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Games Entertainment

Gamecube In Danger? 207

Posted by Hemos from the floating-on-rumors dept.
mmmmbeer writes "This article at Daily Radar and this one at MCV share an unsettling development. Apparently, Hiroshi Yamauchi, President of Nintendo, has said that if Gamecube doesn't get a "positive response at E3," then they may not go through with producing the Gamecube. Personally, I doubt that Gamecube will get anything but great reviews, but it's worrying that he would have said that."
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Gamecube In Danger? More

Gamecube In Danger?

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  • lost in translation (Score:3)

    by BenHmm ( 90784 ) <ben AT benhammersley DOT com> on Monday April 23, 2001 @06:08AM (#271540) Homepage
    this really depends on what he means by "good reception".

    Does he mean the press, or the developers? The press slamming it is not so bad a problem as all the developers going over to the Xbox. If they all defected, you can understand Nintendo sticking with what they've got, and not spending all their cash on marketing a dead product.

  • Enh (Score:2)

    by Ryvar ( 122400 )
    I hate to say this (and it'll get me modded down), but Nintendo stopped making games for people over age 10 a long time ago. Sony has more or less a complete hold on the adult console market at the moment (Dreamcast isn't bad but Sega's done and gone). Not to tout Microsoft, but I'll welcome the Xbox if and when it's dual 'Joe-AOL's Consumer PC' and 'Every PC Game Developer' advantages help it gouge bloodied chunks from Sony's monopoly.

    Screw Nintendo - they stopped making games for serious gamers a long time ago.

    --Ryvar

  • Nintendo lnows what the market is going to be like Gamecube has to get HARD CORE SOLID REVIEWS.

    They have to compete w- Sony, who already has 10 million + of their consoles in homes, and the XBox, which appears to be a media darling. Nintendo has to beat the "kiddie" console image Pokeman helped establish for them to be a serious contender in the console market

  • ...there, its been said, now they won't make it.

  • Probably the press.

    This is Nintendo, after all. They've got some developers who will write games for them no matter what the specs for the box are.
  • Is there really room in the market for three consoles?? N64 and PSX forces the Saturn out of the market. Just the rumors of the PS2 forced the Dreamcast out.

    Nintendo is taking the right track with this one. Nintendo may be the senior company in this market, but Sony and Microsoft have billions, and are willing to spend it, to dominate this market. The Gamecube had better be one incredible machine to be able to survive. Is the market capable of three consoles? Maybe. But my money is on PS2 and XBox over Dolphin.

  • I'm sure this is all hype. Of course people are going to see it at E3 and have a positive response. This way Mr. Yamauchi can say "Well, since the demand was SOOOO HIGH, we have decided to release the Gamecube." Nintendo isn't going to go back on years of R&D when the GC is so close to launch. Take this quote with a barrel of salt.
  • Hmmm... I can't see that being a true quote. Reason being, that the major Japanese game companies (Nintendo, Sony, Sega) usually gauge their successes and failures on how well their systems do in Japan, with the rest of the world being secondary. That's why even though N64 was pretty popular in the US, it was still considered somewhat of a failure by Yamauchi & co. This being the case, why would Yamauchi base GC's (non)production on an American tradeshow, over it's own Japanes tradeshow Spaceworld?
  • This is a bad thing?!?!?! Nintendo's been a bit of a loser in the gaming industry for a while now. One less gaming platform means that you're more likely to find the game you like/want on the system/s you do own. No more having to own 2 or 3 systems to play all the best games. No more lame, annoying commercials for nintendo. There was an article published a while back about how a large diversity of gaming systems tends to slow/squash game development, and from there, slows down system development. I see this as a positive development. ALL HAIL NATURAL SELECTION
  • Check out this article on the good ol' shack.

    http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/13536/ [shacknews.com]

    Now if they could make some real games for the system. Mario and Zelda shoudn't be the only reason to buy a console. (Oh yea, forgot Mario Paint)
  • Haha surely this is a troll, but you've got to be kidding me. It would die and Nintendo wouldn't see a dime. The entire Open Source community is at best a drop in the ocean compared to the markets that any of these video games target. Even if you could get the entire Open Source community to buy it, it would not even cover Nintendo's costs. What's more, the Open Source community hasn't a clue or the equipment to develop modern video games (e.g., motion capture, sound and video recording studios, etc.), never mind skill, desire, and organization....

    They'd do far better selling it to, say, Sega (not that that's likely).
  • While I think that Nintendo certainly markets to the younger generation, I think gamers of all ages can enjoy games like Zelda... I like that the Dreamcast is dropping prices on some of their popular games. Virtua Tennis & Jet Grind Radio can be had for comparatively low prices...
  • Is it even an option? Given the worst-case scenario, could Nintendo even opt not to sell the Gamecube? It would completely destroy their main business (hardware) to rely solely on the N64 (sales of which aren't exactly gathering steam).

    The only other option Nintendo would have is to become a software/Pokemon vendor. Anyone know how much of their income doesn't depend on hardware sales?

    I'm really hoping Nintendo doesn't pull a Sega, but it looks like they just might.

  • Wasn't the gameboy advance designed to be used as a controller of some sort for the game cube? If the game cube dies, will they include this capability (= added cost) or not? They still have 80% of the handheld game market, which is pretty good, but charging more for a capability you'd never be able to use seems ridiculous...

  • This reminds me of when Ty announced they were going to stop making Beanie Babies, then shortly thereafter decided they were going to put it to a "vote" of whomever was willing to shell out fifty cents (which, to be fair, went to charity) to have their voice heard. Needless to say, we're still up to our ears in cloyingly-named animal-shaped hacky sacks.

    I think the chance of the E3 reaction scuttling the launch of the Gamecube is about equal to the chance that anyone would have gotten a free taco out of Taco Bell's Mir stunt.


  • Nintendo should drop out of the hardware game, and hit up M$ or $ony for a huge $ deal to make Nintendo an exclusive label for that console.
    Hardware has always been a loss-leader for game sales, at best a break-even proposition.

    ---
    I smoked once (or, ahem, more than), and you're damn right I inhaled.
  • This isn't necessarily true.... Nintendo recently has been producing quite a few "adult" titles. Anyone heard of Conker's BFD [conker.com]?

    The thing is that's very interesting is that 7-10 years ago, this was true.... They were blocking "adult" games right and left back in the SNES days.... (anyone remember the whole Mortal Kombat fiasco?). Then, when they realized this wasn't making friends either with the developers or with the gamers, they did an about-face and started embracing "mature" titles.

    Now I'll admit that the choice in using cartridges for the N64 has really prevented quite a few great "mature" or "adult" titles from being made on the system (I also have many other reasons to hate carts ;-)... but they have had their share of "mature" and "adult" titles.

