Satoru Iwata clearly isn’t a great fan of the first person shooters that are dominating sales here in the Europe and in the United States. Just the thought of these games continuing to shift ridiculous numbers makes him cry a little inside. They don’t tend to sell well at all in Eastern markets, but the West always laps them up. Here’s what he had to say about them:
“It is a reality that some of these [wartime shooting] games sell 10 million units per year in [the West], and this is one valid type of video game genre. I would personally feel sad if all video games became something like that, but on the other hand, I do not think such games should disappear.”
I know what he means. Jesus Christ, the hate I get at school for liking Nintendo and Sonic and stuff…
I agree 100%
From this quote it doesn’t seem like Iwata hates this genre, just that he doesn’t want these kind of games to be the only ones selling a lot of copies in the western world. And he’s 100% right.
That’s exactly what I got from it
Very good opinion, I agree.
From this quote it doesn’t seem like Iwata hates this genre, just that he doesn’t want these kind of games to be the only ones selling a lot of copies in the western world. And he’s 100% right.
Maybe blood boil was a little OTT :-)
It’s pretty disappointing. FPS games are becoming so generic; sooner or later there’s hardly going to be any diversity in the Western gaming market.
How are they generic? Because they all involve first-person perspectives and shooting? By that logic all platformers are generic, all puzzle games are generic, etc.
Is it because most of them involve similar locations and settings? By that logic, all Mario games are generic, all Zelda games are generic, all Sonic games are generic, etc.
It seems that most people’s complaints about FPS games are that they are “generic”, but they fail to define how. You might say, “well it seems like they’re all about a grizzled soldier who has to fight Russians in urban environments”.
But I can respond with, “it seems like every RPG is about a metrosexual man-boy who has to stop an unstoppable evil”
I can tell you that there’s a world of difference between games like Battlefield and Call of Duty alone. I wouldn’t even have to bring up Team Fortress 2, Counter Strike, Half Life 2, etc to get my point across that there are plenty of original FPS games. Oh, and don’t forget the Metroid Prime series.
If you think there’s less and less diversity in the western market, it’s because you’re not looking very hard. The reason you see FPS’s everywhere, is because they’re popular and sell well. But that doesn’t mean other games don’t exist in large numbers as well.
Sorry for the essay of a post, I just really dislike ill-informed blanket statements.
Well said, sir. I completely agree.
Take portal for example, it’s one of the best FPS and it’s one of the most unique games out there.
I’ll defend how they are generic most can not be replayed in single player. It’s turnsole of game that dies once the company server shuts down.
Online play is more of a crutch for it also.
The most popular one reward camping, cheating, and stacking. The only ones that rewarded pure skill was the quake series some of the unreels, and half life.
This is one of the few types of games that breeds gamers who don’t like lots of different types of games.
This is also the bubble game type that is responsible for killing pc gaming when every one started calling them in.
It’s a problem just like how platformers started getting phoned in. It’s arguable that these gamers like the community more than the game also.
These gamers don’t really support fantasy and mostly only like realism.
Sure you have your exceptions but they are niche. These are mostly pc gamers also.
yea, the fps games that you mention are original in their own way but they’re too many like everyone’s saying and they’re all Shooters. There’s a new Call of duty/Battlefield every year or so with each one having some new features. Since 2005 when xbox 360 launched, Halo came out and you see how many of those there are now. Let’s make a list of most of the fps game, Halo, COD, Battlefield, Fear, Resistance, Crysis, Farcry, Killzone, Gears, Bayonetta, Bioshock, Homefront, brink, medal of honor, left 4 dead, half life, Mass effect, etc. not to mention more and more new fps games coming out on top of fps sequels and prequels. It’s ridiculous, I enjoy shooters just as much as you but man, I mean black ops was’nt out for a whole year and already modern warfare 3. I even heard there’s a fps game that let’s you quad wield guns. Like seriously. It’s getting out of hand and ppl who enjoy other games are being ridculed cuz they don’t play fps games as much as they do. In fact fps games are the biggest reason hardcore gamers are stuck up and retarded. sorry it’s long but gotta prove my point
@ Feast
Gears, Bayonetta & Mass effect are not First Person Shooters they are third person shooters you shooter fantard. You think any game with a Gun is a FPS
But it IS fair to see the amount of war-torn FPS clones that are being churned out is getting a little tiring.
