Post by StarrkJow on Jan 31, 2011 19:05:45 GMT -5
Remember This?
Maybe even this?
F-Zero has been one of Nintendo's flag ship series since its debut on the SNES and yet, it's seemingly gotten the shaft in recent years. Whether it be due to lack of interest in reviving the series or a lack of a good market for futuristic hover car racing games, only Nintendo knows. However, there is one theory that I have that could very well be plausible. It's a trend that Nintendo has been setting since nearly the dawn of the Gamecube. This is Nintendo's complete negligence to create truly hardcore games.
Now, before I take a lot o heat for this, know that there are two key categories that make up "hardcore" and there are certain rules that govern each category and how they interact. In the gaming world, the term hardcore is divided between hardcore games and hardcore fans. Hardcore games are games that truly put your skills to the test. Games that border on impossible and truly bring out the masochist within the gamer to master the precision, timing, and other skills necessary to simply survive the game, if not master it. Hardcore fans are the groups who faun and flock to a specific title or genre; frequent GameFaqs, start video game flame wars on YouTube, and would defend their favorite title with their lives. For example, hardcore games that come to mind are video games such as Ikaruga, early Megaman titles, and Super Meat Boy. Hardcore fan groups, on the other hand, can include the Call of Duty, Super Smash Bros., and Final Fantasy fan groups.
Interaction between these two categories is defined rigidly by this one rule: Hardcore games can make hardcore fans, but hardcore fans do not necessarily make hardcore games. An example of a possible interaction to consider is Marvel vs Capcom 2. The game itself is a hardcore game. It is very challenging and takes a lot of skill to be good at and it has created a rather rabid hardcore fan base that have toiled for many hours and spent far too many quarters to master it over the years. On the flipside, games like Call of Duty aren't inherently hardcore. Anyone can pick it up and, in a few hours, be able to have at least enough skill to compete at a fairly decent level online. However, it's fanbase has spent enough time and energy to master it. Making it seem hardcore to its fans, when it is not inherently a hardcore game to play.
F-Zero, specifically GX/AX, is an inherently hardcore game. It takes a lot of skill and practice to actually win a race, even early on in the game, and it is the last hardcore title by Nintendo that I have played.
One can argue that Nintendo really doesn't have many hardcore games, which is also plausible. I've never toiled over a Super Mario title and although there have been flashes of great challenges in the recent Galaxy series, the games themselves are never very challenging. They simply offer the challenge for anyone who wants it. Even in the Zelda titles were the challenges nigh but occasional. In early Zelda titles, at least until the latter parts of the game, death was a hard thing to avoid and health was a precious gem. It really took some garnishing of skills to be able to breeze through dungeons and such. Even in the puzzle department. Zelda games are known for their puzzles, but I've always considered their puzzles to be clever, not mind numbingly challenging. And they've only gotten easier as the as the series has progressed.
It's really a testament to how Nintendo has been dealing with it's hardcore fans over the years. Draw them in with their favorite titles year after the year but never offer them a real hardcore challenge. In fact, they've only gotten easier over the years. Zelda and Metroid are the biggest culprits of this. For Zelda it began with Wind Waker, which was considerably easier compared to Ocarina and Majora's Mask, to its most outright offender, 2006's Twilight Princess, which was easily the easiest game in the series. If you compare Metroid or Super Metroid, with the most recent Metroid Prime 3 or Metroid Other M it's no contest.
It's true Nintendo doesn't have many truly challenging titles in its repertoire, especially since the SNES days, but it feels like they are continuing to fill its dedicated hardcore fan base with false hope year after year with games that are never truly challenging. It's one thing to reach out to a wider audience, it's another to deny your fans, who were made hardened by the challenge your earliest games, something truly hardcore.
I feel that a reboot of the F-Zero series, a series that has been consistently challenging throughout its unfortunately short lifespan thus far, could truly deliver the challenge that Nintendo's fans deserve and with new technology like the 3DS and a possible new home console on the horizon, it could be a great opportunity for a reboot.
