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Atari Drops GameCube Support For Two Titles
dade writes "Atari has dumped on Nintendo, making it the third company to do so in recent weeks. However, because the GameCube is a vehicle for first-party games, Nintendo's bottom line isn't affected. This article at switchbox asks if such a situation can last." Some good points are raised. While Nintendo is ostensibly content to hide in its niche market, it would seem to make sense that it would want to corner more of the gaming market if possible, especially given their history.
Not that the article is very long, but it's also pretty uninteresting. So if you're wondering what those lost titles are:
Terminator 3 and Driver 3
"Probably the toughest time in anyone's life is when you have to murder a loved one because they're the devil." -Philips
What is this, 1978?
Who cares? The only Atari title I've seen is Neverwinter Nights and it was just rebranded from Infograms (although if my company name was Inforgrams I'd use Atari too).
Why would Nintendo's market be eroded? If they continue to satisfy the people who buy in that "niche", why would their performance not continue as it has been? I don't know what the author means by a strong showing (similar sales to the GC or NES?) but I think that Nintendo's got a fairly good grasp of how they want their business to run. Sure, they'd probably like a larger share of the market but I believe that the executives at Nintendo aren't going to sacrifice their business model in an attempt to achieve that larger market share. Ultimately, I don't see how sticking to that business model will lead to Nintendo's market share being eroded.
I suppose that one could argue that if Nintendo continues to go after the Mario crowd and Sony and MS both come out with consoles that have games with the Mario crowd in mind and the various other gamers in mind, then Sony and MS would be a more attractive option because their systems might satisfy more than one demographic. But really, that's a stretch. Nintendo is a lot like Apple - there's a devoted following and Nintendo doesn't want to alienate that following, a good move for maintaining market share, in my opinion.
End rant?
I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
/me remembers the soundbyte topic of the other day and thinks SEGA.
Trust Your Technolust
The market is finally going to mature and splinter. Microsoft will be the "other" console in the US and Europe and Nintendo will be the "other" console in Japan. This will allow the companies to taylor their products to the different audiences, which continue to grow more and more different everyday. The niche fanboy crowd can always import of course.
This is good news for third party publishers too. With only two consoles to worry about in either market, their development efforts can be more focused on making the best possible end product. So farewell, Big N. I'll always remember the good times we had. IMHO, though, this is a good thing.
Also, the following quote gives us some insight into the types of company's that drop Cube support: Atari says that it cancelled Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines on the platform because "there simply wasn't enough time to develop the game on all three platforms".
These aren't companies that are interested in putting out quality games. These are companies interested in pushing out games that will sell as fast as possible. But we've had this discussion many times here, right?
As long as Nintendo has Shigeru Myamoto (sp?) they are perfectly fine.
I was totally looking forward to Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines on my GameCube, especially considering how well movie franchises translate to good games, as well as Atari's sterling reputation as a top-notch game developer. Who can forget Basketball or Outlaw on the 2600? And although I've never played Driver 1 or 2, the title alone is enough to send me into aploptic fits of anticipation. I guess I'll have to play it on my PS2, as long as it makes it to that console.
I think this was one of the most insightful parts of the gameindustry.biz article:
Many commentators take it to indicate that the console's market share is in serious trouble, but yet recent figures have proved that it is neck and neck - and indeed possibly leading - the Xbox in terms of global installed base.
However, much of that installed base is in Japan, where companies such as Eidos, Acclaim and Atari simply don't sell very many games, while others such as Namco and Capcom, both strong supporters of the GameCube, are on their home ground.
Insight aside, though, Namco's also shown with Soul Calibur 2 that the GameCube can do very well in the US as a platform, as the game is selling more titles on the Cube than on either of the other platforms (and 3 to 1 vs. the PS2 version).
I hate to say it again, because it's never good to lose publishers, but as with Acclaim and Eidos before them, Atari's another publisher I'm not sorry to see leave the platform, especially given the titles that were cancelled.
-PainKilleR-[CE]
From my cold lifeless hands before I'd ever give up on Nintendo.
