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Nintendo To Launch New Machine Next Year?
EvilDonut writes "According to Bloomberg.com, Nintendo intends to launch a new machine in Japan next year, in order "to boost sales". There are no details as to wether the machine will be hand-held or not, but Bloomberg does describe it as a next-generation console. This is pretty odd, as Nintendo has previously stated that the GameCube successor wouldn't be out until 2005, and the GBA is doing so well that I can't imagine they'll replace it as early as next year. The article also mentions the Nintendo iQue, so it's pretty clear this is not just a mix-up regarding the new, China-only system." Update: 11/13 23:44 GMT by S : GameSpot has a very cryptic clarification from Nintendo, that "the new product will be a unique item that is different from any traditional machine", and will be "be [neither] a home console nor a portable machine."
One part says:
Nintendo intends to launch a new machine in Japan next year
Then the next part says:
So it's pretty clear this is not just a mix-up regarding the new, China-only system.
I'm not a prophet or a stone-age man,
I'm just a mortal with potential of a super man.
Of course, the Pr states it's a nextgen console ! It's explicitely said it's there to boost sales, what do you believe ? That they'd call it "old technology, just rebadged console" ?
New console was not to be expected till 2005 ? ... So... If they release this thing december next year... Then what is all the fuzz about... 1 month ???
Why does the next one have to play DVDs? I don't know about you specifically, but myself and everyone I know already has a perfectly good stand-alone DVD player....
There's no reason for DVD on a game console to be a selling point, especially not with how cheap the regular players are these days.
Releasing a new game system would be a smart and bold move for Nintendo, but what about the games?
New systems mean new games, but of course it remains to be seen what this system is, and up until now they had simply been saying they'll make an announcement in 2004, not that they'd actually have a system in 2004 (though that could be the announcement). Of course, if the system comes out late in 2004 in Japan, it could be well into 2005 before it hits the US.
If this new system even "just" offers quality comparable to today's ATI videocards (which it would have to have if it were to go into production for next year), why bother?
More than likely, any video chipset used for a new console would be fairly comparable to video cards that come out around the same time as the console, or slightly afterwards, rather than today. Of course, that's just assuming that it would be anything like the XBox with nVidia's graphics chips.
Nintendo just needs to swallow their pride and just start making games for all of the systems. Sega did it and is no longer fighting bankruptcy. Let some other sucker pony up the money for builing the home systems.
The big difference, though, is that Nintendo is not fighting bankruptcy, while Sega was losing money left and right before they gave up.
Technology is getting to the point where it has actually overtaken the ancient NTSC television. I play my Xbox in 480p "HD" mode on my HDTV for the few games that support it and it's fucking great! It pains to play in the lower "t.v." resolution. Since most people have regular "crappy" t.v.s it really does not make any sense to upgrade to a more powerful game system unless the games are there.
None of this makes much sense when the Cube already does 480p. It's more like you're typing to hear the keys click.
Nintendo's strong arm tactics are finally nipping (no racist pun intended) it in it's ass. Don't get me wrong, I LIKE the gamecube and I have had a lot of fun with it, but it has what, a smattering of games at best?
Perhaps. Then again, with the smaller number of games and the high percentage of quality games, it's easier to pick a random game off the shelf and be satisfied with the purchase.
All in all, I doubt anyone will be able to stop Sony at this point. Sony has spent Billion(s) of Dollars on R and D for the PS3 and whereas Micro$oft could actually outspend Sony on R and D, you know they won't, or if they do, they will create something less than inspired, like the Xbox. Once again, I like my Xbox, but really, it's just an 800mhz p.c. with an aging Geforce card in it. Sigh....
No one thought Nintendo could be beat after they overtook the market from Sega back when they released the SNES (and before the Genesis took the market because the SNES came out so much later). As for the XBox, try looking at the system requirements for games some day, and consider the overhead of the OS itself, and try to figure out how many games actually require what the XBox has. The difference between a PC and an XBox doesn't come in the packaging, it comes in the developers' ability to know what the end-user has and build for it, rather than building for a lowest-common-denominator and testing 100s of combinations of hardware. Sony's had their 2 consoles, but the real question is whether or not developers will be as ready to move from them as they were to move to them if they see a better system. Additionally, I think it's rather sad that most of the PS2 ads I've seen lately have actually been for 2 or 3-platform titles, but don't mention that fact because they're Sony ads.
