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.
Slashdot Mirror
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.
Yeah, copyright infringement is soo much cheaper!
The Revolution's game-downloading capabilities
My Phantom can do that, and so much more. Infact my phantom is so much better: only those truely 31007, such as myself, can see its golden case...
3 degrees of separation from Vladimir Putin
I know I do, of the next-gen consoles it is at lesat the prettiest and the ability to download over 20+ years of nintendo content! Nintendo is coming back in a big way.
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!"
Nintendo did miss the boat. They've parlayed their one-time leadership of the market into a great big bust. They could hope to catch the low-cost segment of the market with the specs that are given for the Revolution, but that would still require them to take advantage of media events like E3.
I think they're going the way of Sega and Atari. If they keep it up they won't be able to keep producing their own console.
more of the same on Twitter.
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"
The implications of this are pretty far-reaching. One the positive side, it potentially allows for some different ideas regarding game-play. The lower power is also probably going to translate into a lower (perhaps much lower) launch price, which could be an asset during the opening months of the next cycle, when the other consoles are still $400+.
However, it's not all good news. Less powerful hardware and a "different" control system is almost certainly going to have ramifications for cross-platform titles on the Revolution. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the vast majority of 3rd party developers just didn't bother. The simple fact is that most developers are, quite rightly, more concerned with making games that are going to sell well than games that will be fun for their programmers to work on. The nice thing at present with the X-Box and PS2 (and to some degree the Gamecube) is that they have a large shared library of games. You can play at least some titles from the Burnout, Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance, Silent Hill, Grand Theft Auto and Metal Gear Solid franchises on more than one system and these are all A-list games. A lower price-point isn't going to be such a big selling-factor for parents if little Johnny can't play the latest big-name cross-platform game on the system.
Had Nintendo been making these moves at the end of the SNES generation, they would have had a decent (perhaps overwhelming) chance of success. However, that was the last time that they really had the market share (and hence the clout with developers) to dictate the shape of the future of the games industry. If they can make the design decisions they want to push through with the Revolution into industry standards, then they will recapture their dominance of the market. However, with Sony now being the real brand leaders, the odds are stacked against them to an almost impossible degree. If they fail, they're going to further establish their reputation as a niche player. Mario, Metroid and Zelda alone are not enough to stay afloat. In these days of spiralling development costs for both hardware and software, they couldn't hold that status for long before being forced down the Sega route.
I've not been much of a Nintendo fan for quite a while now; not since it was clear that they'd lost the plot during the N64/PSX generation. However, it's almost refreshing to see a company taking such risks in today's marketplace. Sadly, I think they've picked the wrong risks to take and this is ultimately going to lead to their demise.
Not an expert by any means but Nintendo probably wanted the spotlight to itself. Honestly, everyone is talking about Xbox vs. PS3 --- Nintendo can wait a few weeks/months and release info on the Revolution once PS3/Xbox talks get a bit stale.
My question is if Nintendo and Sony are going to have U.S. launch dates at around the same time as Japan, or is the PS3 going to be out months and months before, like the PS2?
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
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?
Nintendo didn't miss out on online in the current generation. Xbox Live has
been a mild success, though the majority of Xbox owners don't use it, but PS2
online was a fizzle.
Honestly, I think Nintendo has been trying harder than anyone to innovate. The
DS lineup is really out there: Nintendogs, PacPix, Electroplankton. Weird,
wonderful stuff. But maybe the rest of the hardcore gaming market has gone too
much over the top, expecting desaturated military shooters, which is what
everyone is announcing at E3 this year.
People like to cite Nintendo as the loser of the current generation, but that's
far from true. They dominate the handheld market both in hardware and game
sales. And though the Game Cube is the third place console, the big games for
that console are all coming straight from Nintendo, with each one pulling in
awards and selling like crazy.
Personally, I think Nintendo's biggest difficulty is that they lean much too
hard on old franchises: Metroid, Zelda, Mario, Kirby, and so on. They were once
fresh, but no longer. Hopefully some of Nintendo's experimentation will result
in a brand new hit for them.
