Nintendo Revolution Under Wraps Past E3 741
The next-generation Nintendo console, codenamed Revolution, may not be shown at this year's E3. Eurogamer reports that the Japanese console maker is going to keep the console under wraps to keep the features of the new system out of the limelight a little while longer. From the article: "Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata is worried about rivals nicking all his best ideas at this early stage. That's how revolutionary the new console is, apparently... and also the exact same line Nintendo used to avoid showing Mario 128 at a previous E3."
makes no difference to me... (Score:2, Insightful)
I have owned every nintendo system since the NES (haven't picked up a DS yet though), and the video gaming experience from nintendo has never been matched for me by other systems (Genesis might have briefly come close). I grew up on Zelda, Mario and Metroid, and I have loved seeing how these genres and characters have evolved (I swear I have loved 100% of each of these game's evolutions over the last 20+ years - that track record simply can't be beat).
Nothing against PS2 and XBox, but I have absolutely no interest in following the adventures of "Master Chief," or Ico. I'm sure these games are good, but I won't be playing them.
Re:Lets just hope it isn't too revolutionary (Score:5, Insightful)
This might be insightful if Nintendo wasn't responsible for the standard 4 controller ports, standard analog sticks, standard 'rumble' functions, the huge portable gaming market, yadda yadda yadda.
meh (Score:5, Insightful)
Nintendo - shooting ourselves in the foot since 1990...
Re:Actually (Score:3, Insightful)
Nintendo has this obsessive-compulsive desire to be original and I hope it doesn't dig them into an even larger hole this time. Time will tell, but it doesn't look to be on Nintendo's side a.t.m.
Re:Lets just hope it isn't too revolutionary (Score:5, Insightful)
Usual Nintendo hype (Score:2, Insightful)
The N64, which was originally the Dolphin, then the Ultra 64 was delayed almost two years. The Gamecube was delayed as well. Now we're seeing the possibility of an Xbox release this year, a possible PS3 release in Japan end of this year/early next, and Nintendo hoping to get the console out by end of 2006. If it's not delayed again. Then they release the DS, and now the Gameboy Revolution planned. The DS was a quickly made half-assed portable to beat the PSP to market.
Don't get me wrong, I used to be a huge Nintendo fan. I always thought they were pioneers, but they're becoming that old dinosaur of the industry that's only still around because the brand name itself has some intrinsic value.
Re:Lets just hope it isn't too revolutionary (Score:3, Insightful)
If you're referring to the Gamecube's discs, what the hell are you talking about?
lower quality
In what sense?
don't meet up to modern-day standards
It's true that they don't have as much capacity as DVDs, but how many multi-disc Gamecube games have there been? In fact, the smaller discs are capable of spinning faster than DVDs, providing faster transfer rates (or so I've heard).
Re:Linux Already (Score:4, Insightful)
Solid marketing Decision (Score:5, Insightful)
Nintendo can unveil it at E3, and go up against Microsoft and Sony's HUGE marketing budget and hype. Magazines would probably have a triple feature, with sections given to each system and the respective company booths.
Or, Nintendo can wait a couple of months until the media coverage dies down a little bit, unveil the console, and get the cover of every non-platform-specific major game magazine in the biz. This decision shows not a lack of preparation or a schedule issue, but a smart martketing choice.
Re:Stupid Nintendo! (Score:5, Insightful)
Their goal is not the domination of their particular market; instead, they focus on being profitable companies. I say kudos to them for having the balls to make something that works well, is fun and intuitive to use AND still be able to sell enough of it to make some money. And if it takes some secrecy to bring their products to the market, then I'm all for it.
Re:Lets just hope it isn't too revolutionary (Score:1, Insightful)
In addition to previously mentioned innovations made by Nintendo (4 controller ports standard, etc.) another benefit of mini disc size is it forces publishers to actually use their brains when producing GC games.
Strangely enough, less space on disc available to the gamemaker means they can't just cram a bunch of FMV sequences into a crapass game then ship it off. When you consider that all new games cost about the same upon release, I'd say the gamer benefits from publishers rising to meet that challenge.
