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DVD-Enabled Consoles Do Better? 87

Posted by simoniker from the to-movie-or-not-to-movie? dept.
Thanks to GameMarketWatch.com for their article discussing a survey linking console DVD use and game purchases. Some manufacturers don't see the point of a bundled DVD player: "'Why would we ever include DVD playback in our videogame system?' was the question posed in a recent Business 2.0 article by George Harrison, Nintendo's VP of Marketing. 'If someone buys a DVD and watches it on the Nintendo GameCube, we wouldn't receive any revenue from that. We'd rather have them play our games.'" But the survey shows a possible advantage to DVD playback for hardware manufacturers: "The Centris poll results... suggest that DVD capability has the potential to drive game software activity, since respondents that used their game consoles to watch DVD movies were also the heaviest purchasers and renters of games."
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DVD-Enabled Consoles Do Better? More

DVD-Enabled Consoles Do Better?

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  • cause and effect (Score:2, Insightful)

    by muirhead ( 698086 )
    Centris poll results... suggest that DVD capability has the potential to drive game software activity...
    I sense some confuddled thinking.
    Doesn't the surveys just imply that the folk that send the most time infront of their TVs, also watch more DVDs and play more games?

    • Re:cause and effect (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Yorrike ( 322502 ) on Thursday August 21, 2003 @07:40AM (#6753124) Journal
      Agreed. Is this showing that gamers buy their console because they have DVD functionality, or that they just use the DVD playback because it's there?

      Personaly, I'm getting sick of these Anti-Nintendo articles. You can bad mouth them all you want, but Nintendo made 6 times more profit [theregister.co.uk] in the first quater than the entire Sony group [news.com.au]. (That's video games, TVs, DVD players, the lot).

      The Gamecube has sold 9.6 million units world wide, vs 9.4 million Xbox units. And still everyone talks about the GC like it's a dead console and has lost the console war.

      Sure, Nintendo owes a lot to the old battle droid that is the GameBoy, but any company pulling upwards of $100million a quarter in PROFIT in these economic times has to be doing SOMETHING right.

      • > Is this showing that gamers buy their console because they have DVD functionality, or that they just use the DVD playback because it's there?

        One of the main reasons I bought the PS2, was because it could play DVDs. I was able then to look around at what DVD player I wanted, and buy a "real" one (Panasonic RP-91) The PS2 worked great as a player.

        > And still everyone talks about the GC like it's a dead console and has lost the console war.
        It's lost mind share of the publishers (and developers.)

        If

      • Re:cause and effect (Score:4, Insightful)

        by SmallFurryCreature ( 593017 ) on Thursday August 21, 2003 @08:54AM (#6753560) Journal
        But what you seem to forget that both Sony and Microsoft are different type of companies. They can afford to loose a console race. Can nintendo? It wouldn't be the first time a game company goes bust because it lost out in the console wars. History has generally shown you don't get a second chance.

        As for anti-nintendo articles well cry me a river. This article made an observation and one that is not entirely unvalid.

        Do people really buy a console based on if it can play dvd's or indeed do anything except play games? Hard to say but the fact that Nintendo left it out while everyone else included it says something. It tells you that nintendo likes to go its own way, like sticking to cartridges when CD's are so much cheaper to produce. Like censorship in games when the other allow any type of game.

        Do these strategys work? Well not according to sales figures. You can compare it all you like to the X-box but the fact is that X-box is a loser as well. The one to beat is the PS2 and that one is miles ahead.

        The one area they do well is in the handheld area. Now sony is moving in on this as well. A lot of people seem to think sony will botch this up. After all it is unthinkable that sony can beat nintendo on doing a game console :)

        The profits nintendo shows are indeed not bad. But a substantial part of this is the handheld area, if they face the same kind of competiotion as they faced with the PS1 and PS2 then they are done for. They may hold out a long time but have we ever seen a game company come back from a lost war?

        • Re:cause and effect (Score:3, Interesting)

          by Yorrike ( 322502 )
          But what you seem to forget that both Sony and Microsoft are different type of companies. They can afford to loose a console race. Can nintendo? It wouldn't be the first time a game company goes bust because it lost out in the console wars. History has generally shown you don't get a second chance.

          History also shows that you get two generations of being on top, then it's all over. But I don't see anyone forcasting the PlayStation's demise because of this.

