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GameCube (Games) Entertainment Games

Nintendo - Stodgy, Not-So-Super Mario? 174

Posted by simoniker from the coal-left-in-stocking dept.
Thanks to the Washington Post for their article discussing Nintendo's current position in the console wars. Although many of the usual points are discussed (despite Sony and Microsoft's efforts at innovation in online gaming and elsewhere, Nintendo has "...stuck to a philosophy that people who buy and play video games enjoy the familiar and care little for such gimmickry"), the piece also points to possible failure in Nintendo's current tactics ("The company proclaimed that the Game Boy Advance would be a 'Trojan horse' for the GameCube - but that Trojan horse never opened because very few game designers have figured out cool ways to take advantage of that connectivity.") The article ends with an analyst's concern that "...the game console market might be starting to move beyond what Nintendo can deliver."
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Nintendo - Stodgy, Not-So-Super Mario? More

Nintendo - Stodgy, Not-So-Super Mario?

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  • Man this really gets old... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by gangien ( 151940 ) on Friday December 26, 2003 @03:51AM (#7811673) Homepage
    Every freaking post that mentions Ninendo is about their death.. Really? they sure seem so dead to me.. I mean really, When do we get to see trolls like Gamespy now Confirms: Nintendo is dying.

    Man it ticks me off. Here's two facts. They are leading the way in terms of profit and they are number 2 in consoles sold. And I predict that soon PS/XBox will be in a different Market than Nintendo anyhow.
    • The article doesn't really say that Nintendo is dead, it just says that its next console will make or break it.

      I came close to buying a gamecube, because it's actually a nice system and the price is right. But then I realized that the only games for the gamecube that I was interested in was the Zelda series and the Resident Evil series. So I think the article has a point about the need to expand their game selection a bit. So for me the decision is between the PS2 or X-Box, because their game selectio

      • Re:Man this really gets old... (Score:1, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        The gamecube only costs as much as 2 games, and you get 4 (well 3, Zelda II is odd) great games with it. It's not like you are buying the console at this price. It comes free with the games.
      • I have a PS2 and GCN for my console gaming needs. I also have a PC (Athlon XP2200+ running Windows XP) for gaming and a G4 iBook for most of my computing needs with Linux providing services, used to have a Linux laptop but the Mac does everything and then some. The GCN cost wasn't an issue as the machine was really that cheap and the combination of the PS2, GCN and PC give me the widest range of games. I did consider an Xbox for a while but the only game I was considering was Halo which I have since got

      • Re:Man this really gets old... (Score:5, Informative)

        by Christopher Cashell ( 2517 ) on Friday December 26, 2003 @05:24AM (#7811804) Homepage Journal
        You should do a little more research. . . there are a great number of truly amazing games available for GameCube. If you think the Resident Evil series is good, check out Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. It's what Resident Evil 0 should have been. Except that none of the Resident Evil games have actually been as good as Eternal Darkness.

        Without knowing what kinds of games you like, it's hard to offer more specific suggestions, but you might be surprised at how many great GameCube games there are. Viewtiful Joe is one of the coolest things I've played in years, Ikaruga is still one of my favorites, although I've had it for almost a year now. Pac Man Vs. looks like an absolute blast for multiplayer (although the Mario Party games, and Super Smash Brothers currently rule that area). And let's not forget Final Fantasy: Chrystal Chronicles, which I'm hoping will live up to the hype, since FF: X2 has been rather disappointing.

        And, you've also got available to you pretty much everything from EA, and most major cross-platform games, like Prince of Persia, Sphinx, etc.

        [Information Disclsure: I currently own a PS2, GameCube, X-Box, Dreamcast, and PC. They all get played to some extent, but of the current consoles, the GameCube gets played the most, followed closely by PS2, and lastly (by a good bit) the X-Box.]
      • But then I realized that the only games for the gamecube that I was interested in was the Zelda series and the Resident Evil series.
        Given the current price of $99.00, it seems as if you may well be justified in buying the system for those two series of games. Hell, I have considered buying a gamecube solely for the purpose of playing ikaruga. Mmmm... ikaruga. [amazon.com]
        • Zelda would be worth it alone. I bought a GC the day they came out for Zelda and Perfect Dark alone. The latter is going to be X-Box only now though since Microsoft bought Rare, but I'm still glad I bought it.
    • You're not far from the mark. What we're seeing is video gaming getting so large that it can sustain different market players serving different niches.