    (Note that I am in no way a big Nintendo advocate [geekcomix.com].... but I do have to be fair...)
  • Have you played any Nintendo games? Even "serious" gamers play games for fun, right?
  • ah, well, it's The Times.

    But, when I'm abroad I've found it's usually better to refer to it as The Times of London, so as not to confuse people between us and the New York Times or the Times of India. There is also The Sunday Times, which is a seperate paper, but owned by the same company. As is the Times Literary Supplement, and the Times Education Supplement. Same, but seperate.

    Either way, we were here first - the first issue was in 1788.
  • I NEED MY METROID!! I've waiting YEARS for my Metroid!!

    Seriously, though, PSX and M$ are focusing on the adult/teenagers for their target audience. Nintendo has always appealed to the kiddies. Nintendo will always have a place in the console market until one of the consoles seriously attack the kid market. Even then, Nintendo's cornered the portable game market. I don't think we have anything to worry about.
  • *Faints at the shock of Nintendo late with another console* *Gasps at Nintendo's failure to deliver what is promised (Anyone remeber the N64 DD add-on that was suppose to change the face of gaming forever?)* Ever since the SNES, Nintendo has been on a terminal slide in the eyes of hardcore gamers (not the cutesy Pokemon-on-Gameboy players). They lack games in Genres other than Racing, Sports, and TV Rip-offs (I'm the first to coin this catagory.. Think of all the games based on TV, such as Pokemon, Power Rangers, and WWF games). Then there was the Vitual Boy... *Shudders* First game system I ever heard of having a serious health risk... The credible Third Party developers who jumped ship when the N64 was launched (Most noteably, Squaresoft.) were merely the beginnning. Constant delays, poor reviews,high development and product costs, and lack of developers doomed the N64 and solidified the victory of the PSX in it's time. It's understandable that Nintendo would not want see this happen again with the Gamecube, although I don't think they'll have much of a problem. Especially in light of the upcoming Xbox and the mediocre rise of the PSX2, Nintendo can not afford to make another mistake, less they go the way of Sega.(Sega CD - strike 1, Sega Saturn - strike 2, Sega Dreamcast - strike 3..You're OUT!) Repeated failures to produce quality hardware forced them to give up the console business and focus on software. Currently, with N64 (strike 1) and the extension of it that never even saw the light of day (strike-2), Nintendo can't afford another mistake...
  • Actually something like 4 pokeman games EACH have a place in the top ten selling video games of the past year or two; I'd hardly say they're just hanging on there. That's something that ANY of the other game companies would kill for.
  • I think they are just trying to build momentum towards the big launch at E3, by posting hype generating news like this. Nintendo is very secure, thank you very much, thanks to their Gameboy line of products. Even if the Gamecube does not do well, Nintendo can pull a Microsoft and pour cash into the Gamecube. Look at the N64. Good system at the time, but it was the games that made it. Still, the market share is nothing to write home to mom about. How does it still exist? Gameboy. Same will hold true for the Gamecube.

    It will succeed. With the amount of kids out there, and the price point they are shooting for, it can only do well. Look at the Dreamcast! Since the pricedrop to $99, they have been selling faster then ever. One thing I admire about Nintendo, they are out for the gaming dollar, not this all-in-one home entertainment console.

    Bryan R.
  • If the Gamecube isn't exciting the press, how is it meant to excite the home users? How can the console survive if it doesn't get people excited about it? Nintendo might just push back the launch instead, until they can get a launch lineup and strategy that _will_ make people excited. If nintendo goes through with producting a console that flops, it could damage them pretty bad. As it stands, they have the Gameboy Advance doing well, and they could get along quite fine on that. Especially if they get another Pokemon title out.
  • Last year nintendo made more money on software sales than EA, Sega, and Sony. Totaling in at just under 1 billion dollars. So to say nintendo doesn't have the cash to play with the likes of Sony and MS is like saying Michael Jordan was never fit to play basketball. Oh yeah, sony has been shipping it's console at a loss since its release in Japan and it's shortcomings in software sales are not helping. Since X-box will no doubt ship at a loss and Nintendo stands to make money on each console it sells, the picture looks alot clearer for nintendo. If any company has it's work cut out for it in the console business it is Microsoft.
  • This system will make or break Nintendo (at least the Nintendo we all know now...)

    Sure, they could fall back on the GameBoy, but they can't keep doing that forever. The GameCube is such a huge investment on Nintendo's part. Five years of research for a product that would never hit shelves? The investment is too big. Nintendo will have to produce the console either way.

    What we're seeing is mega-companies entering the console arena. Sony and Microsoft, of course, are the two bigger ones. They both have more marketing power, more money, and they can afford to take a risk. The PSX isn't going to break Sony, and well, we know the X-Box, if it flops (which it won't, courtesy of the Microsoft hype), won't break the Borg-type company that is Microsoft. The bigger companies can fall back on the other things that they produce. Nintendo and Sega, as well as the smaller console-only (and in-house game development) companies don't have that much to fall back on. Their work is only games.

    We're seeing the end of the companies that truly pioneered console gaming.

  • The Gamecube has always had a high potential for vaporware. It's already misting it's way down the schedule, and has almost no chance of a Christmas launch in the US. It is conspicuous that there are very few game screens displayed so far. When any new system is about to debut, there are tons of game screens published.

    There are countless things right about the system, but two really big negatives:

    • No DVD Media. This will drive up the cost of games and cause people to buy PS2s for the DVD movie player.
    • Pokemon. It isn't the pop-force it used to be. They're putting too much faith in Pikachu power.

    I think it'll debut in the US in Oct 2002 or NEVER.

    ----------------------

  • Nintendo recently has been producing quite a few "adult" titles. Anyone heard of Conker's BFD?

    Conker's BFD was produced by Rareware (the company that also did Goldeneye). Nintendo may not be blocking adult titles on their system, but neither are they themselves producing them.

  • I'm hoping gamers looking for a GameCube won't move towards the Xbox. I just don't like Microsoft in the game counsel market. They've invaded my home enough already.

    Don't base your consel purchasing decisions on stats. The PS2's new system design gives it un-told power. The early demo of the MGS2 [ign.com] show off the PS2's real power. Amazing.
    --
  • Conker's Bad Fur Day is about as far from mature as it's possible to get, of course. :^)

    If you want mature games on N64, look at Goldeneye, Resident Evil 2, Sin and Punishment etc.

    Besides, the whole argument is pretty specious anyway: the best games appeal to *all* ages, and Nintendo make some of the best games out there.

  • This is just a media attention grabber (Score:3)

    by WolfPup ( 120228 ) on Monday April 23, 2001 @06:31AM (#271570) Homepage
    As far as I see it, this was just a way for Nintendo to get some attention to the Game Cube. Now people will want to see this at E3 just see what the fuss is about and whether it will happen. They aren't serious about dropping this. This is business and most business won't just drop the money spent on R&D just because some people didn't quite like it. Nintendo will drum up some conversation to keep it on people's minds and hopefully their wallets will follow.