Nintendo is the pinnacle of the console triangle, regardless of what "sales charts" may say. I can name more nintendo games that I wouldnt trade for anything than I can on PS2 or Xbox. They might not always be truly innovative (Mario Sunshine is more or less Mario 64) but in my humble opinion, FUN is the deciding factor.
I have "wasted" more hours in front of Mario Kart (both of them) than I care to admit, and you bet your sweet mushroom butt that I will have DD when it comes out... I cant name ONE game on either the PS2 or the Xbox that is so good I'd HAVE to have the system just for it (note, there ARE good games, but MOST of them ARENT exclusive... halo, KoToR, GTA, etc)...
You'll never see Mario on another system.
To hell with the 3rd party developers. 90% of the time, their games sucked anyway. (there were exceptions, Capcom, Konami, Rare...)
This is my sig. Its pathetic.
"Our shitty titles don't sell well enough to a more discriminating user base."
I don't really mind double posts on
1. Drop GameCube support
2. ???
3. Post quarterly loss!!
If I had something intelligent to say, I would have said it.
I recall another game console where it had great strength in its first party titles, even if the third party was a bit wobbly; a number of key characters and franchises with rabid fanbases which were proven sellers in the past; and a console which was cheap compared to the competition and sold to its niche.
I think it was called 'Dreamcast'. At least check they were being sold out of stock at fifty bucks a pop to folks who wanted to use them as cheap Linux routers.
You can't survive as a niche machine, no matter how many game design gods you have on your payroll. Maybe the niche is big enough to keep Nintendo afloat right now but if they aren't going to TRY to fight tooth and nail against Sony, they will eventually fade away. Nintendo is never going to say "Eh, we don't need third party, Mario and Link and Metroid will keep us in the green" because it's just not true.
1: take any post from either of the other two "*Company* drops Nintendo" threads
2: Post it in this thread
3: ...
4: Profit!
/. is overrun by bed-wetting elitist nerds
let it be known, for anything other than servers, a *nix OS sucks
any anyone contemplated the possibility that Nintendo does too good of a job with their first party games and that's why they are losing 3rd party support?
Given that I have a limited budget to buy 2 games, for instance, and the 2 best games out on the Cube both happen to be published by Nintendo, then I'd buy 2 Nintendo games. Versus on the PS2 or XBOX, the 2 best games out on the market for those consoles are probably not published by Sony or Microsoft. So then i'd end up buying EA, SEGA...etc games.
Does anyone else think that the quality of nintendo's first party games actually harms their 3rd party support?
Nintendo "hiding in it's niche market" keeps it being out Playstation 2ed by Sony. The Console industry is so big these days that it can hold 2 or maybe 3 players.
At least Nintendo knows the market segment it's aiming at (budget[ish] gaming for younger kids) - XBOX at the moment is trying to do everything for everyone and not being all that successful at it - despite millions spent (and lost).
This new quality control system of yours is working great! Now if you could just alienate a few more companies, like THQ and TDK, I think you'd have a strongest library out there.
I had Driver and Driver 2 for the PSOne. While they were fun, it's not a big loss for the Cube if we miss out on the third. I bought my Cube for my kids, who now have to fight me for it because the games are so darned fun to play! Out of the games I have, more are Nintendo's own than third party anyway.
Aych tea tea pea colon slash slash slash dot dot org slash
...I must say, YAY! Revenge from the grave. Seriously, though, Nintendo just fails to grasp that the market doesn't consist of only children. The audience has matured, and with maturity comes mature tastes. The Playstation does so well because it was the first out of the gate. Also, Sony isn't afraid to have "adult" games on their consoles. Given anyone can develope for PS also helps. I think, What we've really seen here is a backlash against Nintendo's foolish pride. They alienate Square, and other developers with the N64. (Despite a new FF coming out for the GC.) Now they are paying the full price.
I see, I said.
I think its funny that Nintendo has a reputation for appealing to a niche market, when actually they try to market their games and hardware toward a more general audience (kids and adults included).
Sony (with MS trying to steal their cake), it seems, markets towards a more specific group of people, that being the male teenager. It's just that this specific group BUYS GAMES LIKE MAD, and makes up the biggest percentage of gamers.
Funny how that works...
FUNK!
