Nintendo's Next Seems on Track, Despite Reports

KaiEl writes "The Video Game Ombudsman has a breakdown of the myriad reports stemming from a Nihon Keizai Shimbun story (picked up by GameCube Europe) that says Nintendo 'has decided not to release a new video game console to follow its current GameCube for the time being,' and 'will instead diversify games and sell newly developed peripherals mainly for the GameCube.' Despite the existence of some breathless initial stories from IGN and 1UP, this story may already be dead in the water thanks to firm denials by both Nintendo of America and its Japanese parent, Nintendo Co. Ltd. Still, just the intimation that Nintendo may be planning to sit out the next round of the console race will surely have the Internet rumor mill buzzing."

Comments

Where else is there to go?

[dTaylorSingletary]

The Gamecube is the most solid system Nintendo has yet released. Metroid Prime shows off its full capabilities, and I really don't know where they could go from there. What more do people want out of a home console system, besides more games? Why battle a war that is really about shiny things? Think back to the days of NES, the wide-range of game selection available both good and bad (as well as horribly mediocre and superb beyond all belief) -- why not concentrate on the system it has now? I have been nothing but impressed with the capabilities of the Gamecube. I can't imagine a system being more able to provide an entertaining gaming experience, within the current framework of the concept.

Until a true revolution in gaming has arrived, ripe and ready for consumption, what need is there for yet another console? It seems to me that Sony and Microsoft at this point want to release new systems because their current ones are incapable of handling the demands of the games they want to create, or want created for them. I do not see Nintendo yet having this problem with the Gamecube.

It's as if the gaming industry thinks that to remain relevant they have to release a new console every three years. Let the damn things breath. The public needs to be able to take a breath before it can be taken away by a "new gaming experience."

Re:Where else is there to go?

[b0r0din]

While I'm not a big fan of the gamecube in many ways, such as its fairly ugly control scheme (maybe i'm just a playstation snob) I love the sort of family/party gaming attitude it brings to the table. My girlfriend can play the same games, unlike a lot of the stuff out for XBox and Playstation (although Sony is pretty diverse, they also make games like Manhunt) Old school Mario will not be soon forgotten.

Still, I think it's sad that the Playstation has really changed the face of games, to the point where now 3D is required in every game. Let's face it, there is more control, but it's harder to get into a game now when there is no standard between three or four games, R1 moves you left in one game, analog stick in another, R2 in yet another...it makes it hard to get into a game and be able to come back to it after even a few days if you've forgotten the controls.

Maybe it's the old school in me, but what happened to more 2D games? I highly doubt that everything has been exhausted in this department. And why has there not been a successful VR platform or a big change in accessories? DDR basically uses the old nintendo pad. I was really hoping by now there'd be a huge improvement in peripherals. Eye Toy is an example of some innovation, so is feedback. I think the short-lived product cycles are stifling innovation in these categories.

For now, I think graphics are respectable. So why not go from here and begin to innovate the whole genre? Make some more interesting games. Take a page from Dreamcast and make quality games, not a host of crappy sequels.

Re:Where else is there to go?

[Ondo]

NES debuted in North America in what, 1984? Followed by the SNES in 1993 I think? 9 years or so between the two.

On the contrary, it was 6 years. 1985 for the NES, 1991 for the SNES.

Re:Where else is there to go?

[samdu]

Take a page from Dreamcast and make quality games, not a host of crappy sequels.

Yeah, that worked out well for Sega, everyone do that. :) Actually, I love my Dreamcast and it does have a much better stable of diverse games than any other console, but you HAVE to make the sequels and you HAVE to have EA Sports in order to support the console for the other interesting stuff. Besides, some sequels are keen, like SOCOM II and the Rogue Squadron games on the 'Cube (they just keep getting better - I think they may be tapped out, though).

As for 2Ders, you DID buy Viewtiful Joe, didn't you? If you didn't, you forfeit all rights to complain about the lack of 2D games.

Re:Where else is there to go?

[caitsith01]

"maybe i'm just a playstation snob"

Are you serious? The PS2 controller has got to be one of the worst ever... only eclipsed my MS's monolith.

I just wish Nintendo had stuck closer to the N64 design - now *that* was a controller.

Re:Where else is there to go?

[PainKilleR-CE]

On the contrary, it was 6 years. 1985 for the NES, 1991 for the SNES.

And the SNES was late to market, as the Genesis and the TG-16 were both available long before it.

Come on you shills, buy a gamecube!