  • ...I can't believe most of the opinions in the comments I've just read.

    When I first read about Nintendo's statement a couple of days ago my instant reaction was that they were really saying "at E3, we are going to blow all of your minds".

    The hardware specs look good enough to compete with the XBox and PS2, and even more importantly they have the talent in games development (to this date nothing scheduled for the XBox looks to hot, and they lack Japanese support).

    Nintendo aren't small or in trouble as some people here seem to think - the Pokemon franchise alone is worth _double_ what the entire US games industry is worth.

    The GBA is an incredible machine (I've got one with F-Zero, and I can't put it down), and there are reportedly going to be some great uses of the GBA with the gamecube. The GBA is also the fastest selling console ever.

    Nintendo don't just make kiddy games, they are fantastic whatever your age - "hardcore gamer" magazines such as Edge (in the UK) give 9/10 to most Nintendo games that I've seen.

    Anyway, back to the point, Gamecube In Danger? IMHO absolutely not.

  • The "kiddies" will play what they think is cool, and what is "cool" is defined by what peers and the gaming mags say. Gaming mags are writen for adults and what adults think is "cool." There for, the "kiddies" will think games in the mags are "cool" because adult (teens) think the games are "cool."

    "Cool" is highly overreated.

  • Its pretty sad that a company with as rich a gaming history as Nintendo is so spooked about Xbox that they would even consider this. First Dreamcast stops production, then MS hires many of Sony's developers away. Not that I won't consider an Xbox myself when it comes out, its just that it appears with MS entering the gaming market like all other markets it enters, your choice is now becoming limited. Very sad indeed.
  • The basic problem here is Nintendo wasn't doing all that much better than Sega. If it wasn't for all the royalties they get from Pioneer for Pokemon I'm sure they be in deep water.

    The problem is Sony is a marketing Giant. They know how to put together a campain, they have an in at every retailer on the planet, and they can play "unfair" (but not illegal) when the chips are down. I worked at Circuit City, it wasn't a random thing that they dropped all the other video game systems and only had play station for several years. (They sell most of the systems currently however.)

    Nintendo is a pain in the ass company to work with. They have been nailed before for price fixing. Compared to Sony, it's a harder platform to write for. With Sony a lot of the low level stuff is already functionalized for you in the SDK. This is really key for fast game porting. This is not to say it will be an ultra optimized port. I wouldn't suggest it if you're trying to push the GFX to the extreme, but if you want to make "Who wants to be a gazillionare" for the PSX it's easier than start from scratch on Nintendo.

    I can see where is comes from, the Former CEO of Nintendo in a recent interview talked about how thye liked to have unique titles. He doesn't like Rayman, or title of it's ilk that have been ported everywhere. But this puts you into a business model where you need a killer game in the channel each quarter if you want to keep profitable. In some cases Nintendo has done well at this. Let's look at Gameboy. By all rights that thing should have been put to pasture six years ago. But some games keep it going. But you don't have a killer hit Pokemon game each quarter.

    Sony on the other has a lot of crap games ported to the platform. Hell the first year there were tons of crap 3DO games ported. But that's okay, Sony has a model that makes it easy for everyone to jump in the pool. And with a royalty for every game sold to a retailer they don't have to depend on a Pokemon.

    Summary, I hope this does well, but Nintendo needs to realize that a couple unique games isn't going to cut it for sales. Some people really do want to play Rayman and Pokemon on the same system.
  • This should read "if Nintendo's few third party developers aren't happy with the development platform, Nintendo shouldn't bother producing the Gamecube." It's been Nintendo's dismal support of their third parties that have hurt them so much.

    As for people's rants about Nintendo not catering to the adult market, are you really informed on this issue, or just talking through Playstation- inspired ruby glasses? Rare might be--granted it's arguable, I agree that there're many fine Sony houses out there--the best game developer out there today. With games like Goldeneye, PD, Jet Force Gemini, and Conker, these are all adult games, and all can be described with superlatives. As an adult game player of Sony, PC, and Sega experience, IMHO Nintendo has the best 'feel' of any console out there. The previously mentioned 4 games alone made the price of the console worth it. If Gamecube's the same way, so be it. Nintendo just has to stop raping their 3rd parties, and they're good to go.

  • What marketshare did the N64 have? If I was Nintendo, I would be telling myself that 25-35% of a huge market is still a lot of money.
    --
  • Could Nintendo launch another console with just the promise of another update to Mario, Zelda and X number of "mid-range" games? I don't think they would risk it, and I think that unless Nintendo can bring back the big names, cater to an older audience (hey, adults have the money ;-)) or wrangle a lot of hot new developers they will be forced out of the console market like Sega was.

    Ten years ago the big N was at the top of the heap, times have changed but IMHO management has done very little to keep the hot developers on board.

    -----

  • It wouldn't happen. Like I've said for the past few days (/. seems slooooooow on games news), either the investors, or someone within Nintendo Inc. will either override his decision, or remove him from his position.

    He's an old man, using old business tactics (a la practically saying "fuck you Squaresoft"), and its a shame. But if anyone HONESTLY believes, that REGARDLESS of the reaction at E3, that Nintendo would cancal all Game Cube plans, you're simply stupid. Ninteno Inc., their stockholders, 2nd party developers, you can't even imagine how many people would be threatening with lawsuits.

    Too tired to say much more, but don't believe this any more than you believe any url with "goatse" in it...
  • > Is there really room in the market for three consoles??

    There's room if customers allow there to be.

    As has been shown [geekcomix.com], single system markets lend themselves to abuse of the customers by the company with the largest market share.

    Furthermore, with market's rich with competition (many consoles, no single winners) [geekcomix.com] you get a great deal of innovation (ick, not that word ;-) and a large number of games (because everyone is trying to out-do the others ;-).

    > N64 and PSX forces the Saturn out of the market. Just the rumors of the PS2 forced the Dreamcast out.

    Not exactly true. Sega's failed consoles (which ultimately did them in) failed primarily because of stupid mistakes that Sega made.

    Stupid mistakes during the Saturn years (just a few):
    • No "big mascot" games. Sonic was nowhere to be seen (except in compilation discs, and non-Sonic style games [eg, Sonic R and Sonic 3D Blast]). Sony had Crash, Nintendo had Mario64.. and Sega had Nights (which was a pretty neat game, but wasn't Sonic).
    • Poor advertising. Sega had the resources, and initially they had the market share (there were over 1 million Saturns sold the first couple of years). But they were overconfident and rarely (if ever) advertised their big hits. (Tho, to be fair, this started back with the Genesis... Anyone ever see a commercial or other advertisement for Gunstar Heroes, one of the best Genesis games ever?)
    • Library hogging. This was probably the big thing that did them in. The Saturn was a dual-processor monster (at a time when nothing else was). It was very difficult to fully utilize from a developer prospective. Most Saturn games only ever used one of those processors... and looked poor compared to their PSX cousins.

