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任天堂应该坚持同一性还是选择创造性?

发布时间:2012-10-08 17:14:41 Tags:,,,

作者:Josh Bycer

几周前在The Escapist网站上,名为“Jimquisition”的视频对《马里奥》与任天堂的发展进行了回顾,并分析了任天堂所遭遇的最大批评之一:尽管他们仍然能够创造出优秀的游戏,但是却已经不能像以前那样创造出富有创造性的游戏。

该视频专门针对《马里奥》系列游戏及其内在同一性进行分析。如今出现同一性已经不再是什么坏事了。没有人会质疑任何一款《马里奥》平台游戏的设计,因为任天堂已经投入了好几年的时间去完善游戏机制。但是当我们着眼于任天堂游戏类型的发展时,我们会发现他们始终徘徊于同一个领域中,止步不前。

翻新:

在这20多年时间里,任天堂一直在反复使用着相同的“马里奥”故事。尽管也会出现各种不同的情境和设置,但是我们都知道在游戏的某一时刻马里奥终究会打败Bowser而救出Peach。

之前,任天堂也曾视图通过改变游戏玩法和游戏世界去跳出这种循环。从机制上来看,《超级马里奥3》和《超级马里奥世界》是两款完全不同的游戏,并发生在完全不同的环境中。随着游戏向3d的过度,每一款《马里奥》游戏也都将拥有不同的设置,让玩家能够明显地区分《马里奥64》,《超级马里奥阳光》以及《马里奥银河》。

但是那之后的《马里奥》游戏却越发刻板了:《超级马里奥银河1》和《超级马里奥银河2》拥有近乎相同的故事,只有在一些外观元素上具有区别。可以说比起创造全新机制,任天堂只是在往新游戏中引入更经典的游戏机制和元素。如《超级马里奥3D大陆》中的tanooki套装以及Koopaling战斗,或者《超级马里奥银河2》中的Yoshi。

Super Mario Sunshine(from dumbledoreshotfirst)

Super Mario Sunshine(from dumbledoreshotfirst)

讽刺的是,从机制上来看《超级马里奥阳光》可以说是最多样化的游戏,但是从设置来看,玩家们却将其评定为最糟糕的3d《马里奥》游戏。许多任天堂的硬核玩家都希望该公司能够创造出他们所喜欢的内容。而当任天堂开始尝试一些全新内容时,这也意味着他们必须想办法让这些玩家去接受新内容。

是否有人还记得当《Luigi’s Mansion》作为GameCube(游戏邦注:任天堂推出的一部次世代家用电视游戏机)的发行游戏问世时有多少人对此感到失望。我们又怎会忘记《Windwaker》阴暗的图像风格惹恼了多少玩家。

创造性束缚

任天堂所面对的问题便是他们的最大优势,即品牌意识,已经变成了弱势。如今,除了任天堂之外还有许多具有强大品牌意识的游戏公司,而这也导致任天堂不敢轻易涉足任何可能给自己带来损害的风险中。

我们很难再看到T级或M级的《马里奥》游戏。就像我们也很难在“零式赛车”领域看到行动冒险游戏一样。任天堂通过把游戏机制整合到品牌中去发展自己的游戏品牌,虽然这种做法对于品牌发展具有优势,但却不利于传达创造性。当任天堂公布一款以特定游戏领域为背景的新游戏时,我们自然而然便清楚游戏玩法是怎样的:如《皮克敏》式实时策略游戏,《零式赛车》式赛车游戏或者《塞尔达传说》式行动冒险游戏。

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat(from fanpop)

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat(from fanpop)

任何背离这种规划的新尝试都会惹恼任天堂的硬核游戏玩家,他们认为这么做会大大破坏了他们所热爱的品牌。而非常有趣的是,这与同样具有自己品牌的世嘉和《索尼克》产生了巨大的反差。

过去,世嘉一直在《索尼克》身上进行各种尝试:枪击,赛车,角色扮演,益智类,钓鱼等等。事实上,我甚至不清楚《索尼克》到底是发生在何种背景下,因为该品牌游戏一直在变化。

而任天堂的《马里奥》品牌所具有的唯一差别在于,在90年代时期该系列游戏只呈现出少数不同的游戏类型,如赛车,聚会,体育和角色扮演。而现在,这些多年累积起来的游戏却发展成一种刻板的形式了。

不知不觉中,任天堂已经形成了一种反复过程,就像EA的《劲爆美式足球》或动视的《使命召唤》品牌一样。但是我却发现自己越来越反感这种千篇一律的内容。虽然我仍然很喜欢任天堂的游戏,特别是他们不时蹦出来的新尝试,如《Luigi’s Mansion》,《大金刚:丛林节拍》或《皮克敏》。但是从《超级马里奥银河》问世以来我就从未买过任何一款第一方的任天堂游戏。

极其讽刺的是,我最近在任天堂平台上所玩的游戏都属于第三方游戏。而在过去,这也是公认的任天堂平台上最薄弱的一环。像《异度之刃》,《美妙世界》以及《雷曼:起源》等游戏便属于这种类型,但却是朝着完全不同的方向而发展。

随着Wii U的即将问世,任天堂正面对着一种极端复杂的境况。任天堂设计所具有的独特性已经不再是他们特有的优势,如今索尼和微软也都拥有了各自的移动控制设备。很多玩家因为任天堂未能创造出一些全新内容去迎合新的休闲玩家的喜好而抱怨连连。面对Wii U的全新控制器设计,任天堂必须做出一个复杂的决定。

