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Nintendo Profits Drop As Gamecube Loses Ground
Thanks to several readers for pointing to a Bloomberg Japan report reporting a likely fall in Nintendo's profits, as they lose market share to the Xbox and sell less Gamecubes compared to this time last year. They're still on course for a profit of hundreds of millions of dollars, mind you, but the article does say that "some investors criticized Nintendo for failing to announce any significant plans to boost its game business.. at last week's Electronic Entertainment Expo." Investors also seems worried about increased competition for the Gameboy Advance, in the form of Sony's PSP handheld.
Nintendo is doing fine. They are making a nice profit. They are writing great software. They own lots of profitable franchises that noone else has. They may have slightly less sales than Microsoft, but that does not mean they have been wiped off the face of the earth.
It's sad to see Nintendo going the same path as Sega. Right now Nintendo has the same niche that Sega once had with the Dreamcast; fun addictive light-hearted games. Nintendo greats like Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, Zelda- and sega greats like Crazy Taxi and Space Channel 5 and Samba De Amigo. I really hope that genre doesn't go away in a gaming world ruled by Sony and Microsoft. The way things are going... I think it will.
As far as the 3d capabilities of the n64 and the psx are concerned, the psx's 3d capabilities are laughable compared to the n64. That is what I mean. It was the N64 and mario 64 that pushed the console gaming world to 3d. You had NOTHING like that before.
As I said in my original post, perhaps innovation was not the correct word. But the N64 era had games that were absolutely unforgetable, and they pushed gaming in a different direction. Yes, they have lost the edge now and, much as I love Zelda's latest outing, it does not amaze me like Ocarina did. Metroid was a surprise, yes, but I guess we'll have to wait for the next Nintendo console to see true innovation.
The "you are wrong" part, btw, refered to the assertion that Nintendo should stick to software. I think he was wrong, and I said so, writing a couple of paragraphs framing my ideas a bit. If I offended you, well, it was not my intention.
Mother is the best bet and don't let Satan draw you too fast.
Seem to me greatly exaggerated. Is the GC a top-selling system? No. Is it even going to wind up second place when all is said and done? Very possibly not.
Nintendo, however, owns a market share very tightly. There are players who basically only enjoy Nintendo games. When pushed, we have some difficulty explaining why, except for some intangible aspect to the games. They're just... more fun. They seem to have been designed, always, to be fun, entertaining, easy to pick up, etc. And I don't get that feeling from most PS2 games. I buy them, and I'm almost always disappointed. They feel like they're a part of a different hobby than the one I grew up with.
I am not alone in this, either. Out of the dozen or so friends I have who own a console, about 5 own a Gamecube. I know this is an unusually high number, but, you know, I tend to associate with people who have similar taste and all. The point is, though, that the six of us are dedicated GC players. We own GC's because the GC is the only console that has the games we want.
My point, long-winded as it may be, is that I think the GC can and will survive on this niche. Sure, it'll go down to 10% of the market. Sure, it'll lose some of its third party support. But, as time goes on, a lot of developers will also start moving away from the Nintendo style of game entirely. And Nintendo will be the only company catering at all to people like me.
I figure it'll be like Apple. Never gonna be at the top of the game. Always gonna be around, and always gonna have a set of loyalists who would never seriously consider buying the competition.
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