      Sega had libraries which allowed for easier use of both processors, but they didn't release these libraries to third-party developers until it was too late (I think they finally released them within a year of the Saturn's demise). As a result, Sega brought out some awesome games for the console... but most third-party games kind of blew.
    Okay, so why did the Dreamcast croak? Well... by this time the arcade market (which had been keeping Sega alive for years) was shrinking. Furthermore, Sega was too massive... They needed the big sales. The Dreamcast was selling fairly well (certainly well enough that Sega 10-years ago would have been able to survive on)... It even outsold (console-wise, not game sales) the N64 last year. But they had dug themselves into a pit, and nothing the Dreamcast could have done would have pulled them out.

    In some respects, the PS2 may have forced their hand in admitting they just weren't pulling enough profit... but the PS2 was not what killed the Dreamcast or Sega... it was just the hammer that pounded in the last nail in the Sega-of-yesteryear's coffin. ;-)

    Click here for more video game console history, rants, and other junk [geekcomix.com]
  • Are you sure what you really mean isn't that you've grown up since you the last time you enjoyed a Nintendo game?
  • I heard somewhere that "Nintendo" means "play to the best of your ability, and allow the heavens to determine the outcome."
  • Trans.: "All you enthusiast sites: don't dare give us bad press, or we'll just take our ball and go home. Nyah!"

    Seriously, this sounds like a classic passive-aggressive marketing threat. People who want to see competition in the industry will be hesitant to criticize the new platform, lest it be cancelled. So Nintendo gets free PR from all the desperate enthusiasts out there.

    (Boy I'm cynical/paranoid, aren't I?)
  • Nintendo used to be the one other gaming console makers looked towards for direction, now it seems they are way behind the times. With awesome gaming platforms like PS2, Xbox, and the DREAMCAST (only $99!!), they better have some awesome hardware and specs bundled with the Gamecube, or else Nintendo will be in a world of hurt. The ultimate goal they need to focus on is what can they offer gamers that the PS2 and Dreamcast can't. Both units have awesome graphics, the Dreamcast comes with all sorts of components (keyboard, ethernet adapter), and with the advent of the Xbox, Nintendo better have something else up their sleeves besides just another console.

    ---------------
  • But the facts don't bear it out. The kiddy market is actually much larger when it comes to video games.
  • I'm a little confused. You seem to be mixing two issues: the creation of the console and the creation of games for the console. What games does Sony actually make for their console?

    When I go to Nintendo's page of games for the N64 sorted by ESRB ranking [nintendo.com] I see a decent number of games that are rated "Mature".

    How exactly did you determine that Nintendo stopped making games for people over age 10? Did you complete some comprehensive survey of their game development studio or did you just decide that you hate Pokemon and Mario?
  • Conker's BFD was produced by Rareware (the company that also did Goldeneye). Nintendo may not be blocking adult titles on their system, but neither are they themselves producing them.

    Rare is a second party developer. They only develop games for Nintendo and Nintendo either owns a chunk of the company or has extensive, long term contracts. Or more likely, both.

    Josh Sisk
  • Good. I hope the Gamecube doesn't come out.
    The world would be a much better place if they were a software agnostic developer like Sega. That way I wouldn't have to buy the system for one good game.
  • I know most of us adults despise Pokemon and his ilk, but I bet you most people felt the same way about the fads we went through as kids as well. I doubt there were many adults in the 80s that cared for our fascination with good and evil giant robots that changed into varios forms of transportation... Also, those kids are slowly but surely growing up over time (most of them are, anyhow). Nintendo always seemed to have loyal fans with the NES and then SNES. I remember loving them but hating the Sega Genesis for no good reason at all. All those 10 and 12 year old Pokemon lovers could be easily transformed into 16 and 18 year old Nintendo Zealots if the Gamecube does come out with a few great games aimed at a higher age level, look out. Everybody critisizes Nintendo for not having adult games, and if you really want to look at it that way they never really did. At least not in comparison to the Resident Evils and Metal Gear Solids of today. But I will be damn happy if they can make something that sucks me in as much as Super Metroid did. Not everything that has blood and gore is all that mature anyways, and who says I play video games for all the realism (well, fake realism) anyhow?
  • Except when you consider that the top 2 selling games (including all consoles) for 2000 were both Pokemon games, and each sold about twice as many as its nearest competitor, Tony Hawk 2.
  • The only way to stop the crush from both Sony, and now M$ is for Nintendo to sign a big deal w/ Sega to have exclusive rights over all their games. Think of how awesome that would be.

    Without that, I'm afraid we'll be down to only 2 systems, neither of which I'm all that excited about.
  • Sure, one of the main functions of E3 is to get the media and general public excited about up and coming games and hardware, but isn't a secondary function of E3 to be a testbed for next generation consumer products? If my hot .com company demos a new game, and every kid that comes up to it says, "Get bent dude, this game sucks!!", wouldn't you pull the plug on it? It just seems like a bit of a platitude [dictionary.com] to state that if the public doesn't like, we're not going to make it. No shit?!? Kind of a no brainer if you ask me.

  • Nintendo's actually in a great position to rake in the dough because of their overwhelming strength in the kiddie market. I think Sony has the most to worry about at this point.

    This whole thing seems to me like a childish threat by Nintendo (not that it would be the first childish act by their CEO): Kiss up to us or you won't get to see your next generation Nintendo. They're going to release it whether people say nice things about 'em at E3 or not, and they'll make money on it. It actually makes me want to see them get bad reviews, though, just to call the CEO's bluff.


    Cheers,

  • Nintendo's been a bit of a loser in the gaming industry for a while now.

    Are you on crack? If you said they were "a bit of a loser with the hardcore gaming community", I'd agree... But their games sell, their systems STILL sell (and they have a tradition of not selling consoles as loss leaders) and even if they don't, the handheld market has grow to a nice chunk of the market (I've heard it represents 20% of all sales)... And guess which company has a virtual monopoly on the handheld market? This is also ignoring the Pokemon factor.

    Josh Sisk
  • IMHO, Nintendo has been doing this for years. Last Generation, all of the consoles went to cd media. Nintendo, however, stuck with the much more expensive cartridge format, attempting to keep everything proprietary. Unfortunately, it lost its vendors, as well as its market share at that point. Now, if you look at the gamecube, it will be using 1/4 DVD's to again keep it proprietary, and make it harder to pirate. Nintendo will go the way of the Sega. It's too bad though... their games were excellent

  • Actually, Rareware is currently affiliated pretty strongly with Nintendo... And while Nintendo isn't producing the "adult" titles themselves... they are promoting those "adult" titles their affiliates are making. Also, they would have the power to block titles like this, if they were so inclined.... so the fact their not blocking them speaks volumes.

