Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 18

Thread: The Notion That Nintendo is Kiddy

  1. #1
    Depression Moon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Warrior Falls
    Posts
    6,050
    Articles
    45
    Blog Entries
    2
    Contributions
    • Former Editor

    :monster: The Notion That Nintendo is Kiddy

    I been around on the web for a while with people saying this, mostly in Youtube comments, but for some reason in my mind I only thought there were people that thought like that on the internet. I had a discovery that two of my friends thought the company is kiddy when we had a discussion about current gen consoles. I got really mad for a bit and asked exactly what is kiddy about their art in terms of game design. They went on about how a grown man can play Mario nowadays and one said he could never play Wind Waker because it was so kiddy. I was like the smurf?

    I then ran into a sista in one of my classes and I found out that she plays games. I talked to her after class and she said she plays the 3DS. She said yeah, there's Animal Crossing and Pokemon, but their problem is that it's mostly just a bunch of kiddy stuff. Those two experiences just opened my eyes and I can't see how someone takes the aesthetics with such importance when the gameplay is the primary thing that makes up the game.

    Do any of you think Nintendo is kiddy and look down upoon their first party title games?

  2. #2
    Krankzinnigheid ligt dich Colonel Angus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    The Miami of Canada
    Posts
    5,516
    Articles
    81
    Blog Entries
    4
    Contributions
    • Former Editor

    Default

    Nintendo's aim isn't really to be "Kiddy" but to be family oriented. These are games grandma will feel ok buying for Little Jimmy or Sarah.

    I can understand the notion that the games seem pretty tame when compared to CoD or Assassin's Creed, but really, Nintendo finds ways to make excellent games anyone can play.

  3. #3
    Feel the Bern Administrator Del Murder's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2001
    Location
    Oakland, California
    Posts
    41,604
    Articles
    6
    Blog Entries
    2
    Contributions
    • Former Cid's Knight
    • Former Administrator
    • Hosted the Ciddies

    Default

    I love Nintendo games and I love the fact that they appeal to audiences of all ages.

    Proud to be the Unofficial Secret Illegal Enforcer of Eyes on Final Fantasy!
    When I grow up, I want to go to Bovine Trump University! - Ralph Wiggum

  4. #4

    Default

    Yeah, I'm one of those people.. While Mario games are pretty well polished and fun to just sit down and play. But I see them as more super polished time-waster games, rather than real meat-and-potatoes games. I can't sink my teeth into Mario. There's no compelling plot or character development. Not supposed to be, yes. But Zelda games don't really have that either. Or Metroid. Or Starfox. The games are pretty and they play really well and I was fine playing pointless games as a kid. But as an adult, I require a bit more stimulation for my brain while occupying myself with a game. In that regard I find them childish. Having tried a Paper Mario game recently, I have a hard time believing Nintendo is capable of making anything that mentally stimulates me like I need out of a game. It's much less about the aesthetics for me though, if that's any consolation. Collecting a hundred pokemon or building a town full of furries just doesn't do anything for my adult brain :/



  5. #5
    Pinkasaurus Rex Pumpkin's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Falling on your head
    Posts
    16,902
    Articles
    119
    Blog Entries
    133

    FFXIV Character

    Pumpkin Contrary (Sargatanas)
    Contributions
    • Former Editor
    • Former Cid's Knight

    Default

    I was actually surprised because for my generation, Nintendo is for family friendly casual gamers. Whenever I want something lighthearted or silly, I first look to Nintendo (like for Tomodachi Life, Harvest Moon, Girls Fashion Shoot, Family Feud, etc) and for RPGs and stuff I generally look elsewhere first unless I specifically know of a title I want, like Bravely Default.

    My surprise comes from the fact that apparently for the generation before mine (SNES, NES) there was a thing called "Nintendo Hard" when Nintendo released some very difficult and unforgiving games. Made me chuckle at the difference

  6. #6
    Famine Wolf Recognized Member Sephex's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2001
    Location
    Solar System
    Posts
    12,267
    Articles
    2
    Blog Entries
    55

    Default

    People still say that about Nintendo? Man, that takes me back to about 10-15 years ago. My guess is that most of the people who say that are male teens to very young adults because most people around those ages are trying to get away from things they perceive to be childish. They haven't learned to look past the surface on such things sometimes.

    It's kind of the same thing with Disney. When the same people were kids they'd dig their movies or whatever, but when they hit the teens...

    "Psh, this is SOOO GAY! Even though I am going to puberty/barley finished I know that a REAL MAN doesn't like stuff like this!"

    Flash forward a few years later....

    "Oh, wait. This is fun and is supposed to appeal to more than kids. Yeah, this is fun again!"

    Not every dude acts this way, but I see that sort of thing happen a lot across all types of media.

  7. #7
    Skyblade's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Earth, approximately
    Posts
    10,443

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Sephex View Post
    People still say that about Nintendo? Man, that takes me back to about 10-15 years ago. My guess is that most of the people who say that are male teens to very young adults because most people around those ages are trying to get away from things they perceive to be childish. They haven't learned to look past the surface on such things sometimes.

    It's kind of the same thing with Disney. When the same people were kids they'd dig their movies or whatever, but when they hit the teens...

    "Psh, this is SOOO GAY! Even though I am going to puberty/barley finished I know that a REAL MAN doesn't like stuff like this!"

    Flash forward a few years later....

    "Oh, wait. This is fun and is supposed to appeal to more than kids. Yeah, this is fun again!"