      Although I think Nintendo's trademark stubborness has led to a number of missed opportunities (failing to take would-be blockbusters like Mario Kart online are among the most recent examples), I think their willingness to serve a certain market will help establish the rules of the industry for years to come.

      No longer does a console have to be everything t

      • Some article I read (sorry, dont have any idea where or else I would link it) was discussing Nintendo's plans for their next console.

        One point which was discussed was internet multiplayer. The gist of their response was they would rather do it right, than just hammer something together.

        Also, Nintendo is very sensitive about piracy. And what is used to circumvent their controls? The broadband adapter...

        • They can claim that they will, "do it right," but the unfortunate problem is that they are way behind on perfecting services right now. I guarantee that if they release a service with the next gen console, it won't be even close to as polished and well done as Xbox Live since Nintendo will not have had actual gamer usage beyond some mere beta tests or something similar.
          • Well, beating XBox Live will be hard for even Sony. I dont have an XBox, but from what I hear about Live Im definitely temped to- It is apparently a very slick, well designed product.

            I dont think its so much that everyone else is doing things wrong, so much as MS really did things right. I really hope some of that technology finds its way into Windows- the multiplayer components on PC games are crap; it would be nice if MS could just make the game connect part of DirectX or something.

      • Although I think Nintendo's trademark stubborness has led to a number of missed opportunities (failing to take would-be blockbusters like Mario Kart online are among the most recent examples),

        On the other hand, if Nintendo launches with an online capable Mario Kart very early in the next system's lifespan, it'll be a huge selling factor.

        Nothing Nintendo does now will ever get them close to the PS2's numbers, so it's not worth playing all their tricks now. If they launch their next system at the same time
        • Well, I guess that makes me happy I don't own a Gamecube.

          Basically, you are saying that Nintendo should not do everything they can to support the *current* generation, but make people wait, with bated breath, for the next generation. So they can sell more of those.

          I'd be pissed if I owned a Gamecube, and I thought this was their motivation for coming out with a racing game without simple on-line support. I'd prefer to think it was just incompetence.
          • I look at it this way: the selling point of the Xbox is online gaming. Despite that, its peak number of online users is a very small fraction of what any one battle.net server has during its lows. PS2's numbers aren't much different.

            So if Nintendo did implement online gaming, how many users do you really think would use it? I doubt you'd get enough people to make it worthwhile to even bother trying to use it.

            I'd rather wait until the next console when online gaming will make more sense than have crappy on
    • Yes, you are 100% correct. All of this "Nintendo dying" propaganda must be fueled by Microsoft in an effort to bring the xbox out of the #3 slot in worldwide sales.

      Just because Nintendo is the #3 selling in the US does not mean it is dying, especially when other countries are flat out ignoring the xbox. No matter how Microsoft tries to spin the numbers, the truth is Nintendo is owning them in worldwide sales.

      I read somewhere that when 3D0 was in their bankrupt state with their console, their numbe

      • I read somewhere that when 3D0 was in their bankrupt state with their console, their numbers were better than X-Box's current situation.

        3D0 didn't have nearly as much money as either Microsoft or Nintendo. Nintendo has the GBA to fall back on, which is a point that all of these "Nintendo is dead" articles seem to miss. Nintendo also has decades of profit stored away, meaning that they can take a fall and not have to worry about completely collapsing like 3D0. Sega collapsed because they spread themselv
    • ...Nintendo started started saying that if GameCube didn't win Best of Show at the annual Vegas Video Game Conference (OK, I forget what it's called), then they would drop GameCube altogether.

      Lo-and-behold, GameCube won.

  • Oh good... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Terminal Saint ( 668751 ) on Friday December 26, 2003 @03:57AM (#7811679)
    I was worried that we might be overdue for a "nintendo is dead/dying" article.
  • Haven't I read this article before?

  • More of the same from North American reporters. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Inoshiro ( 71693 ) on Friday December 26, 2003 @04:07AM (#7811691) Homepage
    "After a year of mostly lackluster sales for the GameCube console (save a recent spurt following a recent price cut) and declining support from game developers, it looks as though Nintendo may have miscalculated."

    AKA: "blah, blah, blah, THE END IS NEAR BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT SONY!"

    Please. I've read this before. The fact is that Nintendo does like to stick to its tried-and-true, but the tried-and-true do rock.

