What Games Could Benefit From Nintendo’s Self Play?

By Ishaan . June 21, 2009 . 3:39pm

Remember that patent by Nintendo that detailed how it would be possible for a game to play itself to help you out of a tight spot or show you the ropes? USA Today managed to get a confirmation out of Miyamoto regarding implementation of the feature in future Wii games, starting with New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

“In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, if a player is experiencing an area of difficulty, this will allow them to clear troubled areas and take over when they’re ready” confirmed Miyamoto, through his translator. “And yes, we’re looking into this for future games, too” Miyamoto says.

The game will allow you to pause it at any time and let the help feature take over to complete the level or until you make it stop (done with the press of a button).

Note that he doesn’t mention if all future first-party games will contain the feature or only a select few. I can certainly see it being present in Super Mario Galaxy 2 for some of the harder platforming sections and admittedly, Metroid: Other M would likely benefit from the feature as well, what with all the shinesparking and wall-jumping and bomb-jumping the games traditionally require.

Keep in mind that the help feature doesn’t need to be the same in every game. Using Metroid as an example again, the “help” feature could simply allow you to perform advanced moves more easily…sort of like an “auto-combo” feature. Really, those three Etecoons down in Brinstar were no help at all.

How do you think Nintendo should use the “help” feature?

Note: You have no idea how hard it was to resist cracking a “No Play Control” joke.

Next >

< Prev

EvilAkito

I suppose the feature's value is that it would allow players to get past that one, annoying hard part that's preventing them from enjoying the rest of the game. In a Zelda game, I could see myself using it during annoying minigames. For example, remember when you had to do that horse race in Ocarina of Time? That took me forever! I was about ready to just call it quits. You get to the point where you wonder why you're bothering to play when you're not even having fun, and it seems so unfair that such a tiny roadblock would prevent you from experiencing the rest of an otherwise great game that you paid for.

Tako Tacos

I experienced many such situations in games growing up, especially when I was younger. That's the area in which I can see the Self Play feature making itself useful: in games that younger players might be playing, and getting frustrated in. Another might be in "gateway" games, such as an RPG designed for non-RPG players, or an introductory-level FPS or fighting game. I can see it being an alternative or a supplement to buying strategy guides or looking up FAQs.

Still, I can't help but feel that better game design and common sense could make Self Play unnecessary. The problem is, one's person's frustrating moment is no sweat for someone else. So, I think it could be a good thing... there's still something bothering me deep down about a game playing itself for you, but it's probably due to Self Play being a totally new concept that wasn't around back in my frustrating NES days.

Jenni

I totally agree! I would have liked to see it in Twilight Princess for that.

... I know it's not Nintendo, but I'd have killed for an auto-play feature in Okami. I can't seem to do those silly well mini-games! It's been about 5 months now and I still can't get Kaguya to the bottom of the well! I ended up giving up.

Ishaan

Are you playing the Wii version? I loved the hell out of it, but that damned wind technique kept making me screw up all those "bottom of the well" games as well. And yes, sadly there is more than one. :(

Jenni

PS2 version.

And I know. I'm on I think the last bottom of the well one. The one where you guide Kaguya to the bottom. I didn't have too much trouble with the other ones, but this one... It put me off playing the game.

I wish there was a codebreaker code to give infinite time for that mini-game!

Al

Playing off of this, I have always thought that long games like RPGs should have a "scene skip" feature of some kind once the game is completed that would allow the player to skip to and play their favorite parts without having to go through the whole game again.

Kuronoa

I"m actually going to do that too. =P

Kuronoa

I have to wonder how it'll be used in different genres. I hope it has a different set up for it.
Like in fighting games, instead of the self play fighting for you. It can be like an extended training mode or something with lots of references and interactive tips. Or even auto-combos instead of a take-over.

What I think would be cool is if you are able to take notes in a game, and when somebody else plays on another save file or something they can read what you wrote. ^__^

Chris

Speaking as a gamer who grew up in the NES/SNES era, I think anybody who uses the play control feature should automatically get the bad ending.

But EvilAkito actually makes a good point, for Twilight Princess I would have loved not to have to do some of the ridiculous minigames, like say, just about everything that isn't either in a dungeon or in the twilight world.

Ishaan

Just thought of something. A limited ability to auto-grind in RPGs would probably make sense. Obviously it wouldn't be any fun have the game grind all the way to the end for the player, but they could give you an "auto-grind quota" every ten levels or so.

Like, "This is how long you're allowed to let the game grind for you every 8 hours."

Advent

Would have been perfect for FFVII Condor battle mini-game. I know everyone loves it but thats the only part of VII I cant stand!! I know we are talking Nintendo here, but still.

MadMirko

This should be in every single game they make. It's so common to read about in forums how people have given up on a game they really liked because of one frustrating scene. Not everyone plays games for a challenge, but everyone should be able to enjoy games.

Personally I hope that means fewer developers are afraid of including high difficulty settings for the rest of us (because it won't scare away normal people anymore, thanks to the help function).

I also hope for a granular control over how far this goes. I might want help with a particular spot, but don't want to have to scramble to avoid spoiling what comes next.

Laura

I think it's a good option, but it's not something that I'd see myself using, nor is it something that I feel like SHOULD be used often. It feels almost like cheating, to me, when a large part of the game is the difficulty... Then again, that doesn't mean you should spend 5 hours on one part of the game 'cause you're stuck. If that happens, by all means...

Still, practice makes perfect, and using this as a way to get out of learning the right combos in Metroid or something isn't something I'd condone.

Jenni

Mario Galaxy 2.

The first one made me a bit motion sick at times, and I think that feature would really help.

n.n

Monster Hunter.
It seems that a lot of people simply don't "get" the game until they realize how it's actually supposed to be played. Having this feature for the earlier parts of the game would be excellent. (Perhaps the Guild takes a larger cut of the spoils if you turn self play on, or something.)