The End is Nigh: Gardening Mama Announced

[DoctorFinger]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure this was written on the Incan Calendar as a sign of the End Days. 505 Games has announced Gardening Mama for the Nintendo DS.

Gardening Mama sees Mama heading into the great outdoors to turn an empty garden into a tranquil paradise. Green-fingered players use the touch screen to dig holes, plant seeds, mix fertiliser and ultimately grow a range of fruits, flowers and vegetables.Just like Cooking Mama saw players engaging in different stages of a recipe, Gardening Mama breaks the plant growing process up into small bite-size chunks of game play. The simple mini-games can be played by wannabe gardeners of all ages, as they grow increasingly more colourful and rare flowers.

Yet another entry into the genre of 'things you can probably do in real life, and in fact would probably be more productive and fun to do so' games.

[Doctor Setebos]

This will not end well.

[bean]

Gardening Momma seems like an easy extension of the successful franchise. I don't know what all the fuss is about.

Now, if Nintendo released an HD console with a lineup of AAA action games, we might need to check the thermometers in hell, but this is just more fun road games for families.

[Morratut]

/groan

Nintendo get your finger out and start doing decent games. Zelda, Mario etc. Also some new decent IP's would be good.

Ban these type of games from the DS

[quidmonkey]

Originally Posted by DoctorFinger

Yet another entry into the genre of 'things you can probably do in real life, and in fact would probably be more productive and fun to do so' games.

You really don't want to go there.

[TheFlyingOrc]

Originally Posted by Morratut

/groan

Nintendo get your finger out and start doing decent games. Zelda, Mario etc. Also some new decent IP's would be good.

Ban these type of games from the DS

I'm hoping to see a resurgence of some of their franchises next year. Not hopeful, but hoping. This year, Nintendo has made it clear that the only game they care about is Wii Fit.

[quidmonkey]

Originally Posted by TheFlyingOrc

This year, Nintendo has made it clear that the only game they care about is Wii Fit.

?

GTFO



*ahem*

SSBB, MKW, Wii Music, Animal Crossing

[Doctor Setebos]

Originally Posted by Baron Samedi

SSBB, MKW, Wii Music, Animal Crossing

Actually, I kinda agree with TFO on this. Yes, those games exist, but what has Nintendo done to show that they actually care about them?

With the exception of Wii Music.

Here's my interpretation of how their marketing budget has/will be applied in all of 2008:

Wii Fit: 40%
Wii Music: 40%
Mario Kart: 10%
Animal Crossing: 8%
SSBB: 2%

[quidmonkey]

Originally Posted by Doctor Setebos

Actually, I kinda agree with TFO on this. Yes, those games exist, but what has Nintendo done to show that they actually care about them?

With the exception of Wii Music.

Here's my interpretation of how their marketing budget has/will be applied in all of 2008:

Wii Fit: 40%
Wii Music: 40%
Mario Kart: 10%
Animal Crossing: 8%
SSBB: 2%

Oh come on. We all know Nintendo is no longer marketing "hardcore" games. Why? Word of mouth is cheaper. It sells less copies, jams a much smaller meme down your throat, and causes fanboys across the interwebz to whine like the little bitches they are; but it still makes a hell of a lot of extra cash.

Argue that the line-up is pathetic, not that there is no line-up or that Nintendo is inept.

[Doctor Setebos]

Originally Posted by Baron Samedi

Argue that the line-up is pathetic, not that there is no line-up or that Nintendo is inept.

I'm not saying anything bad about the games or even necessarily Nintendo. I'm complaining about the fact that Nintendo doesn't "care" (i.e. "market well") some of their more core titles.

Yes, word of mouth is the advertising mechanism of choice for the hardcore audience, but I question whether or not that should continue to be the case. If "expanding the audience" is Nintendo's goal, why don't they work harder and spend a bit more of that enormous mountain of cash to get more non-Nintendo-core gamers to buy their titles? If they had pushed a more aggressive marketing campaign, could they have convinced more 360 and PS3 and maybe even PC FPS gamers to take a closer look at Metroid Prime 3? Could they have spent more money making Super Smash Bros. Brawl look more appealing to gamers that have only ever played Soul Calibur fighting games? I think they could have. But they didn't. They sold the games to the people that were planning to buy it once they heard it existed, and didn't even try to expand the potential core at all. That's where I think Nintendo's leaving money on the table. It isn't their line-up that's unimpressive, it's their lack of desire to market their line-up that's continually disappointing.

[Urizen]

Originally Posted by bean

Now, if Nintendo released an HD console with a lineup of AAA action games, we might need to check the thermometers in hell, but this is just more fun road games for families.

You're right about the temperature adjustment.

A console with nothing but action games? Sounds like hell to me.

Also, did the Inca have a Doomsday calendar?

[Ancalagon]

I wonder whats next...

Washing Mama?
Driving to Work Mama?
Taking Public Transport Mama?
Dealing with the Bank Mama?

[quidmonkey]

Marketing is rather moot without hard numbers. I believe MP3 is a million seller and will continue to sell throughout the Wii's lifetime. Nintendo could've shit a couple of million in hopes of making a dent in both Bioshock's and Halo's numbers, ink be damned.

I don't want Brawl looking anything like SC, especially SC4. Get thee behind me doctor!

It's not the marketing that gets me, it's the disregard for the Nintendo faithful. That does not mean "core" titles. Nintendo doesn't need Mario and Zelda, it needs new IPs. The new Wii series we've seen are all casual. Nintendo's innovators are fronting the casual market. MP was farmed out; Punch-Out is farmed out; SSBB was farmed out; which core franchise will be next?