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...
I believe that Nintendo is overstretching the life of the Gameboy. I mean, not to be a troll, but changing the configuration of a handheld doesn't extend its life, what does is making it more powerful. Does Nintendo think many people with an original Gameboy Advanced is likely to purchase a GBA sp, or a Gameboy mirco? I just don't see, now with the new consoles on the horizon, that there is a need for the Gameboy in its current state, especially due to the DS. Just my two cents.
public class null extends java applet { System.out.print ("Tabula Rasa"); }
Well, assuming you can get one that'll actually still play decently and consistently. The last NES I played would periodically replace chunks of graphics with random characters. And while controlling an @ instead of a Mario was novel at first, it gets annoying eventually. Even my SNES(es) are a bit worn - sometimes it takes several tries to get a cartridge to load.
I agree that $20 a game is ridiculous, but if they lowered it to, say, $3-5 or several for $20, I'd snap one up and collect them all.
Warning: Apple/Nintendo fangirl. Likes her electronics cute & cuddly. May be rabid.
>Playing antique games is a novelty, NOT a major selling point! It's like having a Video Camera that also plays back mp3s... I mean why not if it's cheap and if gives the user another reason to love their product. Nobody will initially buy based on such a flimsy feature though.
Having an huge (legal) library of old games is a great feature. If it is such a flimsy feature, why is it that so many of the homebrew apps for the other consoles are emus. Nintendo saw that their competitor's consles could play their own past library of games, and probably had a small if not large decsion to do this.
if you check out NintendoOn.com it points mysteriously to an IGN article containing a link to a video that it calls a hoax. However, we know that IGN is in cahoots with Nintendo (Gamespy being the online content provider for DS and presumably Revolution). Also, if you check out the video, it's got amazingly high production values for a hoax.
Nintendo has become the Apple of the gamming world, just look at the Revolution its self, almost exactly like a gaming version of the Mac mini. I think they are very happy being #2.
Now I got to wash my brain out for EVER agreeing with anything G4 has ever said.
"Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
Disclosure: the editor is on my friends list, yes, but that doesn't change the fact that he's doing Something Right.
That problem is caused by a worn header (where the cartridges electrical contacts plug into). If you're good with soldering (come on, most of us /.ers are) you can buy a new one and replace it. I did that to my original NES console, and it works as good as new!
I have to admit, I'm quite a Nintendo fanboy, so you can disregard my comments if you like. There a few advantages that the GC had over its peers that I'd like to point out.
1. Portability: The light weight and small form factor of the GC allows it to be toted around to a friends' house if you want to, or for it to be brought with you for weekend trips.
2. Load Times: The GC has much better load times then both PS2 and XBox. So much less that many games appear to have no load times at all.
3. Lower Price: A new GC can be had for 100 $CDN right now. XBox still costs around 200 $CDN, which is about double the price.
4. Better Controllers: While this is a matter of taste, I believe the controllers are much better on the GC. The buttons are much better laid out, allow easy movement between the buttons, and allowing the buttons to be easily located. One exception is that stupid z button.
I think the GC is one of the most underrated systems of all time. It lost out because people are afraid to buy something that looks kiddie, even though it is anything but. I hope Nintendo grabs more market with the Revolution. I also don't think that the Revolution will scare away 3rd party developers with some weird control scheme. Remeber, it is going to be backwards compatible with GC.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
Two people with no prior console ownership buying an overpriced gimmicky handheld with games which have nothing to do with portable gaming? Yeah, Nintendo's really crying over that lost revenue.
Newsflash: They also don't have an NES, Sega Master System, SNES, Genesis, Playstation, PS2, Dreamcast, Xbox, any form of a Game Boy, or a DS. As far as Nintendo's concerned, they're either small children with very deep pockets, or people who probably weren't buying a game system in the first place.
