Nintendo Dismisses Online For GC Successor

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to a GamePro article discussing Nintendo's public attitude to online gaming, even as it extends to the GameCube successor. According to Nintendo's senior VP George Harrison, "[Online gaming] is a consideration. We're looking into it for the next iteration of the GameCube. We just don't believe consumers are ready for it. Right now, no one's paying for subscriptions. The real test comes when you have to start coughing up $15 per month." However, analyst Michael Goodman doesn't concur: "The game console isn't just a game console anymore. It's evolving into a home entertainment system. Nintendo has refused to acknowledge that and it's hurt them."

Comments

Re:Nintendo is right

[PainKilleR-CE]

I think causality is in question. PS2 has a DVD player, and it also sold well. Therefore, the PS2 sold well because of the DVD player.

Actually there is some truth to that. The launch titles on the Ps2 sucked, but in Japan the units were gobbled up because in Japan, DVD players were spendy items and the PS2 was competitive.

If that were the case, the mass of returns would've hit long before GT3 came out (Gran Tourismo 3 was the first DVD title on the PS2). The first units that hit Japan couldn't read DVDs properly, and when GT3 was released the consoles came swarming back to Sony. A few consoles that couldn't read DVDs even made it to the US launch, though Sony had promised to have it fixed before then.

However, system sales does not a successful system make. Nintendo may not be in as many homes as Sony, but they sure as hell don't mind the millions of copies of software they sell every few months when they release a new game.

They'd sure like more 3rd party titles making those types of sales, though, since 3rd party titles give a return with almost no investment. Nintendo may talk a lot about not wanting overly-violent games, but I'm sure they'd love to have the money from an exclusive 3rd party title that sells like GTA3 and Vice City did.

Nintendo's in a better place than Sony. They have a following that'll chase them anywhere they go. Sony, on the other hand, is very much vulnerable to Microsoft or any other ambitious company who wants to make a new console. Sony doesn't have Mario or Fox McCloud to lure people over.

Sony may not have Mario (is Fox that big of a deal? The only game I have ever owned with him in it is Smash Bros.), but if Nintendo is forced out of the console business from too many non-successful products in the market, Sony has the clout to get Mario.

Sony will be kicked out of it's roost one day, but Nintendo will always have it's following. Sort of reminds me of Apple in some ways

The console market is fickle. We had Atari, then Nintendo, Sega for a short while, Nintendo again, now Sony. Sure, Nintendo's still around (and I own a GameCube, the first Nintendo console I've bought since the NES), but the majority of their market is in the GBA, not the home console. I expect to see someone take over the top spot eventually, but I suspect that it will be someone no one's expecting. At the very least, the installed base of the PlayStation 2 will keep Sony going for a long while, and the GBA plus 1st party sequels will keep Nintendo going for a while. Microsoft will keep the XBox going on cash reserves until they find some profitable market to shove one of it's successors into, or their shareholders tell them to shove it down a sewer.