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GameCube Production to Halt
avayre writes "Nintendo is to press the pause button on production of its GameCube consoles while it clears inventory of unsold machines. the company's president said on Thursday. But Satoru Iwata promised the struggling games company was developing a radical new product to be announced next year -- however he gave few details save to say it would be a departure from mainstream gaming consoles 'that will have a big impact on the world.'" My prediction is that it's just downtime until Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles ships. That'll help move those units that are gathering dust.
The fact is this system is mainly aimed at the younger generations...cartoony graphics, cartoony games, mostly harmless adventure games, while the major console market is in the older generations. These young kids who want the gamecube simply can't afford it, while the people who can tend to lean towards the consoles with good shooters/action/sports games.
lets not forget the last time nintendo tried to 'innovate' and developed something 'radical' and 'never before seen' in game hardware.
methinks they should stick to making awesome games, and handheld game systems that you can play for more than 2 hours. (imo, the feature that kept the gameboy on top all these years despite better-equipped rivals).
(btw: i think this whole thread counts as console-war trolling)
// "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
It's a pity - Nintendo's first-party games have often set themselves apart from the competition. But once a console starts to appear to fail, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy - it's very hard for a console to pull itself back when it's on a downhill slide.
If only Nintendo had produced some more innovative games like the PS2 EyeToy, rather than spending large amounts of effort updating established franchises. Games like that are console sellers, because they appeal to all ages and move gaming outside of a comparatively small niche.
Where's the mario Kart gc? or the other really fun to play games that are nintendo?
But this seems to be the complaint I have with all the platforms right now. Multi-player games are rare outside of sports games. Mario Kart has always been a big seller and the version for theN64 completely rocked and was one of the games that kept that platform alive for as long as it was (goldeneye is another)
But the biggest problem with the GC is that cince it's aimed at the kid market, the kids cant afford the games. Sorry, your game is NOT worth $50 - $60 bucks. $20.00 to $40.00 is the range that is acceptable to kids with a paper-route and certianly inside the parents instant purchase model.
Playstation2 is killing because if the "classics" line if $19.95 games from last year and older.. I see those constantly picked through and bought while noone is really looking at the overpriced games.
I believe the GC to be a superior machine. I own it as well as the PS2 and the PS2 is kicking it's arse because of the large amount of low-cost games that are available.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
that Microsoft buying Rare could have done nothing but harm Nintendo's cause. If you think of the games that Nintendo have become famous for, most people would name those that have had Rare input: Goldeneye, Perfect Dark etc. With Rare out of the picture, the "inconsistent flow" of "attractive software" would be anything but improved.
the group had stumbled with the Game Cube console and conceded that it had made a strategic mistake by not ensuring that it had a consistent flow of attractive software for the Game Cube.
Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
...is that it is just another console system. The market is simply unable to support more then two consoles effectively, especially with all the various exclusive titles and multi-platform release titles that exist today..
However, it is just a console, like the Xbox and the Playstation. They are hardly worth their time...
By the time they are worth their time, they will have evolved into full computer systems that are closed systems, similar to the early computer market when C-64's and their ilk reigned supreme. (Meaning no upgradeability.)
A few years after that... Somebody will release a "Back to Basics" console system with simplistic controls, quality graphics and easy to follow storylines that will take the market by storm...
That might take ten years or more though...
If you ignore the other uses of a tool, does that make the tool less useful, or you less useful?
is a web site with a "catchy" domain name like www.offficial-console-sales-figures.com that is just a plain black background with white text showing the sales figures for each console, with the numbers updated on a real time basis, constantly ticking up like a movie or something!
Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
i guess people are sick of paying for Mario for the xxth time or Zelda or FinalFantasy 273
maybe if they created some new innovative PS2/Xbox ass kicking games (for less $) people would support them more
they should stick to the cellphone market as thats where the growth/innovation lies
Teenagers in the U.S. seem to belong to the category that they don't want to look like they're doing something immature. If they do anything viewed as potentially "un-cool" then they risk being "un-cool." The problem is, the stuff they turn to in order to be mature and cool are games where they run over hookers and shoot random people in the streets (i.e. GTA III).
Nintendo clearly hasn't been aiming for that crowd, and I for one am happier for it. I grew up with the NES, and since then have owned every console they've put out. They continue to make games that I get a great deal of enjoyment out of (Legend of Zelda : The Wind Waker, Super Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime, Eternal Darkness, etc.), and they are consistantly failing to sell as well as other more mediocre games on other consoles. Worldwide, the GameCube and the Xbox are even in sales, but you would never know it by talking to a teenager. It's a shame too, because Nintendo has stated that if they ever stop making a console, they will leave the market rather than make games as a third party. If that should ever happen, the world will have lost one of the most influential and innovative developers in existence, only to be replaced with games focusing completely on graphics and/or violence.