Firstly cod has been pretty much the exact same game over and over again just with different skins and sounds, half life cannot be put into the same catagory because half life 1&2 are very unique and actually changed things within the FPS genre. the reason im sick of FPS is because most are exactly the same and yet ppl hype them up like crazy FPS which are gd are 1s with decent stories like mass effect thou its third/first person either way FPS are generic because the gameplay and stories are pretty much identicle. and even worse when u get a game like battlefield which actually does bother its a** to be innovative cod fanboys say it sucks coz they prefer the same generic crap they hav bought for the past 5 years. and btw in alot of rpg there ar multiple endings and u often get to create your own chara which is why rpg are not generic since every1 playing can hav a compleyely different experience the generic thing is that there role playing games
I think he’s probably right about that.
in the last 5-8 years (maybe more idk) FPS games have been overtaking the general gaming market.
if you ask a 15 year old what games they play, it’s ‘black ops’ or ‘battlefield’
where’s the love for RPG’s, platformers, party games and even puzzle games?
and besides, all shooter games are practically the same these days :/
the HUD, weapons and gameplay is almost identical, spare for a few details like points and special weapons (like a helicopter).
if you tell someone you like games like Sonic, Pokémon, Kingdom Hearst or whatever, they’ll say you’re a baby, a ‘noob’, and you should play decent games.
I think Iwata’s pretty much right about that.
with the Wii U’s power they could run all FPS games from the other platforms easily,
and he’s afraid the same thing will happen to the Wii U, and the people will forget about the other great games.
Absolutley! Couldnt have said it better.I love Zelda, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Fire Emblem, and Pokemon. Say that in school, and everyone gives you the “Are you kidding, looser” look.
“DOSE GAMZ R 4 BABYZ AND DEY SUK CUZ THRS NO BLUD IN DEM!” Well maybe when some of the fans of FPSs learn semi-decent grammar I’ll start listening to their ‘opinions’.
The reason I prefer FPS games over RPG games is because FPS games take real skill. If you’re bad, you can practice and actually improve yourself in a FPS game. In an RPG, if you’re characters aren’t strong enough you can just go grind some easy enemies until you level up. If you give a beginning player and an advanced player the same RPG party, they will be completely equal; neither one is superior to the other. But if you give a beginning player and advanced player the same loadout in a FPS, the advanced player will be better. But the beginner can practice and improve until they are on-par with the higher player.
“If you give a beginning player and an advanced player the same RPG party, they will be completely equal; neither one is superior to the other.”
This is wrong, and you know it is. There’s one thing you’re dismissing here, and that’s a little thing called STRATEGY. The best RPG’s take strategy. You give a beginning player and an advanced player the same RPG party, the beginner will be at a significant disadvantage, if only because they don’t know how to most properly use that party. I’ve seen someone who only ever played FPS games get his butt handed to him in an RPG, because he did nothing but brute force attacks, thinking that’s all it took to win. There’s more to RPG’s than blasting through enemies. You’ve got your support/defense spells, your curse/debuff spells, your healing spells, various combo/non-combo skills, you’ve got your elemental strengths and weaknesses, resistance and the like, you’ve got your strengths and weaknesses of using specific types of weapons against others, like spears, swords, maces, staves, poles, sickles, daggers, and bows, etc; some work better than others depending on what they’re being used against. Come on, man. If you don’t take ALL of that into account, you’ll get your butt handed to you in a true hardcore RPG.
I’m 15 in a month, and I play every genre, I think most western gamers aren’t really “gamers” as such, they’re “shooter-players”.
