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.")

Comments

good start

[Acts of Attrition]

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

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: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 thing to realise what a mess it's going to be.
Still, I live in hope that I may be proven wrong, and it'll kick ass. Kick-ass gaming systems are always welcome round these parts. I'm just not getting my expectations up, is all

As for competition for the GBA.. GP32!
Or for that matter the NGPC, but that's deader than the dreamcast now. Still a great wee system though