          Nintendo has billions of dollars (5 or 6, I beli

          • They can afford losing another couple of races, especially with their in-house franchises (mainly Pokemon), bringing so much cash in

            Don't forget Zelda, Mario, Donkey Kong, Kart-racing, Starfox, Kirby, Metroid, etc. People will buy these franchises EVERY time they come out.
        • It tells you that nintendo likes to go its own way, like sticking to cartridges when CD's are so much cheaper to produce.

          Well, if I remember correctly, they went with cartridges not because of cost, but because of load times. Loading data off of a solid state device is a lot quicker than loading it from a spinning CD. If you'll take a look at the load times of some of the PSX and PS2 games, you'll appreciate why Nintendo did their best to keep their load times low.

          Like censorship in games when the
          • Comment removed based on user account deletion
          • Like the recent /. article about nintendo of america censoring Manic Mansion, the lucasarts game. They objected to the a nude statue, art in an art exhibit, being in the game.

            I wasn't really talking about current, more to show that in that the past they went their own way, after all they do now use cd's.

            Oh and yes the load times for cartridges are lower, after all the game is already in memory, but you make the production costs skyrocket. Of course this helped keep piracy down. \

            It just shows that Ninten

        • As for anti-nintendo articles well cry me a river

          Disclaimer: I'm a Nintendo fanboy.

          But the point the grandparent is making is not "I love nintendo, and (whine-cry-sob) PLEASE stop posting stories that say my console is a flop!" The real point is that it's just stupid that there is an article seeminbgly every week about "Joe Schmo, on his Geocities website, talks about the Console Wars, and how Nintendo is falling behind." or "Is Gamecube a Disaster?" You get the same N-zealots and anti-N-fanatics throw
        • Three letters: GBA.

          The GameBoy can keep Nintendo afloat for quite a while. How long? That's debatable...but it could be long enough.

      • Personaly, I'm getting sick of these Anti-Nintendo articles

        Me too. Can we please stop the "Gamecube is an enourmous flop" stories?

        While we're at it, can we also stop the "Dreamcast was the greatest system ever" rants as well?
      • And still everyone talks about the GC like it's a dead console and has lost the console war. It's certainly not a dead console, but Nintendo has definitely surrendered the initiative when it comes to the console wars. Back when the NES was in its' prime, it ruled supreme - I remember selling my Sega Master System so I could play Mario Bros. That was cool when I was, say, 8 or 9. By the time I turned 16, though, my tastes changed. Concepts which were unfamiliar to me at age 8 were at the forefront when I
    • Exactly. I've bought a grand total of one game for my PS2 so far, but I use it to watch DVDs frequently because my regular DVD player is a cheap (and old) piece of crap that skips horrendously and even turns itself off while trying to play DVDs that the PS2 handles without a hitch.

      This "our DVD player sucks, but a brand new PS2 won't" ploy also helped my brothers and I convince our Mom to let us bring a new console into the house. ;-)

      "Yeah, Mom--the PS2 is fantastic at playing DVD movies!"

    • Re:cause and effect (Score:5, Funny)

      by bamurphy ( 614233 ) on Thursday August 21, 2003 @09:47AM (#6753997) Homepage
      I think it works like this:

      Husband/Boyfriend: "The Playstation 2 is only $150 at best buy."

      Wife/Girlfriend: "You already have a Playstation!"

      Husband/Boyfriend: "But this one play's DEE VEE DEEs! We can watch all the seasons of Sex & The City"

      Wife/Girlfriend: "Ok."

      Husband/Boyfriend: "Mwaha. GTA:Vice City here I come"

  • I know people who were baught Ps2's beacuse they wanted a games console and they wanted a dvd player for the family - i would imagine thats a significant number of people. Also nintendo will lose out of the multiplayer gig beacuse Mr Myamoto doesent like it- nintendo may be heading the way of sega....
    • I also know that there is a sizeable amount of the population who can't afford a DVD player and a game console -- unless they are bundled together.

      Sure, for most of us, we'd rather have a real DVD player, but for some, they see some real value in the mediocre PS2 or X-Box DVD players. They get a game console for the kids or themselves or the family, and the whole family gets a DVD player.

