According to various sources, during Nintendo’s recent shareholder meeting, Nintendo’s president/CEO Satoru Iwata revealed some shocking facts in response to a stockholders question. This question basically implied that games seemed to be getting easier and that this may be contributing to the Wii U’s sales. Iwata agreed and claimed that this has come about after testing gamers to find a new stratagem for the company to work with.
But how did they test these gamers skills? Simple. The made them play Super Mario Bros. for the NES.
And 90% of the participants could NOT finish the first level (This means they used up all their lives before completing World 1-1).
“It may come as a shock to some of you that most gamers today cannot finish the original Super Mario Brothers game on the Famicom. We have conducted this test over the past few years to see how difficult we should make our games and have found that the number of people unable to finish the first level is steadily increasing.”
What makes this even worse is that, according to Iwata, most players didn’t even get the games basic mechanics citing that some didn’t find the run button, thought that coins were enemies or the concept of a bottomless pit. Worse still 70% of the subjects DIED AT THE FIRST ENEMY and a further half died at this same spot TWICE.
More insane however is the feedback, the subject’s said the game should be easier and that Mario should start with a sword/gun.
Iwata finished by saying:
“As a stockholder, you should be relieved to know that our games are easier in order to attract a wider audience. As a gamer, you might feel a little sad, and you should be. It is quite sad.”
You think?
Super Mario Bros. isn’t the easiest game to play but really? They couldn’t get past the first level?! That seems a little over the top.
EDIT: This question has vanished from the page it was intially posted on, so, a copy of it has been pasted below:
Q: I feel that Nintendo games today are much easier which is why the Wii U might be failing. Back then, games were much more difficult and therefore gamers really enjoyed them so they continued to buy Nintendo games and systems. Do you feel the same way?
Satoru Iwata (president): I actually agree with your assessment. However, since you are speaking as a stockholder, you should agree with our strategy after you hear about the tests we have conducted.
It may come as a shock to some of you that most gamers today can not finish the original Super Mario Brothers game on the Famicom. We have conducted this test over the past few years to see how difficult we should make our games and have found that the number of people unable to finish the first level is steadily increasing.
This year, around 90 percent of the test participants were unable to complete the first level of Super Mario Brothers. We did not assist them in any way except by providing the exact same instruction manual we used back then. Many of them did not read it and the few that did stopped after the first page which did not cover any of the game mechanics.
We watched the replay videos of how the gamers performed and saw that many did not understand simple concepts like bottomless pits. Around 70 percent died to the first Goomba. Another 50 percent died twice. Many thought the coins were enemies and tried to avoid them. Also, most of them did not use the run button. There were many other depressing things we noted but I can not remember them at the moment.
Furthermore, we asked for suggestions on how to improve the game. A majority of them wanted the game to be easier and they suggested many ways to do this. Some of them wanted a mandatory tutorial while others wanted more ways to kill things besides jumping on them. We explained that Mario could shoot fire balls with the Fire Flower power-up, but then they wanted Mario to start with more weapons like a sword or a gun.
Some of the people seemed to be unaware that this was an actual old game that existed as they asked if the retro-style graphics were supposed to be a throwback to old Nintendo games. Some missed the point of the questionnaire completely and said that the graphics and music were terrible and needed to be improved in order for the game to sell. They also wanted a deeper storyline and voice acting.
So, as a stockholder, you should be relieved to know that our games are easier in order to attract a wider audience. As a gamer, you might feel a little sad, and you should be. It is quite sad.
EDIT:EDIT: Phew! This turned out to be fake!
Turns out the initial rumour came from Nintendo removing/moving around questions on the Q&A page, then an translated image was “translated” into the above question. Now it has been correctly translated and it turns out the above question is not true. Looks like this new generation of gamers is not as bad as we thought!
What is most surprising is how hard this rumour hit home. Despite the questions false nature, many believed it to be true. That in itself is a disappointing statement for the current state of gaming and gamers alike.
What do you think? A little to close to home? Or just a clever lie/joke? Let us know what you think in the comments below!