And even if Nintendo is playing the idiot corporation card for E3, I still think they deserve credit for game ideas that, IMHO, benefit the gamer in the end. I think a great example of this is the Donkey Konga/Jungle Run franchise. I realize that Dance Dance Revolution existed before this, but Nintendo seems to be the first one to actually bring this idea to the console. "Hey, wow! How about we make something new, as opposed to making yet another sports sim game?"
Not a big deal.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Usual Nintendo hype (Score:3, Insightful)
Wow! (Score:2, Insightful)
My personal opinion is that Nintendo lost a ton of respect in the gaming market with the Gamecube. The gamecube is still a lot of fun, but to me it feels more like a little kids toy as opposed to PS2 or Xbox. Given the choice to buy one single console, I would certainly choose a PS2 or Xbox over a gamecube any day. The gamecube just doesn't cut it for my needs. Let's hope this "revolution" truly is a revolution for Nintendo.
Nintendo got it right with the GBA though. Based on current prices I'd still take that over a DS or PSP.
The Cjeese Stands Alone (Score:3, Insightful)
Nintendo can really do whatever it wants. No matter what it will make up more then enough in the pure software sales on it's next gen system alone. MS & Sony don't have this advantage. For 1, MS has to buy all second party support, which costs mega $$$, and they don't have many (any?) first party games. Sony has paltry first party games, and the bulk of sales on software is given to third parties (the bulk of software sales being the bulk of profit available from consoles).
That's the economics of Nintendo, and if you aren't used to it by now, you've been naive.
E3 - bad (Score:3, Insightful)
Plus they would get their own Penny Arcade strip rather than one based on the 3 consoles which may do them alot of favours.
Re:Nintendont (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not to say you can't do both...... Nintendo isn't saying they're going to go backwards on hardware or something. Just that their philosophy is that a focus should be on fun and enjoyable games, rather than just purely on hardware, etc. used to do more advanced versions of the same basic game types.
Regarding the second comment...... just because something is a sequel to an existing franchise doesn't mean it can't be something new. And conversely, something can be a "new" brand but still basically be just a rehash of old ideas. For the most part, when you look at some of the recent Zelda and Metroid sequels, for example, you see something where they take elements and brands that have existed before, but do pretty new things with them. I don't think I'd blame them though for doing something in the vein of an existing franchise though, rather than creating a completely new franchise, because it can make it a lot easier for someone to pay attention to a completely new game if it is part of a universe and history that people like.
-Tom
Re:Lets just hope it isn't too revolutionary (Score:5, Insightful)
As long as Nintendo stick to their guns and keep making fun games their fanbase won't stray too far. They may not make them number 1 in the games market but right now it's been flooded with "Average Joes" who just want the latest EA offering, Halo whatever it is now and don't care about anything except pretty graphics.
Re:Bad news (Score:5, Insightful)
DS was featured at E3 in May of last year, and had several changes made to it before its launch on September 21st. 4 months sure can make a difference.
Re:Lets just hope it isn't too revolutionary (Score:3, Insightful)
Nintendo's got themselves an interesting situation here. They do have their fanbase and they can remain successful maintaining it. Despite not being #1, Nintendo's not exactly hurting here. They may not have several 10s of millions of GameCubes out there, but several of their titles have surpassed the million-units-sold mark. Nintendo makes a LOT more money on games than they do on consoles, especially the first-party ones. (That's before even mentioning Nintendo's hand-held monopoly... wow.)
Nintendo's biggest success here, as you've stated, is in their self-branded games. When those start becoming run-of-the-mill (and yes, there is a serious risk of that happening), then I'd be less inclined to argue with people predicting Nintendo's demise. Man I'm seeing a lot of Apple similarities here.
Re:competition (Score:4, Insightful)
That said, I think all of the next consoles are going to have an uphill fight for volume simply because their projected street price brings them awfully close to computers which have more utility and a larger body of games.
Re:Lets just hope it isn't too revolutionary (Score:3, Insightful)
Ask ANYONE who played Tetris and they'll comfirm this. Even today that game looks and plays as good as ever. Halo 2 VS Tetris and I know which I'll still wan tin 10 years time.
Hell I still remember the Christmas I got my GB. I remember the batteries dying and all 3 games we got that year. Infact I have a GBA and a bag of 40-50 GB games right next to me.