So am I blowing smoke or do I make a point? Let me know.
Maybe even this?
F-Zero has been one of Nintendo's flag ship series since its debut on the SNES and yet, it's seemingly gotten the shaft in recent years. Whether it be due to lack of interest in reviving the series or a lack of a good market for futuristic hover car racing games, only Nintendo knows. However, there is one theory that I have that could very well be plausible. It's a trend that Nintendo has been setting since nearly the dawn of the Gamecube. This is Nintendo's complete negligence to create truly hardcore games.
Now, before I take a lot o heat for this, know that there are two key categories that make up "hardcore" and there are certain rules that govern each category and how they interact. In the gaming world, the term hardcore is divided between hardcore games and hardcore fans. Hardcore games are games that truly put your skills to the test. Games that border on impossible and truly bring out the masochist within the gamer to master the precision, timing, and other skills necessary to simply survive the game, if not master it. Hardcore fans are the groups who faun and flock to a specific title or genre; frequent GameFaqs, start video game flame wars on YouTube, and would defend their favorite title with their lives. For example, hardcore games that come to mind are video games such as Ikaruga, early Megaman titles, and Super Meat Boy. Hardcore fan groups, on the other hand, can include the Call of Duty, Super Smash Bros., and Final Fantasy fan groups.
Interaction between these two categories is defined rigidly by this one rule: Hardcore games can make hardcore fans, but hardcore fans do not necessarily make hardcore games. An example of a possible interaction to consider is Marvel vs Capcom 2. The game itself is a hardcore game. It is very challenging and takes a lot of skill to be good at and it has created a rather rabid hardcore fan base that have toiled for many hours and spent far too many quarters to master it over the years. On the flipside, games like Call of Duty aren't inherently hardcore. Anyone can pick it up and, in a few hours, be able to have at least enough skill to compete at a fairly decent level online. However, it's fanbase has spent enough time and energy to master it. Making it seem hardcore to its fans, when it is not inherently a hardcore game to play.
F-Zero, specifically GX/AX, is an inherently hardcore game. It takes a lot of skill and practice to actually win a race, even early on in the game, and it is the last hardcore title by Nintendo that I have played.
One can argue that Nintendo really doesn't have many hardcore games, which is also plausible. I've never toiled over a Super Mario title and although there have been flashes of great challenges in the recent Galaxy series, the games themselves are never very challenging. They simply offer the challenge for anyone who wants it. Even in the Zelda titles were the challenges nigh but occasional. In early Zelda titles, at least until the latter parts of the game, death was a hard thing to avoid and health was a precious gem. It really took some garnishing of skills to be able to breeze through dungeons and such. Even in the puzzle department. Zelda games are known for their puzzles, but I've always considered their puzzles to be clever, not mind numbingly challenging. And they've only gotten easier as the as the series has progressed.
It's really a testament to how Nintendo has been dealing with it's hardcore fans over the years. Draw them in with their favorite titles year after the year but never offer them a real hardcore challenge. In fact, they've only gotten easier over the years. Zelda and Metroid are the biggest culprits of this. For Zelda it began with Wind Waker, which was considerably easier compared to Ocarina and Majora's Mask, to its most outright offender, 2006's Twilight Princess, which was easily the easiest game in the series. If you compare Metroid or Super Metroid, with the most recent Metroid Prime 3 or Metroid Other M it's no contest.
It's true Nintendo doesn't have many truly challenging titles in its repertoire, especially since the SNES days, but it feels like they are continuing to fill its dedicated hardcore fan base with false hope year after year with games that are never truly challenging. It's one thing to reach out to a wider audience, it's another to deny your fans, who were made hardened by the challenge your earliest games, something truly hardcore.
I feel that a reboot of the F-Zero series, a series that has been consistently challenging throughout its unfortunately short lifespan thus far, could truly deliver the challenge that Nintendo's fans deserve and with new technology like the 3DS and a possible new home console on the horizon, it could be a great opportunity for a reboot.
So am I blowing smoke or do I make a point? Let me know.