-PainKilleR-[CE]
...I hope they'll have taken a cue from what's been going on around them and adopt some of the features necessary to maintain a substantial presence in the marketplace.
I have heard Nintendo previously called the "Apple" of console gaming--that is, an entity that can eke out a continued niche market existence for as long as they please. The analogy isn't perfect; after all, one need not justify one's taste in games, so unless one is composed of an exceptionally weak or impressionable mind, there isn't a lot of pressure for incumbents to switch from the Cube.
However, technology will eventually take its toll. Online gaming is exploding, has already exploded. DVDs and DVD-like formats are the established standard. Third-party support has grown amazingly and is now vital for console survival. Top-end video and audio capability are no longer luxuries, but expected. Even Sony has realized the advantages of hard drives, media players, etc.
Should Nintendo wish to continue, their array of insane geniuses will need to begin to practice just a little conformity.
The coolest voice ever.
how about a GBA update where they put ram in it! :-) .... For those who don't know. There is a 16MB hole where the built in ram goes. The GBA has but 256KB of ram [16-bit bus].
So two big ways to improve the GBA would be
1. More ram [say 2MB at least]
2. Make the data bus larger [so you can run ARM code out of it]
The trick though would be to not kill backwards compatibility. I think a toggle for the ram/bus would be in order [e.g. set bit to get "advanced plus" mode].
Someday, I'll have a real sig.
IMO the real reason the Genesis did so well in the US was all down to Madden. Part of the reason for the commerical failure of the Dreamcast was undoubtedly the lack of EA Sports titles.
Bringing the system out so quickly would mean that 3rd-party developers would have insufficient time to get release games ready, and I think after the N64 Nintedo has learnt that a system with only 1st and 2nd party games isn't going to be a commercial success. Personally I'd be very surprised to see a completely new Nintendo system launch next year anywhere, because without software to support it there would seem to be little incentive to buy.
Blaming GW Bush for the Iraq war is like blaming Ronald McDonald for the poor quality of food.
Thank you. I'm glad someone else agrees with my view on this... a game console should concentrate on good games, not a whole bunch of features that detract from gaming performance in the long run.
oh, when they say 2005 - they mean christmas 2005, which is the broad release estimate that all 3 console makers have been giving for the nextgen gear.
but anyway, this coming out exactly 1 year before the nextgen strongly suggests that it is a refresher for the line. perhaps simply just a repackaged gamecube (here's wishing they add 64/snes backwards compat).
but the one year lead is inline with sony's demonstration of the success of restructuring your existing console to take advantage of lower manufacturing and component costs, and shipping the old product in a new sleek design at lower cost a year before your new design. Nintendo may be trying to bring their costs down to mitigate production losses at their current price. The Gamecube may have made money for nintendo on each sale at $200, but it's very unlikely that it's still a direct profit item at its $100 price.
it has long been rumored that MS is indeed planning the same thing for the xbox, and sony's announced pvr/digital tv tuner/ps2 certainly sounds like they aren't bucking the trend.
Releasing the next gen nintendo box now would be a -bad- move. developer support for the gamecube has been evaporating - but the trend may reverse itself due to the GC's strong sales with its new superlow price. if they keep to the official schedule, they have a shot at getting developers back on board with their refresh product, and actually have some 3rd party games for their next console.
besides, if it was the nextgen console - there'd already have to have been developer kits sent out, and someone would've leaked something - one does not crank out games for nintendo in 10 months. (nintendo not being a fan of shovelware)
// "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
Why don't they do it right - make a system-on-a-video-card and then create a Knoppix-like bootable layer for their games?
It's been done - the Creative Labs 3DO Blaster was a 3DO on an expansion card. It wasn't a success.
The don't do that because it would invite SERIOUS piracy, and starve the model of revenue. Imagine if the PS2 was available as a PCI card, and you just needed to pop you PS2 disk into your DVD drive and get playing... except that one of the primary anti-piracy measures used by the PS2 is it's INABILITY to read DVD-R and CD-R disks - using a standaqrd PC drive would circumvent this completely, and kids would start trading copied PS2 disks at school, just as happened with Amiga game disks.
That was classic intercourse!
The sales only increased after they dropped the price to $99. This is cutting into the profit margins on console sales (but those pesky games are still $50).
IGN ran interviews with key Nintendo executives and they're still pissed about being the last to market with the GameCube. Lots of talk about how this won't happen again. So, make a new console with extra power and features. If it's backward compatible, you still don't disrupt the current cash flow from games and have bragging rights over the PS3 and Xbox2.
