Nintenblogs

05 Mar 2007

There's an ancient mountain in Japan, its peak high above the clouds. There's a path up the slope of the mountain that leads to a hidden cave. Only a chosen few know of the cave's location and even fewer know about the significance of what lays inside. Every year, a lone office worker makes the treacherous journey, carrying a small briefcase. When he reaches the mouth of the cave, he is greeted by a small monk, and exchanges pleasantries before being ushered in. At the far side of the cavernous interior, there lies a font carved out of the rock, its contents a swirling, gold mist. The monk walks slowly over to the font and unhooks an old stone ladle from the cave wall, and dips it into the mist, scooping out some of the contents. The office worker is summoned over to the font and kneels on the floor before it, unlocking his briefcase. The bulk of the briefcase is made up of specially made padding, with a small mould for a single white disk. He lifts the disk out of the casing and hands it to the monk, who showers it with the mist. Soon, the mist clears enough for the Japanese characters on the disk to be visible. Twilight Princess. The worker bows and leaves.

I've never been to Nintendo's offices in Japan, and I've no idea if they sit next to an ancient mountain, with a hidden cave and some magic dust. What I do know though, is that given the universal gameplay of many of their games, I'm wouldn't be at all surprised.

It was with mild annoyance then that I recently sat in the company of a chap describing the likely forecasting trends for the next generation of consoles. The gist of the his point was that the Wii would be at a disadvantage because gamers want immersion through graphics. Just because the games doean't look like Gears of War on a monster TV, doesn't mean the Wii's graphics are poo. Has this guy even seen Super Mario Galaxy? It may have bypassed the realism angle and gone for an entirely different artistic format, but isn't that just as easy to appreciate? Gaming for me can be just as much about escapism through art as it can be about immersion through realism.

At 29 and ¾, I might not completely represent the entire game buying public, but even so, is everyone else really that shallow? Of course not. And if the last four months and the success of the DS is anything to go by, then maybe Nintendo are onto something, whether you appreciate the graphical style or not. Delve a little deeper into the Wii's World and you'll find a rich heritage developed over a hundred years that once discovered, you'll be a fan for life.