      Also, thinking back to when I was a child, getting a DVD player and a separate game console would have taken two majo
      • You can get a decent DVD player for about $60 nowadays. The GameCube started out $100 less than the PS2, now it's $50 less. So a GameCube + DVD player is $10 more than a PS2, but you're getting a better quality DVD player.
        • OK, let me put it another way. When these consoles first came out, you couldn't get a decent DVD player for $60. Not only that, but as a kid, it was simply easier for me to ask for one $200 item for Christmas than it was to ask for a $150 item and a $60 item. I was very likely to get the $200 item, but I was very unlikey to get both the $150 and $60 items, even though their prices were nearly the same. I also know that I can justify one piece of electronic equipment to my wife easier than I can justify
          • No, but a DVD player that bests the quality of the one in the PS2 was readily available for less than $100. The prices still don't really justify the integration.

            I bought a PS2 for the games, Final Fantasy, DDR, GTA, Gran Turismo, etc. I'm packing up to move and have my stand alone DVD player packed up, but not the PS2. Feeling like watching a DVD today I popped one in the PS2, nice to have that ability certainly. The quality from the PS2's DVD playback, however, is just plain lacking in comparison.

            For refe

    • I suspect a significant element is kids. It is fairly common in this day and age that a kid has a TV in their room. The parents buy the console but the kid picks it out, right? So, while the parent may be unlikely to buy an extra DVD player for the kid's room, the savvy kid who picks the DVD playing console gets one anyway.


      And yeah, you're also probably right that late DVD adopters considering a new console will see the value of killing two birds with one stone.

      • That's extactly why I bought a PS2. I could have run a cable from my PC to my TV to watch DVDs on the couch. Nahhh. There were some games I wanted to play (Gundam notably, even if they all suck, and other anime-themed games, plus Kingdom Hearts and FF X), so picking up a PS2 made sense. The fact that the company I work for has Sony as a client merely provided some bonuses later on.
    • All of this talk about DVD/video game synergy is interesting, and the speculation about how it affects game console (hardware and software) sales is equally so. It does bring another question up, though: Would Sony have sold as many PS2s as they have if the system hadn't come out while the DVD format was still in the process of gaining its full traction?

      I think that the appeal of the combination DVD/videogame console was located entirely in the fact that a great many people didn't yet have a DVD player.

      • my thinking now. I would love a gamecube just to play metroid prime and my computers dvd drive broke a few months back...... if the cube had dvd playback i would have one sitting on my desk now. As it happens i dont, i may buy one when they come up second hand for 40 or less (ie just to add to my console collection) I wouldnt buy an xbox beacuse you have to buy the dvd kit -Screw you Megashaft. p2s would be nice but there really arnt any games on it i would enjoy that much.
  • I have a perfectly good N64 with plenty of games. I had no need for a new console. I wanted a DVD player. The price difference between a DVD player and a console that plays DVDs is small (ok not so small when you make the PS2 play DVDs - but I won't buy an Xbox for religious reasons ;), so I esentially got a PS2 console for free. But the thing is I've baught a few games for it and a Steering wheel, all of which I didn't really need (I already have much the same except for the wheel). Without the DVD player
    • Here's a tip for electronics makers. A phone that dosn't suck, plays stereo mp3+Ogg+FM radio, uses CF not SD, bluetooth and java games I can write/manage myself - I'm in again...

      I think despite the fact that SD is more closed, they use it for the easier power requirements compared to CF.

  • OK DVD player but noisy (Score:5, Insightful)

    by GreatDrok ( 684119 ) on Thursday August 21, 2003 @07:05AM (#6753026) Journal
    I have a PS2 and GameCube. I have used the PS2 as a secondary DVD player but have had to put it into a hifi cabinet to stop the noise of the fan being a constant irritation. While it has played all the DVDs I have wanted to and is also region free thanks to region X I don't think I could stand it as the only DVD player we had. The remote is terrible and the noise irritating. Picture is OK on a small screen (28" widescreen) but I wouldn't use it for films on my projection system.

    To be honest, I'm with Nintendo on this, the GameCube is smaller, quieter and starts games quicker so as a games machine it is better than the PS2 as it sticks to what it does best. Sadly, the games are released too late so we tend to get the PS2 version when they appear. If the PS2 and GC versions arrived at the same time I would buy the GC version in a heartbeat. Sadly this delay rather than lack of DVD support is what we mean the GC will be runner up to the PS2. Xbox is even further behind despite being able to play DVDs of course.

