Yesterday's Nintendo press conference was probably the most subdued and honest of the three major events this week. While they didn't have anything really earth-shattering to offer up, the Gameboy Micro, the Revolution's game-downloading capabilities, and the new Zelda Trailer were all welcome news from a company that has been very quiet of late. Commentary, photos, and speculation available from:
Nintendo,
Engadget,
USAToday,
GamesIndustry.biz,
1up.com,
Gamespot,
Cube.IGN,
NYT,
BBC,
Gamasutra, and
CNN. Specific coverage on the new Gameboy Micro is available from
Gamasutra,
GamesIndustry.biz, and
CNN. My two cents about Nintendo's conference are available below.
Last night I took in G4's E3 coverage, and their discussion of the Nintendo press conference struck a chord with me. This last console cycle, with the Gamecube, Nintendo really missed the boat. The GC wasn't released until many months after the PS2 was already in homes lighting up screens, and their attempts to carve out a market share were always muddled by confusing choices. The most confusing choice of the current generation, by far, was their almost complete refusal to participate in online gaming. While the Xbox sailed by with the Live service and the PS2 limped into the arena with the broadband adapter, the GC quietly sailed on with only Phantasy Star to break up its lonely voyage. At last year's E3 Nintendo very specifically said that they were not going to miss the boat this time. They were going to release the next console right around the same time as the other two companies and make sure their name was out there.
I have high hopes for the Revolution, but to be honest Nintendo's press conference was very underwhelming. Even given that the PS3 isn't going to be on store shelves for another year, what Sony showed on Monday was literally jaw-dropping. Even if there was some liberal use of pre-rendered footage in the presentation, the press conference put on by Sony was designed to fire the imagination and get people excited about the possibilities of the next generation. Nintendo offered us Nintendogs. And a new Game Boy Advanced. Yes, I think that downloading old games onto your Revolution is a cool idea, but a...uh...friend of mine tells me that I can emulate those games on my PC for free.
Perhaps all this is just worrywortism. Nintendo has never failed to be innovative in the past, and their support of the DS and quirky games like Warioware is proof that not everything has to be same-old same-old in this ever more business-like industry. They have more than a year to get their ducks in a row, but I'm afraid that Sony and Microsoft may have already beaten them to the punch. In the end, it's not just about making fun games. You have to sell them too.
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Ok, those look damn smoooooth if I say so myself BUT are those in-game shots or the dreaded "let's show the incredibly breath taking cinematic art and make it LOOK in-game even though we will soon find out after dropping 50 bones that the in-game graphics are as bad as ET the Extra Terrestial on the Atari 2600!"
I for one, am taking a wait and see approach.
I've been a nintendo fan from the start with NES. Yes they lost a lot of the market when sony entered the game and gave them real competition, but they've consistantly showed inovation in the gaming industry
From what I've seen from the Sony footage, it looks absolutely amazing, and I'm sure the XBox360 will be great, too.... but I have a Tivo, I have my computer for browsing the internet... I want a game system (don't even get me started on XBox360's connectivity to the MediaCenterPC.... does anyone even own one?). I want new games. I don't want more FPS games. I want new genres... something different. I have faith that Nintendo will provide that something different. The DS (though akward and lacking) shows that they're not really afraid to try something new.
So, while Nintendo's press conference may have been underwhelming, I'm still excited for the Revolution.
Slashdot: where repeating an article in a post is "+5 Insightful"
Nintendo always puts out the big information at Tokyo Game Show or some other usually Nintendo biased video game show in Japan. The fact they didn't supply anything at E3 is not a surprise. Why would you try to compete for press time when you can say something later and have the spotlight for yourself?
You do realize that their target audience isn't the 14-28 year old demographic anymore, don't you? They put out games for kids - damn fine games, I may add. They focus on pick-up-and-play fun factor more than they do graphics. And what's so wrong with that? Just because it doesn't satisfy YOU doesn't mean that it satisfies no one.
