Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Next Nintendo Console In Spring 2005?

Posted by simoniker on from the no-time-like-the-present dept.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to an IGN story claiming that the Gamecube's successor will launch as early as Spring 2005. This date, sourced from anonymous development houses, seems earlier than expected, and IGN mentions that "..asked if they had received any official documentation for the machine, all software houses contacted said no." But equally, any console getting a head start on the next generation will have a significant advantage, and as IGN suggest, "Nintendo has repeatedly stated that it would not be the last hardware manufacturer out of the gates with its next console."

8 of 74 comments (clear)

  1. First one out? by glenkim · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This strategy didn't necessarily work for Sega with the Dreamcast. It came out first, and had the edge over the PS2 in certain aspects, yet it still lost.

    1. Re:First one out? by zudo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      PS2 definately has the edge on the current market because of its early release.

      Is it really true that ps2 has the edge because of its early release? I think a major contributor to ps2's success (with both publishers and consumers - which obviously feed each other) has been reputation. Sony built a huge brand with playstation and people bought into that when the new machine came out. Think back to the dreamcast launch, no one was interested in it because they trusted Sony to blow Sega out of the water with PS2, with a combination of hype and brand loyalty Sony managed to convince customers to wait for the PS2 to come along before upgrading. Once the PS2 was out and people could finally see that it isn't that much more powerful than Dreamcast, it was too late - people weren't buying DC's so publishers weren't keen to support the platform, people see more games on PS2 so they buy that... What's to stop Sony doing this again with PS3?

      The best hope for Nintendo is probably to continue to try to garner more third party support and shake that cutesy "toy" image, it needs some GTA's to break into the (older) mass market. As for when to release the console - yes slightly earlier might be better but only if they can give people a reason to buy. If people see Nintendo as a format that doesn't get many games or they buy the inevitable hype of the PS3 and XBox2 being much more powerful then they won't invest in the platform. Sega suffered tremendously with image problems compared to Sony; which machine would you buy, the next iteration of the most popular games machine available (Playstation) or the machine from a company who has a history of failed machines (Sega CD, 32X, Saturn)?

  2. Difficult times for them... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    any console getting a head start on the next generation will have a significant advantage

    That did not help the Dreamcast. Look where Sega is now. Sony is going to have to make a mistake for the lead to be taken from them - like being very very late to the market with an underpowered machine.

    The upcoming PSX reeks of bad planning - people want the PS3 *now* (not some stupid multimedia machine) and they're diluting the Playstation brand with it.

    1. Re:Difficult times for them... by GR1NCH · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I agree with this too... I really wanted to buy a PS2 when I was console shopping but the old technology (in comparison to GCN and XBOX) was a major turn-off, especially since GCN and XBOX can be aquired for much cheaper than the PS2. I think a new overpriced PS2 is NOT going to boost sales for Sony, and they really do need to push out the next gen if GCN and XBOX2 are just around the corner.

    2. Re:Difficult times for them... by davidhan · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Whatever system has the games I want to play, that's the one I'd get. I think anyone that's owned a console system before would go with this line of thinking.

  3. I just hope by Masami+Eiri · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I just hope that now that Nintendo's gone disc, they'll follow Sony's example and make this new one backwards compadible.

    That, IMO, is one of the main reasons that PS2 won out over the Dreamcast.

    1. Re:I just hope by Synic · · Score: 2, Insightful

      No, format wasn't the reason at all that Dreamcast failed. It had to do with the fact that Stolar was the most abrasive person you'd ever met, so he'd piss off every prospective client, and that he couldn't recognize a good opportunity if it hit him in the face. If you pay attention, a lot of the good titles for the system came from Japan. For a console to succeed in the United States, you need the American juggernaught EA to publish it's sports games for it. Frankly I find this sad, but whatever. In Japan you need RPG games to succeed (that would mean Square or Enix). Not only do you need one or two titles of these genres from first party or such, you need VARIETY. Sony will continue to dominate as long as they release the most software (despite the fact that most of it is garbage).

  4. Re:Failed console history by Scorchio · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Rather than problems with the technology, I think Sega shot themselves in the foot trying to stay ahead of the competition with too many incremental changes - Mega drive, Mega CD, 32X, Neptune, before getting to Saturn. Joe Consumer wants to spend his cash on a console that's going to be around for a few years. If it's likely that the current machine is going to be replaced by a new model at the end of the year, it might be best to wait for that one. Or buy a PlayStation or Nintendo, which is pretty much what happened.

    It's a shame, really, because the Dreamcast is a good console and deserved to do a lot better than it did, but Sega had already lost it's foothold in the hardware market.