    We're also starting to see a lot more coolness in terms of software that targets the 'cube, rather than just garbage software. Maybe you don't remember having a PS2 -- but between its launch in 2000, and late 2002, there wasn't much for decent software (a handful of really good titles), and most of the first-gen stuff was just warmed over PS1 games with more textures. The same thing is true of the GameCube and Xbox -- the first year and a bit is usually pretty dire for decent games. Real innovation (like F-Zero GX being a true evolution of the game, and the upcoming RE4), as well as great remakes (RE1, Metal Gear Solid), as well as cool concepts (Animal Crossing, Pacman VS) are all great things which other consoles do not have. No serious gamer would be caught without a GameCube.

    Then they go on to say stuff like, "The GameCube is teetering on the edge of whether they should stay in this business or not." Which is funny as all fuck because there are about 1.5 million more GameCubes out there than Xboxes. I suppose this means that Microsoft should pack its shit and go back to trying to kill Linus Torvalds -- because they obviously are total suck-asses at video game consoles. Strange, I haven't seen a Washington Post article about that!

    North American reporters have this queer fascination with kicking someone when they're down. This is just another example of it.

    GameCube has all the stuff that Sony and Microsoft don't. There is a huge amount of overlap in the PS2 and Xbox library, but very little in GameCube land. As I said before, no serious gamer would be without a GameCube.
    • I am in agreement fully with your post, but would like to ammend something:

      Nintendo has been the God of gaming for many years, with Microsoft being new to the game and Sony being somewhat of a vertran. Microsoft loses money on every xbox sold, sony makes some money, but not much. Nintendo, while selling the CHEAPEST console, make a significant cut in profits on every sale. Plus, i personally own what, 3 or 4 Nintendo inhouse games, all of which are friggin aswesome (zelda being FAR cooler than i had expected), so they are up quite a bit on my money. Microsoft requires you buy their inhouse games to be able to counter their loss in xbox sales.

      The former number 1 in the market now sells the cheapest of the 3 consoles, make a significant profit off each sale, produces high quality inhouse games, has an extremely loyal fan base and is 2nd overall in the world market(xbox being well behind in Asia).

      Ya, Nintendo is dying as much as Apple and *BSD are.
      • Comment removed based on user account deletion

        • Re:More of the same from North American reporters. (Score:1, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward
          "Zelda:WW sold a lot less in a year than Zelda:OoT did in two months"

          Which is funny, because the N64 had just a tiny fragment of the GameCube's userbase. Eensy weensy. This was mainly because there were far fewer consoles of any type sold back then. Of course, when there are only 50 games for a system, any particular game will have a much higher sell-through rate on that system.

          In any case, WW just isn't as good as Ocarina... it's possible for a Zelda title to be better or worse than another, and for sa

          • Since Zelda is presumably the largest selling point of the GameCube, you can make assumptions on whether or not poor sales are a sign for the future. Early sales of games are decent measures for sales later on...if they are weaker than you expected at first, the game will not sell as much as you would've wished (there are exceptions, but they are few and far between).
          • Which is funny, because the N64 had just a tiny fragment of the GameCube's userbase. Eensy weensy. This was mainly because there were far fewer consoles of any type sold back then. Of course, when there are only 50 games for a system, any particular game will have a much higher sell-through rate on that system.

            No it didn't. The N64 sold 40 million systems in its lifetime, whereas the GameCube has sold 10-12 million.

            The N64 was not a bad console. It just died a long, slow death. The last year and a half t
          • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • You seem to ignore that the PS2 has stuff like Final Fantasy, Gran Turismo, and Grand Theft Auto; all of these game, while just being new editions of the series, sell extremely well. So having an updated version of a game is not harmful.

      Btw, gimme some numbers on the GC selling 1.5 million more than the Xbox. I'll believe it when I see some credible stats...
      • Btw, gimme some numbers on the GC selling 1.5 million more than the Xbox. I'll believe it when I see some credible stats...

        I wouldn't go so far to say 1.5 million more than the Xbox, but the Xbox *IS* in third place, worldwide (No matter what Microsoft tries to spin by completely ignoring Japanese numbers when they speak of how they are 'in a definite second place').

        Right before the GC price drop, the Xbox had around a 1.4 million unit lead in North America, a few hundred thousand unit lead in Europe/A

    • No serious gamer would be caught without a GameCube

      So what? This isn't about "serious gamers", it's about mainsstream gamers, who are needed in very large numbers to make being in console hardware a viable business.

      there are about 1.5 million more GameCubes out there than Xboxes

      So what? There's about 40 million more PS2s out there than XBox and GC *combined*. My point being that Nintendo and Microsoft are duking it out for a distant second. This is not the interesting part. The interesting part is ho

  • One flaw I see with the Gamecube (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Drakino ( 10965 ) on Friday December 26, 2003 @04:31AM (#7811729) Journal
    Lack of online support. This is my only point against the Gamecube. I'd love to play some internet games of Mario Kart, or Mario Party and such, but even with my broadband adaptor, I can't. Several unique Nintendo only games would be awesome online.

