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Gametrailers' Ninja Gaiden II Review is SO WHINY.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/34662.html

I tried the demo. Is the camera that hard to control? When the camera isn't facing the right direction, simply make Ryu face the direction you want, then press RT.

Simple. What's so hard about that?

Enemies shooting from blind spots. Half the time, if you're running, they'll miss anyway. And yes you can sometimes shoot at the enemies firing from hidden areas. I didn't have a problem with this.

Platforming bits. When Mario has platforming bits that are challenging you'll easily find phrases like 'innovation!' and 'gameplay!' but put it in a game like Ninja Gaiden where the lead character isn't a cute plumber, and the phrase changes to 'FRUSTRATING!'

I'll never understand that really, really stupid double standard.

"Not accessible to casuals" Why does everything have to be like Wii Sports or Wii Fit? Isn't it obvious that the game itself was never meant for that crowd of gamers?

I swear, the more they put in this phrase, "Not accessible to casuals", in their reviews, the worse games are going to get. These game journalists might get exactly what they wish for, and every single game after this one will be so easy. Oh wait, I know....the next series of complaints will be "the game is too short! 6 hours long? Lame!!!" and then we're back to square one.

Why is the game industry so obssessed with winning 'casual gamers'? Do they hate their jobs that much? Maybe its a simple matter of being unable to brag to their non-gamer buddies about their jobs, which involves playing video games. Kid stuff, that's what most people think of this hobby. It's the truth....that's how non-gamers see it. And to get some kind of respect out of non-gamers, these game journalists trumpet games like Wii Fit and Wii Sports because its easy for non-gamers to make sense of these types of games. At the same time, it's these types of games that can cause another video game crash, because once these casual gamers get bored with Wii and move on to whatever is the next cool thing, what's left for the game industry? The hardcore gamers that it's trying so desperately to disassociate itself with. And if they're pushing hardcore gamers away with stupidly easy Wii games, the market can only shrink further.

My point being, games like Ninja Gaiden can't be reviewed like Wii Fit or Wii Sports or Super Mario Galaxy. It's retarded. Seriously, stupidly retarded. The audience this game wants is the hardcore gamer---it's MADE FOR THEM; so as such it should be reviewed FOR THESE GAMERS and not for casual gamers. The more game journalists apply stupid standards in their reviews like this, the more they're sending the wrong message to game developers. They're essentially telling Itagaki and Co., "Guys, your game isn't going to be played by Cindy over in Accounting, it's just too hard and unfriendly to her. Make more exercise simulators or bunny-catching-one-button-distractions....that's what the gamers want!". And if Itagaki and Co will listen to these types of reviews, you can just say goodbye to quality games that push the limits of gameplay to meet the expectations of gamers who know how to play these types of games.

I have nothing against introducing new audiences to video games. Just don't forget about the ones who made the game industry the billion dollar industry that it is today. As it stands, the Wii's impact on gaming is significant but not enough time has passed to see if it will really make a long-term impact. Already there are reports of Wiis gathering dust/not being used by gamers who bought them. It may sell like hotcakes but its lasting power is not yet certain.

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