    It's very similar to the whole Disney/Miramax [erlc.com] relationship. Disney certainly wont be bringing out any "risque" movies... but they wont prevent Miramax from doing it.
  • The console business is like the razor blade business. You sell the razor at little or no profit and you make the bucks from sell the razors over and over.

    Nintendo doesn't agree with this business plan. They plan to sell the Gamecube for a small profit, and (to my knowledge) have done so with all of their consoles. Well... maybe not Virtual Boy.

    Josh Sisk
  • I'm definitely going to be one of the first buying the Nintendo GameCube when it is released over here in the UK. I've been buying all the Nintendo consoles and haven't been disappointed in any.
    I don't think the GameCube will change Nintendo's flow of dominance in the gaming market. The last report [half-empty.org] I read about it, proved that Nintendo GameCube will out perform any other.
  • Hardware has always been a loss-leader for game sales, at best a break-even proposition.

    As I understand it, Nintendo generally prices their consoles so they make a (marginal) profit. I remeber this being one of the facts that Nintendo stalwarts held up when it became evident that the PSX was vastly outselling the N64.

    Josh Sisk
  • Conker's Bad Fur Day is about as far from mature as it's possible to get, of course. :^)

    How about we day it deals with "mature themes" then ;-)

    Sin and Punishment

    The only problem is that this wont likely see the light of days in the states other than via an import :/
  • This was modded offtopic, but it does make some sort of sense.. The Gamecube's code name was "Dolphin", and this was the cryptic messages that the dolphins left behind when they left Earth.

  • Actually, beyond just that, kids are more disposed to buying video games and consoles, because they have very few other priorities in life. Whereas an older adult will weigh the purchase of a game/console against buying stereos, new computers, cars, apartment, house, paying tuition, health insurance, or what have you.
  • So are you trying to say that Zelda: Majora's Mask, with it's deep plot, dark atmsohpere, and beautiful environments is just a kid's game, while Mortal Kombat with it's b-grade-esque violence and "plot" is "mature?"

    I'm not saying that all the games for PSX and other systems are lame like that (there's most definately games like Metal Gear Solid), but the majority of the games I see being sold for them are sold on the basis of "Look at those breasts!" or some other lame bit of marketing.

    "Screw Nintendo - they stopped making games for serious gamers a long time ago."

    "Serious gamers?" What exactly is a serious game? Is that like those war games the Army plays out in the middle of the desert?

    I know from experience that a roomfull of college-aged guys can have some "serious" fun with four-player Mario Party (Paddle Battle!) or Super Smash Bros. if that's what you mean. This doesn't mean that we don't deathmatch in Half-Life, and it doesn't mean we don't usually play StarCraft, but we don't feel insulted or "less mature" when we realize that we've just kicked Donkey Kong's ass with Kirby. Because, God damn it, that damned gorilla is able to pick up anybody and throw them off the edge, the damned ****er deserved it...

    It seems like everybody keeps on ragging on Nintendo for being "less mature," but those people seem to measure maturity on whether a game is rated T or M, and not whether the game is fun, has lots of replay value, or generally worth the money you paid for it. Throwing all Nintendo games into the "immature" category is like saying all cartoons are immature, forsaking South Park, Futurama, Toonami...

    If you want to rush out and buy a PS2 or an Xbox as soon as it comes out because they'll be making "mature" games, go for it. However, there are only two games coming out for next-generatio consoles that have me excited right now: Zelda and Metroid.

  • and I'll say it again: games, games, games. The GameCube will fail for many reasons, but the Number One reason is games. All of the big developers from the good ole' days -- Konami, Capcom, and especially SquareSoft -- have long since jumped ship for a superior platform, the Sony platform. Building upon their PSX megahits, those three companies are thriving and have already anchored themselves in PS2-land. Observe FF-anything, Onimusha Warlords, and the awe-inspiring, yet-to-be-released MGS2.

    Another reason that the GameCube will fail is the decline of the N64, which suffered from an outmoded media format (Why did Nintendo stick with the cartridge? The PSX, Jaguar, Saturn and others had already moved on to CD-ROM. Nintendo gambled and lost.) and lack of consistently good games. Nintendo shifted their focus to the Pokemon/GameBoy craze, and will never recover their console market. The decline of the N64 led to something even more important -- the decline of their household name. When I was growing up in the 80s, Nintendo was so popular and well-known that "Nintendo" was used to generically describe all gaming systems. (Like "Kleenex".) Today, Nintendo doesn't even enter the mind of serious gamers, who are mired in their PS2s, DCs, and tricked-out PCs. Nintendo is making a lot of money off that yellow rat, but no one is thinking "Nintendo" when buying Pokemon merchandise.

    The PS2 is huge. Those not enthralled with the PS2 will likely buy Xboxen when (if) they are released this winter. If Nintendo can't be shipping the GameCube by Spring 2002, all hope will be lost, for they will have fallen into the dreaded "lull" between console generations, when gamers who have just bought a PS2 or Xbox are unable to justify a new system. Nintendo can't afford to wait until the end of the lull (probably mid-2003), because by then their name will be all but unknown to the current generation of young gamers, all developers will be firmly seated in the Sony or MS camps, et cetera. There are just so many reasons why Nintendo is doomed, and they can blame it all on the yellow rat. Nintendo has been talking about the GameCube in different forms for probably five years at least... it's just too late to matter.

    This "lull" deserves more discussion. For years, Sega and Nintendo had competing systems of the same "generation", at least in the eyes of we young'ins. The NES and SMS; Super NES and Genesis; N64 and Saturn. The Saturn failed miserably but by then the PSX had started to take off, and Sony replaced Sega as Nintendo's nemesis. These were three easily definable "generations" of consoles, and the lull in between, while not barren of sales, lacked the initial hype associated with a product launch. The generations are less easily definable these days, but the PS2, Xbox, and now-defunct DC will for our intents and purposes be competing systems. For the GameCube to enter into this rough market where everyone else has a head start, they would have to have amazing next-generation tech to get attention. I seriously doubt that Nintendo has the engineering clout to produce a system superior to both the Xbox and the PS2 these days.

    --

  • Shameless PR (Score:4)

    by Shaheen ( 313 ) on Monday April 23, 2001 @07:26AM (#271614) Homepage
    The GameCube is not in trouble. It never was, it never will be. Why would Hiroshi Yamauchi say it is right before E3? Well, duh: To secure support for the product at a time when it is very shady as to who will win the console war.

