Oh boy, look who was right! Oh wait, it was me.

[TheMuffinMan]

Hey guys, remember that new "help" system that Nintendo patented for future games that you were all bitching about because you don't fucking understand anything? Oh yeah, and remember what I went ahead and informed you all? No? Well here's what I said:

Yes, it is an "expanded" audience feature, however it's something that every gamer runs into: the need to see how it's done before you do it yourself. In the past this involved asking an internet forum or your older brother to do it for you, Nintendo is evolving systems into the game so that you don't have to, and if you didn't notice, it's there to teach people to be better gamers. With this feature, Nintendo is allowed to make games hard now without worry that a casual player will walk away from the game and never touch it again. They put a safety net in place so that the difficulty in games can be ramped up, yet Casual players can still enjoy the experience, thus bridging the gap between what games a hardcore gamer and what a casual player are capable of enjoying.

You asked that Nintendo stop dumbing down games so that the Hardcore can hardly play them, well lookee here, the thing you're complaining about it supposed to do that! Nintendo invented a way without having to make 2 separate kinds of games, they came up with a way to evolve how difficulty is approached in gaming to allow both sects to be pleased.

Let's see how that all played out in the first ever Nintendo game to use this new "stupid casual babying help system that is ruining gaming", New Super Mario Bros. Wii:

‘New Super Mario Bros. Wii’ Is As Hard As ‘Contra’ MTV Multiplayer

It's because of the Super Guide that the developers were able to crank up the difficulty, knowing that they no longer needed to make the game for the lowest-skilled player. So you're left with what's arguably the most hardcore Mario game you've ever played.

New Super Mario Bros Preview for the Wii from 1UP.com

NSMBWii doesn't seem to have been compromised in the process. It's still geared toward a single-player story mode, which could in itself be more challenging than any other Mario game in years; after all, the world is also designed to be a challenge for four people, and it doesn't get any easier when it's just Mario adventuring on his own. The handful of stages we checked out from the game's first two worlds did a number of things we've never seen in a Mario game before.

ONM Blog: Handy Hints - Official Nintendo Magazine

Both features are entirely optional, meaning that experienced players can ignore them entirely and get on with the game without any interference whatsoever. Super Guide is only activated if you click 'yes' when the option appears, and even then you'll have had to die a number of times before the escape route appears. The Hint Video is only opened up when you go out of your way to open it. In no way is it the game stepping on your toes and giving the game away.[...] Not only does the hint system allow Nintendo to cater to the inexperienced without insulting old hands, but it means Nintendo can let its imagination run wild without worrying about leaving us behind.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii Preview: All The Modes, All The Chaos - New super mario bros. wii - Kotaku
"Kind Code" Demo Shows New Super Mario Bros on Auto-Pilot - New super mario bros. wii - Kotaku

The levels of New Super Mario Bros. Wii I saw today seemed harder than those of the last side-scrolling Mario platformer, New Super Mario Bros. on the DS. Super Guide does appear to have given Nintendo license to make the new game tougher and may provide the relief some players need to get to the end of the latest Mario world-hopping adventure.

Welllllllllllllllll there, look who was right. Now then, exactly how many dicks should you all go ahead and suck? I'm thinking like every dick ever.

 

[Hero_of_Fate]

Damn right, man. It's good to see the level-headed people's assumptions were confirmed.

 

[Shadow Soldier]

Ok, you can't blame people for assuming that. The way Miyamoto said it made it sound like the game is going to play itself.

 

[RTP49]

tl;dr lol

 

[The Big Lovin']

stop touching yourself you're making me jealous.

 

[Shadow Fenix]

I haven't even touched my Wii in the longest time. Hopefully this will give me reason to play on it more often.
But with Dead Space Extraction out on it, that gives me enough reason to play it

 

[Shade737]

Ok so fully optional chosen difficulty was too much to do?

 

[TheMuffinMan]

Ok so fully optional chosen difficulty was too much to do?

....chosen difficulty tiers in Platformers are impossible, they would have to completely redesign each and every level and completely analyze it's difficulty for each skill level of players, the amount of design and testing that goes into Platformer levels when there's only one incarnation is ridiculous when there are 80+ levels.

Difficulty tiers in general are archaic and have been a flaw in game design for years. Games can hardly ever get them right, difficulty curve is always a constant criticism in games, either being too unforgiving with no option for you to progress when reaching a wall, or too easy that the game feels a breeze if you have the slightest prowess in games.

The system needed to change, and this is Nintendo attempting to evolve how difficulty is being handled in games, and it seems to make sense so far. Give games the difficulty they want to challenge themselves, allow things to be difficult to the point that new gamers can grow to be better gamers, but make it so that there is never a point in the game where there was an insurmountable wall. And then even in the help system there are choices: see a video of how it could be done, and then once you know use your own skill and ability to replicate it and accomplish it yourself, or after enough error allow for a "ghost" player to play briefly and simply take over after the point you couldn't get past.

 

[Dogenzaka]

Still doesn't make me touch my Wii

 

[TheMuffinMan]

Still doesn't make me touch my Wii

That's because it makes Baby Jesus cry.

 

[Ventux]

Where else could this be implemented besides platformers or puzzle games?