" game in order to be a sim racer though.
The art style could be like the screenshot of Auto Modellista that JordanN posted and could still attract racing sim fans (like me) especially if it offers something different visually.The important part would be to get the physics right and i think Nintendo could definitely manage to do this if they really wanted to.And of course put a serious effort in actually marketing the game.