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Guide for the Nintendo Fan at E3
IGN.Cube has details on what its expected Nintendo will be showing off at E3 this year. Whether or not the Revolution gets much airtime is up in the air, but it's anticipated that new DS titles and the system itself are going to recieve the lion's share of attention. From the article: "...we predict that Nintendo will put a noticeable emphasis on its DS lineup and -- save for the new Legend of Zelda -- downplay some GameCube titles. This move seems to make sense as many of the GameCube titles sure to be on display in playable form will either have been previously shown at another event, or will be on the verge of releasing in America. In contrast, we expect several major surprises for the publisher's portable system."
It would be nice to see some interesting games on the DS, that have more than 10 minutes of game play.
Waiting for Castlevania.
I don't know. When I get my DS (probably this summer) the two games I know I'm picking up are Meteos and Polaris. I'm 22 and this seems to be very much the sort of thing I'm looking for in portable gaming.
--The universe will not be altered by forum threads, even those which are very wry. --Tycho Brahe (Penny Arcade)
I'm not talking about the cost of manufacture here; it doesn't especially matter that MS used to lose money on every X-Box sold for the first year or two.
They are still losing money on every XBOX sold.
We've also seen Nintendo's game-development suffering a lot over the last two cycles, particularly during the lifespan on the Gamecube. The fanboys may like their new Zelda/Mario/Metroid games, but ultimately there just haven't been enough games selling enough copies.
Nintendo is the second biggest game publisher in the world. Only EA sells more games. Quite a feat for a company that only markets to their own systems.
Nintendo has billions of dollars in the bank for development. If you look at the launch of the PSP vs. the DS, Nintendo was the company prepared to pay the dough to bring more factories online when the demand was higher than expected while Sony gave everyone some line about how they had to focus on the PS2.
Here is how the big three stack up financially:
Microsoft: Company is on sound financial ground, but their games division continuously loses money. They have lost billions on the XBOX.
Sony: Games division makes money, but the company on the whole is not doing well. They are set to eliminate 20,000 jobs by 2007 and hired a non-Japanese CEO which is a pretty desperate move for a Japanese company.
Nintendo: Company as a whole is profitable. Gaming business is very profitable.
Why would Nintendo allow themselves to be bought? Microsoft can't make money on games, and Sony is in serious trouble.
Nintendo are profitable for the moment, but in any kind of long-term endurance battle, they know they couldn't hold on for long.
Nintendo has been in the console business longer than Microsoft and Sony combined. They are always profitable. In fact, in the fifty years since Nintendo went public, they have only had one quarter loss.
They HAVE endured.
If that happens I might have to kill someone. probably myself.