Personally, I think to call yourself a gamer, you need to play more than one or two genres.
Many self-proclaimed “gamers” that I know literally have one Action game and a few shooter’s on PS3 and Xbox. (they don’t play nintendo of course, that’s a “babies’ toy”. They are Dipshits)
They also scoff at games which don’t have 720p, or are more than 3 years old, but that’s another story.
It’s rediculous, really. Seriously, where the hell did Nintendo even get the reputation for only ever making childrens games? Haven’t any of these people ever played more than one Nintendo game? I honestly don’t know. I mean, what? It has two or three kids games and automatically it’s 100% for babies? By that logic so is the PS3 and XBox 360.
Maybe you should think back more than ten years, then you’ll find something. When the Odyssey and other home console games came out, everyone wanted them. Then the video game market plummeted. It wasnt Micrsoft or Sony who brought it back. That was Nintendo with the NES. The PS3 and XBOX wouldnt be here if it wasnt for Nintendo’s innovation.
there are too many FPSs on the table these days. while i loved call of duty black ops and left 4 dead 2, also looking forward to MW3 and Battlefield 3. i don’t want the game industry to become FPSville. i like mario, pokemon, sonic, zelda, golden sun, tales of …, kingdom hearts, and various fighters.
stop the spread of the FPS
your right but i got tired of call of duty but ya agree that i want the mario games and mainly the tales of… games(fingers crossed they release An american port of tales of the abyss 3D on the 3DS here in america when that comes out next year.)
I’ve never been an FPS guy but I can certainly understand it’s appeal. My biggest problem is the “core” gamer who says that only dark, moody, atmospheric FPS games are the only games real gamers want to play. To those people, I say Iawata is right. FPS has it’s place but so does platform, RPG, action adventure, puzzle or otherwise. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what genre the game is, just that it’s done well and is fun to play.
true i dont care what games people play as long as they dont criticize a game cause they dont play it
The FPS’s of today are becoming what the fighting games of the 90’s did. Repetitive and unoriginal and pretty much carbon-copies of FPS’ already on the market with only minimal differences to try and set them apart from the crowd. The 90’s fighting game barrage saved and then subsquently killed of the last of the arcade scene because they failed to continue to innovate and push the genre forward. FPS’ are well on their way to suffering the same fate. They need to undergo a cooling off period the way fighting games did for 5-6 years so that they can come back with more innovation and resurge once again the way fighting games are doing.
I’m that lucky one who goes to a high school where at least 15 kids still play DS at lunch.
If you don’t get criticized bullied or such, then your school is one of the best out there…
I hate that FPS style games are overtaking the videogame industry. Not saying they are “bad games” I play a few myself. I just don’t think anything else (especially Nintendo) is (how my friends say) “gay”. I think a lot of people are just being Bull Headed and will not accept change from FPS. I am called “gay, noob, weird, kiddy” just because I actually have a taste in multiple things. Most 14-16 year olds are really small minded.
when people say “gay” like that they mean “gey” basically… when someone calls somethign “gay” its “gey” thats the slang term basically… not the actuall meaning which is happy and homo
And people think that Nintendo’s idea of catering to core demographic is the FPS crowd. Yeah I’m with Iwata on this: Fuck Call of Duty and anything like it. I prefer my shooters to take more hints from stuff like Bioshock or Half-Life.
