DVD-Enabled Consoles Do Better?

Thanks to GameMarketWatch.com for their article discussing a survey linking console DVD use and game purchases. Some manufacturers don't see the point of a bundled DVD player: "'Why would we ever include DVD playback in our videogame system?' was the question posed in a recent Business 2.0 article by George Harrison, Nintendo's VP of Marketing. 'If someone buys a DVD and watches it on the Nintendo GameCube, we wouldn't receive any revenue from that. We'd rather have them play our games.'" But the survey shows a possible advantage to DVD playback for hardware manufacturers: "The Centris poll results... suggest that DVD capability has the potential to drive game software activity, since respondents that used their game consoles to watch DVD movies were also the heaviest purchasers and renters of games."

Comments

Re:cause and effect

[Yorrike]

Agreed. Is this showing that gamers buy their console because they have DVD functionality, or that they just use the DVD playback because it's there?

Personaly, I'm getting sick of these Anti-Nintendo articles. You can bad mouth them all you want, but Nintendo made 6 times more profit in the first quater than the entire Sony group. (That's video games, TVs, DVD players, the lot).

The Gamecube has sold 9.6 million units world wide, vs 9.4 million Xbox units. And still everyone talks about the GC like it's a dead console and has lost the console war.

Sure, Nintendo owes a lot to the old battle droid that is the GameBoy, but any company pulling upwards of $100million a quarter in PROFIT in these economic times has to be doing SOMETHING right.

Re:cause and effect

[Yorrike]

But what you seem to forget that both Sony and Microsoft are different type of companies. They can afford to loose a console race. Can nintendo? It wouldn't be the first time a game company goes bust because it lost out in the console wars. History has generally shown you don't get a second chance.

History also shows that you get two generations of being on top, then it's all over. But I don't see anyone forcasting the PlayStation's demise because of this.

Nintendo has billions of dollars (5 or 6, I believe) in reserves. They can afford losing another couple of races, especially with their in-house franchises (mainly Pokemon), bringing so much cash in.

Re:OK DVD player but noisy

[NexusTw1n]

If you have a home projection system, then a dedicated DVD player is a minor cost in the whole budget. I have a projector - cost 1500 plus 200 a year for a new bulb, 100-150 for a super silent high quality dedicated DVD player is nothing when you're playing with that budget.

People bought PS2s before DVD players dropped in price - you could spend 200 on a DVD player, or 250 on a DVD player and PS2 combo - no contest really. The DVD option is still attractive even now to those on limited budgets or limited space.

Joe Average is going to be attracted to the console that plays DVDs as well. If you're buying for the kids and you don't know which company does the best games then a free DVD player can swing the deal. Either because they still don't own a DVD player, or the console is going in a bedroom or den where the main entertainment system isn't accessible.

Creating a properietry format disk like Nintendo, rather than just using cheap DVDs is stupid. The cost of throwing a DVD player into the mix has to be tiny compared with the additional sales you will get.

i'm a living example

[crowdozer]

I've owned a gamecube for a little over a year and love it. I've wanted an xbox but could never justify buying a second console. About a month and a half ago my Sony DVD player decided it no longer wanted to play certain DVDs. (POS!) So it was time to buy a new one. Well I could spend $150 on a new player or i could spend that extra $50 and get the xbox (+dvd accessory) that would do the same thing. Sweet. Now I can justify buying an xbox. Since then I've already bought 9 xbox games. Microsoft gets richer.

Re:PS2

[nicksthings]

You've GOT to be a Sony plant. The PS2 DVD player is of extremely poor quality. In fact, the PS2 hardware, at least models from the first 2 years of production are so shoddy that it's ridiculous. I'm a manager at a video game store and at least once a day I have people coming in either:

• telling me their PS2 is broken, can I fix it?
• telling me they need a lens cleaner for the PS2 - they're getting disc read errors! Surprise!
• buying a new PS2, because their old one stopped working.

Now, granted, there are plenty of systems that are working just fine. But the number of systems that DON'T work is way too high for me to be fine with you saying the "Playstation2 DVD is great."

Hell, my PS2 doesn't play DVDs, PS2 games, CD-ROMs, audio CDs, or PSX games anymore...now that's great.

Nintendo are becoming stupider everyday

[billcopc]

They're plagued by the "One vision" syndrome. Problem is that Miyamoto doesn't govern the buying habits of the entire planet.

Anyways, the reasoning behind bundled DVD support is a psychological cushion. Kids nag their parents for the latest and greatest console, parents say "Nay" until they notice it's also a DVD player. So they say "DVD's would be nice" and they buy the thing, thinking both kids and adults will benefit from the investment.

Sure beats those 40$ Apex AD-1200's any day!

One of the differences between Nintendo and Sony

[gedanken]

Nintendo is a game company while Sony just happens to make a large profit from games.

For nintendo it may not make much sense to pack a dvd player but for sony who also has a large stake in dvds it was a huge decision. An old article stated that when the ps2 first came out Sony was making more profits off of dvd sales that games from people (in japan) who would usually not be watching dvds but because they purchased the ps2 they were now able to.

Re:cause and effect

[SmallFurryCreature]

Like the recent /. article about nintendo of america censoring Manic Mansion, the lucasarts game. They objected to the a nude statue, art in an art exhibit, being in the game.

I wasn't really talking about current, more to show that in that the past they went their own way, after all they do now use cd's.

Oh and yes the load times for cartridges are lower, after all the game is already in memory, but you make the production costs skyrocket. Of course this helped keep piracy down. \

It just shows that Nintendo in the past did their own thing. In the past it worked and they were the kind. Now it doesn't seem to work anymore. Maybe it is temporary, maybe they can survive it, maybe they will change. Fact is that Sony is now what nintendo once was and sony is looking to become even bigger. So nintendo has sony in front and MS coming in from behind.

I don't know where this is gonna lead. I just don't think that upsetting say, europe by not releasing games. Upsetting people by leaving out headphones on a portable game platform, releasing only a handfull of worthwhile games, are signs Nintendo still thinks they are number one. Lets just pick this conversation up around after christmas when noone will have a new hardware out and people will purely be buying games.