*DISCLAIMER* The following is purely an opinion piece. I do
not claim to know what the real plans are that any video game companies mentioned
in this article have planned for their franchises.
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Welcome to Custom Picks, a series of speculation articles
about different games for companies to release. Nintendo, Sega, Capcom,
Ubisoft, Square-Enix; if they have games everyone is waiting for, those games
are up for discussion.
With Nintendo’s NX a little under a year away, everyone is
speculating about what they are going to do next. Everyone has ideas about what
their next console should be capable of and everyone says they need to have
more third-party games, more first-party games, revivals of old franchises, and
new IPs. But when it comes to exactly what games should be on there, fewer
people are willing to say exactly what.
So, the first few articles in Custom Picks will be about
Nintendo and what possible games they could release to get gamers excited about
the NX, and maybe breathe new life into some old franchises along the way.
One of the biggest genres that have had a gap on Nintendo
consoles lately is first person shooters. On the Xbox and PlayStation, games
like Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Halo have been giving gamers their
adrenaline fix for a long time and people want that particular fix offered from
Nintendo for them to even look at their consoles. Fans have asked for both a
story driven single player focused title like Duke Nukem 3D or Doom (at least,
the early versions of Doom) and a competitive multiplayer shooter like Call of
Duty. Franchises that fans have suggested be used for it have included Metroid, Wild
Gunman, Geist, and Sin & Punishment.
So, what first-party or third-party titles could fit this
category?
First Party Titles – Geist: Resurrected & Metroid Prime
Hunters 2
For a single player title, a sequel or remake to the
GameCube game Geist would be an eye catching title. Geist is one of the few
M-rated titles published by Nintendo and it was a first-person shooter with a
unique mechanic. After an event in the story, the main character is left as a spirit who can possess
other people, animals, or inanimate objects and use their abilities or equipment to progress through the
stage. So, you could possess a soldier and shoot your way through a level, possess a dog to tear someone apart, or possess a keypad on a door to open it up if it's blocking your way. In today’s gaming
climate, an M-rated supernatural-themed first-person shooter actually published
by Nintendo is sure to turn some heads.
For a more multiplayer themed experience, an interesting
pick would be a console-based sequel to the DS game Metroid Prime Hunters. Some
people would argue that the Metroid Prime games are more of an adventure series
than a shooter series, but the potential is there for a competitive shooter,
especially with Hunters. Hunters introduced several other playable characters
alongside Samus, confirming that she is not the only important character in
this universe. All of these characters had their own unique appearances,
weapons, and abilities. For a competitive shooter in the Metroid universe, a
character select screen could let you choose between different bounty hunters to
play as to match different playstyles. Different weapons could be available in
a map but your character would still have their own unique equipment. Different modes can be selected from mainstays like Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, or Virus mode, to possibly a Bounty mode where the characters chase after one target and the one who takes them down wins the match.
Third Party Titles – Call of Duty: Ghosts II &
TimeSplitters 4
This may seem like more of a standard pick because Call of
Duty is one of the most popular shooter franchises out there, but it’s because
it’s one of the most popular that it would make such a good choice. If gamers
want a game like Call of Duty, perhaps the best thing would be to just give
them Call of Duty. Giving them the experiences they can have on other consoles
along with the experiences they can’t get anywhere else is key to having a
successful console.
But for a less standard pick, a more eye-catching title
would be one that a lot of people are asking for, TimeSplitters 4.
TimeSplitters 2 and TimeSplitters: Future Perfect were cult hit games because
of their quirky style, humor, and variety of environments. Because the game
centers around time travel, it could take place in 1942 in one level and 2053
in the next. For the game to be canceled over something as simple as what character
to put on the box art, the issue could be resolved with some outside help and
the game could be released. Perhaps Nintendo could step in and do for TimeSplitters
4 what they did for Bayonetta 2, securing it as an NX exclusive to make sure
the game sees the light of day.
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What did you think of these Custom Picks? What first-person
shooters would you add to Nintendo’s lineup? Make your voice heard in the
comments below and thanks for coming.
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