The PS3 looks absolutely amazing (hardware specification wise - that controller looks like I could snap it in half in my hand), and it will appeal to those who want a powerful gaming experience. The XBox360 will as well. In fact, I imagine the market will be split into segments just like it was last time; RPG players on one console, everything else on the other, etc, etc. The sides may swap, but they're both going to have market share. And Nintendo will still be there, filling a certain special niche and filling it admirably. There's nothing wrong with that at all.
In fact, the only way I see Nintendo truly failing is if they try to be something they're not. Embracing their strengths and capitalizing on them is the best way for them to go right now.
Handhelds were the last area they had a commanding lead over the opposition, and the PSP has blown that to hell.
Nintendo announced yesterday that the DS has outsold the PSP in japan 3 to 1.
With a sucessful marketing campaign, imagine the outcome. Imagine the NES generation, now in their 20s and 30s, with disposable income to spend a mere $200 on, and showing them with Super Mario 3 in their homes. And... here's where I think the MAJOR innovation and system-seller will make Rev sell like wild-fire: combine the internet Wi-Fi with the old-school games. You could play Dr. Mario head-to-head with your old next-door neighbor, even if she now lives in Seattle. You wanna get some Street Fighter II action on? Pop it in. Still remember Up, Up, Down, Down, L, R, L, R, (select) start? Then now you can play through 8 levels of Contra with your college roommate. And as with the great NES games, we often loved watching others play them. Well, if a "spectator mode" is installed, your elementary school/camp buddy/cousin is only a wi-fi connection away, and you can watch him pound away at Bald Bull, King Hippo and Super Macho Man.
The nostalgia market is enourmous. It's more than a Mario-All Stars rehash like the GBA games. This could be the console that Nintendo was sorta going for (but never quite even made much of a dent) with their "Who Are You?" campaign. This sort of strategy will send the message to non-gamers that Nintendo is synonymous with fun. Synonymous with their childhood, and that feeling you had when you first got to World 8 in Super Mario 3. And... perhaps their own 5 year-olds that they now have? Get them in with these games. Then... they'll try that Mario 64 they might have heard their girlfriend's 18 year-old younger brother talk about. Then, they'll try the new Mario 128. Like that? Well, in the Nintendo Online startup screen, here's a frontpage:
"Welcome BTWR! Your collection includes Metroid (NES), Super Mario Bros 2 (NES), Tetris DX (Gameboy Color), Super Mario RPG (SNES) and Street Fighter II (SNES). Might we recommend Super Smash Bros (N64), Tetris Attack (SNES) or Metroid Prime (Gamecube)? Also, look for Metroid: Mission X coming next month for Nintendo Revolution and The Legend of Zelda: World of Hyrule for the Nintendo DS. Press A to pre-order it now on your NintendoAccount and get a 60-minute FreePlay of Super Metroid (SNES) and one (1) free downloadable NES 'Players-Choice' game you wish"
The possibilities are endless...
*shock horror how can he say such a thing*
Well, the fact is that the console war is not a winner-takes-all game. At least Nintendo is not playing it that way. They are profitable, and very much so, by being third.
Also, the PSP is not killing the DS "shock horror how can... etc.". They have sold about the same.
Finally, the fact that the Revolution is not 100 times more powerful than the GC doesn't mean a thing. The graphic capabilities of the GC were already quite good, and of course, a little improvement doesn't hurt, but how much more power do games really need? Many games are perfectly enjoyable on systems like the Mega Drive already. The hardware capabilities of the game consoles of today are very close to just how much you need, because the human eye has it's own, physiological, treshold. Exceeding it is meaningless (except for penis-lenght battles, i.e. my penis has 8 cell processors - yeah, but my penis can do 2 teraflops and has 1 GBYTE of UBGRAM).
Sigged!
I am sick and tired of people linking "good games" to the "mature market." I can't not express inwords how irritating that is to me. When the gaming industry gives out their awards for games Nintendo is always heavily represented. Nintendo is a lot like Disney. 9 times out of 10 they put out the highest quality stuff around, and though they are more geard towards a younger audience if you could just get the F*** over yourself for a second you could have fun too. I dare anyone out there to play Donkey Konga or Jungle Beat and NOT have fun, I literally dare you!