"Chances of RHIC-induced Armageddon are exceedingly rare, but... you never know." - MIT Physicist Bob Jaffe
Nobody wanted to develop for it. No developers = no games which = no customers.
The dev kits were insanely expensive, and you had to write for a screwed-up dual CPU system. Not easy.
I would have loved to see numbers backing that up in the fscking article! It doesn't surprise me that M$nbc fires off an article about a struggling Nintendo, shows sales comparisons between the PS2 and the GameCube, and omits the numbers for the XBox. They didn't want to paint the XBox with a similar brush, no doubt. And furthermore, unit sales aside, I don't think Microsoft is breaking even yet, on a per unit basis! How long are they committed to running in this race. Lastly, I own a GameCube for the quality of the games (Mario, Zelda, etc.) But when Sony releases its next gen system, I don't know how I'll be able to resist. Nintendo has to really step up to the plate on this one...
developing a radical new product
so, once again, nintendo owners will have to go buy all new games.
!(^((ri)|(mp))aa$)
For the one billionth time. Metroid is not a FPS game! It's "First Person Adventure". SO much emphasis is placed on exploration and learning about the Chozo and what happened to them. In fact, the monsters are just there to kill time and put some action into the game.
If you want a fast-paced FPS, buy Hhalo or Quake. But I, and everyone else told the world (in ever single review out there) that Metroid was not an FPS title. It's nobody's fault but your own, if you went into it with different expectations.
On the other hand, Zelda did have its flaws. I wasn't too terribly fond of the "Water World" theme, but I found that the rest of the game was quite awesome. And the gameplay was top-class.
Then perhaps focus their hardware into the one area they are the supreme almighty ruler, the handheld gaming market? Perhaps make the next gameboy a truly excellent piece of engineering and marketing without such obvious ommissions as a backlight or a headphone jacket?
Perhaps realize that a fair proportion of gameboy owners are adults and make more adult type games for it?
Put a technology like bluetooth on it with easy matchmaking capabilty?
Extend the battery life by realising adults can hold a heavier device then a 8yr old and can pay more for both hardware and software?
Realize that the iPod has shown their are plenty of rich bastards out there who are willing to pay top dollar for true excellence? (archos is way way way way cheaper and offers the same base product)
That is crazy talk mister.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
...I find Nintendo's losing market share rather perculiar. The only real difference between the two competitors, is that one releases many more adult theme games than the other. Funny, because by the looks of it, it appears that the GC has 3 good 'kiddie' game per 1 good adult game from PS2.
But what is even more funny, is that if Nintendo continues on the same track of creating fun family games, it's going to end up back on top, due to a generation of gamers settling down, getting married and having kids. I've had 5 friends in the last year talk about what console they should get for their rugrats and each one ended up with the GC, because of the family oriented games.
Mad Hatter
Actually, you're NOT Nintendo's target market. You're Sony/Microsoft's target market. Nintendo's market is for the late teens to early 30's that plays video games for fun, not to engage in the violence that they can't perform in the real world.
And when the hell did the console market become a war? A PS2 in a home doesn't preclude a GameCube in the same space. I've had a PS2 for a couple of years now, and I love the thing, but I want a GameCube because Nintendo offers games that the PS2 and XBox don't. While they focus on thud-and-blunder/race/shoot/crush/bitchslap games, Nintendo focuses on making games what they should be -- fun diversions that make you think a little bit, and put a smile on your face.
Case in point -- my girlfriend digs video games. Watch her play Final Fantasy X or something similar on the PS2, and you'll seldom see her smiling...she's more focused on making sure her characters are levelling up, finding shit, etc. With a game on a Nintendo system, you see a lot more grinning, hear more smack-talking, and generally get the impression that the experience is more rewarding than gaming on the PS2.
Don't get me wrong, though -- we're not throwing out the PS2. I still need my Madden fix, which is great fun, SOCOM's good after a long day at the office, and I bought Robotech: Battlecry for the PS2 b/c I didn't want to wait for the GameCube version (though I would have had to buy a new one). But, yeah, a GameCube will definitely be taking up a space on our entertainment center in the near future.
