Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Zero Punctuation: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Posted by _J_ at 5:23 PM

Labels:

13 comments:

_J_ said...

"When the name 'Nintendo Wii' was first revealed did you ever seriously try to defend it on an internet forum? If 'yes' you will enjoy this game whatever its faults and you might as well start spamming my e-mail address with hatred right now you miserable fanboy twat."

April 23, 2008 at 5:31 PM
Mike Lewis said...

its still a fun game

April 23, 2008 at 9:07 PM
Roscoe said...

See.. this right here? Made me laugh.

Because it's very much about what Brawl does right as much as about what it does wrong.

And that thing is, in a sense, being metatextual.

It's a celebration.. or possibly a wankeryfest, assuming they're not the same thing, of Nintendo and its franchises.

April 23, 2008 at 10:02 PM
_J_ said...

If Smash Bros. Brawl featured a bunch of nameless characters no one had ever heard of and was exactly the same, but with Nintendo brand locations, characters, etc. removed? No one would fucking play it because it would suck.

I enjoyed the Gamecube version of Smash Brothers and liked playing it. But I’m willing to admit, nay, openly admit that my enjoyment came from using Pikachu to kick people's assess.

And that's what is encapsulated in the "Who the fuck is Marth" joke as well as other aspects of the review. Smash Bros. Brawl is only enjoyable because of the Nintendo Licensing.

The review is not some nuanced assessment of the depth and complexity manifest in the intricate design of Brawl; there is no depth or complexity to Brawl.

The whole fucking game is just “oh my shits, it’s Pikachu fighting Mario!” multiplied out exponentially by a power of fanboy.

And it's fine if people like the game so long as they admit that.

April 24, 2008 at 12:13 AM
_J_ said...

Also, I adore opportunities to be that guy.

April 24, 2008 at 12:18 AM
Mike Lewis said...

btw you can unlock snake by playing on the Metal gear board for 15min

and sonic by playing classic mode.

Nintendo needs to release EarthBound

April 24, 2008 at 10:54 AM
_J_ said...

I'm trying to assess the complaint about unlocking characters for multiplayer.

One of the reasons we spent so much time playing Melee back in the day was to unlock new characters. So in some ways it makes sense to lock characters as this motivates people to play.

But as someone said in the other Wii thread once Nintendo has sold you the product they oughtn't fucking care how much you play it given that they already have your money.

So at best unlocking characters is needless and at worse it's simply mean.

I like unlocking new content; I like the brief feeling of satisfaction that comes with it. But for a multiplayer game like Melee or Brawl I do not think that it makes sense to keep some content locked behind a wall of requirements.

I do not think it is an issue of what is required to unlock content; we can't belittle the argument by saying "It only takes 15 minutes" or "bla bla bla". Rather, we need to assess the locking of content itself.

April 24, 2008 at 11:33 AM
Roscoe said...

.... Technically, isn't your response following mine a recapulation of it? Only with added hate, and narrowing down to characters, and missing all the other bits of Icon Focus?

Not just major franchise characters, but bits of history, etc?

Bitter, hate-filled, little manchild you are.

You're assuming the point of unlocking characters isn't actually a function of gameplay... That is it's goals to achieve, and new facets to explore.

it's why WoW characters don't come preleveled, either.

April 24, 2008 at 12:17 PM
_J_ said...

I don't think it's far to equate WoW character progression with unlocking characters in Brawl. If only because WoW is sort of about the progression of characters whereas Brawl is something you drunkenly play with friends in a multiplayer setting.

And, arguably, the argument could carry over to something like Guitar Hero and support the notion that one ought to have access to every song for multiplayer right from the start.

Which, again, is an idea I support.

April 24, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Unknown said...

I agree, for multiplayer purposes all content should be available because it is a giant pain in the ass to unlock that shit while everyone else sits idly by on your couch watching.

That or they should be unlocked during regular multiplayer play, such that people don't get bored and leave your house because they have nothing to do but fight prostate cancer.

April 24, 2008 at 2:39 PM
_J_ said...

Especially with characters like Snake and Sonic which for many people were the reason for why they bought the game.

And, sure, "you can unlock snake by playing on the Metal gear board for 15min"

But why is it fucking necessary to make players jump through that hoop? Great, you take Brawl to a friend's house and have to sit there for 15 minutes dicking around (without fighting prostate cancer) to get a character. So 15 minutes is less than any amount of time over 15 which Nintendo could have forced you to play to get Snake.

That still doesn't justify the 15 minutes itself.

April 24, 2008 at 4:53 PM
Roscoe said...

And.. I've only got anecdotal evidence here... but the unlocking process?

very much where a LOT of the fun came with the people here.

post unlock, it turned into a fun time, but a competition, and then passed into vast group play only.

whereas the race to unlock stuff had people up 24 hours, taking shifts on playing and enjoying the contact high.

April 24, 2008 at 11:39 PM
_J_ said...

"whereas the race to unlock stuff had people up 24 hours, taking shifts on playing and enjoying the contact high."

And people who enjoy that will enjoy that.

But people who just want to play the game? They do not enjoy that.

I think single player content ought to be where unlocks occur and multiplayer content is just multiplayer content with everything available.

Or put stuff in multiplayer content to unlock but not characters or levels. Costumes, music, and useless crap can go into multiplayer unlocks.

April 25, 2008 at 3:39 PM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)