Having been stunned and dismayed by the quality of commentary that I've read in last 24hrs concerning Nintendo's E3 conference, I was excited that this article might perhaps shine some light on the messages from doom that are being put forth. Sadly, it's not exception, and once again shows complete ignorance on well publicized facts, both on Nintendo as a company, and on their upcoming console.
The buzz on most gaming sites is, expectedly, represented by two extremes. On one side, Nintendo fans and some "undecideds", praise the looks of the Revolution, and it's legacy game download feature.
On the other side, statements that have a stinky ting of "BSD is Dead" come in the following shapes and flavors (paraphrasing):
- "What a weak showing, Nintendo is going to hell, gonna get trounced, dead meat"
- "Legacy gaming?! Some revolution!"
- "PS3 and Xbox are going to smoke the Revolution."
- "Nintendo has made a huge mistake, and it's going to pay for it."
Let's clarify some facts:
- Nintendo made profit on the N64 and the Gamecube, both on consoles sales (they didn't sell at a loss), and games sales. So Nintendo did not lose this generation's "war". It made a profit, and that's always more important than being "first". (Yes Sony also made an overall profit with PS2, if we count games).
Nintendo will almost definitely make profit on the Revolution, so even if it's third, Nintendo won't "die".
- Nintendo did NOT intend to show anything important about the Revolution at this E3. They said it before the conference. So what is everyone whining about?
We also know (if we read the news from these months) that the console isn't finished, and that includes the controller. Why is that so difficult to understand? Even the Iwata should, is not the final version. It will be ready in a few months, and he invited user participation to make suggestions on things like color, etc...
Furthermore, they consider they have very revolutionary ideas, and hence don't want those copied early in the game.
So what was Nintendo supposed to show? Some freaky , wacky, OMFG graphics. NO, once again, you're not listening. "It's not about the graphics anymore (Nintendo)".
In conclusion, Nintendo is right on track, and when it's ready it will show it's console. When that happens, you can all open the floodgates of opinion and commentary, but until then read up on Nintendo before making uninformed comments.
Exactly, there IS a market for an iTunes like sevice for old games, some people like respecting copyright.
True genius is grasping a situation like a peice of fruit, and peircing it just right so that it drains dry.
I can download Nesticle
Nesticle was good for its time, but compared to current emulators, it's an inaccurate P.O.S. In fact, an NES program can detect Nesticle with just four instructions. Use Nintendulator instead, especially if you're developing your own NES programs.
and a couple hundred ROMS
Now that Nintendo is renting ROMs online, the fair use argument for abandonware largely evaporates. Are you prepared to pay statutory damages if you're caught?
Does Nintendo think many people with an original Gameboy Advanced is likely to purchase a GBA sp, or a Gameboy mirco?
To be honest, I've hardly seen anybody as of late carrying around an original Game Boy Advance, as opposed to those carrying around the newer GBA SP. Little kids and preteens, teens, and even adults... I see more GBA SP's out there now than I do original GBA's.
I myself do not own an SP, due to the fact that I just don't like the washed out front-lit screen (I always thought it looked a bit strange, though I had wanted to like it since the GBA's own screen was somewhat dull and dark), and absolutely hated the more compact set of controls to work with (more awkward to work with than the wider GBA, but that's just me). Though I do own a Nintendo DS and am quite happy with its backlit screen and ability to play at least GBA games in addition to its own DS games, I unfortunately cannot play any of my classic Game Boy or Game Boy Color games (I started collecting them since I was 7-8 years old, and I'm 23 now), nor do I have a link port available on it (not just for multiplayer, but also for playing things like Zelda: Four Swords Adventures on the Game Cube). As someone who would love to play all my past and current GB games on something brightly back-lit, comfortable, and not require me to pop in a set of 2-4 double or triple A batteries every 6-12 hours (bonus!), the Game Boy Micro definitely catches my interest.