Seriously, an overabundance of these types of games are the reason why I stuck with the Wii despite all of it’s flaws. If it weren’t for Saint’s Row 2, Limbo and Brutal Legend, I would’ve never bought a 360 to begin with.
i like shooters as much as the other guy but there are way too many of them it’s crazy,personally won’t come near a shooter unless it’s on the wii(Black ops, cod 4 ,world at war),why you may ask?,because on the wii it is actually fun to play and is an imersive experiance and a fun experiance but on other consoles it just feels like a chore to do,a good comparision between the two is being confined to a wheel chair(xbox,ps3) and walking(wii)I see no fun future is first person shooter games without motion controll of some sort(kinect excluded) because other then that they’re dead beat boreing, I have mw2 for xbox an I don’t even touch it ,it’s so boreing,I agree with iwata I hope fps do not consume the market
In addition to my above comment… I believe that being a “hardcore gamer” should really be called a status. I also get called “casual” just because I own a Wii. People need to remember how much Nintendo has done to influence Sony and Microsoft. Without GoldenEye for the N64, there would not be innovative FPS’ that we have today.
actually the start of fps’s is doom
But that was on the PC. GoldenEye 64 was the game that heralded the arrival of actually fun and playable FPS on the console. Other games up to that point were better experienced on the PC like Duke Nukem Quake etc. Their console versions were poor. GoldenEye 64 was the 1st console exclusive that didn’t debut on a PC and succeeded with the FPS style.
true
I know! I get pressured all the time to get a “real” system. Nintendo has a wide assortment of different genres, unlike the other systems. All FPS and exactly that, FPS. There all involve being a trigger happy fool killing people. Killing as many people as you can is the main objective. All of them just have a thrown together story-line to give you a reason to shoot people. And, Sony and Microsoft laugh and say the the Wii U won’t hurt them. When they are the ones copying Nintendo. The Playstation Move is a prime example.
Testify.
this is what i hate about cod and halo…. it’s that they try to stand ALL! on multiplayer and not one bit on solo… if you dont have xbox live or psn the cod and halo games are useless to you… this is what i love about nintendo games… they are 95% on solo except for their specific multiplayer games like mario party (i consider it atleast) and super smash bros. … their games like zelda and mario and kid icarus and metroid are mostly solo games with the added online multiplayer for secondary enjoyement after soloplay is completed. well atleast i always beat solo before i touch multiplayer.
Hopefully they put online in kid icarus uprising but if not o’well it looks like it has an awesome storymode
FPSs just aren’t creative. There’s no artistic flair or anything in the games, which is pretty much the reason I play video games. I love the all the character designs and what have you. Mario RPG, Earthbound, lots of other stuff, and I love Kirby’s Epic Yarn. To me, there’s absolutely no appeal in playing any FPS. (TF2 has cool chars, but the gameplay is meh.)
Clearly haven’t played Half Life. Probably the ONLY “modern” FPS without a focus on online play, and it’s pretty fun too.
and Portal2?
I agree. I’m one to play CoD or Halo every once in awhile, but how can they be the only thing you play? Isn’t there a better genre for online multiplayer? This is my hope for the Wii U: make fun online competitive games that aren’t FPS’s.
The irony of it is… metroid prime series
But does every Nintendo game play like Metroid Prime? That’s what Iwata was trying to so, he doesn’t want ALL of Nintendo to be replaced by the FPS genre. Metroid Prime is a single series of like, what? 3 or 4 games? It’s not half the games in the Nintendo library.
Metriod Prime is one FPS. He didn’t say he hates FPS, he says that he doesn’t want them to become the only genre that sells in the West.
Actualy you prove his point that game did not sell because it’s fantasy based and had no online play. Fps guys want realism which is a dead end for the industry that relies on creativity.
In all honestly if there’s anyone who should make FPS games, it’s Valve, because they make them ALL good, ALL enjoyable, and pretty much ALL different. TF2 has a great cartoony art style, Half Life has a brilliant storu to with and makes you think at points, Left 4 Dead (which I’ve never really played) is an action packed survival game and Portal is a fun first person puzzle game. They aren’t just another game about a war, they’re not just another game that’s made purely for the online, well, except Team Fortress 2, BUT STILL! Nintendo’s the company that really understands that games need to be different to make them more enjoyable, because do you really want to play a Mario game that’s exactly the same as Zelda? Do you want every game to be about jumping on Goombas and saving a princess? I doubt it very much.