    • Re:OK DVD player but noisy (Score:4, Interesting)

      by NexusTw1n ( 580394 ) on Thursday August 21, 2003 @09:13AM (#6753708) Journal
      If you have a home projection system, then a dedicated DVD player is a minor cost in the whole budget. I have a projector - cost 1500 plus 200 a year for a new bulb, 100-150 for a super silent high quality dedicated DVD player is nothing when you're playing with that budget.

      People bought PS2s before DVD players dropped in price - you could spend 200 on a DVD player, or 250 on a DVD player and PS2 combo - no contest really. The DVD option is still attractive even now to those on limited budgets or limited space.

      Joe Average is going to be attracted to the console that plays DVDs as well. If you're buying for the kids and you don't know which company does the best games then a free DVD player can swing the deal. Either because they still don't own a DVD player, or the console is going in a bedroom or den where the main entertainment system isn't accessible.

      Creating a properietry format disk like Nintendo, rather than just using cheap DVDs is stupid. The cost of throwing a DVD player into the mix has to be tiny compared with the additional sales you will get.
      • People bought PS2s before DVD players dropped in price - you could spend 200 on a DVD player, or 250 on a DVD player and PS2 combo - no contest really. The DVD option is still attractive even now to those on limited budgets or limited space

        PS2s were still $300 and hard to find when you could get a decent DVD player for $100. Sure, you could buy a better DVD player for $200, but then that DVD player would've been better than the one in the PS2, as well, and you could've picked up a DreamCast for $100-150.
        • I was talking about the UK where PS2 were around 200-300 pounds and easily available and DVD players were the same price.

          The dreamcast was never a serious option in the UK.

          The point is even now the PS2 is still good value for those who use their "main" TV for TV watching and their second TV for games or in a kid's bedroom. - When they aren't playing games, you can keep them quiet in their bedroom with a disney DVD.

          "Hardcore" gamers only make up a small percentage of console sales. For Joe Public ge
          • "Hardcore" gamers only make up a small percentage of console sales. For Joe Public getting a free DVD or MP3 or CD player with their console can be extremely important.

            Hardcore gamers also make up the largest percentage of game sales, where the real money is. The only problem, of course, is that you have to sell consoles to get developers interested in making games for your console.

            I use my PS2 to play DVDs in the living room, because I gave my old DVD player to a roommate when he moved out, and only hav

      • If you have a home projection system, then a dedicated DVD player is a minor cost in the whole budget. I have a projector - cost 1500 plus 200 a year for a new bulb, 100-150 for a super silent high quality dedicated DVD player is nothing when you're playing with that budget.

        Wow, 200 (quid? Bucks?) a year for a new bulb sounds pretty steep. How much do you use your projector to be going through bulbs at that rate? Mine has 3000 hours lamp life and I fully expect that to last five years at current rate

        • Those bulbs are ultra sensitive, even with their long lamp life. One bump may or may not destroy it, then you are out of some cash. I think he means 200 bucks too. Projection systems are probably not something that you want to invest in when you have kids under the age of 12... or if you ever leave your kids above the age of 12 home alone in the house. It's bound to cost you $$$$$. Hed.

          • Those bulbs are ultra sensitive, even with their long lamp life. One bump may or may not destroy it, then you are out of some cash. I think he means 200 bucks too. Projection systems are probably not something that you want to invest in when you have kids under the age of 12... or if you ever leave your kids above the age of 12 home alone in the house. It's bound to cost you $$$$$. Hed.

            Hmmmm. I'm on my second projector now, I replaced the first one because the bulbs had a life of 500 hours and cost $40

        • Wow, 200 (quid? Bucks?) a year for a new bulb sounds pretty steep. How much do you use your projector to be going through bulbs at that rate? Mine has 3000 hours lamp life and I fully expect that to last five years at current rates of usage (couple of films a week tops).

          200 quid for a lamp life of 2000 hours. That's retail, I get them a lot cheaper because I work in with AV equipment all day.

          My bulbs only last a year because I use the projector a lot, for films and for games playing. You can't beat pl

          • The point is anyone who can afford a projector system,isn't going to be using a PS2 for a DVD player, unless their system has limited scart connections. Complaining about the noise of the PS2's fan, which the parent post did, was pretty weird as well, considering the noise the cooling system on a projector makes...

            I agree. I only paid 800 quid for my first projector and that was very noisy. The new one is much quieter, not whisper quiet, but not intrusive like the old one was. The noise of the PS2 wo

      • Creating a properietry format disk like Nintendo, rather than just using cheap DVDs is stupid. The cost of throwing a DVD player into the mix has to be tiny compared with the additional sales you will get.

