The more time passes, the more I understand Nintendo’s philosophy on service games. I decided to take the plunge and it did the world of good for all my end games!

Game news The more time passes, the more I understand Nintendo’s philosophy on service games. I decided to take the plunge and it did the world of good for all my end games!

Relaxing and addictive GAAS

For many years, I have been involved with what I call Sports as a Service (or GAA in English). These are games, mostly online, that renew their experience with regular content and updates. Among the most well-known, we can cite Fortnite, Call of Duty or League of Legends. Recently, Suicide Squad, Helldivers 2 and Palworld have become the talk of the town. In short, these games are designed to entertain players in the long run…even into eternity. A way for publishers to recoup costs while maintaining a loyal player base. It is no longer the sales of the game that matters, but the number of people who play.

When you’re a video game fan, it’s not uncommon to have a GAAS or two in your game library. I talked about my favorite game of all time, World of Warcraft, earlier this year. I explain that it works as a kind of all-purpose game, in which whatever I seek I find fulfillment. A virtual comfort zone that gives me relief. However, I use this game intensely: I can spend ten hours a day on it for two weeks in a row. A behavior that differs from that seen in GAAS’s consumption mode.

To talk about this comforting feeling again, which I can get, it is without a doubt Hearthstone that serves as an ideal candidate because it has punctuated my days. The card game developed by Blizzard (the same people behind World of Warcraft) has brought me, on many occasions, my relaxing moments of the day. It must be said that beyond the feeling of losing while playing the game I know and love, The orders to return to it are numerous. Quests to do every week or even every day, limited or cosmetic events to recover… the fear of missing something lurks unconsciously in the mind.

GAAS, bad for your health

I imagine many players experience this situation. Some assume it, others less. For a long time I was of the first category: Why be ashamed of spending time on a video game you love? However, the human brain needs to be stimulated if it is not going to die and I felt I needed to move on. Not that Hearthstone bores me: I would happily return there any time of the year! But it’s like having your favorite food at every meal. Even if it gives you pleasure, we want to find that feeling with something else. A desire to discover appears. Personally, it was thanks to Nintendo’s philosophy that it clicked for me. Shigaru Miyamoto, one of Nintendo’s most famous figures (creator of, among others, Mario and Zelda) explains why he doesn’t want to make an MMO:

A few years ago, when MMORPGs were all the rage, I didn’t want to make them. Since I get bored of things easily, I don’t want to keep making just one game.

A sense of accomplishment. Better yet, the job is done. Without being able to put proper words to it, something has always bothered me about taking GAAS. This feeling of never ending. In fact, this kind of game doesn’t seem to bring anyone much satisfaction. Are on the side of developers who never see the end of their project and doesn’t stop them from moving on to another one. The same goes for the players, who are locked in a kind of isolating spiral. Now, seeing the end credits unfold on your screen is something that incites. This is the moment we take a step back, this is the moment we judge ourselves. This is the moment when we will look directly into our souls. Where we will be honest by questioning ourselves “So what did this do to me?“ And, whatever the answer, it is a part of ourselves that we seek. So we are essentially changed. Sometimes a little, sometimes passionately. Enough to be in a different state of mind each time. A feeling that, personally, I value, and is not found in GAAS.

Credit always causes something.

Shigeru Miyamoto’s words are also very interesting because a philosophy emerges that can be measured. Since its debut with online gaming (released in 2006 with Mario Strikers Charged Football), Nintendo has never taken this games-as-a-service approach. Yes, many Nintendo titles benefit from additional content. But these are additional materials that provide additional experience to the already finished material. These DLCs are also considered finished products. They, along with Nintendo, are the materialization of ideas that don’t fit into the original games. A philosophy shared by Hidetaka Miyazaki, president of FromSoftware.

Paradoxically, this is something that some players blame Nintendo for. For example in the case of Smash Bros and Mario Kart who do not benefit from quality online servers commensurate with the love their communities have for them.

Oxygenate the brain

Nintendo has lived up to its ideals since its creation in 1889: it is a company built around card games, and one that makes gaming its core business. And we can’t really say it hurts him. It is the largest producer of video games with more than 20 million copies distributed. Creativity never dries up in the Big N. Proof of that lies with the amazing Super Mario Bros. wonder. The creativity that comes from a regularly recharged state of mind, as well as the potential to summon multiple brains from different projects.

So having observed the application of this philosophy, in fact effective, I tried to apply it to myself. Say goodbye to my “Nutella moment” of the day with my little games of Hearthstone. Now, I force myself to choose another meal from the menu every day. Enough to be able to catch up on my long list of overdue games. Thanks to this, I was able to complete Hades 100% and understand his weaknesses, at my own pace, with one session per day. With one level per day, I was able to realize the excellence of Celeste and the masterpiece that BioShock (well, especially in 1 reality) is. In short, live unique experiences that manage to change me.

So I have only one dish at my disposal but the all-you-can-eat buffet. Why lock yourself into one virtual comfort zone when you can find many? If there’s one power that video games give us, it’s multiple lives. So you too can take advantage of it. Because that’s how we get the most out of ourselves.