Japanese Console Rumors Debunked

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to a Video-Fenky blog post translating the 'Truth behind the rumors' feature that ran in Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu recently. Intriguing questions answered by major Japanese gaming companies include the use of the Cell processor in Sony's Playstation 3 ("..we will be investing 200 billion yen [$1.7 billion] over the next three years into Cell manufacturing facilities."), why Nintendo aren't so hot about online support ("As long as the rate of broadband installation isn't up there with TV sets, then online play can't be the core of business development"), and why Nokia's N-Gage won't be coming out in Japan ("..protocols are incompatible, [the N-Gage] cannot be used as a communications device in Japan.")

good start

[Acts of Attrition]

Now if only we could convince Nokia not to release the N-Gage in the U.S. too....

kindness

[Anonymous Coward]

How nice of the Japanese to console all those poor, debunked rumors. Perhaps the rumors can return the favor and console the Japanese populace about their troubled deflating currency.

Online play

[M3wThr33]

In surverys, only 30% of people said online play affected their console choice, and only 10% actually would NOT get an online console.

Compare that to the investment needed to entice 20% of the market and you see why Nintendo doesn't care. MS and Sony are wasting cash to CREATE the market.

Re:Online play

[handsomepete]

"Compare that to the investment needed to entice 20% of the market and you see why Nintendo doesn't care. MS and Sony are wasting cash to CREATE the market."

Yes, they absolutely are. However, as a result of creating the market they're gaining credability and developing infrastructure to support the future online games which will most likely be, as crazy as it drives me, the predominant force in the market 3 or 4 years from now. That's why Xbox Live might be one of the most ingenious things Microsoft has done in quite a while: They've basically created a brand name for online gaming, and that'll definitely stick as long as the console can survive now.

Re:Online play

[SuiteSisterMary]

And what percent of people do you think bought the original DOOM and cared that it had LAN support?

It all has to start somewhere.

Re:Online play

[Daetrin]

Only a 30% of the people said online play affected their choice? Only a third care abotu that issue?

Excuse me, but that seems to be a rather large segment of the demographic to blow off. And the 10% who say they would actively not get a console that had online compatibility, what are they going to do if Nintendo comes out with an online strategy? Just not buy a console at all?

Given that Nintendo has sold significantly less than 30% of Sony's numbers, i don't see how doing something that would influence

Poor Nokia

[Man In Black]

"Nokia's N-Gage won't be coming out in Japan"

Boy, yet another nail in the coffin... is anything going right at all for this troubled system? The only thing I've heard about it that's even close to good news was John Romero working on a Red Faction port... and even that is rather mediocre.

Wasn't planning on buying one, but geez, we need some competition for the GBA.

Re:Poor Nokia

[Anonymous Coward]

"Wasn't planning on buying one, but geez, we need some competition for the GBA."

PSP will be the first "real" competition for the GBA in the US since the Game Gear.

Anyway...after playing with the N-Gage at E3, I HOPE it fails, at least in its current state. As a gaming machine, its pretty crappy. Hell, I'd probably take the Tetris or Breakout clones on my crappy cell phone than trying to nagivigate an actual game with controls like that.

I can't see the NGage working as a phone OR a gaming machine...

Re:Poor Nokia

[RichardX]

The only thing I've heard about it that's even close to good news was John Romero working on a Red Faction port

Uh... so the best it's got to look forward to is the guy who brought us Daikatana porting one of the most disappointing ("Geomod! It's gonna rock! fully deformable maps!") FPS games of recent years?

N-Gage died on level 1 with 0 points.
Your attributes:
You were cursed.
You were doomed.
Fate abandoned you.

Shame really. It sounded quite promising.. but you just have to look at the "ergonomics" of the