Sorry for any grammatical errors, typing in the dark isn’t very fun.
I agree with Mr Iwata! Makes me sad because I’m the only one in my circle of friends who does not actively play FPS games, so I’m pretty much a loner at our gaming parties lol (except for the 10-20 minutes where we do actually play something other than black ops). Hoping for a future of gaming where the western market is not dominated by FPS games!
TOTALLY AGREE!!! I hate all these “hardcore” gamers always acting like shooters are the only good games. Geez, I consider Sonic hardcore!
FPS games are the biggest reason hardcore gamers are so stupid. If the console does’nt have fps games, it’s not hardcore, if you don’t play fps games then your considered kiddie and not a real gamer. I enjoy fps games but it’s getting so ridiculous and unoriginal. It’s like spawning oops babies. Can you believe there’s a fps game where you can quad wield. Next is gonna be Octo wielding or my arm morphs into machine guns.
I also feel sad for nintendo too becuz they have to appeal to these fags that only want fps or games that are dark, gory, and you just destroy everything
All the talk here about the stereotype that Nintendo and Platformers are for babies suggests that most people posting are in their mid teens. Fear not, once you finish high school the stereotype fades. In highschool I was ridiculed for playing Pokemon. Now there’s a boyish charm to it, and lame arse FPS fans have begrudging respect for gamers that have a proper and broad understanding of gaming history and culture.
Contrary to the notion that Mario is for babies, an older gamer sees that being too into FPSs has an angsty, juvenile flavour to it. An appreciation for Bugs Bunny, Bulbasaur, Bart Simpson and all things ‘babyish’ is a great quality to have.
I’ve never been a fan of FPS games. I first got introduced to the genre by my cousin who played wolfstein on the C64 a lot. I really didn’t care about shooting germans (or any other helmet wearing warmongers for that matter) in the head then and I still don’t care for it now… If you look at the genre in general it really still caters to the same audience as it did then: adolescent boys who have a really hard time controlling their testosteron levels.I really hope that – like a former poster sugested – the FPS genre takes a 5 to 6 year breather and comes back when it’s hormones have leveled out XD
Those who enjoy killing people in FPS games should see psychologist.This is a kind of diseases in my opinion.
Sickr, I love you, but you are horrible at interpreting quotes.
All i got to say is me + First Person Shooters = me asleep
There needs to more Third Person Shooters.
I blame western parents. Yeah, That’s right, blaming the parents like for everything else in the world :P
Parents are the ones who started calling video games for “childish”, so teens have tried to prove them wrong by playing more “mature” games with war and blood. Games with Ratings 3+ and 7+ are somewhat shameful for a teen to enjoy in western culture, and even worse for young adults. It’s funny how quality games like Super Mario are just seen as adorable kids games, when certain family movies like from DIsney are enjoyable and popular for both teens and adults. So, yeah, I don’t really blame the “hard-core” gamers. They just don’t get it is OK to enjoy 3+ games.
Also, I have heard that “adorable”, which in the west is associating with “childish”, is a quite popular term in Japanese form of entertainment. Nintendo has many adorable, but also fun and enjoyable franchises, amongst others.
Anyway, that is my theory… Also, Fps are extremely addicting. Games shouldn’t be just a endless time-waster ’til the next big game launch.
I agree. Parents should not be letting kids play games like Call of Duty. Games like Mario and Pokemon should not be considered “kiddie” games. BRING BACK THE GOOD GAMES!
http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_EF_2011.pdf
For 2010, most of the top selling games were for the Wii and only three were FPS.
The only games I even own for this list is Assassin’s Creed, Halo: Reach, Red Dead Redemption, and Pokemon.
I can see why they didn’t want to send the JRPGs here. They think they wouldn’t buy it because it isn’t a shooter or a Wii party game.
NINTENDO JUST MAD THEIR SHITS NOT SELLING.
IWATA U SUCK.
I LIKE FPS U GET TO CURSE AND TEABAG PPL.