    And yes, I know about Warp Pipe. It sucks right now, unless you have a killer internet connection to the other system.

    Beyond that, the Cube has the most innovative controller I have ever seen *gasp* different sized buttons instead of identical ones. It has the best wireless controller, since it's first party. It has the most unique games out of all the consoles. It's cheep, since it didn't try to include things like DVD playback (worthless to most tech savy people who already owned a DVD player).

    And as many others have pointed out, the Gamecube is doing rather well, and I am sure will solidify the number two spot after the holiday numbers come in.

    I guess noone writes XBox doom articles, since MS could afford to mail free XBoxes like AOL CDs if they really wanted to.

    • Re:One flaw I see with the Gamecube (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Momomoto ( 118483 ) on Friday December 26, 2003 @08:40AM (#7812061) Homepage
      Am I the only person that sees no internet connectivity as an advantage? I couldn't care less if my console can go online or not.

      What I want is an excellent multiplayer experience that I can share with three other people in the room. Nintendo's games have got this in spades. A game of Mario Party just wouldn't be the same if the people you were playing against weren't in the same room.

      I see nothing wrong with Nintendo forcing us to be social creatures in order to get our multiplayer fix. Let Microsoft and Sony make games that can be played online; the truth of the matter is all the multiplayer games I play are on Nintendo right now, except for Guilty Gear X2 (PS2) and Power Stone 2 (DC).

      • Re:One flaw I see with the Gamecube (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Bishop ( 4500 ) on Friday December 26, 2003 @12:21PM (#7813097)
        What I want is an excellent multiplayer experience that I can share with three other people in the room.

        The Nintendo Generation has grown up. It is harder for them to get together with friends on a regular basis. They have kids, houses, and spouses. They have moved across town or out of town. To them online play is a godsend. It is easy to set aside an hour or two for a little online play with their old friends.

        • The Nintendo Generation has grown up. It is harder for them to get together with friends on a regular basis. They have kids, houses, and spouses. They have moved across town or out of town. To them online play is a godsend. It is easy to set aside an hour or two for a little online play with their old friends.

          Wow, +5 Insightful. This is exactly how I feel. It's extremely difficult for me to get 3 or 4 of my friends in the room at the same time anymore. We're all busy. We're grown-up's now. I own a

        • The Nintendo Generation has grown up. It is harder for them to get together with friends on a regular basis. They have kids, houses, and spouses.

          That's precisely why the gamecube is so badass. You can play games *with* your kids and your spouse.
      • What I want is an excellent multiplayer experience that I can share with three other people in the room.

        I agree. I really enjoy the social aspect of gaming. It doesn't happen very often, but I do sometimes manage to get a group of people over to our place to play videogames. I personally dislike playing Mario Party, but I love to watch 4 non-gamers play that game. They yell and laugh and the top of their lungs. That's a million times more fun than playing against strangers online. I have Xbox live
    • And yes, I know about Warp Pipe. It sucks right now, unless you have a killer internet connection to the other system.

      Even if Nintendo did write the network software, you'd still need to have an ideal netowrk connection to have virtually no lag. I still think that in addition to no believe there is enough money to be made for online gaming for their console, Nintendo must also be concerned that lag and other network degradations may dampen the gameplay experience. Nintendo is usually very focused on the

      • I think the LAN ability of Mario Kart as an experiemental step for them.

        A bad one at that. After actually getting through the effort of coordinating a time to play, bringing my equipment to a friends house, having to move around a TV, I was rather disappointed with the experience. There was no option to play the normal races with computer players, no ability to select a course, and no ability to select your racers and kart.

        LAN parties for computer games are easy. LAN parties for Gamecube games are a

  • Right. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by NanoGator ( 522640 ) on Friday December 26, 2003 @05:34AM (#7811814) Homepage Journal
    "...the game console market might be starting to move beyond what Nintendo can deliver."

    This statement may more or less be true. However, this isn't something that Sony and Microsoft is immune to. What happens if the PS3 is a mediochre upgrade to the PS2? More polys, higher res, slightly flashier graphics. What if the XBOX2 has DVR capabilities, and people buy it for that and not so much for games? What if some 'never-been-in-the-game-market-before' company shows up surrounded in a hype field? (Apple? IBM? Toshiba??)

