Was Game & Wario an audience alienating premise?

CM30

CM30

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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AudienceAlienatingPremise

Think about it:

It was a mini game collection. On a console with very few other interesting games, released in a dead month with no other reasons to buy the system. Add how it was released after five years of crappy mini game collections on the Wii and the fact our favourite series is a tad obscure even for Nintendo fans... and yeah, I have the feeling this game was doomed from the start.

Anyone else agree?
 
All you posted makes total sense, but I wouldn't be so sure Nintendo's intent was for it to be a blockbuster or something to make many Wii Us sell, like Mario Kart 8. It was very likely more of a test of the console's gimmicky features, though they obviously wanted it to sell well (at least us WarioWare fans got it).
 
Whenever a new Wario game is releasing, Nintendo still carries this "Why the hell are they still making these games? Don't let anyone notice it!" attitude towards them when they come around.

To correct myself from another thread, it's not the team behind these games that Nintendo has anything against, but more like the Wario series itself that they don't want to prosper.
 
I think the Game & Wario game was just kind of like a Gamepad testing beta for the new Mario Party as to what you'll be able to do.

Similar to how many people complained that Super Mario 3DLand for 3DS was basically just a beta for 3DWorld for Wii U.

I one day hope that the next-gen Nintendo hardware allows up to 4 gamepads, or have controllers with smaller screens than the gamepad for multiplayer games.

Because there was no first party mascot party games for Nintendo (not talking Wii Sports or Mii stuff like Nintendoland), Game & Wario was probably just thrown together to see what the hardware and gamepad was capable of.

I think once Mario Party releases (it'll be 1-5 players with Gamepad + 4 controllers optional in Bowser mode), we may get a real successor to WarioWare Megaparty Games from gamecube. It's a different type of party game that should have a different audience if not same audience as Mario Party just a nice alternative change up.
 
Also quick question to those of you because I've only played G&W for about an hour now and have surprisingly enjoyed it.

For multiplayer, is it basically just x players but take turns with gamepad, or can you do gamepad + 3 controllers for 4 players?
 
I sometimes think Nintendo wants certain works to fail.

Remember the promotion they had for Donkey Kong: King of Swing?... No?
 
The WarioWare series, as well as Game & Wario, is a series of "Showcasing" new ideas.
WarioWare Inc.: Testing a new gameplay style.
WarioWare Twisted: Testing a new giroscope on GBA.
WarioWare Touched: Showcase and testing of all touch/microphone controls.
WarioWare Smooth Moves: Showcase and testing of Motion Controls.
WarioWare Snapped: Showcase and testing of Camera controlled games.
WarioWare DIY: Showcase and testing of a brand new game cartridge with improved memory.
and Game & Wario: Showcase and testing of the Wii U gamepad.

No really, it is clear that the WarioWare series is basically a audiance test. They each came out at the start of a new console and/or new tecnology.
Game & Wario is no exception. But why not making a WarioWare style gameplay, instead of the new minigame approch? Because of DIY and the WiiU itself, as where when they make a maker of a series, is when they usually kind of run out of ideas, and so, they make games to make games. But what about the Wii U? Well, it turns out if Game & Wario was a WarioWare style game, it would feel like Smooth Moves. Same as WarioWare 3DS, as it will feel like Touched.

I guess it is all due to maketing, maybe. Game & Wario, basically, was not ment to be a block buster game, it is just a test to showcase de gamepad. (Even if there are more games like that to showcase the gamepad's capability).

For multiplayer, is it basically just x players but take turns with gamepad, or can you do gamepad + 3 controllers for 4 players?
Click to expand...

Game & Wario's Multiplayer was ment to be simple, so it is just played with the Gamepad taking turns. No extra controller needed.
 
BlueJackG said:
The WarioWare series, as well as Game & Wario, is a series of "Showcasing" new ideas.
WarioWare Inc.: Testing a new gameplay style.
WarioWare Twisted: Testing a new giroscope on GBA.
WarioWare Touched: Showcase and testing of all touch/microphone controls.
WarioWare Smooth Moves: Showcase and testing of Motion Controls.
WarioWare Snapped: Showcase and testing of Camera controlled games.
WarioWare DIY: Showcase and testing of a brand new game cartridge with improved memory.
and Game & Wario: Showcase and testing of the Wii U gamepad.

