Let’s Talk About Nintendo’s ‘Casual’ Side

For me, there are really only two types of games out there: Those that engage me mentally/emotionally, and those that make me happy or have fun. I don’t care what reviews say, how good gameplay is, whether the graphics are up to par, or whether I’m using an Xbox controller or a Corn Dog as my main method of input; if a game fits one of these two categories, then I’ll play it and I’ll love it.

For the most part, people don’t really hate on the games with srs business in them, such as Final Fantasy X, Flower, Zelda, etc. Sure, there are some haters out there, but generally speaking the basic idea is that such games are good quality and it makes sense that we enjoy them. The “fun” and “happy” games I refer to are ones such as Mario Sports Mix, Jeopardy, Mario Party, Wii Party, and Wii Sports. What a lot of people refer to as “party” games or “casual” games.

God forbid you try and say that these games are top-notch gaming.

Top notch gaming.

What is it that people hate so darn much about party games? Why do gamers have a weird fetish for telling everyone who likes such games that they’re stupid and should play games that are inherently better just based on the merit that they make you smile less often while playing? I don’t get it, and I don’t think I ever will.

Take Wii Party for example. It’s incredibly rare that I actually burst out laughing uncontrollably at something, but when I play Wii Party, all bets are off. Getting a couple of friends together to play through the embarrassing, insane, fun-filled nonsense that goes on during those mini-games is honestly one of my absolute favorite things to do. Not because its serious or engaging gameplay, but because it makes me laugh so much. The same applies to Wii Sports, or to Mario Sports Mix, or Mario Kart. Every single one of these games I would consider just as fun as something like Ocarina of Time– just in a different genre that, for some reason, is dubbed inherently worse than the action/adventure genre.

It’s not just the good quality party games that get me, though. Even the terrible, downright poorly designed ones have me laughing for hours. One of my personal favorites is Wheel of Fortune on the Wii, which me and my friends have sunk hours into, never feeling bored and never with the lack of a smile on our faces. Yes, I can realize technical design flaws and terrible character animations and a bad story, but at the end of the day, isn’t the only thing that matters how much fun I have?

Again, I’ll point to Wheel of Fortune and Wii Party. By every measurable aspect of game design, Wii Party is about ten times better than Wheel of Fortune, and that’s probably being generous. Yet, while playing them, I had the same amount of laughs and fun playing the letter-shouting madness of WoF as I did the mini-game insanity of WP. So… doesn’t this make them on the same level in terms of quality? Sort of? Party game design is all about doing everything in your power to make the players have fun, and consequently, the level of fun is a measure of how good the game turned out. Right…? Or maybe I’m wrong?

Okay, let’s go back to talking about party games vs. srs games for a second.

When it comes to reviewing games, I want someone to tell me who decided that being serious was more important than having fun. Why does Mass Effect (a great game in its own right) get 9s and 10s, while Wii Party (a game whose fun level is unmatched) ends up with 5s and 6s?

For reference, this is Mr. Disagree.

“Austin you unintelligent human being, that’s because reviewers can only go by the tangibly measurable aspects of games, such as technical graphics, controls, and plot quality. Anything subjective, such as ‘level of fun’ has to be left out!”

Okay, fine Mr. Disagree. I’ll let you have a line in my article, but only because I’m going to prove you wrong right after you say it.

“F*ck you.”

Here’s my problem with that reasoning: We have reviews for the simple reason that they’re meant to help us buy the things that we’ll end up liking, and they’ve been devolved so much that people look at one number and make the decision that could out them $60 useless dollars. When you rate a game that is- technically speaking- as good as it could possibly be while still remaining within the confines of its own genre, a 6 or a 7, people automatically assume it’s a bad game.

It’s not a bad game. Wii Party is a great game, designed to perfection within the genre it’s part of. Yet it gets a 6. Or a 7 if someone is really generous. That doesn’t make the slightest bit of sense to me, and it’s exactly why I rated Mario Sports Mix an 8.4. I think.

So basically what I’m getting at is “Why do people hate party games so much?”. Or, more generally, “Why do people rate games of specific genres inherently lower than games of other genres?”

Now, yell at me you ruthless commenters whom I love dearly and thank for reading my drawn out drivel.

And then we can make out over a game of Wii Party. I mean make up.