[DoctorFinger]

Originally Posted by Ancalagon

I wonder whats next...

Washing Mama?
Driving to Work Mama?
Taking Public Transport Mama?
Dealing with the Bank Mama?

TPS report mama
Clipping your toenails Mama
Sewing Mama
Fixing a leaky pipe Mama

Actually we should probably end this now. We just gave 505 another dozen ideas for a game.

[TheFlyingOrc]

Originally Posted by Baron Samedi

?

GTFO



*ahem*

SSBB, MKW, Wii Music, Animal Crossing

You know I'm a Nintendo fan. They only CARE about Wii Fit. It's annoying.

Also, freaking Mario Kart outsold Smash Brothers - Why? It actually had ads.

[Johan]

If this one has wireless ad-hoc multiplayer with one cart, as the second Cooking Mama did (the first lists as having it, but DOESN'T), then I'll buy it!

My kids love Cooking with Mama. Gardening is a good fit!

[Doctor Setebos]

Originally Posted by Baron Samedi

Marketing is rather moot without hard numbers. I believe MP3 is a million seller and will continue to sell throughout the Wii's lifetime. Nintendo could've shit a couple of million in hopes of making a dent in both Bioshock's and Halo's numbers, ink be damned.

I don't want Brawl looking anything like SC, especially SC4. Get thee behind me doctor!

It's not the marketing that gets me, it's the disregard for the Nintendo faithful. That does not mean "core" titles. Nintendo doesn't need Mario and Zelda, it needs new IPs. The new Wii series we've seen are all casual. Nintendo's innovators are fronting the casual market. MP was farmed out; Punch-Out is farmed out; SSBB was farmed out; which core franchise will be next?

I didn't mean SSBB should look and/or act like some other brawler, just that Nintendo should have tried to market it to that crowd to see if they might be interested in playing a brawler from another publisher. That's all. Same with Metroid Prime. I wasn't saying Nintendo might have taken people away from Bioshock or Halo, just that with a little marketing, they might have gotten those people to take MP3 seriously and try it out.

Everything else you just said I agree with 100%.

[bean]

Originally Posted by Baron Samedi

SSBB, MKW, Wii Music, Animal Crossing

You're kidding? Brawl and Mario Kart are fun at my friend's house, but the other two are crap. Cute and quirky was great back when Animal Crossing came out a billion years ago, but the novelty is gone. I have no desire to ever send dirty letters to the cat character, fetch a billion apples to pay my mortgage, or collect fish for the museum/aquarium EVER again. Plus, Wii Music is a fucking insult to gamers everywhere.

Okay, the Wii has shit graphics and developers are using it for the shovelware repository, but there is a huge install base. When the system gets MORE games that take advantage of the system's (limited) strengths like Fatal Frame, then I'll be interested. Until then, soccer moms can continue keeping them sold out while I'm off playing my 360.

[quidmonkey]

Originally Posted by Doctor Setebos

I didn't mean SSBB should look and/or act like some other brawler, just that Nintendo should have tried to market it to that crowd to see if they might be interested in playing a brawler from another publisher. That's all. Same with Metroid Prime. I wasn't saying Nintendo might have taken people away from Bioshock or Halo, just that with a little marketing, they might have gotten those people to take MP3 seriously and try it out.

SSBB is fan-service - at that, it succeeds. Brawl was intentionally dumbed down to introduce new players to the series. Judging by the hype around the release back in March, if you were a gamer, you knew about SSBB.

MP3, again, the argument is moot given the lack of hard numbers. But I bet that Nintendo did its homework on this new, passive stance of hardcore advertising and concluded that an advertising campaign wasn't worth it to their bottom line. To be clear, it's not casuals we're discussing here, but hardcore gamers, who already have heard of Metroid Prime.

Word-of-mouth is Nintendo's new weapon. Many complain about all the PR noise in the gaming biz. What's wrong with Nintendo deciding to keep its mouth shut?

MP3 is, itself, an odd beast. It's not as good as the pro-Wii fanboys would have you believe (after all, they needed something to champion last fall), but it's better than the anti-Wii fanboys make it out to be. Neither is it the best in the series. If I was recommending it, I'd point to the nearest Gamestop and say pick up MP for like $7.

Originally Posted by bean

You're kidding? Brawl and Mario Kart are fun at my friend's house, but the other two are crap. Cute and quirky was great back when Animal Crossing came out a billion years ago, but the novelty is gone. I have no desire to ever send dirty letters to the cat character, fetch a billion apples to pay my mortgage, or collect fish for the museum/aquarium EVER again. Plus, Wii Music is a fucking insult to gamers everywhere.

Okay, the Wii has shit graphics and developers are using it for the shovelware repository, but there is a huge install base. When the system gets MORE games that take advantage of the system's (limited) strengths like Fatal Frame, then I'll be interested. Until then, soccer moms can continue keeping them sold out while I'm off playing my 360.

Two things: One, Orc's assertion was that Ninty doesn't care about anything but Wii Fit this year, not the merits of the games themselves. Two, Wii Music will appeal to gamers somewhere. I would know, I'm one of them.

[TheFlyingOrc]

Originally Posted by Baron Samedi

MP3 is, itself, an odd beast. It's not as good as the pro-Wii fanboys would have you believe (after all, they needed something to champion last fall), but it's better than the anti-Wii fanboys make it out to be. Neither is it the best in the series. If I was recommending it, I'd point to the nearest Gamestop and say pick up MP for like $7.

I respectfully disagree - it's really darn good. I wouldn't recommend it over Bioshock or anything, but I had a blast with it.