@theend3r @eagle7044 Then why are film reviewers not criticized for their subjective opinions and reactions to film content? I understand that you can objectively evaluate gameplay, mechanics, etc., but it's impossible to ignore the human elements of the game in a review.
Translating a gameplay experience into a numerical score is going to be biased and subjective no matter how objective you are trying to be. That is a normal facet of the review process. If Carolyn was affected by something more than you would be, then she has every right to criticize it, because it was part of her experience. Taken to an extreme example, a technically-flawless game about child rape would not get a high score, and you wouldn't expect it to. Leave her to your opinions and stop pretending like one reviewer's slightly-less-than-perfect appraisal is the end of your life.
@MegaBeau The point of this article has absolutely nothing to do with violence vs family-friendly games. Just because Nintendo represents the latter category doesn't make it less responsible for coming up with brand new ideas. Ni No Kuni was not created by Nintendo.
@in_your_realm @OllieBrown And Gamespot game it their Game of the Year. Tom is right - taking risks with new IPs can be a very good thing. Hopefully Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft already see the value in indie titles and will try harder to compete in those markets.
@Talnova @eagle7044 There are people who work at Nintendo whose sole job is to decide what is going to sell well, and then these people create a budget and tell the developer to make that game. I honestly don't know how much creative leeway the development teams are given, but I strongly suspect that at an absolute MINIMUM, they are told to "make a Mario game". Or it works the other way; the developer pitches an idea to the publisher and hopes for approval.
Pubishers essentially finance and distribute a game, so a developer owned by Nintendo, say HAL Laboratory, would not be able to create an entirely new property without the blessing of Nintendo the Publisher. Which is why I think the blame mostly lies on the people who see Mario selling well with their target audiences (the family market and core Nintendo fans) and decide to stick to Mario games.
No new idea could EVER be so immediately and universally well-known as any older Nintendo franchise, so sticking with these franchises is the safe bet.
@OllieBrown It's too early to tell whether or not other consoles are getting it right....Halo is 11 years old, Call of Duty is 10, so maybe they'll still be cash cows in another decade...though I hope not. The sad truth is that these franchises are de-prioritized once they stop selling. And since Nintendo has been selling Mario successfully for so long, he's not going away. It's really up to the Nintendo core fan base to demand new IP's, but they're not. They're just getting angry at Tom for stating the truth :(
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