Another Wii sword fighter inbound
With the confirmation that Koei's Samurai Warriors spin-off is heading to the North American Wii, we have to wonder how many sword-fighting games we'll be able to handle in the long run before seppuku becomes an attractive alternative. Sengoku Musou Wave will be redubbed Samurai Slash in the West, a title that's impressively accurate in describing the actual gameplay. If slashing things from a first-person perspective sounds familiar, it's because Red Steel attempted the very same thing. The upcoming Dragon Quest: Swords boasts a similar concept as its primary gameplay mechanic and eventually, LucasArts will get around to making that Star Wars lightsaber game.
The fun parallels between swinging the Wii controller and swinging a sword essentially demand that such games be made, but just like with any other console, we could eventually face a flood of me-too titles built around the same, unchanging concept. Even on a system that encourages innovation, game developers face the danger of lapsing into a lazy genre trap. Is the "guy with two guns" game any better than the "guy with a sword" game?
(And where's the "guy with two sticks" game?)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
crono141 @ Jan 11th 2007 2:41PM
hopefully since the core game mechanic is still in its infancy, lots of developers will hit on lots of different ways of doing the same thing until a comfortable, fun mechanic is attained (aka, not red steel)
Badtz @ Jan 11th 2007 2:45PM
You know, honestly, this blog should be renamed to "Whine-stiq". Every other post is some kind of editorial on something that someone doesn't like about gaming, and almost every post has a little negative blurb or side note to finish it off. This used to be my favorite gaming blog, but it's getting to the point where reading it has become depressing. It's more fun to read the console-specific sister blogs like dsfanboy, xbox360fanboy, etc.. they basically just repeat the stuff posted on Joystiq, but with a much more pleasant attitude.
jayntampa @ Jan 11th 2007 2:54PM
Three titles doesn't really constitute a flood ... if that where the case, the deluge of racing, fighting, and shooting games would have destroyed the market already.
Each of the 3 listed is quite significantly different as to not really to interfere with one another -- a modern day game that is primarily a FPS, a fantasy game with monsters, and a feudal Japanese fighter -- sounds like a good mix to me.
Grog @ Jan 11th 2007 2:55PM
"we could eventually face a flood of me-too titles built around the same, unchanging concept."
Umm... that'd be a "genre," Ludwig. You know, kinda like how there are a whole lot of games that focus on a first person perspective where you shoot people? Most video games have mechanics related to other video games, but that doesn't mean that they're all bad or that we get sick of them. And there's plenty of room for improvement even with those common mechanics - just look at the jump from Goldeneye (the first true modern FPS) to some more recent examples or the evolution of a game where you jump on turtles (Super Mario Bros.) to the 3D, galaxy-spanning version set to be released later this year.
In other words, having similar mechanics of swinging a sword is not enough to make a whole series of games suck - they have to do that on their own.
belowme @ Jan 11th 2007 3:04PM
I have to agree with ya Badtz, Joystiq really has been going downhill and the editors are either really depressed or just don't care for alot of things. Why even bother posting it in that context. This game is going to rock btw. KOEI Warriors is the best site if your a fan of these games.
JodyAnthony @ Jan 11th 2007 3:05PM
"You know, honestly, this blog should be renamed to "Whine-stiq".
Posted at 2:45PM on Jan 11th 2007 by Badtz"
You know, honestly, Badtz's name should be changed to 'Douchebagz'
BlindsideDork @ Jan 11th 2007 3:07PM
Don't forget guy with GLOWY SWORD!
I can't wait for that game...ooo or guy with big sword or guy with hammer/axe! Score
I love my Wii :D
gymbrall @ Jan 11th 2007 3:07PM
As opposed to the million FPS games that have the exact same control scheme? The Wii offers a limited number of new control schemes, but if one or more of them are found to fun why should development of other multiple games with the same scheme be any less welcome than the thousands of previous games that exclusively use a D-PAD/analog joysticks and traditional button layouts?
I hope swinging the wii/sword proves to be fun, I hope someone comes up with some cool ways to do combos and other fighting moves, I hope developers make a million games using the method and out of those million there will be a few really good ones...
Shagi @ Jan 11th 2007 3:15PM
It doesn't matter if all the games are sword fighting games they will be the best games ever cause they are on the Wii!
Death @ Jan 11th 2007 3:28PM
Wii!!! I love swinging my arms around like a wiitard!!!
Ludwig Kietzmann @ Jan 11th 2007 4:12PM
Grog,
"Me-too" titles are specifically titles that DON'T add anything to the genre. I'm not expressing concern over the formation of a genre, but rather the genre becoming stagnant very quickly. I doubt most of these sword fighting games will end up being very deep or thoughtful. Most games in any particular genre aren't. There's a conception that having a unique controller will somehow avoid all that.
In response to some other concerns: I'm not trashing any particular games here. It's all aimed at the "long run" and a problem we might face "eventually."
ackmondual @ Jan 11th 2007 4:13PM
Whether this is any better than how gamers interacted traditionally will be similar. It was neat how the mouse+keyboard combo opened up the way to alot of FPS and RTS games. For consoles, dual analogs helped out with FPS among other genres. Despite how fun games that used those control schemes were, there were still ppl (yes, even those who play vid games often) weren't interested and just brushed it aside. The Wii swordplay we're beginning to see is almost another genre on its own. First Person Slasher/Stabber. It'll be neat to see those who weren't into dual analogs and kb+mouse thing get into the Wii-mote thing.
Gonzo @ Jan 11th 2007 4:39PM
Yea well...
don't you think it might be a good idea to wait until we have at least one GOOD swordfighting game before we start whining about it.
I thought there would be a couple at launch but we only got Red Steel which was rather lackluster. After the second Jedi Knight Wii game you can start your bellyaching.
WedgeTalon @ Jan 11th 2007 5:16PM
The problem isn't so much "me-too games" as it is that there are only a finite amount of ways to wield a weapon (be it a one or two handed weapon). Sure, there can be nuances to each type of weapon (rapier, katana, bo, etc), but honestly, are most people going to devote time to becoming weapon masters in order to better play video games?
...Ok, most people who don't read Joystiq. ;)
Badtz @ Jan 11th 2007 5:48PM
You know, honestly, Badtz's name should be changed to 'Douchebagz'
Posted at 3:05PM on Jan 11th 2007 by JodyAnthony
Listen, you've got to get this through your head.. I'm already married. And even if I did agree to marry you, I'd never take your last name. Please stop posting things like this, you're just embarrassing yourself further.
emceay @ Jan 11th 2007 6:03PM
"they basically just repeat the stuff posted on Joystiq, but with a much more pleasant attitude."
Yeah, I used to like Joystiq too until I made a habit of reading comments from viewers saying how much Joystiq sucks even though they continue to read every day.
Zegim @ Jan 11th 2007 7:23PM
If it's fun, I doubt people will get tired of slashing stuff with their wiimotes. Otherwise those RPG games wouldn't sell as much as they do, as far as I'm concerned the game mechanics haven't changed all that much since the 16bit era, but people find them fun, so more power to them, I say!
And I want my lightsaber game, thank you.
Avias @ Jan 12th 2007 2:56AM
Ha HA! Slash.