So, if better graphics, story, and controls won’t make for better games, what does that leave? Sound?
It says more complicated controls, cinematic graphics, and richer story lines, not better. I agree with him too. I wanna see more games like Metal Slug, not a movie that disguises itself like a game.
I like having a good gameplay, but when I want action, I don’t play an RPG anyway.
In an RPG, I want to do stuff, too. Elder Scroll series was a great example of that. I don’t mind tons of cinematics, but sometimes they get…aggravating. And annoying.
I don’t mind long cinematics, so long as they are interesting. But what I really like is when the story/dialogue is part of the gameplay, like in deus ex and fallout. By mixing the two, you do something that the movies could never, ever, ever do.
I’m more for the sexy babes thing. Preferably with little to no clothes in certain situations.
Originally posted by Gizamaluke
Actually, believe it or not, your in the MAJORITY.
The majority of the vido game market is populated by the creatures known as “casual gamers”. They by mainstream crap like Madden and GTA instead of new inovative games like Disgaea and Ico. They always look for the fancy graphics and cool FMVs.
While you are not a casual gamer, casual gamers agree with you.
You started this thread based on the premise that Iwata is a dope for not wanting to go the way of super cinematic rich stories, and complicated controls (An issue caused by a multitude of things to do during gameplay) and good graphics and what-not…now you’re saying that games like the newer football games and GTA, which meet one or more of those standards. So what the fuck are you arguing? 
Originally posted by Skankin’ Garbage
You started this thread based on the premise that Iwata is a dope for not wanting to go the way of super cinematic rich stories, and complicated controls (An issue caused by a multitude of things to do during gameplay) and good graphics and what-not…now you’re saying that games like the newer football games and GTA, which meet one or more of those standards. So what the fuck are you arguing?
I was just using them as examples.
Casuals tend to think “OMG!!!111 M4dd3n and GTA ar3 t3h b3sT g4m3z EV0R!!!1111” so I figured GTA and Madden would make good examples.
I guess I shouldn;'t have said crap though.
I’ve long come down on the side of gameplay over other elements (especially flashy graphics at the expense of other aspects). And I’ve viewed the trends in most recent RPGs with mixed emotions. I perfectly understand Cidolfas’ point - games with an excellent story do draw me in, and to a point can redeem lackluster gameplay. There is one caveat, however: Games with excellent story but lesser gameplay (to me) have little replay value.
As (console) RPGs have become more linear (and I know that’s a highly debatable point), the games seem to have upped the amount of what I call the “Perfectionist Quests,” which usually revolve around trying to find a diverse amount of well-hidden items with little relative impact on the overall game. (E.g. the cards in FF8 and FF9, the Dalmations in Kingdom Hearts, the Hundred Stories in FFX-2, etc.) Being a perfectionist, I always try my damnest to get everything - the thing is (and I’m perfectly willing to admit the problem here is probably me), whereas once upon a time, I was quite happy to muddle through a game as many times it took to try and find everything (don’t ask me how many times I went through Chrono Trigger), increasingly in most recent games, I’ve found myself doing my absolute best to try and get everything on the first pass, simple because I have no real desire in playing the game again to do so. Do I enjoy playing them once? Yes, for pretty much the same reasons Cidolfas gave. But do I think it was truly a great game? Without replay value, I’m not so sure.
I still don’t entirely understand why gameplay and story all to often have to be mutually exclusive. I can understand some of the reservations against innovation, but a game can use a tried and true interface and still be both enjoyable and worth playing again and again, without sacrificing story or even graphics.
Just my two cents.
Well… they’re not completely exclusive, but it is difficult to have both of them in a game for the simple reason of focus. A game generally needs a focus, and it’s either on story or gameplay, but it’s difficult to get a good balance between the two without resorting to something like Xenosaga: an hour of gameplay, an hour of cinemas, more gameplay etc. Not to mention it’d be more expensive and more time-consuming to have to write and animate all the story scenes as well as having to program all the innovative gameplay. That’s why generally it works better to have one focus.
Of course, there are ways to do things smarter rather than better by making the most of what you have, but the video game industry is actually very conservative about what they do, and they tend to give more respect to older programmers who may be set in their ways than to younger ones who may have maverick ideas. Sometimes this does work (Hideo Kojima), but often it results in a lack of innovation. That’s another factor, I guess.