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Nintendo To Debut Next-Gen Console At E3 2005
An anonymous reader writes "According to Reuters, Nintendo has indicated it will debut its next-generation console at next May's E3, as part of financial results in which the company showed net profit of 70 billion yen ($625 million) - this figure still 'fell by half in the past business year, hurt by disappointing sales of its GameCube console and currency losses, but [Nintendo] predicted earnings would bounce back this year.' The company also indicated 'target shipments of 3.5 million 'DS' machines', with Nintendo's Yoshihiro Mori saying: 'In order to have the DS out by Christmas, we plan to start production late summer or early fall and boost production every month.'"
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Also - if it's so close, why would they put out Zelda for the "dying" GameCube platform? Wouldn't it make sense to hold off and make it a killer launch title for the N5?
-Joshua
As for the Dreamcast, it launched a year+ early. It wasn't a "next-gen" system so much as a system inbetween generations. It was launched TOO early. If the DC had been released 3-6 months before the PS2, I bet it would have done better. I think it would have still died due to other factors, but it would have done better than it did.
And this is what Nintendo is trying to do. They want to launch about 6 months before the PS3. They will get a head start, but won't be seen as an inbetween generation.
As for the games, they did a decent job with the GBA launch, a good job with the GC launch. We've learned that more good games at launch means a better system, so the companies understand that. The PSP is supposed to launch with a bunch of games, not that "here is 3, and few care about the other two" that the N64 saw. Few games hurt Nintendo in the N64 days, I think they've learned their lesson. I also think that $150 or $200 would be a perfect price point to launch at, especially with Sony probably going near $250 or $300 with the PS3.
That's my take anyways.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
As for the mini-disc, while I think they may move off to a different format for the increased storage space (dual layer DVD, maybe blue-laser based DVD), I think that at this point the DVD player aspect of a console is worthless. When the current generation started, a DVD player was $150+. So a $300 PS2 could be thought of a $150+ DVD player plus a $150+ PS1 plus a PS2 so it was a deal. I used my PS2 to watch DVDs for 3 years. But at this point most people who want a DVD player have one, and I doubt that they are going to buy a console simply because it has DVD functionality. You can now buy decent DVD players for $40 or under, so I don't think the ability to play DVDs is a selling point any more.
Now if it plays HD-DVDs (or whatever comes after the DVD), that would be a different story. Sony might do this by using Blue-Ray (their DVD replacement) in the PS3 (my speculation).
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
Those are all sequels... not a bad thing for a good game. Just not what I call original. Good games come from two places:
;)
-Original innovation brought on by the will to be creative. This is usually not motivated by money.
-Sequel to something that was already good. Don't break something that already works. Improving on it is always a good thing (tm) though. This is largely driven by money as brand naming becomes a huge part. Do you think Nintendo would have renamed and branded Super Mario Bros 2 if the first did not do as well?
I am glad to say that Nintendo does have a head and they use it. I trust them mostly... they have lost some of my faith in the past (controller design is one...) but they stay on top of the ball in a business that is anything but smooth.
Sony: Hmm... hard to say. I've enjoy my PS2 a lot. I don't want a fight over hardware quality or cost. They do have some good development houses behind them... so you can dis sony but there are still some AWSOME games... that all said: I don't mind them but I will probably have to wait on the PSP because of price. I have to pay tuition... and boy does that become huge really fast.
MS: The Redmond army is here and they are going to take you out! Even if it means that you may have some fun in the process. There are good things that XBOX offers that the others don't. Like an online service that is unified. Harddrive for content. Built in NIC. You buy an XBOX and all you need next is a game. Not so true for the other consoles out there. (Assuming you have electricity, hands, and a TV). BUT!!! from what I've seen in the past history of this giant: Markets are taken then sucked dry once they dominate. Take for instance the Office market. MS Office costs a soul and a half now days just for one seat! Back in the day they had to worry about price and quality. They had a good offering over their competitors for quite some time. Now that is not so true but what can the world do now. I fear something similar might happen to games (XNA anyone?). I don't mind them competing but I am NOT going to see the day when they dominate the market and any sane gamer should feel the same way. For now I will play the occasional Halo when I can.
As you can see, consoles are as twisted as any political discussion you can come up with. Any of my points above could probably be argued. But I am one of those people who like to voice an opinion on things
Because you're not as arrogant as you sound and you understand that gameplay is paramount when everything is said and done.
I've seen DVD players for 30 bucks. If nintendo put in a DVD player, it would cost an extra 30 bucks or more. A lot of people own DVD players, I think those people would prefer not to pay the extra cash for a feature they already have. Plus, some of that extra money just goes to Sony, since they license the technology. Believe me when I say DVD playback functionality will no longer help sell a significant amount consoles.
the cosmos in 20 words or less: thumbuki.com
For the games, perhaps?
It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.