As for continuing the current Game Boy line in its current state, despite having all these new, more powerful systems coming out (DS, PSP)... why not? Surely this little underpowered machine still has a lot of potential (and business!) in it to allow one to continue making great games for it... especially for something that's not even broken, and still has a much larger user base than any other system currently out... even Sony's own PlayStation 2. I think it would be a shame (and very foolish) to just stop supporting and developing for such a successful, working system. Heck, look at the support of the original PlayStation continued to receive (though it's on its last legs by now), even after the PS2 emerged, and coming soon the PS3...
IMed to a friend about 4 hours ago:
... focus on the games, the library, the 3rd party developers. I've shown off Metroid Prime and Resident Evil 4, etc to Sony or PC headz, and they couldn't believe this stuff flew under their radars. The games are great quality for Game Cube .. there just arn't nearly enough of them.
.. being first can be as big a gamble as being 3rd depending on the purchasing cycle of the market,) I think Nintendo is stepping away from the other two companies so it doesn't get lumped in with the invitable backlash. Halo 3 .. its .. its Halo 2, but more polygons! Woot!
14:48] KraftBoy: Nintendo has been pushing this 'performance isnt everything' mantra
[14:48] KraftBoy: they say the Revolution will be 2 or 3 times as powerful as the gamecube
[14:49] KraftBoy: Sony says PS3 is 30 times the power of the PS2
[14:49] KraftBoy: MS says the Xbox360 is 15 times as powerful as the first xbox
[14:49] KraftBoy: if people dont dig the offering of Sony and/or MS, then Nintendo looks like a genius for purposefully underhyping the power of the console
[14:50] KraftBoy: I get the feeling that people are gunna be like, "Great, Halo 3, same game, better graphics"
[14:50] KraftBoy: or GTA: Mississagua, same game, better graphics
[14:51] KraftBoy: they come come away looking smart for realizing that the market is getting bored of bying the same game 4 times, each time with cosmetic upgrades
Nintendo is always bashed for recycling the same games. How can this be? They recycle the same *charcters*, but I can't think of too many Sony properties or franchises that have undergone the kind of radical transformations that the gameplay of Mario or Metroid titles have undergone. (GTA 1 wasn't much of a big seller, y'know.)
99% of the Mario platformers were awesome (tho Sunshine underwhelmed me.) Metroid? If you've played Super Metroid and Metroid Prime, nuff said. For those who havn't, the game was legendary in 2D, and the 3D first person (!) leap, if anything, *improved* the gameplay.
I think Nintendo is playing a strategy here. If performance meant anything, nobody would have bought a single PS2 after the day the GameCube was released. MARKETING is the operative strategy here. Just like Nintendo got too big for its britches, I think they realize that if they downplay performance, and Sony and MS can't live up to the "Its 30 times more powerful than the PS2" claim (which, as pointed out about, is a laugh to anybody with an once of BS detection in their bones), people might start realizing that it ain't the performance, its the games.
The games (and their time to market, of course) is what got the PS and the PS2 their place in history. Now that Sony and MS are pushing the performance advantage angle, I think Nintendo realizes it can do exactly what Sony did
Sheesh, its almost a mirror image from the PS/N64 situation - sexier technology != higher sales. Release dates aside (it practically looks like all companies WANT to release at the same time
Now, I realize there are tons of other ways Nintendo works against itself:
1. Not enough advertising. Their name is not household anymore with the 16-21 year old set, so heres to hoping they know this and plan to push the Revolution in TV, etc.
2. No shame in cozying up to the kiddie crowd. I think thats just a reality that disaffected cool teens will have to accept if they want access to the kind of graphical and gameplay orgasms that is Resident Evil 4, Eternal Darkness, etc.
All that said, Xbox outsold Gamecube, and who made a profit? Nintendo had to compete against a company that knew, neh, committed itself to ending up in the red, and they still managed a respectable share of the market place, and still turned a profit.
So really, all things being equal, what company is more impressive? The one that throws money away for the sake of getting their name in front of your eyes for every minute that you play video games, or the company that works on stuff it thinks is cool, and manages to make money off of it to boot?
"Old man yells at systemd"