    If Yamauchi says "We won't ship this really cool game console that will make us a lot of money on the Pokemon and Miyamoto game sales alone unless you people kiss our asses at E3," what do you think is gonna happen? The press is gonna pay attention to Nintendo's booths a lot more than they had planned on doing and Nintendo fans are gonna send tons of letters to their favorite gaming press reminding them to do so.

    Fear not - Nintendo has mucho mula in their bank accounts. Yamauchi is doing this to make sure the money they spend on E3 is worth every penny.
  • Which of course will not happen unless the console doesn't get a 'good reception'

    Seriously, how many developers really 'defect' anyway. It isn't in their best interest.

    So long as there is an install base of the machine, developers will develop for it. (for a time anyway)

    Vermifax

  • (steps up on soapbox) I quote from Shacknews [shacknews.com], which posted this story on April 19th:

    Yikes! Holy bad translations batman! He's actually referring to the release and holding back the console until they can get a positive response.

    There. The Gamecube will be produced, but depending on the feedback from E3, they might hold back the release of the console.

  • Wow... you said a mouthful... all true, too.
    I think the definition of a good game by a "serious gamer" would be the fun factor.

    I've been playing games for over a decade now. Graphics don't impress me (sorry, but Q3 is the boring same-old). What impresses me is the "Fun" factor. My old college roommates (we were all 23-24 years old) played mariocart into the ground. Super Smash brothers was also popular. Not because mario was in it, but because it was fun. I found the first Zelda to be extremely fun. If there is one name that comes up with games that are fun, I'd have to say Miyamoto. He knows what he's doing (hell, he's been doing it for years).

    Granted, the PSX has games that are also fun (RE series, MGS, Gran Turismo), but they use "teenage tactics" to lure in their audience. Lets face it, put a fun game out in front of a teenager raging with horomones, and put in a game with breasts or violence. What's he gonna pick??
    For me, I'm keeping my DC, playin my PC (waiting for the next Sid Meier or Warren Spector game), and will wait to see what games come out for the 2 new contenders before I buy anything...
  • Two points:
    • First, this [n-sider.com] is a well-informed perspective on why Yamauchi would say this, and it's most likely dead on.
    • Second, the Gamecube is going to be impressive, big time, so it's not evan an issue. For those of you who think that Nintendo is for kids and that the games aren't going to be there, wait until E3 before you pass that judgement. Nintendo is not where they are now because they are stupid, expect them to learn from their mistakes. Yeah, Pokemon and Mario will be there, but so will Metroid, Perfect Dark, Too Human, Biohazard 0, Eternal Darkness, and a number of other games that will impress even us "old people" in our twenties.
  • "they may not go through with producing the Gamecube"

    Hiroshi Yamauchi never said that. He simply stated that they may stop marketing the game cube. Not producing it is simply an extrapolation by Daily Radar, a website known for having little- if any - journalistic integrity.
  • I'm talking consoles, not portibles.

    GB sells so well for three reasons. One) Pokemon. Two) Pokemon Three) Pokemon.

    Sony's PSX has been stomping everyone elses consoles since it came out. If you want to gage how well a company is doing just go out to your local retailer and look at the ammount of space that Sony PSXx gets compared to other vendors. In your average Circuit City, Best Buy, etc. the Sony Section is bigger than Nintendo and Sega put together. The money is always in the games.

    Sega put way too much faith in people buying into their online service. Nintendo is more conservitive, however it wouldn't take a lot of bad quarters to put them in the same place as sega.

  • The press slamming it is not so bad a problem as all the developers going over to the Xbox. If they all defected, you can understand Nintendo sticking with what they've got

    Nintendo already has a dead product (Nintendo 64) that it's been phasing out lately (notice only two announced N64 games in latest Nintendo Power [nintendopower.com] magazine's Game Watch). But Nintendo has a nearly guaranteed winner in the GAMECUBE because kids are going to want one no matter what, as Nintendo has trademarks on popular franchises such as Super Mario, the series formerly known as Zelda (when was the last time you saw Princess Z being rescued? A Link to the Past?), and especially POcKEt MONey [pokemon.com] (gotta spend 'em all). Plus, Nintendo has an exclusive contract with Rare [rareware.com], who can squeeze the last bit out of even the hardest hardware. (Had Rare been developing for Saturn, the PSX likely wouldn't have killed it as quickly.)

  • I think gamers of all ages can enjoy games like Zelda

    Background: All games marketed as "Zelda" have a character named Link as the hero. Three of them have rescuing Princess Zelda as one of the main objectives (Z1 and Z2 final objective; Z3 first objective). Calling Z4 (Link's Awakening) a "Zelda" game is just wrong; where does she appear? To use the terminology of NetBSD, Z4 is a "Zelda-like" game.

    Z5 for N64, Z6 for N64Plus, and the Oracle [oracle.com] series for GBC: Haven't looked at them too closely; they came out after I became a PC gamer.

  • But Nintendo has a nearly guaranteed winner in the GAMECUBE because kids are going to want one no matter what, as Nintendo has trademarks on popular franchises such as Super Mario, the series formerly known as Zelda (when was the last time you saw Princess Z being rescued? A Link to the Past?),

    Hmmm... Princess Zelda was the subject of rescue during Zelda: The Ocarina of Time

    That was a N64 game.

    Obviously your assertion that "kids are going to want [GameCube] no matter what," is based off of past Nintendo history. If you were up-to-date on the Nintendo games and franchises, you'd know there was a Zelda in Ocarina of Time. And you'd also know that kids love affair with Pokemon is fading.

    Nintendo's first party franchise games will be on the GameCube, but they're going to be more than just a kiddie system. Check out some of those "kiddie" games slated for the GameCube on IGN.com [ign.com].

    Christopher N Emmick
  • Having a PS2 already, why would I buy an XBox?

    Almost any game I'd care to own on the XBox will be (eventually) produced for the PS2 (and possibly the GameCube) as well.

    In fact, if you can only own two systems the only thing that makes any sense is to make sure one of them is a GameCube.

    Think about it, the GameCube will have a lot of great and very unique Nintendo titles that you just aren't going to get anywhere else. Each console will have it's own exclusive games, but I can't think of any other set of console-exclusive games you would rather have than Nintendo games.

    My two choices for the upcoming console wars are the PS2 and the GameCube, really the only choices that make sense at the moment given what we know. Perhaps that will change after E3, but I don't think so. I'm already really happy with the PS2 and I trust Nintendo enough to know the GameCube will be enjoyable as well.

    You are right about them being hurt by late shipping though. If they can manage to ship this year they will be set, but I'll have to admit that's a pretty big IF given thier track record in the past! Still, all reports I've read seem to indicate things are right on schedule. Perhaps they will pull it off this time.