        Perhaps, but one must make a couple considerations that work against your thesis:

        • Copyright infringement HUGELY burdens profits of worldwide console revenue. Scrapping the proprietary format almost single-handedly incurs these costs, yet enabling DVD playback requires it.
        • DVD playback capability is no
  • I remember reading somewhere a while ago that (I think Panasonic) was selling gamecubes that could play dvds in asia. I wonder if they still make them.
  • Nintendo is also the least supportive of online gaming as well. MS packing the equipment needed for voice chat with it's online kit was a great, innovative move. Nintendo just wants to play it safe and sit around with it's tired old franchises, not participate in the evolution of gaming.
    • Least supportive? I think its fair to say they have been the most supportive, willing to give it the most chance. They began experimenting with the frickin NES online, back in the 80s in Japan.

      The company doesn't consider online will generate its worth, which is fair to say, The Xbox and Xbox Live obviously do not prove their worth. [infoworld.com]
  • The Playstation2 DVD is great. With other DVD players you can jump on the floor, and the DVD skips/stalls. Playstation2 doesn't. Seems like good quality to me, besides I can get rid of my dvd player and save som space/wiring.

    • Re:PS2 (Score:3, Interesting)

      by nicksthings ( 678040 )

      You've GOT to be a Sony plant. The PS2 DVD player is of extremely poor quality. In fact, the PS2 hardware, at least models from the first 2 years of production are so shoddy that it's ridiculous. I'm a manager at a video game store and at least once a day I have people coming in either:

      • telling me their PS2 is broken, can I fix it?
      • telling me they need a lens cleaner for the PS2 - they're getting disc read errors! Surprise!
      • buying a new PS2, because their old one stopped working.

      Now, granted, there are

      • The average PS2 is probably treated MUCH worse than the average DVD player. Mine was bought day of release, has been packed up and moved nearly a dozen times, gets tons of use, even survived a year in the dorms where there was more dust than you could imagine-- and still works as perfectly as the day I bought it. As a manager, you're going to hear a lot more people coming in saying "my PS2 is broken" than just coming in and commenting "hey, my PS2 is 3 years old and still works great!"
        • My PS2 hasn't worked well since day one; in fact, DVDs have skipped and jumped and completely stopped since I owned the thing. It's my fault for not sending it to Sony ASAP, but that's not the point.

          I understand what you're saying, though. My point is: I wouldn't recommend anyone buy a PS2 without an extended warranty. Heh.

  • Missed the Window of opportunity... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Whatchamacallit ( 21721 ) on Thursday August 21, 2003 @09:28AM (#6753833) Homepage
    Sony did it right, they shipped a DVD player with the PS2. It was really quite smart because at the time DVD players were still expensive and the cheapest ones were complete crap.

    Most US kids who get a Playstation from Mom & Dad already have their own TV in their room, at the time they didn't have a DVD player. (maybe a VCR but no DVD). So the ability to rent one's own movies and view them in one's bedroom along with games was what helped sell the PS2!

    The real buyers of the PS2 were the 18-30 somethings who could afford the expense of the PS2. This crowd already had DVD because they had jobs that paid real money! But they only had ONE DVD player on the main TV in the house. The 20-30 portion of this crowd may actually be married and have children. This means they don't have time to play games that often and they may just fight with the wife over watching Lifetime channel shows. So they retreat to another TV with their PS2 and play games as well as watching guy movies the wife won't watch.

    Nintendo blew it! First they targeted the younger crowd and second, they neglected to put a DVD player in their inexpensive console. Do you have any idea how many Disney movies on DVD the average kid has?!?! It's incredible, I think my sister's 5 year old has just about every damn movie and she's watched them 8 million times! Parent's simply don't want to watch them again and again! Had Nintendo simply included a DVD player the parents would have freaking loved it! Just get the kid a small cheap TV and let the kid play in their room the next time you rent an adult movie! They can play games and/or watch their movies.

    It's too late now for DVD to make a difference in anyone's buying decision until games start getting shipped on DVD and using the added space. DVD players are very very inexpensive, you can get one at Walmart for under $50! So that's why Ninetendo blew it! They also didn't ship fast enough nor could they compete with Sony or Microsoft on the hardware. They missed the Window!
    • FYI, my cousin and his kids are a perfect example of how Nintendo blew it with the Gamecube.

