Mixed News for Nintendo, Microsoft

If you were to just look at downloadable content this week, Wii and 360 owners would have a lot to cheer about. Virtual Console downloads include the (under-appreciated) Legend of the Mystical Ninja and the original Castlevania. Xbox 360 owners can finally sink their teeth into the board-game spectacular that is Settlers of Catan. Classic titles Millipede and Centipede will also be on offer via Xbox Live Arcade. Unfortunately, there are some less cheery things to discuss as well. Virtual Console sales are down, apparently, and some analysts are questioning whether Nintendo's success may be bad for the industry overall. As for the 360 ... the Elite may be bringing back some old problems. 'Red Rings of Death' have already been reported with the just-released consoles, and DRM issues with Live Arcade titles on the 'upgraded' system are making some new owners frustrated.

Red Rings of Death

[shakey_deal]

ugh, I get goatse flashbacks when I hear that phrase!

Re:Listen to them cry now!

[Skreems]

Someone should print off one of the /. threads that predicted the Wii vs. PS3 performance over a year ago, and send it to Sony. Possibly with a xerox of some buttocks attached as well.

Analysts Are Stupid

[AbsoluteXyro]

I'm late to the party here and I'm terribly sorry if what I'm about to say has already been said... I just need to say this.

Goddamn, analysts are dumb!

"Nintendo has not only increased the size of the market, but it has also re-segmented it in its own favor, in our view," Mitchell wrote. "Nintendo is dominating software sales on its popular hardware platforms, leaving the publishers with a smaller slice of an only somewhat incrementally larger pie."

So, apparently Nintendo is not only adding new people to the market, but they are killing all the old ones

Also, it is apparently Nintendo's fault that 3rd parties refuse to do something original, rather than slapping Wii controls onto a PS2 port and calling it good. Next I suppose it will be Nintendo's fault that publishers do heap piles and piles of shovelware onto the DS and Wii in the hopes of making a quick buck. Absolutely ridiculous.

Wii Heresey

[7Prime]

Hello, I'm here to tell you about a threat to our way of life. This heinious trend will inevitably turn all of our children over to the clutches of Satan, and send our great nation spiraling into entropia. I am, of course, speaking of the Nintendo Wii. This is video gaming, as God never intended. The Wii will most likely destroy the video game industry as we know it, turning meaningful crusades like F.E.A.R and Crackdown into fun... and enjoyable entertainment. This must be stopped, at all costs.

But what can you do to prevent it? Here are a number of tips:

1) Spread the word by catering to the adolecent fear that the Wii is a childs toy. Obviously, this is not true, but it will eat at the soul of any person between the ages of 12-18. "You don't want to remain boys forever, do you? Then stop playing with your Wii!"

2) LET THE WORLD KNOW! Let the world know that the Wii is a threat to our God-given way of life. For God is kind and good... and the Wii is shitty and white.

3. Make Zonk pay. Did you know that Zonk is actually spelled L-U-C-I-F-E-R? Well, it is. He's the devil, and he spreads his heretical message far and wide. Make sure he can not get a word in edge wise by picking apart his every sentance. Only the pure crusader can curb his demonic message

4) Spur ideological discussion on how our fine, under-achieving game developers will be swollowed into the maelstrom of bedlam if Nintendo is able to continue; continue it's satanic tyrade of developing better games, at the expensive of others. This will confuse idiots, easilly, and throw the more knowledgable off, at least throw them off enough to get a few more jabs at Zonk.

In closing, use your head, but not too much, as knowledge is the gateway to hell, and the gateway to hell, as we all know, is the Wii. Be irrational, spontanious, and do not be afraid to be utterly obnoxious. For this is a crisis bigger then ourselves, and it must be stopped. As the penis must be stopped from entering the bowel, the Wii, too, must be stopped from seducing our young people, and our elderly, from the temptations of evil.

Thank you, and good luck.