    And despite what you said about Nintendo not even registering in the minds of "serious" gamers, I think I can guess what will happen if you put GameCubes and Xboxen in the same stores at the same time, with the GameCube $100-$150 less than the XBox... hint, it involves a lot of "X"-tra shipments to landfills.
  • Yeah, it's like that Rambo thing. The first movie was called First Blood, the second movie was called Rambo, First Blood Part II and the third movie was called Rambo III, even though it didn't mention "first blood" at all! What is up with these wacked marketing schemes?
  • The games aren't centered around Zelda - they're called LEGEND OF Zelda. Link has always been the hero, while Zelda makes only occasional appearances (Heck, she probably had the biggest role in Z64 of any of the series!)

    A little background:

    As the kingdom of Hyrule - at this time united as a single country - entered into a bright age, the sovereign King of Hyrule led his subjects fairly and just, the Triforce in his possession to ensure peace was maintained. As all ultimately do, however, this king one day died. His youthful son, the prince, who should have become king and inherited everything his sovereignty should offer as Hyrule's monarch, could only inherit part of the Triforce. The prince searched far and wide for the missing parts, but could not find them. It was then that a magician formerly close to the King brought him some unexpected news.

    Before he died, it seemed the late King had spoken something about the Triforce to only the younger sister of the prince, a young Princess Zelda I. The prince immediately questioned the defiant princess, but she would tell him nothing. After the prince, the magician threatened to put the princess into an eternal sleep if she did not talk. Even still, she stood her ground before her brother, saying nothing.

    In his anger, the magician tried to cast a magic spell on the princess. The surprised prince tried to stop him, but the magician fought off the prince and continued casting the spell. Then, when the spell was finally cast, Princess Zelda fell on that spot and entered a sleep from which she might never awake. At the same time, the magician also fell down and breathed his last.

    In his grief, the prince placed the princess in a room in the castle. He hoped that someday she would come back to consciousness. So that this tragedy would never be forgotten, he thus decreed that every female child born into the royal household shall be given the name "Zelda."

    It is with this tale of the sleeping princess, Princess Zelda the First, that "The Legend of Zelda" is written, recounted and told for eras to come in Hyrule.

    Years after the Legend of Zelda faded into the stuff of Hyrulean legend, in the blowing sand and the harsh climate of the desert, the cunning King of the Gerudo Thieves, Ganondorf Dragmire, found the way to break the mystic seal of Rauru on the Golden Land.

    Meanwhile, in the middle of an ensuing war in Hyrule, an exhausted Hylian woman entrusted her infant to the Deku Tree in Kokiri Forest before dying. Named Link - Link the First - the boy was raised as one of the enigmatic elven Kokiri without any knowledge of his parents (as it is known, Kokiri have no parents). Even by age 10 he was still unlike all the other Kokiri - they all had faerie guardians. All except Link. One night, he had a nightmare that would haunt his dreams for many months - during a rainy night, in front of a magnificent castle, a young girl would be riding away on horse in the arms of a woman. She would give Link a stare of helplessness, and looked like she needed to say something. Behind them rode an evil-looking man with green skin in black armor. He would frighten Link, who would stir and awake uneasily.

    --from HTLOZ

    And so began the adventures of Link, whose destiny would be tied to Zelda's throughout the entire course of Hyrule's history. So you see, the title makes a good bit of sense.

    [/rant mode] Sorry...hardcore Zelda fan here ;)

    -- Chris

  • Conker's BFD was produced by Rareware (the company that also did Goldeneye). Nintendo may not be blocking adult titles on their system, but neither are they themselves producing them.

    Well, in that case, don't count Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, Driver, Tomb Raider, or Resident Evil into the PS2's maturity level.

    If developers make more than kid's games for a system, then the system won't be perceived as such. Nintendo got into trouble with the N64 because the cart format drove most developers away and they were left with their own in-house and second party games.

    -sk

  • I predict that X-Box will pretty much walk away with this generation's console crown. And as long as the GC last long enough for Nintendo to release Metroid, I'm fine with that. Why?
    • Atari 2600
    • ColecoVision
    • Nintendo Entertainment System
    • Sega Genesis
    • Sony PlayStation


    What the one constant in this list? Not one company retained their lead from one generation to the next. (Yes, the SNES overtook the Genesis late, but by that time the Saturn and PSX were already in the pipeline.)

    -sk

  • All the ranting has got to be most ridiculous b.s. I've read on Slashdot.

    What people don't understand about Nintendo is that unlike Sega, Nintendo is a profitable company, thanks to the extreme success of the Pokémon franchise. After all, Pokémon breathed new life into the Game Boy, and in fact I've always said that the success of Pokémon helped pay for Game Boy Advance and GameCube development.

    Besides, Nintendo's in-house programming teams vie with Sega for the best in-house game programming team in the world. The Mario and Zelda franchises demonstrate how great Nintendo's programmers are, and I'm sure they'll create superb games for GameCube.

    Besides, now that Sega is committed to writing games for GameCube, expect a lot of great games for GameCube by this time next year. :-)
  • "Serious" gamers don't play the Playstation 2. The only true remaining "serious gamer" system is the Neo-Geo. Tekken Tag Tournament pales in comparison to the complexity of a game like Last Blade 2. The now-dead Dreamcast and Nintedo still produce games and systems for "serious" gamers. Sony is spending millions to wow over Joe Six-Pack into buying the latest robot game and the X-Box is the worst thing to ever hit the console market.
  • Rare = Nintendo

    Rare isn't a third-party developer. They are definitely part of Nintendo -- a sort of "second-party" developer that still works outside of their direct scrutiny but ultimately answers to them.

  • Consoles are loss leaders. The N64 is plenty good enough for games. What they should do is encourage a few really innovative, "push-the-envelope" games on the N64 to show it off. The secondary market is saturated with N64s -- you can pick them up for A$75 (US$40) in any pawnbrokers. They should cut production of the consoles and focus on the games. We don't need a new console, we need better, innovative, games.

    (Heck, N64? screw that, they should go back to the SNES. Why isn't anyone producing games for the SNES any more?)

    --

  • ... kids are more disposed to buying video games and consoles [than older adults]
    Surely you forget that adults have disposable income. Spending $20 on another DVD is not a big deal (but not something I do every day or week). For a kid, especially someone that young to spend that much money is quite different. How many people rush to buy the newest video card for $400? They might be starving (and need to re-prioritize) but adults have much more cash that they can spend their money on, at least those without families to support.
  • Exactly right on both counts.

    What was Sony's launch title for the PS2? A fireworks game.

    As for maturity, anyone that believes maturity is playing games that are just gorefests really should be asking themselves if they are mature.

    There are more to games then violence. Oh, I'm not saying there is anything wrong with 'violent' or 'gory' games, they can also be fun. GoldenEye and Perfect Dark were great games on the Nintendo 64, and Half-Life and co on the PC are also great. However, if you think maturity is something along the lines of "Mortal Kombat is more appealing to a mature audience then Zelda because you can kill people", then you really don't understand maturity.