No really, it is clear that the WarioWare series is basically a audiance test. They each came out at the start of a new console and/or new tecnology.
Game & Wario is no exception. But why not making a WarioWare style gameplay, instead of the new minigame approch? Because of DIY and the WiiU itself, as where when they make a maker of a series, is when they usually kind of run out of ideas, and so, they make games to make games. But what about the Wii U? Well, it turns out if Game & Wario was a WarioWare style game, it would feel like Smooth Moves. Same as WarioWare 3DS, as it will feel like Touched.

I guess it is all due to maketing, maybe. Game & Wario, basically, was not ment to be a block buster game, it is just a test to showcase de gamepad. (Even if there are more games like that to showcase the gamepad's capability).

Game & Wario's Multiplayer was ment to be simple, so it is just played with the Gamepad taking turns. No extra controller needed.
Click to expand...

I think the upcoming Mario Maker is Nintendo's idea of throwing the white flag on anymore new side scrolling Mario games to be released. Which is sad because they still have so much more concepts and ideas to offer.
 
BlueJackJ said:
The WarioWare series, as well as Game & Wario, is a series of "Showcasing" new ideas. No really, it is clear that the WarioWare series is basically a audiance test.
Click to expand...

This is true, yet sad. It's a shame to know a series we really love is considered by Nintendo to be a tool instead of an end by itself.
 
I know I wasn't alienated by its premise. In fact, I was intrigued by it. Sadly, I didn't have a Wii U at the time, so I couldn't play it even though I wanted to. Why buy a game when you don't even have the console it's for?

I wouldn't be able to get it until almost a year after it had been out. Once I got a Wii U for Christmas last year, it became one of the first games I would look for. Surprisingly, it was a bit more difficult than expected, but it seems my patience was rewarded, since not only did I eventually find it, I found it for less money than I expected to have to pay for it.

I don't really think it was an audience-alienating premise. I think there are people out there looking for something different from the usual fare. The problem lies in the Wii U sales at the time, and as CM30 pointed out, the game was released in a time when there wasn't much else released. I've heard that the Wii U is doing a bit better...now. But at the time, those sales weren't what you'd really even call decent. Combine that with very little advertising, and boom, poor sales.
 
Quite frankly I don't think that Wario had any negative impact on the game , the only Wario reladet thing I hear people complaining about this game is that it's not the kind of Wario game they wanted, which is actually a GOOD thing in my book, since it shows that there is still an audience for both Land and Ware.
Now don't get me wrong I like Game & Wario, but standard minigamecollections just have fallen out of favor with most people, just look at Mario & Sonic Sochi 2014, that game bombed, a MARIO game that bombed...
As I said before, Wario isn't the problem, this game would have been hard to sell no matter what name was attached to it...
 
A fraction of the fanbase is bound to be dissapointed by the change (and pratically speaking, taking away the one thing that make your series stand out is Not A Good Idea), but if the entire package was of the same quality as Gamer, it wouldn't have mattered too much. A lot of G&W's minigames are simplistic, plodding, and quite simply, boring. It tells a lot three of them are reskinned tech demos, and play like it.

Of course, being released in the summer on a struggling console didn't do the game any favour, but that has nothing to do with the premise : p.
 
For the most part, you guys are right. The game was released at at time when there was nothing going for the Wii U at all. This could have been passable if it did come later. But how often do we get games that use the GamePad this much? Game & Wario was more or less a poor man's Nintendo Land. Made on a lower budget, at that.

Also, last I checked, wasn't Nintendo Land well received enough? When did minigame collections start getting so much hate anyway? Someone explain this to me. Didn't people like "X games in 1"? When did it start getting looked down upon? Is all it takes to please anyone anymore to make platformers and/or RPGs with rich characters and rich lore(!!!!!11111)? Is that how impossible to please everyone is anymore?

WarioWaft said:
For multiplayer, is it basically just x players but take turns with gamepad, or can you do gamepad + 3 controllers for 4 players?
Click to expand...
Honestly, the multiplayer in Game & Wario is really lacking. You won't find yourself playing it that much.