...which would add about 4000 games in one hit.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
Example: Nintendo refuses to recognize the need for an advanced storage format (CD-ROM: 650MB) and opts instead to release a "next-gen" system with a storage format that held 20x less and cost more. Texture artists the world over screamed bloody murder. SquareSoft, creator of many of the Super NES's classic hits, thumbed their nose and walked away.
Current example: Nintendo refuses to recognize the demand for online gaming. Repeatedly, they have made statements about how they don't see a sustainable business model in it. Meanwhile, Xbox Live and the PS2 Network Adapter each have shattered all sales expectations, and each system has surged mightily on the strength of online titles like SOCOM, MechAssault, and a dozen sports games. Each will also explode with the pending releases of SOCOM 2, Halo 2, Counterstrike, and other AAA online titles. Meanwhile, Nintendo sits on a gold mine - a game that, if taken online, would shake things up incredibly and even possibly could single-handedly spark a GameCube resurgence. Yet, Mario Kart will release with no online support. Likewise, other possible beneficiaries like F-Zero go without online play too.
Apple is an innovator. If Nintendo were Apple, they would have been at the forefront of online console gaming. Instead, they continue to drag their heels, even after both of their competitors have been wildly successful, and will only continue to be more successful in that realm. Apple, while not perfect, are forward-looking and try to bring the future to the present consumer. If Nintendo is Apple, they are the worst of Apple. They're not the Powerbook, they're not the iPod. They're the one-button mouse.
Nintendo CAN survive on a small market, but they have to serve that market in good faith. As a GameCube owner, I am part of that market - though I am also part of the PS2 and Xbox markets as well. I grow tired of Nintendo's stubbornness, and the failures it creates. My credit card does my complaining - I own far more Xbox and PS2 titles than GameCube. Next time, I may forego a Nintendo console entirely. Nintendo simply does not serve their customers the way Apple does.
"Can you give *any* supported arguments that back up your implication that the Gamecube is going the way of the Dreamcast?"
Let's see: continuing plummeting prices, 3rd parties dropping support, innovative games and ideas that don't come out anywhere else and are ignored by the Madden buying, Grand Theft Auto loving masses.. no DVD playback, millions of units shipped, and a widespread expectation of failure.
Frankly, the GameCube's best feature is also its worst feature -- the games that come out for it. Pikmin, Billy Hatcher, etc, are neat, innovative games that just don't exist anywhere else. So were Shenmue, Space Channel 5, and Chu Chu Rocket.
Dreamcast was with us for 2 christmas seasons. The launch season, and the 2000 season. Sega axed it in early 2001 and officially had it dead by fall (at least in North America). GameCube has hung on -- it had its launch christmas of 2001, and survived 2002 on the strength of all the key Nintendo titles that were released. 2003 christmas looms -- it's not going to be as crazy as last year, but it's going to be a deciding factor in Nintendo's 2004 big announcement.
It might just be that Nintendo takes a while longer to go the way of Sega, and even bigger profits from being third party.. maybe. How many copies of Wind Waker would've sold if Nintendo had released it on the PS2? We're talking numbers that'd make EA's yearly sports drop look small.
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Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
And now, with Nintendo starting the first phase of their GameCube exit strategy, you have to wonder who will be buying into the next generation Nintendo console (if it ever gets released). Point to the GBA as their cash cow all you want, but they still seriously (very seriously) underestimated Microsoft (and even Sony) on the home console side.
Lots of people bought into the GameCube because of Nintendo's exclusives. If most of their exclusives are lackluster, what's the purpose of paying a pricey premium just to have another incompatible box to hook up to your TV? So you can have the privilege of buying new memory cards and playing the one or two good titles?
If Sony dominates the next generation of hardware, and Nintendo can't get it up, Nintendo's home console division will be in a very 'Sega' position. I say they'll either be third-party or all-GBA within 5 years. By that time I doubt there'll be room for two home consoles in the market much less three.
Both don't play DVDs. Just today, I had someone ask me if they'll ever come out with "a DVD playing hookup" for the GameCube.
Most people don't know or care that console DVD playback is about the same or worse than a 60$ DVD player you can get at Wal-Mart. It's just another feature to add on the game system they want to buy.