    A mature person wants a game that has some depth to it, and/or is fun. Nintendo provides this in the majority of 1st party games. I am a mature gamer. My favorite games are the Marios and the Zeldas. Does that make me an immature gamer? I think not.

  • Re:Enh (Score:2)

    by Xenex ( 97062 )
    "Nintendo either failed to provide games that still interested us (focusing on Pokemon)"

    Nintendo didn't release a Pokemon game on the Nintendo 64 until at least 2 years afters the console's initial release (at least not outside Japan, and ever there there was not one in the 1st year). Pokemon has been, until relatively lately, very much a Game Boy thing. The first N64 Pokemon game was "Pokemon Snap", a game based around taking photos. The first 'true' Pokemon game didn't hit the N64 until Pokemon Stadium, and that is less then 2 years old outside Japan.

    The N64 was not built on a foundation of Pokemon.

  • It says in one of the linked stories that to make itself less of a takeover target, Nintendo went and bought back $2b of it's own stock. Nice move :)

    Everyone seems to think Nintendo is broke, but they do have money to throw around; the Game Boy hardware and software and N64 software have been making them alot of money in recent years. Your console doesn't need to be number one to be profitable, as N64 software has shown Nintendo (I'm talking 1st party stuff here, not 3rd parties). Nintendo will be content with not being number one if it's bringing them in profit.

  • You've admitted yourself that your list is flawed. Nintendo had the NES then the SNES. If anything, the SNES/Genesis(Mega Drive) should be called a 50/50 split, but if you want to crown one of then, it's Nintendo with Donkey Kong Country that wins that battle.

    Sony 'won' the last generation, but this new set of consoles will be the first time the market will support 3 consoles. Why? Sony and Microsoft will be battling for each other's market with their rediculous money wars, and like always Nintendo will be doing their own thing. If Nintendo fare as well as they did with the N64 (and they will, at least) then they'll make a nice profit from the GameCube.

    However, if one of the 3 consoles were to die, it won't be Nintendo's; they are the constant in the industry, have been since the NES days. Their consoles always profit enough for them (except the VB, but that doesn't count ;) and they are always different enough from their competitors to have their own market.

    Nintendo might not win "the war", but they'll make a nice profit from it.

  • The Nintendo 64 has kept itself afloat, not the Game Boy. Nintendo has made a nice profit off the N64 software they have sold. The N64 has not beena failure profit-wise, and profit is really all a console needs...
  • Actually, I think his 'dumbfuck' comment came from the fact that you think the GameCube is vapor, and will not ship this year.

    Nintendo have already shipped hundreds of completed dev kits to 3rd parties, whereas Microsoft haven't even shipped finalised kits yet. Even with this fact, the masses still seem to think that the Xbox will be out this year, and Nintendo are the ones struggling to meet their deadline.

    As for your Oct 2001 comment, well, you're wrong there too; the GameCube is being released in the US in Nov 2001.

    And Pokemon, well, where have Nintendo made the impression they plan on launching the GameCube hoping for Pokemon to support it? The games Nintendo seem to have the most 'console selling' faith in are their traditional Mario launch title, and Metroid.

    Anyway, I think this is why that AC had a shot at you. Calling you a dumbfuck was a little harsh, but people that read cube.ign.com [ign.com] fairly regularly do know the 'truth' behind the common GameCube misconceptions. And I do think just pointing people at that basic FAQ was a bad move...

    The GameCube will launch this year, and it will not be depending on Pokemon.

  • "I'm hoping gamers looking for a GameCube won't move towards the Xbox."

    Nah, gamers looking for a GameCube will buy a GameCube. This story is total rubbish; the GameCube will launch, and the GameCube will rock.

    But, I agree, I'd rather see PS2 sales then Xbox sales...

  • "What's wrong with the console I already own?"

    Umm, it's not made by Nintendo, so porting their games to it are not going to sell their consoles.

    And I could tell you why the GameCube is better then the console you already own, but that would just create a flamewar :)

    Nintendo are a hardware and software company. They do both, and they do both well. The are alot like Apple in that reguard. I guess you want an x86 Mac OS X port too? ;)

  • Actully, neilest said they were in the UK. The Virtual Boy was not released outside Japan and the US.

    I'd love a Virtual Boy though, should look into getting one off Ebay...

    Anyone out there got one they want to sell? ;)

  • Just a quick question:

    Got any URL's to backup your claims?

    I wouldn't mind a few links to info about the RPG insults and the refusing of high unit selling developers.

    And, Nintendo hasn't stopped violent content since Mortal Kombat 2 on the SNES had blood.

    I know Yamauchi is eccentric (and that he had a nice shot at Square :) but I hadn't heard those 2 claims you've made, and I generally like to think I'm in the know about Nintendo... so I can't wait to see you back your statements up :)

  • Well, the N64 was successful for Nintendo; it made them a nice profit through the software they released.

    It might not be the biggest seller, but it did make them money...

  • Like Nintendo's 1st party games, such as Mario, Zelda, Metroid, StarFox, Donkey Kong...
  • Its worth noting that there is an article in this month's NextGen on major cutbacks and retrenching at Nintendo's first party Gamecube game studio in texas, Retro.

    They've cut half their projects and laid off 20 developers.

    Just another data point. Lord knows what it means.

    I DO know the game industry in general won't let MS gobble it all without a fight...
  • As for maturity, anyone that believes maturity is playing games that are just gorefests really should be asking themselves if they are mature.

    I agree with you to a point -- I've certainly seen enough violence and profanity that it doesn't have a "novel" appeal. (Hell, two of my favorite games have been "Ocarina of Time" on the N64 and "Ape Escape" on the Playstation, neither of which would be unsuitable for most children.) While I cringe at gratuitous violence and profanity as an attention-getting tactic, I believe that's it's also sometimes appropriate for a game.

    For example, in Metal Gear Solid (one of the best games ever made for the Playstation), you can sneak up behind your enemies, grab their head, and snap their neck, complete with a resounding "crack". While some might find that a little graphic (especially for, say, the target Nintendo audience of Pokemon-clad pre-teens), it's not gratuitous, in my opinion. Within the context of an unarmed special forces operative sneaking into a military facility, snapping the neck of an unsuspecting guard or two makes sense and adds to the feel of the game.

  • Hahah, you do know that Indrema is now dead, right? (All this before it even hit the market) Yeah, the true "powers" of OSS, the ability to send millions of dollars in capital to a speedy demise.
  • Yes, exactly. That is an example of 'mature violence'; the game is violent, but not for the sake of being violent.

    I used the examples of GoldenEye and Perfect Dark in my original post, but MGS is up there too as being a 'violent' game that happen to also be excellent mature game. :)

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