Greetings Programs. Okay do you want to know what really grinds my gears? It’s the word gimmick. For some reason now every time something new comes around that’s even remotely cool it’s called a gimmick. I’m hearing this word tossed around mostly when it comes to video games and that’s why it’s starting to piss me off more then anything. I’m tired of reviewers saying that they’re worried something is more a gimmick then anything else. It seems like this gimmick revolution came about when the Wii came out with the motion controls. A new controller is not a gimmick. Let’s take a look shall we?
Okay so we go from NES to SNES and low and behold we have a new controller, one of the best controllers I might add, as well as 16-bit graphics. Did anyone say “I hope having four buttons and two shoulder buttons isn’t just a gimmick.” No! They said that’s fricken awesome! No one thought that the Rumble Pack or Dual Shock was a gimmick. So what was so different about the new things back then that they are called innovation and now they are simply called a gimmick?
What it seems like to me mainly is the video game press attacking Nintendo. Yes I do hear the word gimmick thrown out to Sony and Mircosoft on occasion but it seems to really be poor Nintendo that’s getting hit the most. What did they really want the Wii and DS successor to be? New graphics alone are boring. Sorry but Sony and Microsoft are examples of this. When I first got the PS3 the graphics didn’t impress me. They since have gotten better but they were just updated PS2 graphics. Even now with better graphics if you look at the way you play games on a basic PS3 and X-Box 360 (This is minus Move and Kinect) it really hasn’t changed in the last few generations. Game play on the PS3 is identical to the original PSX. The controller hasn’t even changed. X-Box and X-Box 360 are the same other then graphics. BORING!
So to me a gimmick is something that really doesn’t add or change the experience. So for example collector editions (which I do give into by the way) are gimmicks. They are a way to get you to buy the game without really adding to the game play. I mean the Batarang is nice but had I thrown that at my TV I’m sure one or both would have broken. This means the flip side, innovation, adds to the game play or the experience in someway. 3D, whether you like it or not….Hard Copy…ahem…adds to the experience and game play. The crazy tablet controller for the Wii U will add to the experience and if done well can make for one crazy gaming experience.
Overall what I’m trying to say is we really need to stop using the word gimmick when something new happens. If this keeps up then we’ll never get anything new. New is not always bad. The Wii U controller is innovative not gimmicky. The PS Vita is a new way of playing portable games and now just some gimmick to get people to buy there system. The Kinect is…..well just pointless.
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