      They were all big Nintendo fans.

      Which of the current-gen consoles do they have? Hint: Not a Gamecube. Why? They wanted a DVD player too when they bought it.

      • That's all very true. I bought my PS2 instead of an Xbox precisely because a DVD player came with the PS2, free; I didn't want to give $40 to Microsoft just to enable the technology that was already there. (Joke's on me; I bought the Sony remote because I got tired of using the controller.)

        So what's next? Let's see--Microsoft already ships a HD with their machine, and presumably the graphics can handle mpeg encoding. If I didn't already have a Tivo--and if the Xbox started coming with a service-alike
  • Tell them that Mr Harrison is drastically wrong in his stance. I really can't believe that guy is a VP of Marketing, since he seems to have no conception that extra features that everyone wants == more sales of said console. That guy needs some reeducating.

    I just sent a nice long email to nintendo@noa.nintendo.com explaining why my PS2 goes everywhere and why I buy more games for it, versus my Gamecube. It was polite, well reasoned, with evidence from mine and my friends' game habits. I doubt anyone of

    • Re:Email Nintendo! (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Boglin ( 517490 )

      extra features that everyone wants == more sales of said console

      I'm going to have to disagree with your equation. Simply remember the Nintendo64. Granted, this was a poor selling system compared to the Playstation, but it beat the crap out of the Sega Saturn, 3DO, and CDi. Yet these three consoles could all play music CDs, which the N64 could not. Also, the 3DO could play Kodak PictureCDs and VCDs. Yet Nintendo's console stayed long after these others were lost. The net conclusion is that featur

      • 3DO also cost like $700 when it first came out

        Saturn was an awful system all around, and even in 1997 when it came out, $200 for a cd-player was very pricey (as opposed to PS2's launch in which a dvd-standalone player could cost $250 itself)
        • Saturn was an awful system all around, and even in 1997 when it came out, $200 for a cd-player was very pricey (as opposed to PS2's launch in which a dvd-standalone player could cost $250 itself)

          I wonder where everyone that says this was living. At least one person responded that they lived in the UK, and the prices were obviously different there. My step-mother bought a $100 DVD player before I could even find a PS2 on the shelf (they were available in the US, but the stores didn't have them because of t
    • Well, yes, more features are good for consumers; but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the more profitable thing to do! By using a non standard format Nintendo gets an extra level of protection against software pirates. Certainly there were other factors like more tightly integrated security in the chips, but the form factor counts too. It prevents pretty much all off-the-shelf DVD burners, and more importantly, the "professional" presses from being able to churn out perfect digital copies of games.

      T

  • i'm a living example (Score:2, Interesting)

    by crowdozer ( 663344 )
    I've owned a gamecube for a little over a year and love it. I've wanted an xbox but could never justify buying a second console. About a month and a half ago my Sony DVD player decided it no longer wanted to play certain DVDs. (POS!) So it was time to buy a new one. Well I could spend $150 on a new player or i could spend that extra $50 and get the xbox (+dvd accessory) that would do the same thing. Sweet. Now I can justify buying an xbox. Since then I've already bought 9 xbox games. Microsoft gets richer.
  • Just out of curiosity (and possibly mildly off-topic) does anybody else find that their XBox is fairly noisy whilst watching DVD's? I've almost contemplated getting a dedicated DVD player for this reason. Unfortunately I don't have room the way my entertainment center is set up.
  • It seems to me that Sony and later Microsoft (don't mod me down please) did the right thing by including a DVD player in their respective consoles. Just look at the effect it has had on the college scene!!! Most kids want a gaming console and a DVD player, but 2 years ago a DVD player cost >$250 (for a decent sony/panasonic). The high school and college scene really drove the PS2 to new heights because of the $$$ of the gaming/DVD console. If your dorm room had a PS2, kick ass speakers, and a keg of
  • I watch all my movies on my ps2. I most deffinately did not buy it because it plays dvds. One of these days when I can move off base and outta the dorms I'll be buying a dvd player, but only in the sense that I'll be buying a reciever so I can get some surround sound and what not, and it will more than likely have a dvd changer. I would actually have a different dvd player already if I wasn't so cheap, because I hate having to swap between the game I'm currently workin on and movies all the time.

    Disclaimer:

  • This quote is great. It shoes a very foolish and arrogant mindset that has taken over media-based and subscription-based industries.

