The DS has been somewhat of a disappointment to me since the very first year of its release. No 2D Metroid, no F-Zero, no arcade Punch-out (which was already a dual-screened game, BTW), no REALLY good racing games (don't talk to me about MKDS), no decent 3D space shooters (StarFox was WAY too limited), way too much shovelware/kiddy/cutesy/girly games, piss-poor online abilities...etcetera, ad nauseum. And as far as I can see, none of the wanted games are coming, but there's plenty more shovelware on the way. There MIGHT be a good game or two in the mix somewhere every 30 releases or so, but even that is highly subjective.
I knew that Ninty was generally a kiddy system when I bought my first GBA, but at least there was many GOOD games on the GBA and I was content to filter though all the kiddy/cutesy crap to find the gems. The lameness of the majority of released games has reached epic proportions over the last few years with their "casual gamer" baloney on the DS though. It seems to me that "casual gaming" is just a slick way of saying "quickly thrown together garbage for noobs". It's more like "casual programming" than "casual gaming" if you ask me. Veteran (or old-school) gamers (such as myself) are left in the dust with only a handful of games that were made truly for us. Hard-core gamers are constantly disappointed by the mediocrity, dumbing-down and short length of the games released for them.
This is not to say that I hate ALL the games on the DS, some are actually good, but those really GOOD games are VERY far and VERY few between.
It seems to me that Nintendo has a different idea of what a "core gamer" is compared to the rest of the world. They constantly ignored gamers' requests and ideas for games on the old NSider board, so much so that they closed it down simply so they don't have to hear it from us anymore, I believe. Someone needs to interview some Ninty big-wig and ask them to define "core gamer". I'd really like to hear their definition of that term.
In fact, if it wasn't for the 3rd-party games, flashcarts, the emu's and homebrew for the DS, I probably would have dumped off the DS long ago. Seriously.
Yes, yes, I know, ALL systems have their fair share of crap games, but come on already! The DS has really been pouring it on thick with the pure crap.
And the Wii......well.....all it has going for it is a gimmicky controller and a couple popular games. I expected a handheld to be underpowered, but the Wii....yikes. I'd say it's much less than half the power of its current gen competitors. The Wii sucked-in a lot of people with the idea of the WiiMote, but Ninty went a totally different direction with it than what people were imagining when they first heard about it, I'd venture to say.
It amazes me that the Wii is as successful as it is. Even the so-called AAA games failed to impress me much. They were decent enough games to be sure, but I could really see the weakness of the system in those games at the same time.....I think how much better they could have been on a PS3 or X-Box 360 and I can do nothing but shake my head at the success of the Wii.
I actually expected this year's Nintendo E3 show to be as anti-climactic as it was, what with the plethora of tripe I've been seeing on the DS (and Wii). Nintendo has all but forgotten what true gaming is. They are catering to "casual gamers" excessively and only throwing the occasional bone to the hardcore/veteran gamers. Sad but true.
We can only hope that Ninty is holding out 'till the last day to show the good stuff, or that they are waiting for one of the other events to really show the good stuff. But I don't know anymore. Seems Ninty is just resting on its laurels right now.
People saying that complainers should shut up:
I paid money for the system. I bought the games before I learned of flashcarts. Expectations were not lived up to for the money I have shelled out. I have been VERY disappointed with the quality of the games on the DS. Many of us have. We need to vent that frustration somewhere. Where better than a pro-Nintendo forum?
If YOU are happy with the games currently on the DS, more power to you. I really wish I could be as happy. But I feel like I got burnt by buying a DS. The ratio of good games to bad is quite vast. Don't tell me you have never bought games you were very interested in only to find out they sucked when you played them. I'd put the "bought game disappointment rate" at about 70% myself. That is why we complain. We ARE all entitled to our opinions of what has transpired.
I knew that Ninty was generally a kiddy system when I bought my first GBA, but at least there was many GOOD games on the GBA and I was content to filter though all the kiddy/cutesy crap to find the gems. The lameness of the majority of released games has reached epic proportions over the last few years with their "casual gamer" baloney on the DS though. It seems to me that "casual gaming" is just a slick way of saying "quickly thrown together garbage for noobs". It's more like "casual programming" than "casual gaming" if you ask me. Veteran (or old-school) gamers (such as myself) are left in the dust with only a handful of games that were made truly for us. Hard-core gamers are constantly disappointed by the mediocrity, dumbing-down and short length of the games released for them.
This is not to say that I hate ALL the games on the DS, some are actually good, but those really GOOD games are VERY far and VERY few between.
It seems to me that Nintendo has a different idea of what a "core gamer" is compared to the rest of the world. They constantly ignored gamers' requests and ideas for games on the old NSider board, so much so that they closed it down simply so they don't have to hear it from us anymore, I believe. Someone needs to interview some Ninty big-wig and ask them to define "core gamer". I'd really like to hear their definition of that term.
In fact, if it wasn't for the 3rd-party games, flashcarts, the emu's and homebrew for the DS, I probably would have dumped off the DS long ago. Seriously.
Yes, yes, I know, ALL systems have their fair share of crap games, but come on already! The DS has really been pouring it on thick with the pure crap.
And the Wii......well.....all it has going for it is a gimmicky controller and a couple popular games. I expected a handheld to be underpowered, but the Wii....yikes. I'd say it's much less than half the power of its current gen competitors. The Wii sucked-in a lot of people with the idea of the WiiMote, but Ninty went a totally different direction with it than what people were imagining when they first heard about it, I'd venture to say.
It amazes me that the Wii is as successful as it is. Even the so-called AAA games failed to impress me much. They were decent enough games to be sure, but I could really see the weakness of the system in those games at the same time.....I think how much better they could have been on a PS3 or X-Box 360 and I can do nothing but shake my head at the success of the Wii.
I actually expected this year's Nintendo E3 show to be as anti-climactic as it was, what with the plethora of tripe I've been seeing on the DS (and Wii). Nintendo has all but forgotten what true gaming is. They are catering to "casual gamers" excessively and only throwing the occasional bone to the hardcore/veteran gamers. Sad but true.
We can only hope that Ninty is holding out 'till the last day to show the good stuff, or that they are waiting for one of the other events to really show the good stuff. But I don't know anymore. Seems Ninty is just resting on its laurels right now.
People saying that complainers should shut up:
I paid money for the system. I bought the games before I learned of flashcarts. Expectations were not lived up to for the money I have shelled out. I have been VERY disappointed with the quality of the games on the DS. Many of us have. We need to vent that frustration somewhere. Where better than a pro-Nintendo forum?
If YOU are happy with the games currently on the DS, more power to you. I really wish I could be as happy. But I feel like I got burnt by buying a DS. The ratio of good games to bad is quite vast. Don't tell me you have never bought games you were very interested in only to find out they sucked when you played them. I'd put the "bought game disappointment rate" at about 70% myself. That is why we complain. We ARE all entitled to our opinions of what has transpired.