Slashdot Mirror
Sticking up for Nintendo
Reader jasoncart wrote in to give us a heads up on an editorial over on Ferrago. In it, the author defends Nintendo from its numerous detractors. From the article: "I love Nintendo and make no apology for it. I admit still that they annoy me like no other company in the gaming world. They can be at times simply utterly frustrating, I know that too well, but how shall I put it? Love is true but comes at a price. It's the one that is closest to you that can hurt you most."
My personal theory is that most Slashdotters (including the editors) grew up in the period when Nintendo ruled the US gaming roost. They therefore view everything Nintendo does through rose tinted glasses. I've pulled that theory out of my arse, so it might be wildly innacurate, and rather unhygenic.
I personally think it's mostly Ninty fanboys that are the most negative about the PSP, becuase it's a real threat to N's last big market. So they attack just about everything on it, before it's even been out (reality check: the price isn't astronomical, the screen's fine, and the batteries last a reasonablish time[1]). Personally I think the DS is basically the GimmickBoy, and I love the way some people are saying it's not a replacement for the GameBoyAdvance. Although I suppose it could be in a Master System / Mega Drive co-existance sort of thing (in the UK, there were new SMS games up to about 1994).
Personally my first console was a Sega Mega Drive (Sega Genesis in North America). I know Nintendo have done some very good games, like Zelda: Ocarine of Time, but I also know they've rereleased some of there games numerous times on different formats (Link's Awakening DS is comming soon I'm sure), their hardware is always the absolute minimum needed to compete, and they screw PAL gamers like no other company still does really.
Then again the PlayStation series have bad build quality, and overstated specs, the Xbox is big heavy and ugly, and Sega mismanaged themselves out of the jaws of victory. Don't get my started about the PC, and the Slashdot PC fanboy crowd...
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Bah, probably rather disjointed and rantish, but hey! It's Slashdot! Sorry about any spellings etc. as well, Firefox doesn't have Safari's nice built in spell checker.
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[1] Remember they're rechargable, it's not like you have to use 6xAA's like a Game Gear. Although it does sound rather short for long trips I suppose.
10 PRINT "LOOK AROUND YOU ";
20 GOTO 10
"as far as I know they use linux to code ps2 games didnt you knew that?"
First off, when did Linux become a programming language?
Secondly, what's the point of using open source software when you need to sell your soul to get the SDK? I've tinkered with a lot of homebrewed PS2 software and none of it involved getting Sony's SDK or even "Linux (for PlayStation 2)" as far as I can tell.
"and every geek I know has a soft spot for cool electronics and thats what sony is all about,"
Then I'm correct in assuming you own an HDTV? Either I'm not a geek, or geeks are more interested in fun toys more than they are in "cool electronics." The people who go after "cool electronics" seem to be the ones who slap stickers all over their Honda Civics.
"No offense guys but Nintendo is the Walt Disney of the videogames world"
If Nintendo were Disney, there would be no new games featuring these characters. Instead, they'd be locked in a vault somewhere with Nintendo sueing the crap out of anybody who even mentions their trademarked propeties, and their main source of profit would be from producing games with stories that rip off the public domain. The reason Mario is more recognizable than Mickey Mouse is because Mickey hasn't done anything for the past 50 years or so.
No, in reality we have people complaining that Nintendo is using their old characters in too many new games. Square Enix is the company that wants us to buy Final Fantasy Origins again barely 18 months later. That's Hollywood thinking.
"(in case you didnt knew family games are the ones who make the most money!)"
Which is why the GameCube is trouncing the PlayStation 2 in sales...
" you can even compare them and their business practices to MS at some point."
Which is why the GameCube is trouncing the PlayStation 2 in sales...
Heck, if Nintendo were so similar to MIcrosoft there'd be no point in Gates wanting to buy them. Why "embrace and extend" when you're already there?
"You cringed all over when MS tried to make all windows users pay an annual fee,"
How long ago did the GCN come out? Or the SP?
Again, Sony is the company that seems to be looking for annual fees. Want a PS2 that you can turn off with the remote? Buy a new PS2. Progressive-scan DVD playback? Buy a new PS2. A four-player adapter that works in both PS and PS2 games? Buy a new PS2. It's getting to the point where buying a second PS2 is less a luxury and more an upgrade.
"but you just smiled when Nintendo forced everyone to buy 4 gameboys for a four player game"
Sounds familiar...
Nintendo didn't force anybody to buy four Game Boys because everbody could bring their own, and everybody already owns their own Game Boy.
"when they could have made a cool multiplayer online game instead,"
Instead we got a game with a plot and a storyline, a game without camping, without internet fuckwads, without monthly subscriptions and a game we'll still be able to play in five years. Damn you, Nintendo!
"geek is cool"
War is peace! Freedom is slavery!
Geek is not cool, geek is liking what you like without thinking about whether or not it's cool. Game awards shows on Spike are cool, because they followed all the coolness rules.
"Just to beat some sense to you consider this the DS is a double screened gameboy with a nintendo 64 chip in it. the second screen is a cheap touchscreen from a palm, at the end you are just getting a cheap palm."
On the one hand, you say I'm getting a handheld version of a system I still love. On the other, you say I'm saving money compared to what Palm would be charging for a platform with far fewer games I'd be interested in. Where exactly is the downside in that?
"Why they didnt made a portable gamecube with a mi
but sony? other than evercrack what harm have they done to the geek open source community?
Slashdot is a lot more than the open source community. They did release a PS2 version of Linux, but they still made sure to keep their own proprietary layer running beneath it, which was missing the point.
The people who don't like Sony do it because:
A. They are a huge company and it's very easy to hate them (even rightfully) for that, and
B. They have worse games, on the average, than Nintendo.
Do not underestimate the importance of point B! Sony has good games, true. Even some great ones -- GTA, Ico, Katamari Damarcy. They're certainly ahead of Microsoft in this regard now. But they still have catching up to do with Nintendo.
Also... well, this is probably just me, but I kind of get a slimy feeling when I see a commercial for a game called "Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal." Say what you want about Nintendo, but you never get the feeling that they're pandering to their audience. (Well, except maybe in the case of the Mario Party games.)