the whole "wii is a gimmick/I love okami!" hypocrisy is classic gaf.
Not really. It's one thing to have a game with a drawing gimmick, it's another to base an entire system around such a gimmick.
There is no way to love the okami brush strokes and yet denounce similiar gameplay in Wii/DS games with a controller more fitting for it and not be hypocritical.
And gimmick is what people call creative ideas that they didn't think up. It's actually become a common practice in the game world to do this, outside of consoles even. In PC online games I play, someone will come up with a clever build or trick, which everyone denunces as a gimmick. That is until it becomes common practice because it works. It's just one of those modern phrases of bullshittery. Like how professionalism and being proffesional means you're a liar in a suit.
In the recent EGM, the developers said they considered an Okami port to the Wii and DETERMINED IT WOULDN'T WORK -- that the experience would be inferior, in their estimation. That's because the gameplay in Okami in NO WAY revolves around the Celestial Brush -- the primary mechanics are Zelda-style exploration and platforming. The Celestial Brush *is* just a gimmick and comprises one ancillary mechanic. You could take away the brush and replace it with a Zelda-style tool system and while the game would lose something, it wouldn't ruin it by any measure. On top of that, will wiggling the Wii would be an improvement, the brush is already implemented well on the Dual Shock, rendering the upgrade for a tertiary play mechanic marginal. On the other hand, the nunchuck isn't exactly a great option for traditional controls if impressions from the last Nintendo event are to be believed -- and I'm sure Clover knows better than we do how suitable the Wii controls are for more traditional 3D gameplay models. In this case, they feel they aren't.
It's easy to like Okami and hate the DS/Wii because Okami is a very traditional work of game design at its core, and in no way relies in the "drawing" mechanic for its appeal beyond an amusing and well-integrated gimmick. The real fun is the sense of participation in its well-realized world: the exploration, puzzle-solving, combat, and interaction -- all of which could be accomplished without the Celestial Brush. Conversely, most DS/Wii-specific games make the scribble/waggle the CORE mechanic, which is really detestable to those of us who prefer more traditional, epic content.
A "gimmick" is what I call any shallow mechanism that gussies up a control action without justification for the added complexity. A "gimmick" is a controller action that could be handled in a more simple fashion, but instead relies on some gestural metaphor to create appeal. There's no fundamental difference between waggling a wand for a a sword strike and pressing the A button, nor is there any real reason to trace a circle with a complex controller motion instead of selecting a tool with a button and pressing it outside of the novelty of performing an unorthodox action. It adds a little charm, but other than that, it is a pure GIMMICK.
And I have no problem with these gimmicks as long as they play a purely tertiary role in game design. They're cute when done properly, as in Okami. But when you base entire games around them, well, then they SUCK.