A true sign of a good console is that you never want to get rid of it.. I dread to think what I could buy if I put all my consoles on Ebay (Everything from the Nes-master system era right up to the PS2 and Cube), but they are so timeless to me that it's jus tnot worth it.
SNES games still look fantastic to day, PSX games look unplayable.. work it out from there..
Re:Three strikes and you're out... (Score:3, Insightful)
Damn what "gamers" want. I want something revolutionary!
It won't be at E3, though. I'm really disappointed about that, 'cause I'm actually going this year. Maybe I should just save the plane fare, hmm.
Re:Hmmm... (Score:5, Insightful)
And that is why it isn't selling as much as the PSP. Oh wait.
what with Microsoft and that whole "Live" thing.
And the 8% of XBOX gamers who use it. EIGHT PERCENT! Less than one out of ten.
God damn it. I'm so fucking tired of the cheap shots at Nintendo. They are the fucking ones that are making money. Q2 of FY 2003 was the only full quarter loss Nintendo reported in 50 years, and everyone predicts their doom. The XBOX has one profitable quarter after eleven straight losses, and everyone calls them a success.
Re:It Doesn't Matter (Score:5, Insightful)
Eh, sort of. Take a closer look at your list here. The Game Boy/Pocket/Color all played the original Game Boy games. The Color had a faster processor and had a few games made specifically for it. The GBA plays all GB games, and the DS plays all GBA games. The NES, SNES, N64, and GameCube are all roughly 5 years apart. The Revolution, in theory, will at least be 4 years apart. The actual support required isn't close enough together to really worry about.
Anyway, I said 'sort of' because you did bring up a point I'm worried about as well. Will the new GBA be DS compatible? I have trouble imagining that. Granted, we really don't know. Still, though, from everything Nintendo's said, the DS seems to be the runt of the litter.
Re:Vapor.... (Score:4, Insightful)
The Nintendo Expert's Point-of-View (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Bad news (Score:5, Insightful)
sfdgferbewfrerszt trewrd fgdswerdesbf
Do you really think that showing it to the public is the same as showing it to developers?
Re:It's not about the hardware (Score:4, Insightful)
You shouldn't think of Nintendo as Gateway to Sony's Dell... Nintendo is the Apple of the console business.
Think about it: Heavy on concept, low on market share, and with a related consumer product (the Gameboy) whose design has managed to totally dominate its market continuously against technically superior competition.
Nintendo at E3: A bit of history there... (Score:2, Insightful)
Anyone else remember in ancient times (circa 1994 or 5) when Nintendo showed off the AWESOME GRIPPING 3D GRAPHICAL PROWESS of the upcoming Ultra 64 at E3? They were all smiles as the attendees' jaws dropped watching a 3D Mario walking around in a photo-realistic "virtual reality" and other extremely impressive 3D demos (for the time).
Of course, the smiles faded and Nintendo became the laughing stock of the convention when someone pulled up the table skirt to reveal a high-end SGI Onyx running the demos.
Perhaps Nintendo does learn from some mistakes...
Re:Wow! (Score:2, Insightful)
"I'm sick of this kid's game adult's game crap. Just because a game has colors doesn't mean it isn't cool. You want to know how cool your video games are, ask your fscking girlfriend how cool. And if you don't have a girlfriend? That's part of the test."
Yes, the GameCube was/is a toy. But it's a toy that adults can enjoy as well. And once you get past the shock value (which most 14-23-year-olds never do), Grand Theft Auto isn't anywhere near as fun as many Cube games. Hell, I got more mileage out of Pikmin.
Then again, that's just my opinion...I could be wrong.
Copy a Mass Product, In full view of the Public? (Score:3, Insightful)
Really, what is there left to copy? MS is more than likely (according to the GDC) tied into development contracts, and a change at this point would ruin their hoped-for Q4 pre-christmas ship date.
Re:what are they afraid of? (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe if these features turn out to be a success in the marketplace -- unlikely if the DS is any indicator...