If they release one now it'll be about a year before the Xbox2 etc, reducing sales for Nintendo in the long run.
Just like the PS2 (released a year before XBox and GCN) has reduced long-run sales for Sony? I don't think so...
In 2002 the GC has three games in the top 20(Mario Party 4, Mario Sunshine, and the same Zelda game mentioned above). Again, better, but not by much.
It should be noted the 2002 numbers are fiscal year, and end 3 months before the 2003 numbers you quoted. In other words, the slow months from March to the end of July are counted in the 2003 numbers while the end-of-year numbers are counted in the 2002 numbers. Then again, I can't be sure that the summer months are as slow in Japan for games as they are in the US, but then FF X-2s numbers don't change all that much from one chart to the next, but a lot of the other games' numbers dropped significantly.
In America, the situation is better. The GC is in fourth place, but still has 4.7 million sales. There are three games in the top 20, two of which are made by third party licensees. However, it's still not much compared to the commanding lead held by the PS2(and ever-increasing competition from the XBox).
Unfortunately the US yearly sales charts haven't been updated in 3 years, otherwise we could get a better picture of things. Fortunately, the US charts don't change much for months at a time because people keep buying the same games for quite a while (yet it's worth mentioning that the GC and XBox versions of Madden NFL have dropped considerably, with the GC version completely off the top 20 chart. The US charts are ranked by $ rather than units sold, as well, meaning that a GBA game ranked #2 by units sold is #4 because the games are $30-35/each rather than $50/each.
The GC is also only 7,000 units behind the XBox in console sales for the time period of the chart, which is a number the GC has been known to easily surpass when a new game with high appeal comes along (maybe next week?).
So given that the GC is basically on the bottom in the high-end console market, it's not surprising that Nintendo would try to get a new system out earlier. Given the extremely strong sales of the GBA, I don't think it's likely that their new system will be portable, either. If Nintendo gets their system out a year before anyone else, they'll have time to build up momentum and, more importantly, third party licensees. Nintendo's strength over the past couple generations has been in their in-house games, but those aren't enough to sustain the system. If they play their cards right, Nintendo might just pull a Sony and take the lead in the next generation.
The problem with this idea is that they really need the 3rd parties on launch, and that Sega showed in this generation that getting out too early doesn't always help (see the DreamCast). Unless they've managed to keep things very quiet for at least the last 12 months, it's unlikely that they're replacing the Cube within the next year, as 3rd parties would need at least 18 months, and often 24, to prepare launch titles. Sony, on the other hand, will just pull an advertising blitz as soon as the first next-gen console comes out, whether it's Sony's console or not, just as they did with this generation when the DreamCast came out, a year before the PS2. Even MS hit the advertising early on this generation. Everyone knew they were working on a game console long before it came out, but since they were unproven in the market no one waited like they did for Sony.
-PainKilleR-[CE]
That's why the cube used them from the beginning - building up to the same hardware being used in a portable.
Though this is certainly a nice after effect. actually, this is not why the GC uses small discs. At the time, there was quite a bit of hemming and hawwing about how N wasn't going to move to discs for the portable, but rather wait for something SD/MemoryStick-ish.
The reason Nintendo abstained from CDs was loading time. The management of Nintendo at the time believed that the increase in cost and decrease in game volume would be offset by the ten to twenty seconds that they at the time believed that games would require as loading time fairly frequently; apparently, they believed that a situation like Resident Evil's would be the norm, and I find it disappointingly common in early (and occasionally even modern) PlayStation games.
As things progressed and as Nintendo's error became apparent, they tried to prepare external CD drve after external CD drive, only to be met with fundamental price problems that came from supporting multiple storage formats. Nintendo saw the CD as an albatross, though, and it wasn't until Sega successfully pushed the GD that Nintendo began to believe that a proprietary format was realistic.
Once they did, however, the load time issue because their primary focus. In order to reduce both seek time and to increase disc resilience to high speed, they came to the decision that a minidisc format, which has significantly less angular momentum, would be the best way to go. Besides, it offered a very strong protection against piracy, as nobody could make their discs without specialized hardware.
I do hope that they carry the disc format to the new portable machine; that would allow enterprising developers to write cross-platform software, something that currently *none* of the portable manufacturers offer (and really, a game which was intended for portability but which offered editors and maintenance tools on the less cramed home system seems ideal to me.)
Whereas I hope this happens, I really don't think that was the original reasoning.
StoneCypher is Full of BS