Thanks for being so patient with the somewhat sparse posting schedule lately. Been so busy -- but hopefully with stuff you'll like.
First up: I have fallen into a black hole, my friends -- my waking free time (ha ha) has been devoured lately by Atlus and From Software's Demon's Souls. This surprises me, since I'd never expect, given my usual tastes, to fall in love with a hardcore dungeon slog.
Of course, that's not all it is. Demon's Souls confronts an issue on which I've staunchly whined for about a year now -- the obsessive design focus on accessible games gradually eating away at opportunities for engagement by removing the kinds of challenges that help us grow. No, a game like this is not for everyone, but as I said only recently, it doesn't need to be. What it offers is a polished, brilliantly-plotted and precise experience for a player whose brain likes to be itched in that way.
How, you ask? Well, onto item two: I've started reviewing for the Onion's AV Club, and for my first full-length review, I aimed to isolate what's so pleasurable about this title. Give it a read, and if you're a Demon's Souls fan (or non-fan), have at the comments to share your feelings on it.
If you think my experience with the pleasantly-unkind Demon's Souls vindicates what I suppose you could interpret as Nintendo fatigue on my part in recent months, however, you'd be wrong.
Last week I went to a hotel in Manhattan with some other journos to talk to Miyamoto about New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and I came
away impressed -- both with the game, which I didn't want to put down, and with the company's stubborn adherence to its philosophies even when they seem bafflingly out-of-step with current trends.
As you know, I'm not a big multiplayer gamer. I've historically disliked even local multiple-player free-for-alls, even Smash Bros. and Mario Kart. But lately, when I have non-gamer friends over, guess what we do? We play Super Mario World together, and that's more fun for us than any online multiplayer experience, any cutting edge anything -- we had an okay time with Beatles Rock Band, and then we went back to Virtual Console.
(Speaking of, Beatles Rock Band is only having an okay time itself, but MTV seems happy as long as it beats Activision).
Succinctly put, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is an update on what we loved about the SNES era, while its multiplayer focus adds an entirely new angle on things. Read how Miyamoto explained it -- his consistent ability to understand what's fun about video games even when it's tough to isolate in succinct design logic is why he's where he is today, and why Nintendo keeps surprising us. For yet more Miyamoto, read his interview with Popular Mechanics, wherein he explains why Mario is a plumber with a big nose (something I always wanted to ask).
I'm even sold on the "Super Guide" in practice, which I found a terrible idea in concept. Nintendo has found ways to make even playthrough-guide movies tickle the hardcore in us, and somehow manages to make a strong case for its oft-questioned position on things like user friendliness, online multiplayer, downloadable content and more. Read that one, too!
Funny, but when I visited Nintendo in the same week I'd been obsessing on Demon's Souls, I expected almost comical diametric opposites, and instead I found common threads. Hopefully I'll get to write more on this stuff very soon.
Except I'm not budging on Bowser's Inside Story. I do not want to know the story of Bowser's insides; it's a matter of principle, now.