If anything, I'd say DS sales bode quite well for Nintendo. It's already past 6 million units, set the all-time record for highest-volume launch sales in the UK, sold 40% past Nintendo's holiday projections... And, Nintendo's production line is up to speed and has thus far prevented any serious DS shortages in any market (say what you will about the limited initial supply of the PS2 or the PSP creating additional product lust, it's still nice to be able to actually buy a console).
The DS has a lot going for it: the touch screen and microphone enable some very fun interaction that's perfect for short stints of mobile gaming. Plus, it has backwards compatibility with the whole library of GBA titles. Everyone says the PSP has a strong launch lineup... this is somewhat true, although many of the titles are just ports of PS2 games with reduced technical capability (near-PS2 graphics is an exaggeration, the graphics look more like some of the better quality Dreamcast games, but that still ain't bad). The only PSP title that really does it for me right now is Lumines, and that doesn't use the PSP's horsepower anyway.
Nintendo still knows the portable gaming market very well, and I think the interface features on the DS will continue to do quite well there. The PlayStation Portable is pretty much just that, a shrunken-down version of an ordinary console. Nintendo is trying to enable a new, unique experience on the DS, whereas Sony is trying to deliver a home-console gaming experience that comes along with you. The one thing that the PSP has going over the DS as a portable entertainment device is its multimedia capabilities, but even those are far from polished. If you want to enjoy music and video on the PSP, you have to buy a bigger memory stick (and it has to be the Duo version), and you can't just drag and drop songs and videos from your PC, that'd be way too easy. Instead, you must use special software (definitely not included in the box) to properly convert and obfuscate those files, and you're still limited to the 1GB size of Sony's largest memory stick. Sony has made an effort to make the PSP a multimedia convergence device, but it is, unfortunately, halfhearted. Hopefully they will roll in some improvements in subsequent firmware updates, but I still wish they would have included a little slot on the back that could hold a mini hard-drive option.
People want a convergence device, but the PSP hasn't made multimedia use easy enough for the average user yet, and I doubt it will do a whole lot to stave off the cell phone's continued drive to assimilate every other peice of portable electronics. This isn't a huge issue for Sony, as they are in that market, too (I have a T610 and I love it, Sony's definitely got that down, don't get me wrong). If you want a portable gaming device, though, the innovation present in the DS, for me and for a whole lot of other gamers, trumps the raw power and the (I'll admit it) oh-so-sexy screen of the PSP.
Notice, however, that what Nintendo has going on with the DS doesn't necessarily translate to whatever the hell they're planning with revolution. To succeed in the home console space, they need 3rd party developer support (it's becoming clear that, despite continued strong showings from the Mario, Zelda, and Metroid franchises, they just aren't system sellers anymore), and they need to make a decent technical showing against Microsoft and Sony. Now, Microsoft started this generation with a very small selection of games but obvious technical superiority, showcased by their trump title Halo, and gradually built up a solid selection of titles. Sony had backwards compatibility with the vast universe of PS1 games, plus astoundingly great 3rd party support that gave them plenty of system sellers at no development cost to them (Grand Theft Auto, Final Fantasy, Tekken, Soul Calibur... all developed by 3rd parties), and was first to launch by
Re:Bad news (Score:1, Insightful)
2) You are basing said speculation, in part, on "data" from IGN.
God help you.
Re:makes no difference to me... (Score:5, Insightful)
I found out about it very late, and played it only about a year ago, and even going in with high expectations, I was STILL blown away. A year later, I can close my eyes and summon up exact pictures of several locations, to the point that I could sketch them out and be pretty accurate. That's how intensely it impressed itself into my memory... no small feat, when you consider that I'm nearer 40 than 30, and have played so many games over the years.
All the consoles have something to offer. Pick one of each up used, for chrissake. Refusing to buy hardware because it's not Nintendo is cutting off your nose to spite your face. All you're hurting is yourself.
I have all three consoles, and I don't have any real attachment to any of them. I suppose, overall, I like the XBox the most at the moment, because it has had the most interesting games of late, and it may have better 'legs' than the other two. Chronicles of Riddick is really good. Burnout 3 is excellent. Jade Empire is quite good... maybe not as good as Knights of the Old Republic, but good. KOTOR was one of the best RPGs ever done, a true classic. Halo was okay, but tremendously overrated.
