Slashdot Mirror
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."
Recently I read an article about the Ique. Basicly it is an n64 integrated into one chip. They also sais that this chip doesn't consume much power. Because of this I think their next generation console is in fact a next generation gameboy based on the ique.
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? This way, they'd have a piece of the PC, console and hand-held markets. If successful, they could license the PC boot layer to other hardware vendors and we'd have an easy-to-use alternative to Windows/DirectX.
Windows autorun was supposed to enable "console-like usability" but it hasn't even come close. Isn't it about time that someone took advantage?
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
I think your analogy only partially works and with a little research you would have found that currently, with Nintendo extending it's price-drop almost world-wide it has furthered it's second place world-wide marketshare lead. If U.S sales continue as they are into the Holiday (which is anyone's guess) they will have quite a lead over the XBox in this country. So, Apple is about 3% of sold computers, the percentage is a bit higher when you consider the number of non-profits and other organizations who continue to use the older models but aren't buying new ones. This is a far cry from Nintendo, who has the biggest selling video-game system in the world (The GBA), and the second-best selling console in the world (The GameCube). And while the latter is trailing the PS2 by a sizeably chunk it is anywhere from being a "niche" player. Such statements can be chalked up to ignorance and lack of research, because a few Google Searches and statistics would tell you otherwise.
Something intelligent here.
Nintendo has made and remade their old systems. Mostly its to include cheaper parts, and sometimes it also includes a size reduction. Gameboy goes thru the most facelifts. Therefore, I'm guessing it's either: a new design for the cube (perhaps smaller/lighter?), a new design for Gameboy Advance with a mobile phone imbedded (that's where my money is), or a new phone with yet another set of cartridges for games. I suppose another possibility is a super Game-N-Watch system, but how unlikely is that?
Nintendo is known for spreading more pre-launch hype than any other console company. They hyped Project Reality (PR) years before it was ready, they hyped the Dolphin from day one... Just about the only thing they didn't grossly overhype was the Game Boy Advance, and that was because their stopgap Game Boy Color was so popular they felt they would alienate part of the market if they did.
The hypemeter around this is low, so the likelihood of a next-generation console is quite slim. More likely, they will announce a GameCube compatible DVD player from a 3rd party company, or possibly (and this is the one I'm hoping for) a GBA built into a proper Game Cube controller.
Until they start trotting around Miyamoto shouting about the second coming of Mario, they're not launching the next console yet. Until they have hardware in the hands of developers, they're not ready to launch.
The ______ Agenda
I've actually thought for some time now that Nintendo may be coming up with something equally crazy to sink some money in (remember, Nintendo don't have a shortage of cash, every console of theirs except that Virtual Boy was profitable) and try to "innovate" to get some new market share. What follows is my idea of what they might be up to.
So what I've been having in mind is a dedicated portable real 3D gaming machine using an autostereo display that doesn't need 3D glasses at all. They now have the N64 hardware in nearly portable size (iQue), so all they need to do is trim it for some more speed and less size to be perfectly acceptable for a next-gen portable gaming system. The current GBA can already play compressed video (Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories coming from Square Enix is using it) so the new console could obviously do it, in real 3D no less! And if it can do compressed video it pretty obviously can handle compressed audio, and in real 3D no less! (just kidding, just kidding, although I am going to mention that surround audio can be produced using just standard stereo headphones as output, so you could theoretically enjoy movies on the go with this thing in real 3d visuals and a surround sound experience). Not that I really care that much about movie and music playback in my gaming machine, but some of you do, so the new device could easily have it.
The only things to solve are the media to use and battery life. Nintendo probably would like to stick to their current cartridge format since using spinning disks create problems in portable environments, but they might be bold and use their Gamecube mini-dvd format for it, since a mini-dvd has more than enough space for a portable device with low resolution. With cheapening manufacturing costs the cartridge capacities could also be increased a lot while keeping the price down, obviously not to mini-dvd levels but for a low resolution device it could be sufficient even for 3D gaming and compressed video.
The battery life is trickier, especially if there is disk that needs to be spun. So Nintendo will solve it by having some very serious problem with the device that the consumers just have to deal with a couple of years before the new model the fixes the problem arrives. They had the dark screens for the GBA but I think they'll have a new problem for this new device, maybe if it uses a disk format the device doesn't have a motor to spin the disk but instead there's a hand crank the user spins when the device needs to load the next level or next movie portion from the disk.
(Yes, I am joking again. Don't shoot me.)
So there you have it. By now you should have a fair impression that I am completely INSANE, but remember, so is Nintendo when they're at their best (well, not COMPLETELY insane), and being a loyal Nintendo fan I hope they'll be at their best the following years.
My sig will be released in 2015 third quarter. Rating pending.
Now on the truly original topic, it seems Nintendo is concerned about being out of the gate first with their GC successor. They should be cautious with that approach, because it won't necessarily make the company more successful. The Dream Cast was out of the gate quickly as the first of its generation; aside from the piracy problem, it also didn't have the marketing clout needed to exploit its lead. By the time the market really started heating up, no one cared about Sega anymore. (I also wonder whether the accurate perception that Sega again wouldn't support its console properly had an appreciable impact on sales.)
The next generation console wars won't be much of an advance from the current crop, but it will be defined by content and marketing. Sony is the market leader, but MS' assimilation of game developers may change the face of the competitive landscape. (Gates must be throwing a lot of money around in order to get Japanese developers on board.)
It's really time for Nintendo to do something bold in order to elicit support for the GC and its offspring. Unfortunately, the trend in developer support is working against the company-many titles are being released for the crapBox and PS but not for the GC. Maybe it's time for a strategic venture of some sort between Sony and Nintendo as a reaction to MS' bid for yet another monopoly.
Part of the hardcore faithful who believed in Apple long before it was cool again to do so