    "If someone buys a DVD and watches it on the Nintendo GameCube, we wouldn't receive any revenue from that. We'd rather have them play our games."

    They aren't interested in quality, value-added products anymore. They are interested only in making their customers pay more money in the future. Notice that manufactures of players for DVD, VHS, CD, vinyl record, audio-tape,

    • Notice that manufactures of players for DVD, VHS, CD, vinyl record, audio-tape, floppy-disks, etc. don't make money (directly) from sales of media -- but they still find a way to make money on the hardware to read them. Duh! Waaay long ago, there was a day where the manufacturer sold the playback device for a profit, rather than as a way to lock people into something.

      The only way Nintendo could get video games back into people's homes was by controlling the content, and this also gave them a way to make m
      • Hey Painkiller, Mike's back to challenge your constant defense of the Big N.

        You explained alot of things. All of these are true. You completely ignored the main point of the original post. Why does all of that excuse Nintendo from trying to do something value-added? They won't make extra money on it, but they won't lose money either. Look at the XBOX model. The DVD functionality isn't technically built in, so they don't have to pay a fee to the DVD gods, UNLESS the end user wants the functionality th
        • You explained alot of things. All of these are true. You completely ignored the main point of the original post. Why does all of that excuse Nintendo from trying to do something value-added? They won't make extra money on it, but they won't lose money either.

          Nintendo's given a lot of different reasons for that, and the most recent one seems to be that the Cube is meant as a game console, and that is all. Further reasons would be mostly technical (piracy is harder, the disc is written in a different manner
          • You continue to apologize for them...
            You say: Nintendo's given a lot of different reasons for that, and the most recent one seems to be that the Cube is meant as a game console, and that is all. Further reasons would be mostly technical (piracy is harder, the disc is written in a different manner (outside-in rather than inside-out) which should reduce loading times somewhat), but overall it just comes down to this simple answer: ask them. If piracy is the main concern, then of course they lose money by go
            • I tend to believe the word from the horse's mouth. You still have not addressed their comment at all. Stop looking around, and just look at what they said.

              Every other reason I stated came from their previous statements.

              They have no intention of adding value for the positive sake of adding value. They, more than any other first party, don't care about you. They aren't even afraid to admit it anymore.

              By your logic, the only one of the major console manufacturers that cares about anyone is Sony, because
    • Why would Nintendo want to sell their consoles at a loss in order to compete with Sony and Microsoft as Entertainment Hub companies when, as they pointed out, they won't make money if the people play DVDs? Sony does make money when people by DVDs, they are (in addition to their many other businesses) a DVD company. We are not talking about Nintendo adding a DVD player and being able to sell their consoles for cost-plus-profit here, because I don't think that would be a viable business strategy. Nintendo

  • Do people think Nintendo ignored these options? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by mhlandrydotnet ( 677863 ) on Thursday August 21, 2003 @12:23PM (#6755608)
    As this add seems to scratch the surface of another "What's wrong with Nintendo" thread, I'll bite.

    From the looks of it, it appears that most people think that Nintendo flat out ignored the push to make a console that doubled as a home entertainment system. Has anyone considered that Nintendo may have made a concious decision, after weighing the pros and cons, to keep the GameCube purely a game console?

    Isn't it concievable that Nintendo weighed the cheaper/easier-to-make pros versus the lose-market-share cons and simply decided to leave the entertainment system out of the console?

    Was this really the worst business decision they could make? With Sony holding a good bit of the market share and Microsoft coming out with a new game console, perhaps Nintendo simply thought they could not afford to make a console that sold at a loss?

    • Isn't it concievable that Nintendo weighed the cheaper/easier-to-make pros versus the lose-market-share cons and simply decided to leave the entertainment system out of the console?

      Wouldn't basing a system around the established DVD standard be cheaper than using a proprietary system? The only advantage to Nintendo's system I can see is that they can charge developers for manufacturing disks (I'm not sure about this) and that it would make piracy much more difficult and expensive.

  • "Why would we ever include DVD playback in our videogame system?... If someone buys a DVD and watches it on the Nintendo GameCube, we wouldn't receive any revenue from that. We'd rather have them play our games."

    How'd this guy become a marketing VP? If you sell a product with the intent that it become a continuous node of revenue for you, people will reject it. They can recognize a device that serves only the company's profit interest.

