Why Mario 3D World Was Designed to be Frustrating

Channel:

DualShockers

Subscribers:

25,300

Published on February 15, 2021 10:05:07 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjiCFlAFyBw

Game:

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020)

Duration: 7:02

2,584 views

179

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Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury is a cute game with a deliberately frustrating design. Nintendo’s developers have revealed that the game’s multiplayer mode is obtuse by design, pushing players to compete in what some game designers call the “First to Fun” principle.

Why make a game actively annoying to play in multiplayer? Because it creates a competitive dynamic among players, pushing them to fight amongst each other.

This isn’t the only way that multiplayer games can work – Overcooked and Animal Crossing: New Horizons are just two examples of games which foster a more harmonious co-op experience. Nintendo, though, seems firmly fixed on giving players a deliberately antagonistic multiplayer experience even when players are supposed to be working together.

How well does it work? Well, that all depends on how much you like your friends - and how patient you're willing to be, or how competitive you might naturally become under the right circumstances.

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Video sources:
https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Iwata-Asks/Iwata-Asks-New-Super-Mario-Bros-Wii/Volume-3/3-With-His-Wife-on-His-Shoulders-/3-With-His-Wife-on-His-Shoulders--219541.html
http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wiiu/super-mario-3d-world/0/4
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/overcooked-interview

Footage courtesy of:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb5oboEzQXM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtE2Q8dYWL0

Music: https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03263

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