XBox? Why bother?
blog |
>Nintendo: I'm your target market. I'm a 27 year old male, I have a LOT of money
A lot of money and all the time in the world to play video games... Can I have your trust fund? Many people your age have to work in order to make a lot of money, and if they have a girlfriend, she saps the rest of the time. That leaves little time for playing games. Your market isn't as big as you think. The real money is kids who spend their parent's money and have all the time in the world to play games... there just aren't that many 24-35 year olds in that situation.
or it could be the GC 1.5 which i can see being a repacked 'Q'. well see though, im looking forward to wat ever they announce.
I want 2D games back.
I don't know if I agree with that. Sega was first to market with the Saturn (in Japan, anyway, PS and Saturn were officially released the same week in the U.S.) Saturn was first, and it gave a chance for the other companies to see the specs and built something they could market as being superior.
The rush to be first also killed the Dreamcast (and Atari's Jaguar). Those systems were AWESOME for the time they came out, but by the time they were released the other companies were all over them with (what was at the time) vaporware that promised bigger and better things.
The marketing strategy was way off, too - it seems to me that, because they were first, they didn't feel the need to market as much. Then the much hyped competitors came out later and SEGA had to play catchup, only they never actually caught up.
Sure, there's a lot more to SEGAs downfall than that, but I think it was certainly part of it. The best strategy is to start your R&D, but keep a lot of options open. Wait for your competitors to announce their systems and specs, and then meet or beat them.
There's a lot more work on the software front, but I think that's the hardware strategy.
Stupid sexy Flanders.
Except every big game has supposed to be the one that boosted GC sales through the roof, and they haven't. Metroid was a blip in turns of being the killer app*. Mario and Zelda both failed as killer apps as well. (PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT MOD THIS AS FLAMEBAIT, I AM NOT SAYING THEY ARE BAD GAMES, MERELY THAT THE NUMBERS SHOW THEY WERE NOT THE KILLER APPS THEY WERE EXPECTED TO BE, now back to the point I was making...) Why are we to believe that Mario Kart is going to do what Mario, Zelda and Metroid continue to fail to do? Metroid and Zelda, two of the supposed killer apps, are now among those that you can get FREE with the system and it still has not created a sales skyrocket.
*Killer app: The single piece of software that people buy the system to use (see Goldeneye or Halo). A game or application peceived as so desirable that it alone sells systems.
The GC isn't far from a PC? Really? With 24 MB of low-latency DRAM which doesn't exist in the PC market, with a graphics chipset with 3 MB of embedded-DRAM (which also doesn't exist in the PC market, save in Bitboys' dreams)? Chips don't make a platform - interfaces do, and the interfaces on the GC are all extremely proprietary. It'd be like thinking that any ARM7 platform can play GBA games if they only used its graphics chips.
The processor is a modified PowerPC architecture, called "Gekko", i.e. a PowerPC 750, i.e. a G3. This part is correct. However, it has a dedicated bus to the ATI graphics core, and (importantly), the system has 24 MB of MoSys 1T-SRAM, which has extremely low latency and therefore extremely high bandwith utilization efficiency.
So you'd need a heavily modifed PPC970 - one with the same SIMD set (as the SIMD set is unique to the Gekko - it's not AltiVec) and you'd need 1T-SRAM as well, or something with comparable latency/bandwidth, and you'd need the specialized bus to the graphics core.
The ATI graphics core is anything -but- a Radeon, and it's already known that NEC is building the next graphics chip for Nintendo. When's the last time you heard of a Radeon with embedded DRAM? The Flipper chip has 3 MB of eDRAM (that is, DRAM that's right on the chip, so it has 20+ GB/s bandwidth so long as it's on-core). Unless the next graphics chipset also has eDRAM, it simply won't work.
Backwards compatibility in consoles only exists with the PS2 and PS1, and the sole reason there is because the PS2 basically *has* a PS1 inside of it! The only other example is the Game Boy Advance, where Nintendo did (guess what) the exact same thing - the ARM7TDMI has a GBC chipset embedded within it.
You can't upgrade the processor and graphics chipset in a console. It's stupid. The miniscule benefits you get are completely outweighed by the fact that you're tied into a platform whose technology is dated. This is why Microsoft's going to have a problem: any Xbox-2, if it does feature backwards compatibility, is going to be hindered by that, not helped.
The only way backwards compatibility has worked in consoles so far is by basically including a fully functional version of the previous console in the new one, and I doubt it'll change anytime soon.
Oh, and what about Metroid Prime, Eternal Darkness, Resident Evil, Blood Omen, Mortal Kombat, BMX XXX, Turok...
The GameCube is profitable.Your rant is so full of errors, exaggerations and general nonsense that I think I'll stop right here.
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