Seems Kojima would be good bedfellows with George Lucas. Both deluded into thinking their brainchild is a pristine masterpiece, when in reality they've singlehandedly reduced it to incomprehensible nonsense.

Not impressed.

@davor_25 Guild Wars didn't try to "dethrone" WoW in any way. It did its own thing, and was successful in its own right. GW2 will continue in that same successful format, providing a full retail experience with no subscription associated with it. GW2 will do fine regardless of WoW, because it's not trying to compete.

If you paid $600 for a PS3 at launch, then swallowed 3 years of mediocrity with the expectation that it would get better over a 10-year lifespan, this is Sony's final 'screw you' response to your loyalty.

@Gaticus Question is, does Nintendo offer an experience in Wii U to casual gamers rewarding enough to convince them it's worth $400+? How do you convince them the Wii U is a must have when most feel the Wii still satisfies that need? (Especially when graphics aren't a concern for them)

@RX-78MajiGundam Not sure what you mean by having more fighting games being more social in comparison to shooters. GoldenEye was every bit as social as Street Fighter and Tekken. These fighting games, however, have taken the online route every bit as much as shooters. I doubt many more people are actually gathering together to rock Street Fighter/Soul Caliber/Mortal Kombat any more than they are for Halo Reach/Battlefield 3/Gears of War/CoD.

@ScorpionBeeBee It cannot be replicated over internet tubes, I agree. But, when the GoldenEye generation (as I hail from) grows up, gets careers, has families, moves to new locations, etc. how do you recreate these experiences? I suspect efforts such as "X-Box Live Party" is probably the best method in place until the idea is innovated upon.

I appreciate this article and the perspective that is has brought in terms of how gaming can facilitate social development in an enjoyable and harmlessly distracting fashion. I would say, however, that Nintendo has painted itself into a corner. The company largely shunned "core gamers" to capture a generalized audience new to the gaming atmosphere. Many of these individuals were new to gaming and found the Wii more than approachable. Problem now is Nintendo faces advancing technology and competition from Microsoft who has aimed at the same audience while still serving the core gamer. How does Nintendo convince their newfound consumer base to shell out the cash for the Wii U? Most of these folks aren't concerned about graphics and processing power, they need to be sold on the functionality and experiences you have illustrated. Is this promoted experience enough to sell these individuals on a system that has also needed to boost it's processing power to recapture the core gamers? Is the moderate boost in processing power (presumably so for cost effectiveness) enough to convince core gamers when the new X-Box and PlayStation will be graphical behemoths in comparison? When the Wii U was first unveiled and reacted to with a loss of investor trust seems to echo the same concerns and skepticism I have. A precarious position indeed.

Kevin. Why invest the time in playing this if you're just going to whine? Your commentary is not funny nor clever. Certainly there's someone on the gamespot staff who actually cares about this experience who would have gladly accepted the assignment. As is, you do little to advocate this game.