Nintendo Talks DS, Zelda, PSP Threat 108
Thanks to IGN Cube for its interview with Nintendo VP of corporate affairs Perrin Kaplan, as she comments on the Nintendo DS' backwards compatibility ("I think the initial appeal the DS gives you is that you can start with a library of 500 games"), on the new realistic-looking Zelda title ("We knew that people were going to say, 'Oh, is the new Zelda because you made a mistake with Wind Waker?' You don't make a mistake when you sell something in the millions and millions"), on the battery life of Nintendo's forthcoming handheld ("Very similar to the [Game Boy Advance] SP and I think very different from the PSP. I'm not quite sure why Sony said "Two to 10 hours" [for PSP's battery life]. That must mean that it's two hours"), and on rivalry with Sony's PSP ("I think Sony has developed a very nice looking screen. I think that having a system with claims to all the multi-functionality is a big question in our minds. Pricing is a huge question.")
Re:New Zelda look a Let Down (Score:3, Interesting)
Because its hard to take a hero seriously who's head is a perfect sphere. (I have nothing against non-photorealistic rendering, it just needs to be done right. Windwaker was an experiment. They got most things right, but they also got a few things wrong, including Link's head and the whole sailing-forever-to-get-anywhere thing. And no, I'm not sorry I bought it, but it from my perspective it could have been better than it was. I expect this to be the perpetual vi versus emacs debate of the Nintendo world for quite some time to come.)
I just watched the trailer. Very nice. I'm looking forward to it coming out.
-jim
Battery Life, huh? (Score:3, Interesting)
to quote homer_ca, on a topic about Wi-Fi on Cell Phones: "Toy is right. Besides the problem of roaming, power consumption is a huge problem with Wifi. 802.11b is a high bandwidth, long range (compared to Bluetooth at least) protocol. It consumes a lot of power just maintaining a link to the AP. According to this it consumes 800mW while idle with a link up, 950mW while receiving, and 1400mW while transmitting. Wifi might be practical for outgoing calls, but not the other way. You'd drain your battery ust sitting at a hotspot waiting for a call."
Nice try Nintendo, but you'll have to tell us how many hour(s) the DS can run before you can criticize the PSPs battery life.
PSP a threat? (Score:4, Interesting)
Asian Wall Street Journal story: http://tinyurl.com/2mqoj
What's more, Sony's decision to put out a machine that plays movies as well as games has some creators scratching their heads.
"Will it be a game machine or a video Walkman?" asks Michihiro Sasaki, general manager of corporate strategy at Japanese video-game maker Square Enix Co. "We're still not sure what Sony wants to do with it -- that's a problem."
Mr. Sasaki says Square Enix, known for its Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy games, eventually hopes to provide content for the PSP but wants to hear more about the PSP's business model before deciding what to prepare.
Still, some game developers worry that it may be hard to balance competing technical demands -- as well as figure out the price and audience -- for a gadget that combines the functions of a Walkman, video player and game machine.
"It would be better if [the PSP] were just a game machine," says Kazumi Kitaue, executive in charge of video games at Konami Corp., which puts out the popular Metal Gear Solid series. "It's silly to talk about watching movies anywhere anytime; you want to concentrate."
Mr. Kitaue says that Konami has started developing games for the PSP and that he has high hopes for the machine. But he worries that the product release could be delayed in Japan -- as it was in the U.S.
I don't think Nintendo's all that worried about the PSP.
Re:Battery Life, huh? (Score:2, Interesting)
About wifi, I wouldn't be surprised if it became a matter of switching between Bluetooth and 802.11b via software control, as opposed to both being on at the same time, all the time. Wouldn't that make the most sense? I mean, if you're doing Bluetooth PvP, you're not necessarily going to need 802.11b to be on at the same time, right? I guess for "conference-call" style PvP, but who knows what's going to be done about that, if anything. At least on the DS you have both options, Bluetooth or wifi. PSP is going to use 802.11b for all wireless communication, although I bet even Sony isn't going to do something so stupid as having 802.11b on all the time without user control. That would kill always-on roaming player detection since they don't have a lower-power option to wifi, but I would think at least some software would offer a roaming detect option, even for 802.11b.
Re:microsoft-esque remark (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:This battle has happened before (Score:3, Interesting)
Sony sold 100,000,000 PS1s.
Nintendo sold 30,000,000 N64s.
Now the funny thing is that Nintendo sold only a small percentage more SNESs than they sold N64s.
So... what happened? Sony GREW the market... A LOT. Nintendo kept their fanbase(and continues to keep them into this generation), but didn't get too many new converts.
Also, going into the N64/PS/Saturn era, Nintendo was not dominant. They shared the thrown with a player called SEGA because they were horribly late to the 16-bit party with the SNES.
Comparing the modern console market to the modern handheld market doesn't hold up either. There are different considerations that buyers take into account when buying a portable versus a non-portable product.
Battery-life is a big one, and one Sony appears to have lost(regardless of their claims that they get 8 hours of life, I don't see how it's possible they get more than the 2-2 1/2 hours they claim to get with video in real life with the current model). If they can't wring 6 hours+(minimum, no exceptions) out of the thing, it's dead in the water.
Re:The PSP will fail (Score:3, Interesting)
That said, PSP looks impressive -- but only being able to play for 2 hours doesn't seem reasonable for a handheld. I think it's a home system for the antisocial.