Page 1 of 4 1234 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 73

Thread: Is the Wii reaching "critical mass" on crap shovelware?

  1. #1
    Don't do it...or,do. (shrugs) Custom rank graphic
    Frankie_Says_Relax's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    On permanent vacation from this bullshit.
    Posts
    7,824
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    Xbox LIVE
    FlyingBurrito76
    PSN
    FlyingBurrito76

    Default Is the Wii reaching "critical mass" on crap shovelware?

    We're over a year in, and it appears that the licensing and development process for Wii software is one that is neither long nor complicated.

    Like any good system (and I do believe that the Wii is a very capable if only moderately powerful system) any title that spends an extensive amount of time and love in the development cycle can turn out very good to fantastic (ie. Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime, Zak and Wiki ... even 3rd party titles like Medal of Honor Heroes 2) but on the other side of the proverbial coin -

    titles that zip through the process and wind up on store shelves with nary a press "preview" usually REEK of being shovelware, and most gamers can spot them a mile away.

    What worries me, is that lately, I'm faced with a growing mass of what appears to be, cheap, quickly-produced, in some cases kids-product-licensed, near-alien-looking titles appearing on the Wii shelves on a weekly basis and there seems to be NO signs of slowing.

    For the past year or so, I've not been able to find a decent DS title amidst the near hundreds of bits of shovelware garbage (sifting through it all is just headache-inducing) and I'm growing more and more concerned that within a year, the Wii will be very much of the same.

    Do you think that the Wii is close to reaching it's "critical mass" level in garbage software (ie. a crap level of, say, 4 crap to 1 decent title) ?

    Yes? No? Maybe? Never? If not now, soon?

    Discuss.

    I think yes, and I'm sad.
    Last edited by Frankie_Says_Relax; 01-14-2008 at 07:05 PM.
    "And the book says: 'We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.'"


  2. #2
    Kirby (Level 13) diskoboy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Nash-vegas, TN.
    Posts
    5,212
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    Xbox LIVE
    Diskoboy74

    Default

    I think the Wii will peak with Smash Bros. Brawl.

    After that, it's nothing but downhill from there.

    I'm a bit sick and tired of seeing Mario, Link, Kirby, and the rest of the Nintendo brigade plastered on practically every damn game Nintendo puts out. And since NiGHTS was the last Wii game I knew with 100% certainty that I was looking forward to, I have a strong feeling that NiGHTS will be my final purchase on the Wii.

  3. #3
    Avoiding OT Vectorman0's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    CT - USA
    Posts
    4,398
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    Xbox LIVE
    Vectorman0
    PSN
    Vectorman0

    Default

    This is what happened to Atari, then Nintendo came in with their seal of quality. Over 20 years later, it seems Nintendo has completely forgotten the standards on which their gaming empire was founded upon. We won't see another crash, but I doubt this surge of junk will go by without any ill effects on the industry, especially if it keeps up at this rate.


  4. #4
    Great Puma (Level 12)
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Posts
    4,278
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    3
    Thanked in
    2 Posts

    Default

    Eventually, it will not be lucrative anymore for people to keep selling crap games for the Wii or DS. Consumers aren't morons and while they might take a risk on a $10 or $20 game once, after they get burned and realize it would have been better to spend $40 or $50 on something they will actually play for several weeks, they will leave all those games to sit in the front row of Best Buy. Retailers will respond by ordering fewer and fewer of these games and eventually, the handful of companies specializing in this type of junk will shut down. It's already starting to happen with the DS as fewer and fewer games are carried by the big retailers and it will start to happen with the Wii as more high quality first and third party titles are released and take up the space previously taken up by the garbage.

  5. #5
    Don't do it...or,do. (shrugs) Custom rank graphic
    Frankie_Says_Relax's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    On permanent vacation from this bullshit.
    Posts
    7,824
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    Xbox LIVE
    FlyingBurrito76
    PSN
    FlyingBurrito76

    Default

    Oh, don't get me wrong, Vectorman0 I don't think it'll crash the industry, or even the Wii ... in fact, it seems to have done the exact opposite for the DS.

    I've had a DS since day one, and I haven't been able to find more than two or three releases per year that are worth my time and money, and yet I'm constantly faced with the rhetoric from the general gaming public that it's got "much more fun-er-ur" games than just about anything on the market.

    All I see is hundreds and hundreds of Brain-Age-a-likes, 16 bit style RPG's, Catz, Dogz, Horsez, Hamsterz, Babiez (I'm not even joking there) and licensed DS versions of just about every PG rated film that comes down the pike.

