Hardcore apocalypse? Miyamoto says chill out!
There are two schools of thought to the impending release of Nintendo’s Wii Fit in the Western world. The official company line is that more is better. More people involved in gaming as a hobby is good for all gamers. The hardcore crowd, though, sees the expansion spurred by the massively successful Wii as a sign of possibly radical and unwelcome changes to come.
In an interview with MTV, uber-game designer Shigeru Miyamoto attempts to put all the fears to rest, insisting that expansion of the game-playing community will benefit all types of gamers.
“Really, what Wii Fit represents and what Nintendo is trying to do with Wii Fit is expand the gaming population,” Miyamoto said. “And the reason that is important for them is because as more and more people of different ages start playing — even if it’s just games like Wii Fit — their understanding of what video games are and the fact that they’re even playing games is going to better their understanding of what gamers are.”
That’s all well and good, and I believe it’s an admirable goal. But I think what has the hardcore community genuinely concerned is that Microsoft and Sony might feel forced to follow Nintendo’s lead when the time comes to bring out the next generation of game systems. Will the lure of the masses of casual game players prove too tempting to go after? And will software developers also feel pressured to move away from hardcore games?
In my mind, there is good reason to worry despite Miyamoto’s assurances.
Via MTV
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I believe it’s “Shigeru”