    The point? At least Nintendo's trying. Not every idea is a winner. However, they have built themselves a rather faithful audience to support them for coming years. Yeah, maybe one day they'll go the way of Sega. That's life. It's just hard to imagine, though, that the other two players have any less to fear. Sony does not have Mario. Microsoft doesn't have enough success to bank on backwards compatibility. And the game market is increasingly attractive to newcomers.

    The funny thing is, Nintendo's loss of marketshare would be hard to describe as a black eye. Maybe there's some hurt pride. Fair enough. Are they successful? Yes. Are they profitable? Oh hell yes. Are they innovative? Well gee, there sure is a whole lotta Nintendo-copy-catting going on.

    "The company proclaimed that the Game Boy Advance would be a 'Trojan horse' for the GameCube - but that Trojan horse never opened because very few game designers have figured out cool ways to take advantage of that connectivity."

    Mostly a true statement, though it's written as though the GameCube and/or the GBA is/aren't succesful. Okay, maybe it's just my Nintendo zealousy, but it's interesting how outsiders have such a dim view of what's going on in Nintendo's world. "Oh they've dropped back to #3. Bye Bye Nintendo." I'm starting to feel as though I need to re-examine my perception of Apple.
    • Microsoft doesn't have enough success to bank on backwards compatibility.

      Nor could they do it feasibly if they wanted to. Going to ATI for the graphics chipset, they'd have to make it compatible with all of the NVidia chipset games. And I'm not sure if I'm correct about this one or not, but weren't they going to IBM for a PowerPC processor instead of an x86 Intel processor? That'd be extremely hard to handle backward compatibility with good performance.

      • Going to ATI for the graphics chipset, they'd have to make it compatible with all of the NVidia chipset games.
        That's why MS uses DirectX in the XBox.

        And I'm not sure if I'm correct about this one or not, but weren't they going to IBM for a PowerPC processor instead of an x86 Intel processor?
        MS has licensed some technology from IBM. This doesn't tell anything about the CPU instruction set.

    • Re:Right. (Score:2, Insightful)

      by orthancstone ( 665890 )
      The problem I see is that for Nintendo, this is really the second failed console in a row (think Sega...they had several fail and finally dropped out). I hate to say the N64 was a failure, but it came up way short of expectations AND it ended up losing the console war with the Playstation.

      That's why I wonder about Nintendo's future...because this isn't just "one misstep"; this is a continuation on a previous misstep (despite the fact that the GC corrects on several errors the N64 made).

      Besides, I thi

      • Re:Right. (Score:3, Informative)

        by NanoGator ( 522640 )
        "I hate to say the N64 was a failure, but it came up way short of expectations AND it ended up losing the console war with the Playstation. "

        Failure? Nintendo sold more than 30 million N64s. That ain't no failure.
    • I agree with most of what you said, except that Apple has been in the console market before:

      The Pippin [theapplecollection.com]

      Granted, it was basically Bandai's machine, but it's always interesting to look at what plans Apple had for it in the States.

  • First let me say that the GameCube is a great machine. However nintendo keeps screwing up and thats why it has lost its lead. It started when they chose to censor Mortal Kombat and Sega didn't. This alienated many of their mature gamers. Then they chose the cartridge format for N64. Then they chose to not support/encourage third party developers as much as sony/sega/microsoft. Also they decided to only make cute little games oriented towards kids, even though most gamers are adults. All the games for older
    • oops theres typos in that but i just woke up and im half asleep sue me
    • The original GBA display also sucked. This was fixed with GBA SP but it was too late.

      Too late? Dude, do you know how many GBA Nintendo sold? Yup, gazillions. And that's before the GBA SP...

      Further more, I'm close to 40, and I love all those first party games you listed!
      • yeah i know gameboy is by far the best selling system ever. i didnt mean it was too late for them to sell systems. i meant they should have made the gameboy advance screen not suck in the first place. they released the GBA SP because so many people were bitching about the original GBA's screen. the release of the GBA SP was necessary because the original's screen sucked so hard, and nintendo realized it after they released the original, which was too late. (even though it still sold well)
    • I had no problem with cartridge format. Sure, the textures and music were more compressed, but it eliminated the horrible load times present in PSX games.

      And they don't make games oriented towards kids... they make games that everyone can enjoy. This way, they don't eliminate a possible sale.
      • i personally didn't have a problem with the cartridge format either. and i understand why nintendo stayed with it. i hated load times of saturn/ps1.

        but the cartridge format meant more expensive games. if they manufacture 100,000 cartridges of a game and only sell 50,000 thats a huge loss. but if they make 100,000 cds of a game and only sell 50,000 then they don't lose as much money because cds dont cost nearly as much as cartridges. this made game publishers wary of making n64 games. and hurt nintendo in
    • Yeah.. I should have posted this with my other post... sue me.

      Making the changes to GBA SP was too late? It's the number 1 selling game unit WORLDWIDE. It consistently sells much more than PS2, which is murdering both GCN and Xbox. So while you think it is too late, the average consumer definitely does not.

      Backwards compatibility would be nice, but I don't need to pay an extra $25-50 so my console can play DVDs. I have a DVD player, and two computers for that.

      An integrated network adapter would be nice,
    • Dude, if you think games like Mario Sunshine, Super Monkey Ball and F-zero are kiddy games, perhaps you should pull your head out of the oh-its-so-cute-so-it-has-to-be-for-kids-only asshole.

      Here's a hint, genius: mature gamers know that GAMEPLAY is what makes a game 'mature' and great, not testosterone pumped, adrenaline injected, blood bathed mindless and shallow hyper realistic graphical extravaganzas. Here's a simple example that's not even on the gamecube: ICO is a multitudes more mature than somet
      • dude chill out. did you even read all of my post?? i agree gameplay is whats important, but that doesnt mean almost every game they publish has to have cute little furry animals in it.

        "While I respect that nintendo has kept their games clean instead of selling out and making violent sexually explicit adult only games like GTA3 it has cost them some gamers. It's not just about sex and violence either. Games like Gran Turismo are made for older gamers that can appreciate the realism of the game. Kids under
    • You're mixing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd parties - eg. Super Monkey Ball is from Sega, not Nintendo.
      What's so kiddy about F-Zero? The pilots look a bit strange, but have you ever seen SciFi on TV? Lots of aliens there look even stranger.

      BTW: Eternal Darkness is also not on you list.
      • oops youre right monkey ball is a sega game.

        i meant MOST nintendo games are oriented towards kids. not all. i forgot about eternal darkness. thats one of the exceptions. nintendo is like the disney of video games. disney makes great movies and most of them are for kids and yes, adults like disney movies too.

  • I sense a bit of hypocrisy here... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Gothic_Walrus ( 692125 ) on Friday December 26, 2003 @07:55AM (#7811975) Journal
    How is it that while people repeatedly blast Nintendo for all of these "rehashes," these games not only get great reviews (up in the 90% range, usually) but also top best sellers lists constantly?

    Just a thought. More Mario isn't always a bad thing.

    • How is it that while people repeatedly blast Nintendo for all of these "rehashes," these games not only get great reviews (up in the 90% range, usually) but also top best sellers lists constantly?

      This is kinda an interesting point. I keep seeing game sites give Nintendo games great reviews, and then trash them on their editorial pages (not innovative, etc). They're talking out of both sides of their mouths'.

      I personally think Nintendo is relying too much on their old titles to carry them forward (Ze

  • This is insane ! (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 26, 2003 @08:06AM (#7811990)
    How can a company be dead when their leading console ( Gameboy advance / advance sp ) has the highest user base in Japan.
    http://www.ningc.com/news.php?article=3953. [ningc.com]

    And just hit the 10 million mark in europe.
    http://www.bdgamer.net/index.php/item/index.php/ca tegory/4/blogid/index.php/item/7307/catid/4 [bdgamer.net]

    And it's more expensive over here at the current exchange rate thats well over a billion dollar gross in europe alone.

    The combined sales of gamecube and gameboy advance are dominating the market at 51% of all consoles sold last month and this figure ISN'T from Nintendo it's from the retailers !!!
    http://www.gamerseurope.com/news/1095 [gamerseurope.com]

    Perhaps the writer and the sony/microsnot toadie analysts should have done some research before proclaiming the big N dead.

  • I'd like to point out that Nintendo still hasn't gotten a Grand Theft Auto type of game on their system.

    (Notice I said "type" and not "caliber.")

    It's seen as a "kiddie system" for a reason, boys.

    As long as I'm going to get modded down for trolling (Help, help! I'm being oppressed!), I'd like to ask you all why it is that the same group of people who vehemently and religiously bash Microsoft are some of the first people to rally around Mario's flag?

    Buncha hypocrites.
  • I have both an XBox and a GC. Had a PS2 but got rid of it when I realized that the GC was graphically and gameplay wise better.

    I love the fact that most GC games (especially those from produced by Nintendo) support 480p. Heck, launch games like "Luigi's Mansion" and "Rogue Squadron" were 480p from the start. Also, the Wavebird is the best wireless controller hands down.

    I attribute the PS2 success to backward compatability and the Microsoft Windows "me too" effect. Ironic that Microsoft is being beaten b
    • Um. All XBox games are 480p (from launch) unless the game uses some graphical effect that requires 480i. But the XBox also supports 720p and 1080i.

      So anyway, I find it odd that that impressed you about the GameCube, but not about the XBox.
      • There a quite a few titles that don't support 480p on the XBox (including DOA3).

        Mostly all of the Game Cube games support 480p.

        You can set your Xbox to 480p, but that doesn't mean the game will be 480p. If it's not 480p, than you are seeing 480i instead.

        You know your in 480p on the cube, because the games ask you to switch before they boot. And, you can see the difference!
    • I don't have a gamecube yet, for now this is just out of curiousity: for progressive scan gamecube games, do you need to set an option somewhere to put them in progressive scan mode, or do they automatically use 480p if your tv supports it? I guess I'm going to find out the answer for ps2 since I got Jak 2 and Prince of Persia for Christmas, and Jak2 claims to support progressive scan.
      • Most of the games detect the component cable and ask you prior to starting up "Do you want to run in progressive scane mode: Yes / No ?".
        • True, but some don't. In the case that the game case says it is progressive scan capable, but it doesn't ask, just hold down the B button when the GC starts up, it will then ask. Normally, after this first time asking, it will ask from then on (since it knows you have the component cables, presumably stored in the memory card save file for the game).

  • Yeah BSD is dying. No wait nintendo or is it pc gaming. The desktop?

    Nintendo is dead when it is dead. Until then it is just a company that is not doing terribly well at the moment. Sony is the clear winner in the console race. MS is the clear loser but doesn't need to win in the first round. Nintendo needs the consoles badly but may be able to survive on the handheld where it is so far in front that it is lapping the competition.

    So on to the next round. We have a fairly good idea what sony is going to do.

    • How is MS the clear loser? It is innovating everything for the future at the moment...
      • Innovating what? Using standard pc parts to make your console? Yeah that worked so well they are not going to do it with x-box2. Sorry I don't buy into PR. Your statement sounds like a general saying "We are not retreating. We are advancing to the rear. As fast as we can."

        But the real reason I label them as the losers in this race is that they are the lowest seller. Some people may claim it is a tie between nintendo and MS but I think these people forget the gameboy. Nintendo collects full-price for gamebo

  • ''Competitors Sony and Microsoft have [..] turned their game consoles into karaoke machines [..]. Nintendo, meanwhile, has stuck to a philosophy that people who buy and play video games enjoy the familiar and care little for such gimmickry.''
     Riigghht... [ign.com]

    ''Sony also made a clever move in allowing games designed for the original PlayStation to be playable on the PlayStation 2 [...]. The GameCube cannot play Nintendo video games made for older-model machines.''
    Nintendo's next console (aka N5) will pl [ningc.com]

  • I've been seeing this same "Nintendo is dead" article over and over again, wondering exactly what people are trying to prove. Why do we continually see this over and over?

    Let me stop for a moment and state that I consider myself to be a hardcore video game fanatic. I've been a gamer since my aunt handed me a Bally Arcade [old-computers.com] controller when I was 5 in the late 70s. My collection includes every mainstream console as well as many others. Heck, I've been with the industry longer than some of these pundits who
    • Nintendo isn't exactly a saint, I'll agree. There's proof of them engaging in price fixing and they've taken a stance against emulation. They aren't as evil as the other two but they aren't as big either.

      I liked most of your post, but not applying the same treatment to Nintendo that Sony and MS get is unfair. Let's not forget that Nintendo used to be very controlling, almost to a Mac-level of totalitarianism, in the console market. For example, it wasn't that long ago that Nintendo tried to sue cheat
      • For example, it wasn't that long ago that Nintendo tried to sue cheat guide publishers for printing screenshots of their games so that they could monopolize the strategy guide market.

        Wrong. They sued for uses of their trademarked logos, screenshots they released for news/review media (which is NOT the same as unofficial strategy guides), and in a very particular case that got Slashdotted [slashdot.org] (where Daily Radar's parent company, Imagine Media, was sued), the company used the Pokemon trading cards for their

    • You claim to be a long time gamer, yet you act like you completely missed out on the history of Sega.