    SIDE NOTE - With all the recent "Imagine" series (which are pretty much VERY sexist representations of what "young girls" should "enjoy" doing - Imagine Cooking, Imagine Fashion, Imagine Babiez) I was thinking that they should just combine them all into one title. It would be much more fun ...


    The quantity sans quality-checking seems to sell with an exact OPPOSITE effect of the saturation of look-alike titles that crashed the market with Atari, Coleco etc. in the mid 80's ....

    ... so, no, I don't think it'll crash anything.
    Last edited by Frankie_Says_Relax; 01-14-2008 at 07:35 PM.
    "And the book says: 'We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.'"


  6. #6
    Red (Level 21) Jorpho's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    We're all mad here
    Posts
    13,554
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    2
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    1
    Thanked in
    1 Post

    Default

    Oh, very droll, Mr. Frankie. I applaud.

    Come to think of it, there's really not much left on the DS that I can think of that would be particularly desirable. But two or three releases a year is more than enough to keep me busy, considering the back catalogue I have yet to go through. (If only said back catalogue were a bit more accessible.)
    "There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." --Bertrand Russel (attributed)

  7. #7
    Insert Coin (Level 0)
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Winnipeg, MB
    Posts
    127
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    The PS2 had a large library of crap too...no?

    I won't be suprised that more crap will follow, but i'm confident there will be some good games to come as well.

  8. #8
    Key (Level 9) carlcarlson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Posts
    1,946
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by vegi-saurus View Post
    The PS2 had a large library of crap too...no?
    Every system has a large library of crap, it's inevitable. The OP is just suggesting that the crap on the Wii outweighs the good to such a degree that it's going to kill the system (I think that's what he said).

    I don't have a Wii, so I don't really know what games are out there for it. However, a week or two ago I got together with some of my old college friends, one one whom had gotten a Wii for Christmas. We decided to go to Family Video and rent a few games for it. Not only could we not find a FEW games that looked interesting, we couldn't find ANY. Not one. If I was to base my opinion purely on my one experience that I've had with the Wii, then I would say yes, the Wii has reached critical mass.

  9. #9
    Pac-Man (Level 10) Custom rank graphic
    MachineGex's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    2,600
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    1
    Thanked in
    1 Post

    Default

    Here is why I think it hurt Atari much more than it will hurt Nintendo. Atari's market was flooded with crap and you never knew what you were getting. That really doesn't happen that much today(the not knowing part) because we have magazine reviews, internet reviews, message boards, fansites, rental places(online as well) etc. all flooded with good reviews usually before the game even comes out. Sure Nintendo has it's share of turds, but most people know which ones they are and not to grab them.

    I can't remember the last time I bought a new game without reading at least one review. I am able to spend five minutes researching a game and pretty much know eactly what to expect and if I will like it. With Atari, I never knew what the game was going to end up like. It was really buying in the dark. Now, I don't have to gamble with my purchases. Every game I have paid full retail for, I have at least played it or read detailed reviews.

    Bottom line: It isn't all that hard to figure out what games to avoid, so they aren't the land-mines they use to be 30 years ago.

  10. #10
    Pac-Man (Level 10) omnedon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    2,908
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    The NES had TONS of garbage. Tons! And it is considered a complete classic.


    TONS.

    And yes, the Wii is sporting a large amount of shovelware. Yuck.
    ... for your gaming and iPod service needs http://www.oldschoolgamer.com/ For all your Video Game console and iPod upgrade/repair needs!

  11. #11
    Cherry (Level 1)
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Posts
    335
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    Yes. I see nothing worth owning in the near future, that's why my Wii is sold. After the Wii craziness is over and people are tired of Mario Galaxy/ect. , there be stockpiles of these at local gamestores for sale.

  12. #12
    Great Puma (Level 12) Custom rank graphic
    Gapporin's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Springfield, MO
    Posts
    4,444
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    Xbox LIVE
    Gapporin

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Jorpho View Post
    Oh, very droll, Mr. Frankie. I applaud.
    Those baby muffins will haunt me in my dreams.
    "I am a cipher, wrapped in an enigma, smothered in secret sauce."

  13. #13
    Pac-Man (Level 10) Custom rank graphic
    joshnickerson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Athens
    Posts
    2,919
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    3DS Friend
    0473-8317-6182

    Default

    And I suppose a vast majority of PS3 and 360 titles coming out are top notch AAA titles, right?

    DP Feedback | Game Blog of Awesomeness! | Seeking out these GCN kiosk discs: Jan 2002, 21, 25, & 29

  14. #14
    Strawberry (Level 2) CartCollector's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Location, Location
    Posts
    501
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    What's interesting is that EGM had an article on this a few months back.