IN THE REAL WORLD U GO TO JAIL BUT IN FPS GAME U CAN SHOOT NIGGERS,SPICKS,KIKES AND FAGGOTS LIKE STEAVEN WHO POST LONG SHIT. I CAN SHOOT LAZY SLAVE NIGGERS OR DISCRIMINATE FAG AID SISSYS IN COD.
You are what is wrong with humanity.
Oh god… I hope people like this dont buy a Wii U. I dont want them ruining the online environment.
i won’t bother replying to steaven’s a f*ggot ‘s post because it’s so childish.
nintendo have been making video games since the early-mid 1980s. mario, metroid, zelda, earthbound, donkey kong, f-zero to name but many have graced the N.E.S, gameboy, super nintendo.
and yet people say those games are childish just because of the way it looks? please. i’d rather play those types of games than FPS, because there is more variety and games are beyond killing people with guns.
IVe never understood why FPS’s are so damn popular. they are all the pretty much the same game with a different paint job. I also never understood why they became the posterchild for “hardcore gamers”. What happened to platforming games, adventure games, fantasy games,since when did these become “kiddy” and “casual” We know nintendo has been still been producing these games but what about stuff like psychonauts, old Crash bandicoot, banjo kazooie, Conker’s bad furday, glover, ratchet and clank, mirrors edge, prince of persia(sands of time version), jet grind radio. what about games “mature games” with atmosphere and depth like eternal darkness,Even games that used to be good and have some substance and atmosphere like resident evil are now just mindless shooters with extra blood and gore.
FPS are ok for a bit but I could never spend as much time as I did on a classic game like MArio 64 on a modern day FPS. This “hardcore” and “casual” grouping needs to die, games are games and the amount of blood and guts doesn’t make it any more of a game than one with a pink blob that eats his opponent and steals their power while hopping through a candy coated land of gum drops and jelly donuts. It doesn’t make you more mature either since we all know the large amount of annoying bratty and imature 12 year olds that play only FPS and think games like kirby and mario are too kiddy. Bring back the creativity and bring back platforming please. Thank god for nintendo though, at least I know I can always count on them.
Truthfully i dont mind having FPS games out there i wont play them but i also understand what people want to play the problem i have now has to deal with games like MASS EFFECT and the notion of calling them RPGs when i grew up on nintendo an RPG was considered to be Final Fantasy or dragon quest or breath of fire you know what people now call JRPGs. I hate the idea of someone trying to sell me mass effect when i say i like rpgs that IS NOT a traditional RPG in my sense what the should be classifying it on the packaging or in stores and reviews is as a “RPG Shooter” dont tell me mass effect 2 is the best RPG of 2010 befause i will clearly fight you tooth and nail on that notion.
Unfortunately, the only reason those games sell 10 million copies each year, is because that’s what those people want. People wouldn’t buy games if they didn’t want them.
OMG in the very bottom left corner of the page is a smiley face! What do i win :D
do you know that i have seen 1st hand call of duty xbox360 discs break and scratch thus requiring people to rebuy the same game this also happened with halo discs as well so when we say 10 million copies that does not mean there is 10 million owners of a game geez i have had rock band 3 and rock band 2 in mint condition since day one no scratches so lets see if make a disc for a multiplayer fps and then lets say 80% of the sales are on the xbox 360 and out of those 80%, 40% of them stand their xbox upright thus causing more scratches on the disc of course people will have to re buy the game. so probably 20% of the sales are more than likely rebought games they need to get rid of trade ins on games in order to truly tell the accuracy of game sales and also account for re bought copies too. I wonder if the count in the number of free copies that are given away by the company as a promotion in those sales or even when they bundle them in with a new xbox360 console of course if my xbox where to say red ring then i might need to buy another one and why wouldnt i buy a bundled console for the same price as a non bundled one! just reminds me of why wii play was number 1 in sales for so long was it for the game or for the controller, haha!