I've been thinking about the controversy over Retro making Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (which really sounds like a frozen drink you can get for a limited time at Dunkin Donuts) instead of making Metroid Prime 4 or some other epic. Part of the disappointment is definitely over the fact that the Wii U already has a decent amount of 2D platformers on the way, but I also think that there's just a general feeling that a company of Retro's talents should be putting their skills towards something more worthy of their time.

Of course, in order for this to make sense, there has to be some sort of hierarchy of genres. And I think that is born out in the way different types of games are received. Genres like FPS, 3D action/adventure, RPG, etc. just seem to automatically be considered to be of a different stock than genres like puzzle, SHMUP, 2D platformers, etc. These "lesser" genres often have a much lower ceiling when it comes to review scores. It says a lot that Ikaruga, considered by many to be the pinnacle of the SHMUP genre, is sitting around 85 on Gamerankings. Meanwhile, the "epic" genres are the ones that fans salivate over and that dominate GOTY voting.

This seems kind of strange to me. In the end, video games basically come to down to the enjoyment you get playing them. I understand that these epic games require more resources and therefore more advertising and hype than the smaller games. And it's true they often have more variety and more complexity. But in the end, the question is the quality of my time with the game. If a game like Dr. Mario, which I've spent several hundreds of hours playing competitively, gives me more enjoyment over the course of my life than even the most awe-inspiring epic, then Dr. Mario has just as much of a stake at the top of the gaming totem pole as something like Ocarina of Time.

Variety is the spice of life, so of course I want as many different types of experiences as possible. But I'm tired of certain experiences being treated like second class citizens. The best games are the best games. Just like the simplicity of a one on one game tennis can be just as great as the strategy and complexity of 11 on 11 football, even the most simple game can be as great as any other.

Do you guys agree? Are there certain genres that you think are more worthy than others?

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[ref=iRegarding genre diversity, I don't know if Nintendo's problem is that its upcoming games are all too similar to each other, but rather that to the average consumer (say, a family that has one game system), they might see that the games are just too similar to what they already have. I already know someone (my boss) who just got her daughters a Wii instead of a Wii U. It's not a hard argument to make to people who dont' really play games. It's $99 bucks, and it still gets you your Mario Kart and your NSMB and your DKC. This is why the price becomes an issue, absolutely.

And absolutely, the Wii U needs party games badly. When I go to Virginia to hang out with my friends, what do we wind up playing, even over the HD games (which unfortunately the Wii was not and looked pretty awful on my friend's TV)? Smash Bros. Maybe something like a Boom Blox or Trauma Center to kill time. Games that are fun to play together and watch each other play. The Wii U still needs some games like that, though granted, it's not even a year old. Hopefully Wii U Party turns out to be fun, because impressions from Game and Wario left me a little disappointed.

@Jargon I look at Wii Party U and wish it were Mario Party 10. :/

But I certainly know how you feel on this one. I'm probably the only one who was actually excited about Mario Party 9 last year. If Xenoblade didn't release that year then it may even had been my GotY 2012.

I love the Mario Party games to death but I still wish for one like the originals. Just fun Minigames with no gimmick getting in the way.

@Jargon
It wasn't just great software it was hardware too, the GCN was badass, if going for balls-out quality is ulitimately bad for sales I'd rather see Nintendo going out that way then with something like the Wii U which cuts corners and skimps on quality and still doesn't end up selling well anyway. If it's hopeless go out fighting!