    But my take is that more shovelware = more rares. Look at the VCS, NES, and Playstation. Popular consoles with loads of crap games. Also, more shovelware = more opportunities for a sleeper hit from an unknown developer. Again, look at those consoles.
    The name's Link
    And I'm braver than brave
    I got a wooden sword from and old man in a cave

  15. #15
    Great Puma (Level 12) heybtbm's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Wisconsin
    Posts
    4,338
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    Xbox LIVE
    The Shamemaker
    PSN
    heybtbm
    Steam
    The_Shamemaker

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by joshnickerson View Post
    And I suppose a vast majority of PS3 and 360 titles coming out are top notch AAA titles, right?
    Actually the vast majority of AAA titles coming out this year are PS3 and 360 games, now that you mention it.

    Anyway, before the Nintendo Mafia arrives and turns this thread into Wii vs. everything else, let me say that it's obvious Wii shovelware is getting out of hand. The shear amount of $20-$30 budget games that I've never heard of is astounding. I can understand a few games slipping past the internet radar, but has anyone checked out the Walmart budget bins lately? Where did these games come from?
    "One of the ways I gauge a DS game is by recharges. "...Tycho (Penny Arcade)

  16. #16
    Pear (Level 6) Custom rank graphic
    Vinnysdad's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Southern CA
    Posts
    1,310
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    Xbox LIVE
    Vinnysdad
    PSN
    Vinnysdad

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by joshnickerson View Post
    And I suppose a vast majority of PS3 and 360 titles coming out are top notch AAA titles, right?
    Maybe not but you have to admit that both the 360 and PS3 have a larger selection of good games to choose from compared to the Wii.

  17. #17
    ServBot (Level 11) swlovinist's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Gamers Paradise
    Posts
    3,607
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    Xbox LIVE
    swlovinist

    Default

    There is still good games on the Wii. The Wii will have more good games on it. Yes there is alot of crap. So does any mainstream system. Smash Melee and Mario Kart are coming out soon. I know that there are some haters of the system, but give it another year. For people who only like mature hardcore shooters and RPGs, this system is not for you. A family system it is, and that is fine with me.
    Would you like to know more about collecting video games? Check out my extensive Youtube channel! https://www.youtube.com/user/swlovinist

  18. #18
    Kirby (Level 13) diskoboy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Nash-vegas, TN.
    Posts
    5,212
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    Xbox LIVE
    Diskoboy74

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by joshnickerson View Post
    And I suppose a vast majority of PS3 and 360 titles coming out are top notch AAA titles, right?
    Well.... there's DMC4, Burnout Paradise, Bionic Commando, Gran Turismo Prologue, Ninja Gaiden 2, Resident Evil 5, Lost Odyssey, GTA4, Rainbow 6: Vegas 2, Mercenaries 2, Alan Wake, Fable 2, and the plethora of PSN and XBLA games, just off the top of my head.

    The Wii has Smash Bros. Brawl, Crazy Climber (which probably won't get a US release), and No More Heroes coming up, and That's about it.

  19. #19
    ServBot (Level 11) roushimsx's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Oklahoma
    Posts
    3,030
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts

    Default

    Looks like the lax standards of the Gameboy/Gameboy Color/Gameboy Advance have finally bled over to Nintendo's home console. I used to think that the GB and GBA had the worst crap:quality ratios, but I'm sure the Wii will dominate that field in due time, too.

    Bummer.

  20. #20
    Pac-Man (Level 10)
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Sacramento metro
    Posts
    2,243
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    0
    Thanked in
    0 Posts
    Xbox LIVE
    jdotaku

    Default

    I plan to rent, maybe buy nights for the wii soon and sometime in february will pick up smash bros which hopefully will keep me and my wii busy for awhile beyond that though all I can think of is that no more heroes (???) game

    My bro still wants zelda (never cared for zelda) so that will keep the little machine busy as well.

Similar Threads

  1. The Great "I have too much extra crap!" Sale [NEW STUFF!]
    By HurricaneAndrew in forum Buying and Selling
    Replies: 18
    Last Post: 08-10-2010, 09:09 PM
  2. How long does it take to "finish" Mass Effect?
    By StetsonGraves in forum Modern Gaming
    Replies: 19
    Last Post: 01-07-2010, 11:53 PM
  3. SMT: Digital Devil Saga "Controller Armor" = crap
    By maxlords in forum Classic Gaming
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 04-04-2005, 09:13 PM
  4. The Official "I haven't found crap in 2 years" Thr
    By Sylentwulf in forum Classic Gaming
    Replies: 11
    Last Post: 01-06-2003, 11:29 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •