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Nintendo GameCube Preview
ravedaddy writes: "We've all seen the hype over the Sony PS2 and Microsoft X-box but things have been fairly quiet on Nintendo's front. So will Nintendo's GameCube pack a punch powerful enough to pound its competitors in overall sales and immersing game play? We won't know for another six months, but the authors of this preview piece were able to sit down with one of Nintendo's partners, ATI Technologies, to discuss some of the specifications of the GameCube and how its architecture is designed to compete. There is quite a bit of info on the 'flipper' 3D chip from ATI in there."
Let's not forget that Nintendo isn't exactly strapped for cash or expertise. They might be a bit impoverished compared to the entire Sony corperation, but they're by no means poor. Last I heard, they had something like $15 billion in the bank, so they can afford some major marketing and absorb a few hits before they need to really make money back.
Besides, they still have Shigeru Miyamoto and a truckload of mascots. Mario, Zelda and (ugh) Pokemon aren't going to be seen on the PS2 any time soon, and they can all sell machines like crazy.
According to the interviews I've read with some of the Nintendo head honchos, they've learned their lessons from the N64's lack of a decent storage medium and its kiddie focus. The Gamecube should fare well.
J
The interesting thing to note is that while the PlayStation 2, like the Sega Saturn is suffering from developer confusion (I.E. developers have a whole lot to learn before they can take advantage of its capabilities) the GameCube is designed from the ground up to be a developer-friendly platform.
I read an interview with someone -- maybe Shigeru Miyamoto? -- about how when the N64 launched with Mario 64 showing off what it could do, developers were blindsided by the difficulty of programming for the system. They assumed a Mario-like game would be easy when in fact the platform had a number of bottlenecks and quirks that made development difficult. GameCube is apparently meant to address such difficulties.
-JF
MrJoy.com -- Because coding is FUN!
Also, Nintendo have one huge advantage over Sony- piracy. Piracy is every bit as bad for the PSX as it is for the PC. However, with their cartrage, and soon proprietory (but inexpencive) optical discs, Nintendo have been alot safer then Sony from the pirating scene (I'm not trying to say Nintendo products aren't pirated, quite the opposite, but compared to Sony with common household equiptment able to burn their CDs, Nintendo's problem is practically zero.)
And one final thing to keep Nintendo afloat: you know how well the Game Boy is doing now? Very fucking well. Even before the Pokemon craze the things were starting to sell more again, and with the Game Boy Advance upcoming and fully backwards compatible (fully = it has the Gameboy Color chipset onboard AS WELL as it's new 32-bit processor), and no real competition in the foreseeable future, this is one market Nintendo has 100% penatration in it. Cracking into the handheld game market is like trying to crack into Microsoft's x86 OS market (except Nintendo isn't breaking the law [please, don't paste me any of the crap about stuff Nintendo have done in the past that could be seen as anti-competitive, I know, I know]).
Nintendo have, and are, making money. If they manage a userbase equal to the N64's with the Gamecube, they'll survive fine. But, the Gamecube will get a bigger market then the N64, just read about the advantages of the thing here to see why.