Nintendo: Let the Games Play Themselves

[BreakABone]

This is an interesting... albeit it weird gameplay choice

http://wii.ign.com/articles/994/994640p1.html

"In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, if a player is experiencing an area of difficulty, this will allow them to clear troubled areas and take over when they're ready" Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto told USA Today (picked up by gamesindustry.biz), "We're looking into this for future games, too.

So basically built in system that would beat a difficult part of a game for you.

[Combine 017]

Hahahaha, that is so lame.

[Typhoid]

Worst idea ever.

[The Germanator]

Yeah, that kinda sucks. If you can't beat something, you gotta man up and beat it or try it 100 times until you beat it. It's not like Mario games have been especially difficult since Lost Levels.

[Teuthida]

Hmm, I think a better idea would have been to show how to clear a part of a level and then give you back the controls so that you can try to mimic what you just saw the computer controlled player do.

[BlueFire]

Hahahaha, that is so lame.

This.

[BreakABone]

Hmm, I think a better idea would have been to show how to clear a part of a level and then give you back the controls so that you can try to mimic what you just saw the computer controlled player do.

This is the better idea.

[Jason1]

Yea this is pretty damn stupid, like its not enough that games are so much easier today than they were a long time ago.

[jeepnut]

This is an interesting... albeit it weird gameplay choice

http://wii.ign.com/articles/994/994640p1.html



So basically built in system that would beat a difficult part of a game for you.

When I was a kid, we called this "having a friend."

[DeathsHand]

When I was a kid, we called this "having a friend."

What if your friend sucks too?

[Combine 017]

Then youre screwed.

[KillerGremlin]

This feature is incredibly dumb. I thought the fun in the hard Mario platform games was tackling the crazy levels. Then again when was the last time Nintendo made a hard Mario platform game. Coughsnescough.

[Angrist]

Guys, you don't HAVE to use it. If you can't stop yourself from taking the easy way out, it's your problem.

When I first read the patent for this, a half year ago, I wasn't sure about it. Now I think it's a nice addition.

It's the best of two worlds. I know how annoying it can be to get stuck in a level. How much time it takes to finally find something on gamefaqs.com.
Heck, I can name at least 3 games where I'd love to use this option in. Lost Winds, Golden Sun 2, Zelda: Four Swords Adventure.

Again: you don't have to use it. Stop whining.

[Bube]

Hmm.. Why don't we put the disc in the drive and let the game play itself?

Oh wait, we've already had those for more than a hundred years, they're called movies.

[Typhoid]

Again: you don't have to use it. Stop whining.

Temptation is the bane of mankind, Angrist.
If it's there, people will use it more than not.



So...are you on a salary, or is it just a commission-type thing?

[Angrist]

I am actually Shigeru Miyamoto, telling the kids what and what not to like. And buy, especially buy.

[ZebraRampage]

Nobody's going to play games anymore with this feature, especially the kids that are growing up with it. They'll just get used to the fact that they can skip the hard parts, and do that EVERY time.

[Dylflon]

Man, Angrist has been super funny this week.

[Angrist]

Hm just checking, were you being cynical? Because I don't feel it was very funny, it's just that Typhoid and me seem to clash quite often. :D And I want to make sure he doens't get too mad with me.

Anyway...

[Typhoid]

it's just that Typhoid and me seem to clash quite often.

Internet: Serious since 1994.


It's just easy and fun to bug you about liking Nintendo way too much.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Plus I've gotten you to lighten up a lot through this method.

[Angrist]

Hehe I don't mind. And yeah that's true. ;)

I feel such a bond right now. :love:

[Dylflon]

I actually do feel the humour content of your posts has increased.

[Professor S]

My gut reaction to this was "heresy!", but after thinking about it, this is a pretty good idea.

We can all agree that the difficulty levels in most games have been toned down... a lot. Trial and error gaming is almost dead, and even most shooters are so forgiving that that you can beat the game in one sitting because you can take a clip full of bullets without dying or have a Wolverine-esque healing factor. This was done in response to the caual gamer not wanting to dedicate so much time to beating a game, and the developers were right for making the change in response.

This feature might allow for developers to crank the difficulty back up, but allow for more casual gamers to "skip" sections they get stuck on and still complete te game, exprience the story, have fun and try those sections again if they like.

Plus, I like the possibility of giving the gamer a certain number of "skips". This will make the player think carefully about when they want to burn a skip in case they need it later. Kind of like time outs in football.

[Typhoid]

But realistically, Strangler - the difficulty will just be the same, and there will be no limit on the amount of "skips".

[Professor S]

But realistically, Strangler - the difficulty will just be the same, and there will be no limit on the amount of "skips".

Well thats how it's planned now. We have yet to see how developers will respond the the functionality or how it might develop in the future. Anything is possible when world's are created with only 1's and 0's.

Even if it stops where it is, it's still up to the player to choose to "cheat", and hell... they paid for the damn thing.

[Dylflon]

I'd be down with this but only on the condition that the game makes you feel really shitty every time you make it beat something for you.


It could call you a mean name or something. That's just one suggestion.

I don't know.


I'm not a game developer.

[Angrist]

Does a DVD make you feel bad when you fastforward a scene?

[Dylflon]

Does a DVD make you feel bad when you fastforward a scene?

This isn't even an apt comparison.

You're already not doing anything when you're watching a movie.

There's nobody who is not skilled enough to sit down and watch something.

[Angrist]

I think if you care about beating the game, you already punish yourself enough when you skip a part.

Like Strangler said, people paid for the game. It sucks to be stuck in a certain part. Anyway, chances are that people are going back to that part to solve it themselves.

And you're right, movies/books and games aren't the same. With movies and books you can always skip a part if you don't like it. With games that was never possible. If you got stuck in the beginning, you couldn't enjoy the reste of the game. Until now.

Explain to me again why that is a bad thing?

[Dylflon]

I think if you care about beating the game, you already punish yourself enough when you skip a part.

Like Strangler said, people paid for the game. It sucks to be stuck in a certain part. Anyway, chances are that people are going back to that part to solve it themselves.

And you're right, movies/books and games aren't the same. With movies and books you can always skip a part if you don't like it. With games that was never possible. If you got stuck in the beginning, you couldn't enjoy the reste of the game. Until now.

Explain to me again why that is a bad thing?

I didn't say it was bad.

I just think it's an option for sissies. Especially considering Mario games are not that hard to begin with.

[Angrist]

Hm... it made me think about my early years with Mario games. Maybe the tough parts were the best.

This might help produce a very lazy and unskilled gaming generation, but we're already seeing that happening anyway. And many kids will probably go back to the parts they skipped, just because they feel bad about it.

[KillerGremlin]

I agree with DyLFLon, if you use this feature the game should tell you it had sex with your mother last night in a Scottish accent.

[BreakABone]

Well it seems like it is somewhat reasonable,

- officially called the Super Guide
- allows the game to run through a level on its own
- players can take control at any time
- only available to players that die 8 times in a level
- when you start your 9th life, a green box will appear at the start of a level. This box will activate the Super Guide when hit
- Super Guide uses a game-controlled Luigi to show how to play
- demos are run in-game, and are not pre-recorded videos
- Super Guide doesn't show shortcuts or secrets
- Super Guide should showcase a level run without any deaths
- hit a button to take control of Luigi at any time
- the screen still shows that the level is being playing in Super Guide mode, just with user-input