    Not every dude acts this way, but I see that sort of thing happen a lot across all types of media.
    Or, as C. S. Lewis said it:

    “Critics who treat 'adult' as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”

    I do love that quote.
    My friend Delzethin is currently running a GoFundMe account to pay for some extended medical troubles he's had. He's had chronic issues and lifetime troubles that have really crippled his career opportunities, and he's trying to get enough funding to get back to a stable medical situation. If you like his content, please support his GoFundMe, or even just contribute to his Patreon.

    He can really use a hand with this, and any support you can offer is appreciated.

  8. #8

    Default

    That sorta thing always confused me. Because I feel I can relate, yet it's considered immature to feel that way? Am I to presume that my need for depth and complexity are different than someone outright running away from their childhood? Because I mean, I watch cartoons. But again, they have to have depth, complexity, development. Something I can sink my teeth into. The Last Airbender, Zim, the new Thundercats. Leagues ahead of most things kids watch these days, and it's not even nostalgia there, I didn't grow up with those, but I do still love Smurfs and Gummie Bears which I did grow up with. But I consider The Last Airbender mature, and suitable to my tastes. Mario just doesn't fit the bill. But I may be taking unnecessary offense to the notion that my opinion is invalid and that I'm not a legitimate adult



  9. #9
    Radical Dreamer Fynn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Tower of the Swallow
    Posts
    18,929
    Articles
    57
    Blog Entries
    16

    FFXIV Character

    Fynnek Zoryasch (Twintania)
    Contributions
    • Former Editor
    • Former Cid's Knight

    Default

    But it's different. You're saying you need more story depth, which is of course fine and you have the full right to. The post is about dismissing something completely just for being childish on the surface, only for the sake of distancing yourself from being a child. Your not bashing those games for being childish, but for not offering the depth you're looking for, which is something completely different.

  10. #10
    Trial by Wombat Bubba's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Shmocation
    Posts
    10,370
    Articles
    2
    Blog Entries
    2
    Contributions
    • Former Cid's Knight

    Default

    I love the fact that Nintendo haven't really changed much in 25 years. Yes, their flagship games have little or no plot to speak of but the gameplay is always near enough flawless. Seph was right in that they're very much like Disney, loved by kids and adults alike. If I'm not allowed to like Nintendo games then I don't want to be an adult any more.

    I'm off to make jam sandwiches and play with my train set.

  11. #11
    Huh? Flower?! What the hell?! Administrator Psychotic's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Posts
    53,267
    Articles
    71

    Default

    Well no, Nintendo isn't going to crank out a Call of Duty or a GTA and I think "kiddy", if a loaded word, is an accurate description. Childlike? Whimsical? Wonderful? (In the literal sense) It's not necessarily a bad thing. Everybody has different tastes and likes different things from games and indeed all media. I will readily confess that Nintendo's brand of innocent charm isn't really to my tastes but I wouldn't sneer at somebody who did like it, just as I don't sneer at people who like brodown games like CoD. A lot of people do have superiority complexes about the types of games they like, I guess. I'm content to enjoy what I like, leave you to like what you like and disregard the morons.

  12. #12
    Jinx's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Posts
    15,749
    Articles
    4
    Blog Entries
    3
    Contributions
    • Hosted the Ciddies

    Default

    Yeah, I just want to say I came here to express the sentiment (which Psy beat me to) that 'childlike' and 'childish' are two very different descriptive words. I would definitely say that Nintendo's main games are childlike, but I wouldn't call them childish.
    Quote Originally Posted by Fynn View Post
    Jinx you are absolutely smurfing insane. Never change.

  13. #13
    Blood In The Water sharkythesharkdogg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Location
    My happy place.
    Posts
    5,822

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Vyk View Post
    But Zelda games don't really have that either. Or Metroid. Or Starfox.


    I can see this for a lot of Nintendo's properties, but you just named some of their most serious.

    Starfox is the most lighthearted of the 3, but even it has some more serious theme and ideas.Metroid and Zelda have some pretty engaging and serious stories and atmospheres.

  14. #14
    Skyblade's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Earth, approximately
    Posts
    10,443

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by sharkythesharkdogg View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Vyk View Post
    But Zelda games don't really have that either. Or Metroid. Or Starfox.


    I can see this for a lot of Nintendo's properties, but you just named some of their most serious.

    Starfox is the most lighthearted of the 3, but even it has some more serious theme and ideas.Metroid and Zelda have some pretty engaging and serious stories and atmospheres.
    Oh, c'mon, Majora's Mask is totally a lighthearted romp for kids. Then too, Metroid's atmosphere was heavily influenced by Alien, and we all know that's one of the most kid-friendly movies in existence.

    Not only do Nintendo games handle mature themes and atmospheric elements, but I find that they when they do so, they actually address the subjects with more actual "maturity" than a lot of M-Rated games.
    Last edited by Skyblade; 11-07-2014 at 07:33 PM.
    My friend Delzethin is currently running a GoFundMe account to pay for some extended medical troubles he's had. He's had chronic issues and lifetime troubles that have really crippled his career opportunities, and he's trying to get enough funding to get back to a stable medical situation. If you like his content, please support his GoFundMe, or even just contribute to his Patreon.

    He can really use a hand with this, and any support you can offer is appreciated.

  15. #15
    Pinkasaurus Rex Pumpkin's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Falling on your head
    Posts
    16,902
    Articles
    119
    Blog Entries
    133

    FFXIV Character

    Pumpkin Contrary (Sargatanas)
    Contributions
    • Former Editor
    • Former Cid's Knight

    Default

    I still think MM is a masterpiece of video gaming and anyone who does want mature yet subtle should invest some time in to it

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •