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Nintendo Revolution Under Wraps Past E3
The next-generation Nintendo console, codenamed Revolution, may not be shown at this year's E3. Eurogamer reports that the Japanese console maker is going to keep the console under wraps to keep the features of the new system out of the limelight a little while longer. From the article: "Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata is worried about rivals nicking all his best ideas at this early stage. That's how revolutionary the new console is, apparently... and also the exact same line Nintendo used to avoid showing Mario 128 at a previous E3."
"That's how revolutionary the new console is Lets just hope that doesn't mean something like "Lets dare to be different, and use annoying mini-disks instead of the standard DVDs. They provide lower quality, AND they don't meet up to modern-day standards. Its brilliant!"
This might be insightful if Nintendo wasn't responsible for the standard 4 controller ports, standard analog sticks, standard 'rumble' functions, the huge portable gaming market, yadda yadda yadda.
"Derp de derp."
"They provide lower quality..." AND they reduce piracy, which is excessively rampant for the XBox and the PS2. Go looking for XBox and PS2 game torrents, and you'll find them by the hundreds. You'll be able to count the number of Gamecube torrents on your fingers. Besides...lower quality that's also better than the PS2? Not lower quality, but rather less space.
Nintendo can unveil it at E3, and go up against Microsoft and Sony's HUGE marketing budget and hype. Magazines would probably have a triple feature, with sections given to each system and the respective company booths.
Or, Nintendo can wait a couple of months until the media coverage dies down a little bit, unveil the console, and get the cover of every non-platform-specific major game magazine in the biz. This decision shows not a lack of preparation or a schedule issue, but a smart martketing choice.
Why does everyone blast Nintendo for doing what Apple has been doing for years? Both companies produce a very solid product and don't want their thunder and/or hard work stolen by a bunch of copycats.
Their goal is not the domination of their particular market; instead, they focus on being profitable companies. I say kudos to them for having the balls to make something that works well, is fun and intuitive to use AND still be able to sell enough of it to make some money. And if it takes some secrecy to bring their products to the market, then I'm all for it.
its "innovative" features don't impress consumers as much as the PSP's
And that is why it isn't selling as much as the PSP. Oh wait.
what with Microsoft and that whole "Live" thing.
And the 8% of XBOX gamers who use it. EIGHT PERCENT! Less than one out of ten.
God damn it. I'm so fucking tired of the cheap shots at Nintendo. They are the fucking ones that are making money. Q2 of FY 2003 was the only full quarter loss Nintendo reported in 50 years, and everyone predicts their doom. The XBOX has one profitable quarter after eleven straight losses, and everyone calls them a success.
Look at me. I'm bashing my head on the keyboard.
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Do you really think that showing it to the public is the same as showing it to developers?
Maybe if these features turn out to be a success in the marketplace -- unlikely if the DS is any indicator...
If anything, I'd say DS sales bode quite well for Nintendo. It's already past 6 million units, set the all-time record for highest-volume launch sales in the UK, sold 40% past Nintendo's holiday projections... And, Nintendo's production line is up to speed and has thus far prevented any serious DS shortages in any market (say what you will about the limited initial supply of the PS2 or the PSP creating additional product lust, it's still nice to be able to actually buy a console).
The DS has a lot going for it: the touch screen and microphone enable some very fun interaction that's perfect for short stints of mobile gaming. Plus, it has backwards compatibility with the whole library of GBA titles. Everyone says the PSP has a strong launch lineup... this is somewhat true, although many of the titles are just ports of PS2 games with reduced technical capability (near-PS2 graphics is an exaggeration, the graphics look more like some of the better quality Dreamcast games, but that still ain't bad). The only PSP title that really does it for me right now is Lumines, and that doesn't use the PSP's horsepower anyway.
Nintendo still knows the portable gaming market very well, and I think the interface features on the DS will continue to do quite well there. The PlayStation Portable is pretty much just that, a shrunken-down version of an ordinary console. Nintendo is trying to enable a new, unique experience on the DS, whereas Sony is trying to deliver a home-console gaming experience that comes along with you. The one thing that the PSP has going over the DS as a portable entertainment device is its multimedia capabilities, but even those are far from polished. If you want to enjoy music and video on the PSP, you have to buy a bigger memory stick (and it has to be the Duo version), and you can't just drag and drop songs and videos from your PC, that'd be way too easy. Instead, you must use special software (definitely not included in the box) to properly convert and obfuscate those files, and you're still limited to the 1GB size of Sony's largest memory stick. Sony has made an effort to make the PSP a multimedia convergence device, but it is, unfortunately, halfhearted. Hopefully they will roll in some improvements in subsequent firmware updates, but I still wish they would have included a little slot on the back that could hold a mini hard-drive option.
People want a convergence device, but the PSP hasn't made multimedia use easy enough for the average user yet, and I doubt it will do a whole lot to stave off the cell phone's continued drive to assimilate every other peice of portable electronics. This isn't a huge issue for Sony, as they are in that market, too (I have a T610 and I love it, Sony's definitely got that down, don't get me wrong). If you want a portable gaming device, though, the innovation present in the DS, for me and for a whole lot of other gamers, trumps the raw power and the (I'll admit it) oh-so-sexy screen of the PSP.
Notice, however, that what Nintendo has going on with the DS doesn't necessarily translate to whatever the hell they're planning with revolution. To succeed in the home console space, they need 3rd party developer support (it's becoming clear that, despite continued strong showings from the Mario, Zelda, and Metroid franchises, they just aren't system sellers anymore), and they need to make a decent technical showing against Microsoft and Sony. Now, Microsoft started this generation with a very small selection of games but obvious technical superiority, showcased by their trump title Halo, and gradually built up a solid selection of titles. Sony had backwards compatibility with the vast universe of PS1 games, plus astoundingly great 3rd party support that gave them plenty of system sellers at no development cost to them (Grand Theft Auto, Final Fantasy, Tekken, Soul Calibur... all developed by 3rd parties), and was first to launch by
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I think people take cheap shots at them because they don't want to admit that "kiddy games" such as Zelda: Wind Waker and Mario Sunshine are a lot more fun to play than those hack and slash "grownup" games.
I'm 23 years old and most of my games are E rated. Some are T rated. None are M rated. M rated games just aren't very fun. My buddies tease me about it, but who isn't having fun playing Mario Kart or Mario Party? Who doesn't like to drop a bomb bug on their enemies pikmin and blow 'em to bits? Who doesn't think the storyline to Windwaker is interesting?