      They did not just fulfill some prophecy. Do you mean to tell me that the CD drives additions and the Saturn itself had nothing to do with their collapse?

      Trust me, Sega had a black cloud over its head before the Dreamcast came out...
      • I was referring to the Dreamcast's plight in particular.

        Yes, Sega screwed up by releasing an add-on called the Sega CD and turned around and made the same mistake with the 32X. The Saturn failed because it was designed rather quickly under the pressure of Sony's new Playstation and developers said it was too hard to program for. There was much mismanagement in Sega for years before the Dreamcast, but that's not what killed it.

        The Dreamcast was a solid piece of hardware that was very powerful but still e
  • For $99 now, it's a good deal. My younger brother just got one for Christmas, and it game with a game, well many games when you think about it, The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition(Original Zelda, through Majora's Mask, and the demo of the newest one). For the price it beats both X-BOX and PS2, and you won't find SuperMario or Zelda on either of those, and those are two characters, I grew up with playing as. It's very unlikely that Nintendo will be going away anytime soon. Nintendo's sales have increase

  • Ok, lets explain this once and for all. (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Nintendo main target is "family" (kids)
    because that means anyone can buy their games (more $$$), they reuse their own franchises to attract their "fanbase" grown ups and teens who used to play with their franchises (more $$$)so they always will have a fan base as soon as theres kids and kids parents who buy kid games more ($$$), everybody (who is not a nintendo fan at least) is sick and tired of seing Mario, pikachu and Zelda (and all their spin offs) in a yet another ridiculous game the 100th time but the
  • When the PSP (Playstation Portable) comes out, Nintendo will have the first real handheld competition in its history. All other previous competitors like SegaGamegear, Lynx and many countless others have been a complete joke.

    If Nintendo can't hold up on its last leg... it'll have to do what Sega did to survive. That is to make Sonic the hedgehog and many other Sega titles appear on other hardware.

    Sega didn't have much problem swimming torward this direction. But I got a feeling Nintendo is one of those

  • *sigh* (Score:3, Informative)

    by M3wThr33 ( 310489 ) on Friday December 26, 2003 @05:14PM (#7814670) Homepage
    Wow, let's all join on the Nintendo-bashing bandwagon! Completely ignoring actual statistics!

    Nintendo's stock price is back above 10,000 Yen for the first time in two months since the profit-loss announcement. Sales have been through the roof since the price-cut. Heck the article bases Nintendo's "failure" off of two month old console sales and sales of one game.

    "The GameCube is teetering on the edge of whether they should stay in this business or not,"
    Congratulations on doing research. Nintendo has said time and again, when they leave the console-making business, they leave the games business.

    Game magazine editor Davison said the smartest thing for Nintendo to do would be to "circle the wagons" on the handheld market and give up the console market, a thought other analysts share.
    WHY? The GameCube has more million sellers (Including titles rated M) than the Xbox, in the states AND abroad. Heck, Super Smash Bros. Melee has outsold Halo, but would this article have you believe that?

    Mario Kart Double Dash was the top seller in November, even though it was only out for 1/2 of the month. It sold 650,000 consoles compared to 750,000 PS2s and 400,000 Xboxen.

    What more does the WashingtonPost expect out of Nintendo? They can only stage a comeback so fast. Of course, the Post fails to mention Sony's profit loss or MS's trickling Xbox Live numbers.

    Whoever wrote this article clearly just wants to sound hip in putting down a company that is clearly in no position to leave. Don't base a company's success on their business in your area. Heck, would you believe Sony's profits fell 98% during one quarter this year? Just remember, it takes a lot less sales of First-party games(GCN) to make a profit than licensing out for Third-party games and console sales(PS2) and last I checked, as long as you are making money doing it, why stop? And, no, the profit loss last quarter was not due to sales of anything whatsoever. Nintendo's huge cash stockpile is overseas partially and when the value of the Yen increases by only a few cents, the value in the banks drops dramatically. If you've been following currency amounts, you'll know it's wacky. Heck, Canada's trading at nearly $1.30/76c for the first time in a long while.

    • Re:*sigh* (Score:2, Interesting)

      by GaimeGuy ( 679917 )
      I love you man, will you be my wife? :) Anyways, I'd like to add something about your comment about the currency rates: Nintendo claimed that they lost about 350 million dollars during the first half of the fiscal year due to the increase in the Yen's value. Nintendo PREDICTED that they'd lose about 46 million, I believe. When the figures came in, it was 2 million dollars. Which means without factoring in the change in currency rates, they MADE about $348,000,000 from April through September.

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