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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.
So is it just me, or does this remind anyone else of the whole Sega kaboozle - Genesis went down, Sega released the radical Dreamcast, and... well everyone knows what happened next...
Struggling games company? Yes the GameCube isn't selling well but that does not mean that Nintendo is struggling. Far from it. In fact just the other day at PlanetGameCube they posted a story about Nintendo posting a profit. Doesn't sound like struggling to me.
"Armed forces abroad are of little value unless there is prudent counsel at home" - Cicero
As I recall, when Nintendo announced GC at E3 a few years ago, they made the statement that it was aimed at anyone who enjoys playing games. I'm 23, I own a gamecube, with ambitions to buy the other 2 systems (PS2 for FF, Xbox for Steel Battalion), and out of all the games I've played on any system, Nintendo games keep my attention longer than any of them, and are way more innovative and fun. As far as most of the games having cartoony graphics, the only game I can think of like that is Zelda, and since you mentioned "harmless adventure games", I think you should go back and play the Resident Evil series again.. survival horror, IMO is not a harmless adventure game. Insofar as the console market being mostly older generations, that is a byproduct of the fact that kids don't have the market power to buy stuff, combined with the fact that 90% of games on systems other than GC being rated M, sports games aside. I for one, applaud the big N for having some cojones and going and making fun, innovative games, like Pikmin and Animal Crossing(BTW, I know more adults than kids that play that) which, if people would look for a game that's not just kill people break stuff.
I have no regrets, this is the only path.
My whole life has been "UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS"
Adults tend to want stories with more interesting themes than "save the princess from the bad guy" and characters with more depth than their alignment and/or funny way of speaking.
Uhh, if you don't like Mario, fine, but I think history slightly disagrees with you here.
As for depth...I have to say I find Microsoft and Sony's latest offerings (aside from a few games) about as stimulating as a pile of gravel. I used to be glad when XBox commercials came on, it gave me more time to go make a sandwich or something.
forcing the main character to never say a word just gets strange after a while, especially if the other characters are all talking.
Bow down before Chrono Trigger and Earthbound, heathen! Two of the greatest games of all time, on a Nintendo system, and with mute heros. And certainly better than anything Sony/Microsoft have or will come up with anytime soon.
They're too easy! We've been playing video games all our lives, we're not so hopeless as to need a little fairy to explain the weak point of every boss or to warn us every time a shadow appears at our feat that a hand will try to grab us in about 2 seconds.
Take away the help, and people would be whining about how things are too challenging, I guarantee. And if you don't want to use the hints, IGNORE THEM. If you want to pat yourself on the head for figuring things out, you are not forced to follow any advice they give you.
I've seen the little kids of today get overly frustrated playing games even as simple as Mario 64, but they still play and they get better... and besides, you don't have to STOP making games for little kids just because you make some targeted for adults.
I think Gabe from Penny Arcade says it best.