On the PS2, there's the Grand Theft Auto series and Katamari Damacy as can't-miss titles. And Ico. And probably a zillion others I can't think of right now.... I guess if you've never owned a Playstation, you must have missed all the Final Fantasy games? Final Fantasy 7 is probably the second-best RPG ever made, and you could argue that it was better than KOTOR in some areas. (freedom and duration, mostly.)
Gamecube has Wind Waker, a true masterpiece, though I do feel it was a bit on the short side. Harvest Moon was good, but got old a bit fast. Animal Crossing was a lot of fun for awhile. The Metroids were excellent. Wario Ware is a completely bizarre, but fun, party-type game. I've often gotten the feeling that the console is underused... it really feels like it has more power than what you actually see.
Nintendo makes great consoles, but cripes, you've missed some unbelievably good games because of your platform-centrism. The platform doesn't MATTER. It's the games that matter. Find the games you want to play, and buy the hardware that plays them best. That's really all there is to it.
If you don't want to play Ico just because Nintendo didn't make it, then you're willfully blind and ignorant. Go away, or I shall be forced to taunt you again.
Re:Nintendo at E3: A bit of history there... (Score:2, Insightful)
Knowing this, was the convention really that far off base from reality? N64 really CAN do a 2D Mario sprite placed in a texture-mapped city street scene easily after all...
Re:Bad news (Score:4, Insightful)
The irony is that Sony had partnered with Nintendo to develop an optical drive for the Super Nintendo, and when Nintendo got cold feet, Sony took what they'd learned and created the Playstation. Microsoft did the same thing, partnering with Nintendo to learn about game system development, but pulled out of the agreement to create their own game system. The main difference is who broke up with whom: Nintendo dumped Sony, causing Sony to create the PS; Microsoft dumped Nintendo, suggesting they went into the relationship with less-than-honest intentions.
Re:Lets just hope it isn't too revolutionary (Score:1, Insightful)
Piracy only works to your favor if you're someone like Microsoft, who is happy to let piracy drive their competition out of business, by displacing product sold by the competition with your own. Then, once the market is set and solid on that pirated software, and your competition is virtually dead due to being forced to sell product, stop official support of the old version (bugs & hackers ahoy!) and introduce much more stringent copy protection methods in new versions, forcing companies to buy your product. Which is substantially more expensive because all your competition is dead.
I don't see how that model remotely applies to game companies turning a profit. Nintendo & Sony sell their hardware at break-even prices. Microsoft sells theirs at a massive loss. Selling hardware isn't going to net any of them a profit, nor will the lost sales of games benefit third parties.
You're grasping at straws here. Nintendo's surge in sales coincided with a huge surge in quality titles being released, both from Nintendo as well as third parties (who sat on the fence at launch time). That has nothing to do with fscking piracy.
Stop trying to rationalize your illegal activities, and just accept reality - you're just another a cheap-ass scumbag who's breaking the law. Even getting on your high horse isn't unique, I've heard the exact same short-sighted hair-brained arguments from 15 year old punks.
Re:Not much of a revolution, possibly (Score:1, Insightful)
Facts about Nintendo (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Vapor.... (Score:2, Insightful)
If anything, Nintendo underhypes their consoles. While this ensures that people will not be disappointed when they compare what they hear with what they get, people will see the higher (probably lab setting) specs of the other systems and go for them. What really bothers me is that people seem to be choosing games and gaming systems based on graphics alone. Sure the PS2 has a lot more games than the gamecube. Unfortunately, a large percentage of them are (for lack of a better word) crap.
Re:Hmmm... (Score:5, Insightful)
I think people take cheap shots at them because they don't want to admit that "kiddy games" such as Zelda: Wind Waker and Mario Sunshine are a lot more fun to play than those hack and slash "grownup" games.
I'm 23 years old and most of my games are E rated. Some are T rated. None are M rated. M rated games just aren't very fun. My buddies tease me about it, but who isn't having fun playing Mario Kart or Mario Party? Who doesn't like to drop a bomb bug on their enemies pikmin and blow 'em to bits? Who doesn't think the storyline to Windwaker is interesting?
