Super Smash Brothers Brawl

[Relambrien]

Originally Posted by ducky285

very long post

Pretty much what I was getting at. Wavedashing is gone and behind everyone now--it's irrelevant whether or not it was intended, whether it was a glitch or exploit, etc. However, thanks to wavedashing (or more specifically, its removal and the reasons behind it), we now know how gaming companies are evolving. The casual (sometimes called "social") gamer demographic is growing and growing, while the hardcore (sometimes referred to as "competitive" though one doesn't necessarily imply the other) gamer demographic is remaining fairly stagnant.

The number of people who will buy a $50 game to pick up and play a simple, fun social activity is far, far greater than the number of people who will buy a deep, complex game with tons of nuances that can greatly affect gameplay. As game companies shift to developing for these people, there's a very likely possibility that the hardcore gamer will get the shaft. There's more money to be made in the social gaming market, after all. This is what worries me. I can't enjoy casual/social games. I just can't. I need depth, intricacy, complexity, to truly get the rush out of gaming that is the reason I play. If companies develop for a larger market at the cost of these things, video gaming may eventually no longer be entertaining for me. I'm sure others share this sentiment as well.

If nothing else, the future of the gaming industry as gaming becomes more widespread is worth discussing, though that would be better done in a different thread. If there's enough interest, I'll go ahead and make one.

Originally Posted by Squeek

And hey, who says Brawl can't be complex without a physics engine abuse? Has anyone ever had the same battle play out twice? Hell, I guarantee you could take every match ever carried out from everyone around the world and you'd never have a mirror image.

Mario Kart is basic as hell because even without cheating (read: snaking), I can beat the AI every time I play the game. Brawl is complex because I can get better and better and better and still lose fights against the AI. No matter how good I get, there will always be something I don't expect about to happen that could turn the tide of the match.

And yes I admit I lose fights against the AI. Anyone who doesn't admit that is a liar.

And hey, all along I said that you play Brawl the way you want to play. Just don't try to cram your playstyle down other people's throats. Surely you can reach a compromise (which I've been trying to do) that works for both parties.

I'm not saying Brawl isn't complex--I'm saying the mindset of Nintendo (and other developers) seems to be shifting toward creating games that are easy and fun to just pick-up-and-play with very little learning curve, as Sakurai's statements seemed to imply. The fact that it was within a Brawl context is just happenstance.

Also, yes, everyone has lost to the AI at one point.

And I agree that people should just play how they want to. Those on the competitive side who try to "cram [their] playstyle down other people's throats" are the vocal minority. And I'm sure the same is true for the other side as well.