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."

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