Re:Lets just hope it isn't too revolutionary (Score:2, Insightful)
That's got a little more to do with 2D games aging better than 3D games, I'd say, than Nintendo. Example of PSX game that is perfectly playable (even downright pretty) to this day: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. This is also the reason that GB games age better. Graphics weren't as much of a selling point on a lot of those old 2D games, gameplay was.
This is actually the reason that the DS makes me somewhat sad. The GBA really was the last great refuge for the 2D gamer.
Re:Hmmm... (Score:3, Insightful)
It's all about genres, actually (Score:2, Insightful)
My favourite genre however are CRPGs and I fucking _hate_ 3D jump-and-runs. (And no, the Zeldas are _not_ RPGs.) So Mario and Zelda never did anything for me.
I liked the SNES, because that's where the RPGs were at. The N64 on the other hand was the start of my contempt for Nintendo. Over its awfully long life span it had exactly _one_ (debatably) RPG, and even that one was not published in Europe. The Gamecube falls in the same category too: looking at its lineup of games really doesn't do anything for me.
And Nintendo's arrogant "we have all the games we need, it's Sony who'll go bankrupt for publishing lots of games" attitude also didn't help. Here I had an N64 catching dust, with one game published every 2-3 months and even that one some jump-and-run I didn't want. And Nintendo is telling me that that's all the games they need.
I started just hating Nintendo at that point.
"I think people take cheap shots at them because they don't want to admit that "kiddy games" such as Zelda: Wind Waker and Mario Sunshine are a lot more fun to play than those hack and slash "grownup" games."
Ah, a conspiracy theory. Some world-wide conspiracy made everyone say they dislike Nintendo's games, even though they really like it. Think about it for a little, and I think you'll realize how silly that theory is.
No, some of us just honestly have other tastes in games, and don't find Nintendo's games to be any fun. At all. It's not about being "kiddy games", it's simply about everyone liking a different kind of a game:
Nintendo catters to a niche, at the expense of ignoring everyone else. By the sound of it, you are in that niche market. Good for you. I can see how you'd be happy with Nintendo's games then. Most people however fall outside that niche, which is why it's a niche.
"My buddies tease me about it, but who isn't having fun playing Mario Kart or Mario Party?"
I don't. I very much prefer a real racing _simulation_, like Gran Turismo.
It's not about it being Mario or Nintendo or "kiddie". The whole pseudo-racing-while-throwing-crap-at-each-other genre just doesn't do anything for me. That includes the PSX/PS2/whatever games in that category. And includes the SF/cartoon-license/whatever games, not just the "kiddie" ones.
"Who doesn't like to drop a bomb bug on their enemies pikmin and blow 'em to bits?"
I don't. Honestly. If I want to blow things to bits, I load a proper strategy game. E.g., "Rome: Total War".
"Who doesn't think the storyline to Windwaker is interesting?"
Even if I didn't mind the story as such, the implementation does nothing for me. I mean, Daikatana's story wasn't the bad part about it either. Stil, that didn't make it game of the year or anything.
Re:Hmmm... (Score:2, Insightful)
I keep seeing people say how much the DS sucks compared to the PSP. But as someone who actually owns -both- I can truthfully say they're just different. They also appeal to different groups. Both ages and interests.
A recent example I have of this, we spent a week in Disney World with my step daughter. Having both we honestly expected her to take the PSP (mmmlumines) away from my wife and I for the week and leave us with the DS. But no, she was glued to the DS screen the entire week and showed no interest in the PSP at all.
I see a lot of people endlessly praising the PSP, but in the end it's not so much better, as different. Certainly more flashy, but not always more fun.
Re:It's all about genres, actually (Score:3, Insightful)
By contrast, the PSX had a couple dozens per year. You can probably see how even for us PC RPG gamers the Playstation was a very tempting proposition. And how the N64 was just not a contender for that market segment.
But PC gaming was also always a niche market itself, compared to the larger and more lucrative console market. Don't get me wrong, the PC has some great games, but the cost of hardware to run them well has always been an issue. Back then, even more: a high-end PC used to cost some 2000 dollars, a console was 300 dollars. So more people had a console than a PC.
So there IMHO was (and still is) a whole market who really just faced the choice "do I get a Nintendo or a Sony", and the PC was a non-factor. And there it boils down to "which of those has games that match my personal preferences."
