Author:
Michael Skinner
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Date Posted: 11:44:04 04/19/02 Fri
This is a very good question, and those who are familiar with my constant pro-GCN rhetoric may be surprised by my answer.
Eternal Darkness is easily my most anticipated game. If I end up going to E3, it will be the first game I wait in line for, even though I know it is only a stripped demo. The combination of epic storyline and revolutionary gameplay elements has me drooling, and if this game delivers on its promises, I think we easily have a classic on our hands.
Grand Theft Auto 3 is a great game. Really, it is a very fun game, and it has almost infinite replay value if you like it. I have friends who started playing it when it came out, and still play it every day. I got bored of it rather quickly, but by bored I mean that I play it and enjoy it and then realize that I just spend 3 hours trying to see if I could get a cop to follow me off of a jump into the river. What am I doing with my life L. As a gamer, I only like to play a game while I have an objective by which I can measure my progress. Grand Theft Auto 3 doesn’t really provide me with that, so I don’t play it much anymore.
So which would have a more substantial affect on GAMECUBE? I think the obvious answer is GTA3, even if it was not exclusive. Here’s why:
[b]Casual Gamers[/b]
Casual gamers probably account for a majority of game sales. There are two things that I think attract casual gamers and create hype. The first is pick-up-and-playability. No need to get into a plot or understand what is going on. Once you learn the “attack” and “drag driver out of car” buttons on GTA3, you can pretty much wreak havoc. When you can see a game at your friend’s house, and try it out, you are more likely to buy it yourself. Games with complicated controls or complex storylines are more one or two person affairs, which is one of the reasons no one was interested in FFX in the story I tell a bit later.
Another thing that attracts casual gamers is some aspect of the game that stands out and grabs their attention, in this case shock value. Face it; kids have basically no morals these days. The worse things are that you simulate happening in a game, the worse gamers will want it. I remember not too long ago, my friend brought over his PS2, and we were playing FFX in my living room (the PS2 now pretty much resides at my house). There were several other people around, not gamers by a long shot, having… refreshing beverages. One guy who was watching us play noticed that we had GTA3 sitting on the ground.
“Hey, you have GTA3”
All of a sudden, people were interested. Another guy turned away from the girl he was talking to and said:
“Wait, is that the game where you can hire a prostitute, **** her, and then kill her and take your money back?”
My friend: “Yeah, you can do that”
Drunk guy: “Awesome! Lets play it!”
He was joined by most of the other people in the room who were now interested in video games once they learned that it was possible to shoot hookers in them. This makes me wonder what this world is coming to, but that is another discussion. That kind of stuff sells, as is evidenced by GTA3s incredible sales numbers. I have heard a lot of people bring up GTA3 as THE reason to buy a PS2, that it alone is worth the purchase of a PS2. If GCN had it, the rest of PS2’s lineup would have to compete with Nintendo and Rare’s AAA titles, along with much better third party support. Also I don’t think that there is any other game that would go farther in getting grid of the “kiddy” image Nintendo has. While I don’t consider GTA3 mature in a literal sense, it is the most popular game with an “M” rating, and is very controversial because of its content. If it was on GCN, it would start changing minds about GCN’s demographic.
So there it is, as far as sales and stereotype, GTA3 would do a lot for Cube; more than ED IMO. That does not mean it would be my choice, but I will not try to argue with the unprecedented widespread appeal that GTA3 has.
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