也就是任天堂是会使用玩家所熟悉的品牌去吸引休闲玩家的注意,还是尝试着创造一些可能会惹恼硬核玩家的内容。从我个人来讲,我希望看到任天堂做出更多尝试:不管是新类型,新品牌,还是现有品牌的改动。不管怎样我都非常好奇任天堂将如何应对M级的《马里奥》游戏。相信时间定能够向我们证明到底任天堂会继续将Wii作为最佳选择,还是利用Wii U把握住最佳优势。

本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转载,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

Nintendo’s Reliability vs Creativity

by Josh Bycer

A few weeks ago on The Escapist, the Jimquisition  (warning: video is for mature audiences and not work safe) took a look at Mario and Nintendo and broke down one of the biggest criticisms behind Nintendo: That while Nintendo makes good games, they don’t make as many creatively different games as before.

The video focused specifically on the Mario franchise and the sameness that has become a part of it. Now, sameness does not equal bad. No one can say that mechanically, any of the Mario platformer games are poorly designed, as Nintendo has spent years refining said mechanics. But, when we examine where Nintendo’s genres have grown, that’s one area where they have faltered on.

The Retread:

Nintendo has been retelling the same Mario story for over two decades. Granted the situation and setting may be mixed up here and there, but largely we all know that Mario is going to fight Bowser to save Peach at some point in the game.

Before, Nintendo got away with this by adding the most changes into the gameplay and world itself. Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario World are very different games mechanically and took place in different environments. With the jump to 3d, each Mario game had a wildly different setting which the player could differentiate between Mario 64, Sunshine and Mario Galaxy.

Lately however, Mario has become even more formulaic: With Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 literally having the same exact story with only a few cosmetic changes. Instead of creating new mechanics, they’re just reintroducing more classic mechanics and elements into today’s titles. Such as the tanooki suit in Super Mario 3D Land and the Koopaling battles, or Yoshi in Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Ironically, Super Mario Sunshine which was the most varied in terms of mechanics and setting is considered by fans to be the worse of the 3d Mario games. Many hardcore Nintendo fans have expectations of what they want to see from the company. And when Nintendo does try something new, they have to push against a raging current to get it accepted.

If everyone remembers, there was a lot of disappointment when Luigi’s Mansion was announced as the GameCube’s launch title. And how can we forget the outrage from fans over Windwaker’s cel shaded graphics style.

Creatively Stuck

The problem with Nintendo is that their biggest strength has become their weakness and jail cell: brand recognition. Nintendo out of all the game companies easily has the strongest and most recognizable brands on the console market. However, because these brands are so strong, it prevents Nintendo from taking any risks that may hurt them.

The chance of us seeing a T or M rated Mario game is slim to none. The same could be said of having an action-adventure game set in the F-Zero universe. Nintendo has developed their brands by combining game mechanics with the brand itself, which is great for the brand but not good for creativity. When Nintendo announces a new game set in a specific game universe, we automatically know what gameplay to expect: Real Time Strategy esque in Pikmin, Racing in F-Zero and Action Adventure in Zelda for example.

Any deviation from that plan has Nintendo’s hardcore fans fuming, as they see it as Nintendo hurting their favorite brands. The unintentionally funny part about this is that this is the completely opposite problem with Sega and Sonic as a brand.

In the past, Sega has thrown everything they can against the wall with Sonic to see what would stick: Gun-play, racing, RPG, Puzzle, Fishing etc. I honestly don’t know what the world setting that the Sonic games take place in anymore, as the brand has been diluted so many times.

The only exception that Nintendo had was the Mario brand, which in the 90s went through several different game styles: Racing, Party games, Sports and RPG to name a few. But now, where these different styles were unique games, have become formulaic over the years.

Without realizing it, Nintendo has become iterative like EA with Madden or Activision with the Call of Duty brand. Their fan base has become largely centered on casual fans new to games with the Wii, and the hardcore Nintendo fans that snatch up any new Nintendo game. Neither group wants to see any major deviations from the norm, and considering Nintendo’s precarious position in the console wars, they can’t do much to start any waves.

With that said I used to consider myself part of the hardcore fans, who buy anything Nintendo. But even I find myself growing tired of the sameness. I still enjoy Nintendo’s games, especially the rare times that they do attempt something new like with Luigi’s Mansion, Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat or Pikmin. But, I haven’t bought a first party Nintendo title on day one since Super Mario Galaxy.

In an almost Twilight Zone level of irony, the games I’ve enjoyed the most, recently from Nintendo’s platforms, have been the third party titles. Normally, this has been where Nintendo platforms have been considered weakest in the past. Games like Xenoblade Chronicles, The World Ends With You and Rayman Origins that took the genre and went in a different direction.

With the upcoming release of the Wii U, Nintendo is in a tricky position. The uniqueness of the Wii’s design is no longer the hot topic, with both Sony and Microsoft having respective motion control devices. Nintendo was criticized by fans for not creating anything new and different for the Wii by catering to their new casual audience. With the Wii-U’s new controller design, Nintendo has a difficult decision to make.

Now they have to decide not only if they want to try and retain their casual fan-base with familiar brands, but if they want to create something new that may upset their hardcore fans. Personally, I want to see more Nintendo experiments: either new genres and brands, or just a shakeup of an existing brand. This may be sacrilegious, but I’m really curious to see how Nintendo would handle an M rated Mario game. Time will tell if the Wii was just a one hit wonder, or if Nintendo can keep the momentum with the Wii-U.(source:GAMASUTRA)


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