Nintendo painted itself into a corner by cattering to just a niche. There were a lot of genres which just were not available at all on a N64. So fans of those genres really had no reason whatsoever to buy a N64 or Nintendo's games.
(Incidentally, yep, it's very insightful that you mention Sega there. One of the main complaints about the Dreamcast was the same: whole genres were missing. Heck, I was a Sega fanboy, and even I was irked that you couldn't find a good Dreamcast RPG for love or money for the first two years or so.)
Plus Nintendo's flogging the dead horse that games are only for kids was a bad maneuver. I'm not saying that they shouldn't have made games for kids too. But focusing _only_ on that corporate image drove away the lucrative market of adult gamers. Bad move: even for kids, it's the parents that pay for the console. Sony bet on having games that Mom and Dad too can play, and it paid off.
Basically I'm saying that it wasn't just a question of pumping money into something. It was a question of making it useful for more people.
Sure, the PS2 had bad load times and its graphics indeed didn't really live up to the hype. But whatever genre you preferred, you could find one on the PS2. On the other hand, most genres weren't available for love or money on a GameCube.
Basically it's the difference between "overrated" and "useless". Sure, the PS2 can be filed under "overrated", but for anyone falling outside of Nintendo's target niche the N64 or GameCube fell squarely under "useless". That's what really made the difference, IMHO. If that's the choice, I'd rather buy something overrated than something useless for me.
Re:Hmmm... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:It's all about genres, actually (Score:2, Insightful)
If I want to blow things to bits, I load a proper strategy game. E.g., "Rome: Total War".
When I was a kid. I never understood why grownups stopped watching cartoons. I still think they're a hoot. I never wanted to grow up to be some boring fella who could only find enjoyment in boringness. I don't know, but I'd rather fight the evil Dr. Robotnik than yawn through some ultra-realistic game with super grainy or horribly polygonated graphics. (Not that I'm saying E rated games are not polygonated, I'm saying that if the game is suppose to look realistic, it doesn't).
Who wants to sneak around with a square head with a "Realistic" face painted on? Who wants to fall asleep while playing a game with a depressing and slow storyline? I sure don't. Kiddy or not, I have fun.
Tides are turning to the big N (Score:2, Insightful)
Videogames were never about wowing hardware specs. and that is all that is pushing Sony and MS into the "Next Gen" consoles. Nintendo is the only company staying out of this arms race and concentrating on innovation. I don't want to be playing Gran Turismo 8 on the PS3 and GTA 7 I want innovation and fresh new ideas. Katamari Damacy proved the success of innovation on PS2, and while it does exist on these two platforms, Nintendo has the track record of fresh new ideas in games and interfaces (even though there are the same parallels to be drawn with Zelda, Mario, etc. they all tend to be new and fresh each time out of the gate)
Coming from someone who never purchased anything past the SNES and GBA from Nintendo, my feelings are changing quite rapidly toward the Revolution. I think it is finally going to reach a point where gamers are ready for a change, and I think that time is closer than most think. I want Nintendo to succeed, I want gameplay and attention to detail to reign supreme, and it isn't going to happen with the PS3 or Xbox 360 they are just beefed up editions of what is available now playing the same games and the same franchises with little to no advances aside from graphics.
I'm ready for a revolution after covering Sony for 10+ years.
Re:Hmmm... (Score:1, Insightful)
That is lame.
Yes, I suppose that one might want a sort of simplicity in their gaming and not be bothered by a decade's worth of game design advancements, and if youre one of those, thats great. But Ive grown up a lot in 10 years, and my games should too. Other series have tried to evolve over the years, with different levels of success, and I dont think its unreasonable to ask the same of Nintendo games. But they have shown themselves to be completely incapable of doing that, and thats why their fanbase is shrinking (among other reasons).
The problem is that Nintendo fans will automatically claim anyone who doesnt like Nintendo games simply doesnt like them because theyre kiddy, and this is horse shit. Or they might say that I want Mario to steal cars and kill hookers - again, this is horse shit. I dont watch the same movies, eat the same food, have the same friends, go to the same places, etc., that I did in 1989, so why should I be playing the same games?