BlueJackG said:
The WarioWare series, as well as Game & Wario, is a series of "Showcasing" new ideas.
No really, it is clear that the WarioWare series is basically a audiance test. They each came out at the start of a new console and/or new tecnology.
Click to expand...
Yes, this is what the series has always been for a while. I don't think we can expect the series to be "taken seriously" anymore. The microgames are still categorized by control scheme in most of them.

And did anyone even rage over certain characters being redesigned for no reason? (Wario and some others remain the same, so what was the point?)
Oh right, who the hell cares about them?

Glowsquid said:
A fraction of the fanbase is bound to be dissapointed by the change (and pratically speaking, taking away the one thing that make your series stand out is Not A Good Idea), but if the entire package was of the same quality as Gamer, it wouldn't have mattered too much. A lot of G&W's minigames are simplistic, plodding, and quite simply, boring. It tells a lot three of them are reskinned tech demos, and play like it.
Click to expand...
I love, oh I just love how everyone always forgets that WarioWare games have always had more than just microgames. Pyoro, among other things, for example.

On that note, Pyoro in Game & Wario blew pretty bad. It doesn't have the badass BGM that it always does, and we were stuck with the grating G&W sound effects from the GamePad.

And yes, Pirates and Design were tech demos. Shield Pose and Measure Up from E3 2011. Remember that?

WarioWaft said:
I think the upcoming Mario Maker is Nintendo's idea of throwing the white flag on anymore new side scrolling Mario games to be released. Which is sad because they still have so much more concepts and ideas to offer.
Click to expand...
Bingo

The idea of letting us make our own Mario levels is amazing, but it still looks like they just don't know what to do with 2D Mario anymore.
 
I love, oh I just love how everyone always forgets that WarioWare games have always had more than just microgames. Pyoro, among other things, for example.
Click to expand...

And? The microgames are the primary attraction, and make up the majority of the content. That's not up for debate. It's like justifying Shadow the Hedgehog by saying "But Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 had shooting too!"; well yeah, but that's not what most people play the series for.

When did minigame collections start getting so much hate anyway? Someone explain this to me. Didn't people like "X games in 1"? When did it start getting looked down upon? Is all it takes to please anyone anymore to make platformers and/or RPGs with rich characters and rich lore(!!!!!11111)? Is that how impossible to please everyone is anymore?
Click to expand...

Part of it is inane fratcore gamer posturing and part of it is that the Wii established the genre as a favourite of shovelware developers everywhere. Game Party, anyone?

And yes, Pirates and Design were tech demos.
Click to expand...

Mona's game too is one.
 
It was called Game & Wario for a reason to begin with. Going into it and expecting it to be WarioWare isn't a good idea. How blind do you have to be to not see that?

DIY also looks like they just ran out of ideas on what more to do with microgames.
 
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It was called Game & Wario for a reason to begin with. Going into it and expecting it to be WarioWare isn't a good idea. How blind do you have to be to not see that?

DIY also looks like they just ran out of ideas on what more to do with microgames.
Click to expand...

Totally agree, the name change was intended for that purpose, at least they gave us Gamer. Also, DIY sure feels like they run out of ideas, but that's to be expected since they had to think almost 20 microgames for each character, sounds like Pokemon to me, as they will, at some point, run out of ideas for new Pokemon to create.
 
I personally thought Game & Wario was pretty fun for a budget title (actually "playing as" Ashley pulled me in, not to mention she and Red had actual models this time) but reviewers seemed to be on a mission to make the entire thing sound like absolute garbage. From all the reviews I read, the person just played through the tutorial round of a game and assumed it was done -- there's nothing I hate more about reviewers than when they purposely cut corners with Nintendo games. Young Cricket's game had Endless mode which is loads of fun, but did reviews bother mentioning it? Or that 18-Volt has a precious "microgame only" Endless mode as well? Nope!

I enjoyed the game (I even bought it the day before release at a store that didn't care) but it feels kind of lacking. It's like they had all the good ideas in place, but no big ending to bring it all together. Maybe a Wario-Man mode that combined everything would have been kind of cool?

G&W, like others have said, came at a point in the Wii U's life where those who didn't know any better (or those who bashed Nintendo to appease Sony and Microsoft's wallets,) kept screaming "NINTENDOOMED! Wii U is dead in the water!" and all of that stupidity. I think that even if G&W had been a brand-new, WarioWare-styled game that came with a money dispenser, people still would have knocked it.
 
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