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Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
Come on Atari. Now you've agreed not to release your T3 game on the Gamecube, its just two small steps to not releasing this pile of crap at all.
This is yet another "Crap company decides to not release crap game on the Cube" story, nothing more.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
Terminator 3 may be bad, but you forget that Atari is the current publisher for the Unreal/Tournament franchise, Bioware (outside of Star Wars), and that Driver 3 looks pretty snazzy.
Remember, the current "Atari" is actually the old Infogrames.
[PowerPoint] is a tool for capitalist presentation
Tony Hawk Pro Skater on the N-Gage is better than anything ever created. Remember when Mario 64 came out and everyone was so impressed with it? Well, when THPS is released for the N-Gage all the video game nerds who were impressed with Mario 64 will make their pants moist but the normal people will also be amazed with the leap in technology. It's truly an amazing game.
By the way, does anyone know when the N-Gage is being released? I've got to go pick up the three that I preordered from Electronics Boutique.
Buy your Nokia N-Gage Today!
They scoffed, since 450$ USD is about 7 times what a GCN costs. They could easily buy that and an Xbox or PS2 and be happy.
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Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
Personally I have played and enjoyed consoles since the 2600. I did have pong first but it lost it's charm very quickly. After the 2600 I had a NES and let me tell you it was gamers heaven compared to the 2600. After the NES I had a SNES and again heaven was reclaimed anew. I also bought a Genesis too (used) but just for sonic and PGA Golf. After that I bought a N64 and damn was I impressed Goldeneye remains one of my favorites to this day. I also had a Play Station at the time and did not like it as much as the N64 (controller mainly). So there you have it I have been in it since the beginning and will probably still be playing video games when my children commit me to an old folks home. I'll bet you Nintendo will still be around then and still be making one of the best consoles with some of the best games.
Nintendo has three major segments it is profitable in?
1.Mobile gamming
2.Console gamming
3.Publisher of games for console and mobile
If you hate Nintendo then no reason to read any further. Now lets look at this logically. Who do you think is the leader in the game market as far as sales strictly dealing with gamming. I bet you Nintendo is the top sales dog still. Sony and Microsoft are bleeding money when it comes to sale of thier consoles. They have to pick up the slack on the licensing end. Sony has been successful in this since there console base is the strongest among the three followed by Xbox and cube neck and neck. That is of couse if you don't consider mobile gamming. Look at the numbers. Nintendo crushes Microsoft when it come to install base if you include mobile gamming. Yes I know niether Sony nor Microsoft have mobile platforms but I do have a point here. Now if we start looking at first party sales of games (I could only find figures for the first part of September)Nintendo is dominating. Sony comes in a distant second and Xbox is an also ran. Nintendo is still very successful leader in the gamming industry. You can twist the numbers around so Sony is number one followed by Nintendo but Xbox is clearly the console in danger of being slapped down by the top two.
Atari is irrelevant. It's like taking a bucket of water out of the ocean and then checking to see how much the sea level has dropped. I am not trying to disrespect Atari I am just pointing out that as far as Nintendo's market viability goes Atari is meaningless.
Nintendo is the gamming company that still loves gamming. Nintendo is a company soley focused on gamming. They are the last console manufacturer with this special perspective. If microsoft or Sony loses in the gamming market they would still go on. Not so for Nintendo. They have always been very calculating and that is why they not only survive but are still a leader in the gamming market. Microsoft is just a poser (perhaps thier status will rise if they make it to another console release). Sony has become a significant player but by no means dominates the whole market. Nintendo knows the gamming industry better than its competitors and they have been good about directing thier company to take advantage of market trends. They have not put out a bad console yet in my opinion and it is fair to say most people will have fun playing any game in thier catalog. Could Sony and Microsoft say the same?
Sony and Microsoft still have to take huge risks to get inroads to dominate the market. Nintendo does not use that strategy as far as I can tell nor do I think they have to. Anyway This is not the time for Nintendo to become reckless. They are doing the right thing by focusing on not making major mistakes or miscalculations. I would put my money on Microsoft losing the console war this christmass season.
The truth suffers more from convictions than from lies.