[caitsith01]

I mean, seriously, for $100 you get:

- a reasonably powerful games console
- the satisfaction of not supporting M$ or $ony
- the pleasure of an object of unusual grace and beauty
- a console 1/100th the size of an X-Box controller
- Pikmin, Metroid Prime, F-Zero, Monkey Ball
- a large dose of Japano-chic

And for all you Apple fanboys/girls out there, come on, Nintendo couldn't be any more like Apple:

- poses as heroic independent company adrift in a sea of evil corporate competitors
- main executives have funny names and wear silly clothes
- console is underpowered but 'easier to use'
- designers actually thought about what the final product would look like
- relatively fewer titles available, but the ones you can get are 'better'
- a variety of brightly coloured designs to choose from
- you can connect an even smaller, more expensive object to the main system for an enhanced experience

Re:Come on you shills, buy a gamecube!

[samdu]

the PS2 is a heaving load of junk and it pisses me off that so many pathetic 16 year olds are so overcome by the kewl-factor that the PS2 routinely outsells two much better consoles.

The PS2 - I wouldn't call it junk. There are some truly stellar games that look absolutely georgous on it (ICO comes to mind). But it does lag behind the other two consoles in raw power and graphics prowess. That's because it was released a year ahead of the other two machines, and frankly, the graphical difference is not mind-boggling. This weakness is also its strength. Because it had a year on the other two consoles, it was able to build a great library of games (and that it plays PS1 games doesn't hurt). What it comes down to is games and the PS2 has them in spades.

I would say the biggest weakness the GC had is that it can't play DVDs

I'd agree whole-heartedly, but less for the reason you mention (it is a good reason, though). Probably the biggest complaint publishers had about the N64 was that Nintendo hard-headedly stuck to the proprietary cartridge format that held less data and was far more expensive than the CD-ROM format that everyone else had moved to. Well, with the GameCube, they are still operating with a proprietary format. It still cost more to publish games on those mini-discs than if they had chosen a standard DVD drive. The next machine from the big N had better have some sort of standard storage medium, or third parties are going to remain reluctant to develop for it.

Re:Come on you shills, buy a gamecube!

[PainKilleR-CE]

I'd also like to know what hardware features are holding back PS2 games so much, compared to the other consoles.

The PS2 has less power than any other home console of the current generation (including the DreamCast). On top of that, many graphics features that were well-supported and documented in the hardware of the other systems (again including the DreamCast) were either unsupported or poorly documented in the PS2. The most obvious of these (especially in the early titles) is FSAA, which Sony eventually documented (or developed middleware for, or someone else developed middleware for it), after the internet was filled with jokes about the jagged edges in PS2 games. The major thing that effects the appearance of PS2 games today, though, is the lack of memory for graphics resources. You can easily double the amount of RAM used for textures and such on the other consoles, which can be used to make the game look significantly better.

And while the GC looks somewhat cool, I've yet to see a cool Xbox. Seriously, have you actually seen one ? Compared to a PS2 they look like shit.

If I was worried about how my consoles look, I wouldn't keep any of them in plain view. None of them look like they belong anywhere near my TV or stereo. They look like they belong in a kid's room. At the very least, though, the only one that isn't the same colour as the rest (at least in my cabinet) is the DreamCast.

Buy a GameCube?

[Anonymous Coward]

$100 dollars for all you say doesn't sound bad ... except, the games are still $50 a pop, right?

I'm a very casual gamer, and that's what's keeping me from the cube. My first console was the Dreamcast near the end of its cycle, and I picked up tons of game for $25 dollars or less. A month or two ago I finally decided to get something else, and I really thought about the 'cube, but the cost of the games was the main thing against it.

The second thing was that I really wanted to play more RPGs, which there weren't many for the Dreamcast (the one I liked was Skies of Arcadia), so I ended up getting a cheap used PSOne for $29 dollars, and now I'm buying a lot of rereleased and used Final Fantasy games, and I also got a GBA SP which is a lot of fun, and I'm finding a lot of games for that in the $15-$25 dollar range.

I was hoping that GameCube would have cheaper games, but their "player's choice" or whatever it is called is still in the $30 dollar range and there aren't that many of them. I'm going to wait awhile until more games come down in price.

Re:Buy a GameCube?

[13Echo]

I got many of my Gamecube games at value prices:

Pikmin - $19.99
Eternal Darkness - $14.99
Ikaruga - $19.99
Starfox - $19.99
Resident Evil 0 - $19.99

And many more. I think that even Metroid is close to that price range right now, as are many of the other games that I once paid full price for.

Lifespans

[fwitness]

I completely agree that there is currently no need for a new generation of consoles. The key demographic in the last few years has been the 18-25 (male of course) range that Sony has tapped into. Those "kids" are getting older and are not as impulsive as they used to be despite having more disposable income. Frankly, I'm tired of upgrading my console faster than my PC only to have to wait another year after release for quality games.

All three consoles have plenty of horsepower, are for the most part net-enabled, and developers have created the tools to make excellent games on them. Unless someone can give me an irrefutable reason why the current crop of consoles *can't* do something, I'm sticking with these. Prettier faces and industry buzzwords don't count.

Re:If nothing else...

[DavidLeblond]

I thought Gamecube already had a component video cable. Sure, its sold seperately but its available.