    Successful products that have ongoing expenses give the user somethi
    • Or more simply:

      No one's going to buy your games if no one's buying your consoles.

      Therefore, while in and of itself Nintendo would not make direct revenue from DVD capability, they would make indirect revenue in that for many people, lack of DVD capability was a big strike against the Gamecube when answering the question, "Which should I buy?". I know this was one of the factors in my cousin buying a PS2 for his kids instead of a Gamecube.

  • Nintendo are becoming stupider everyday (Score:3, Interesting)

    by billcopc ( 196330 ) <vrillco@yahoo.com> on Thursday August 21, 2003 @02:01PM (#6756710) Homepage
    They're plagued by the "One vision" syndrome. Problem is that Miyamoto doesn't govern the buying habits of the entire planet.

    Anyways, the reasoning behind bundled DVD support is a psychological cushion. Kids nag their parents for the latest and greatest console, parents say "Nay" until they notice it's also a DVD player. So they say "DVD's would be nice" and they buy the thing, thinking both kids and adults will benefit from the investment.

    Sure beats those 40$ Apex AD-1200's any day!
  • Sure the DVD playback was a big thing for this generation of gaming systems but I don't think it'll be as big of a deal with the next generation of systems. When this gen was coming out there weren't many people with DVD players. Now a lot of people have either an actual DVD player of a PS2/X-box and so when the next gen comes out it won't be as much of a selling point. I think Nintendo did the right thing and I sure hope that they don't add one to their next system. It'll just increase the price for the GC
  • I just bought a $50 DVD player yesterday to compliment my Cube. My roommate has a PS2 and I have a DVD drive in my computer.

    Why buy the player? Because the cheap $50 player does a lot more than a thrown-on PS2 pile-of-junk-player does. The public is just too dumb to appreciate it.
    • Thats not true man,I have an ps2 and I see that its a perfect thing of bundling those 2 things. think about it you dont have 2 buy it for $50 plus you can play games. GREETZ SEAN
      • Right, and your PS2 can play X/S/VCDs, jpegs, mpegs, and all mp3s, and power-on from the controller and play all region dvd's without modifying it?

        Not to mention it will NOT FAIL ON ME after 1 year? Do you know the failure rate of PS2s? Maybe YOU aren't part of it, but go to a GameStop or any game place and ask about the failure rate of PS2s and the most common part to fail(DVD Lasers).
  • Nintendo is a game company while Sony just happens to make a large profit from games.

    For nintendo it may not make much sense to pack a dvd player but for sony who also has a large stake in dvds it was a huge decision. An old article stated that when the ps2 first came out Sony was making more profits off of dvd sales that games from people (in japan) who would usually not be watching dvds but because they purchased the ps2 they were now able to.

  • "If someone buys a DVD and watches it on the Nintendo GameCube, we wouldn't receive any revenue from that. We'd rather have them play our games."

    This guy is their VP of Marketing?! No wonder Nintendo isn't winning! My dog's ass could understand marketing concepts better than this guy. I hope the interviewer laughed so hard he blew snot all over the room.

    I still haven't bought a console, but Nintendo has never even been a consideration for me simply because I don't have a DVD player yet. There are abou
  • Hrm... what are the two popular consoles? X-Box and PS2.

    What console is mostly dying? The console that doesn't allow you to play DVDs on it.

    Why? Well, I was looking at buying one myself a year ago, and like a good slashdotter, I immediately crossed off the Evil-Box, so it came down to the PS2 vs. the GameCube. Since I didn't have a DVD player (except for on my computers) it made the choice real easy, as each platform had an equal selection of games I wanted (at that time). Besides, the cube is top-
  • There are several reasons why the Gamecube is struggling in the game market, censorship, not such good specs, low space and a different format (mini dvd) and low space for developers to work with but mostly is the fact that Nintendo doesn't really care for all of this problems (and it shows) they know that as soon as their console is oriented to their target audience (kids and parents who buy consoles for their kids, wither you like to admit or not) and while their GBA's sale well (GBA adapter anyone?) and
  • People are forgetting that the lack of a DVD player hurts the gamecube in other ways. There isn't nearly the same amount of room on the proprietary little disks as there is on a DVD. That means less room for textures, fmv, sounds, levels, etc. While no current games are pushing size limits on game data yet, the limits are already apparent with regard to textures on the GC. Take a look at IGN's head to head reviews, where they compare versions of games that have come out on multiple consoles. The GC versions

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