I think you might be a little confused. 'Going gold' just means that the programming and testing phase of the game's development is done and that it is ready for mass production. It's not a measurement of the game's sales.
Which is probably why he played the PC version. Why would he mention a port that he hasn't played and likely isn't even aware of?
Why is that surprising? He played the PC version; it's doubtful he even knows there's a Wii version and probably wouldn't touch it even if he did.
They're talking about the European release.
"That graph tells a story"
Indeed, although I'm rather partial to the chart here, as it goes back... a ways...
http://www.vgchartz.com/for...
"As for Nintendo, they will have rolled out two Marios, two Zeldas, two Metroids (plus a trilogy compilation), two 2D Mario platformers (plus a Wario 2D platformer), two Excite racers, Brawl, Kart, Battalion Wars, Punch Out"
Let's please not forget Sin and Punishment 2; it's embarrassing how little respect that game gets.
"but you also can't ignore that it currently runs a distant second to Microsoft's Xbox 360 when it comes to annual profits"
...uhhhhh, no. Nintendo's operating profits the last quarter were around 40 billion yen ( http://blog.taragana.com/in... which if I have my conversion rates straight comes out to so...
"It'll still have a much smaller scope, less epic storyline..."
This is a good thing; the Square people are absolutely terrible at writing any kind of story.
"However, the blame can't be placed entirely on them. At release, Nintendo threw out a big gun with the release of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. However, the game was little more than a port of the Game Cube game that had been delayed purposely for years. If that was Nintendo's best effort"
First effort.
"and starving Zelda gamers swallowed it up then why wouldn't other developers follow suit with a Game Cube mind set for the Wii?"
...
"I had to buy "Mario for Dummies" so I could understand the depth of the game narrative"
Everyone knows Mario is the modern retelling of the Horatio Alger story of the American Dream. He's an *Italian* working-class plumber who jumps on top of *goombas* so that he can be collect coins (while occasionally needing to satisfy his 'shroom habit so he can feel like a big man) and climb up platforms and ladders until he eventually reaches a castle at the top of it...
"However making use of screenshots that look like they're unreleased Ico or Colossus images to sell the game is something Hudson should be blamed for."
What are you on about? Hudson issued a press release. They included screenshots in their press release in the same way that 90% of all other press releases include screenshots. Going from what we've seen and what we know of the game, that's probably how the whole game will look. You'd prefer if Hudson released screensh...
"if it sold 150000 on ps2 and 160000 on wii"
Er, both of those numbers are about half of what Capcom reported each version selling.
"dont believe me ask gabe newel"
Why would you want to ask Gabe Newell anything?
"The PS3 is a total disaster on so many levels, I think It's really clear that Sony lost track of what customers and what developers wanted... I'd say, even at this late date, they should just canc...
In all fairness, Corruption's Dark Samus fight is vastly improved on the Hyper mode difficulty, but the two subsequent Aurora stages just aren't very difficult or compelling in any mode. Also, they finally give us a 3D fight against a Mother-Brain-esque unit, and we don't even get a brain-in-a-vat stage of the fight? Tease.
"when you take that user base, the people who like that genre of game"
If there's anything the dissolution of Clover Studios taught us, it's that the number of people who like that genre of game isn't that big on any system.
Bayonetta should be fine since it looks to be more God of War than God Hand.
If you'd like some salt rubbed into the wound, I seem to recall 1Up gave Wii Music an A-.
The comment about Corruption's final battle is spot-on, though.
"The Wii wasn't the first to introduce motion-controlled games."
Credit where credit's due: it was the first to introduce motion-controlled games that more than eleven people actually wanted to play.
"the 360 would then become the cheapest console with motion sensing ($199 arcade)"
Microsoft announced that Natal was going to be free? Awesome.
"Climax looks to be making one heckuva Silent Hill game...in third person view, with some pretty impressive graphics."
I remember the Climax team was giving an interview about Shattered Memories a while back, and near the end they were listing reasons to look forward to the game, and the very last comment was something along the lines of "Oh, and it's not on-rails."
Buuuurn.
Respectfully, I'm inclined to disagree with the article on several points.
In the first place, like most other articles on the subject, it doesn't clearly define its terms. The phrase 'hardcore game' means different things to different people. Does it refer to the game's age rating? To the amount of replayability a game has? To whether or not the game is based around an objective? To the level of skill required to beat it? To the amount of blood inside? To the number of songs b...
"the last yakuza game sold like 100k in the west or something like that"
More like 40K.
http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...
For perspective, that was on a system with a Western install base 100 million strong.