They still have a commanding lead, as the opposition is new to the market, has no previously existing game library to fall back to, and designed a system focused on delivering the complete home console experience to your handheld, slow loading times and all. (Really, look at Wipeout. It's abysmally slow to load tracks, and that's just suicide on a handheld.)
Sure, I have a PSP. I even play games on it. But it feels more like I bought Lumines, and a PSP for it, than when I bought my GBA, and Castlevania, Metroid, and a few other titles for that. The handheld experience I'm used to, including a lightning-fast startup and seconds-to-gameplay, just aren't there, and as a result, it's going to take some truly spectacular titles to make the whole thing worth the wait between levels.
Raptor
"Procrastination is great. It gives me a lot more time to do things that I'm never going to do."
*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!
Loyalty to customer base who are loyal to you is a big deal. As others have said, they are not losing money on each console in order to gain market share. They actually do make money on each console as well as new game.
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!
Handhelds were the last area they had a commanding lead over the opposition, and the PSP has blown that to hell.
Yah. Blew it completely to hell, 64,247 units to 38,778 in Japan last week.
Oh wait... the DS is the one leading the PSP. My bad. And when you consider that the GBA SP is still selling 10K-15K units/week, Nintendo owns 67% of the handheld units sold last week in Japan.
Overall the DS has outsold the PSP 2.2M units to 1.2M units. They aren't losing. And when the GB Micro enters the fray, things will likely get even stronger for Nintendo.
Why does everyone think Nintendo gives that much thought to the US market? I mean, really - we can all salivate over the Xbox 360, but in Japan, the Xbox was outsold by the original Gameboy Advance. I'm not even sure that it's made anymore. I could probably outsell the Xbox in Japan with a lemonade stand.
It's not like Nintendo's in any danger. Second place in Japan is still easily enough to sustain them, what with the silly amounts of cash they have available.
To be honest I am not so keen on Sony or Microsofts new offerings. They are still running the spec race when it comes to video game performance. All tech industries run this race (computers, digital cameras, and media players) Its part of the way the industry works. every comany wants to flaunt concrete numbers to validate what is ultimately an abstract experience. For computers it was clock speed , for digicams megapixels, for media players hard drive/flash space. But as each of these sectors Matured the spec race has become less relevent (still a factor mind you but not the final say of quality). so here we have sony and micro$oft bickering over which console can do the most floating point calculations. Gimmie a break IF THE GAMES SUCK THE CONSOLE WILL ALSO SUCK. Ninetedo seems to be the only company who gets this, and I hope that they can pull off some great gameplay and content inovation with the revolution. If so then i think they could easly be the number 2 player in the hardware market, maybe even oust sony for #1.
It fell between PS2 and Xbox, and is a lot closer to the Xbox in power. It also shipped between them, but really at the same time as Xbox.
:(
This system looks to come out last, and be much less powerful
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.
A few things:
The PSP and the DS do not exactly target the same market. The DS has two primary purposes - as a special controller for Revolution and as a handheld console for people who don't normally play games. That's why a lot of the upcoming titles are puzzle games and things like Animal Crossing.
Online capability: strange, even though X-box has Live, that didn't stop Gamecube from completely owning it in terms of worldwide sales... and Microsoft just started to turn a profit on X-Box???
Remember that Gamecube's primary customers are parents looking for family-friendly games. What if pedophiles started hanging out in Pokemon Online? The American media would eat it up and Big N would be dead in the water in a month. Definitely not something to be rushed into.
And as for those saying that Nintendo will stop making hardware: have you ever played with a Gamecube? Ergonomic controllers. Next to no load time. Sharp graphics. All in a small, light, durable box. $99 CDN. Sony and Microsoft wouldn't know how to pull that off, even if they had any interest in doing so.
If I want to play Ultimate Online Gorefest 2005 (complete with five-minute load screens before each level) I'll go play on my computer. However if I have some friends over and want to jump right into a really fun game, nothing beats Nintendo.
The US Army: promoting democracy through unquestioned obedience
Do you have a GBA?
Yes? Then of course you don't want a Micro. The only real draw is the screen, unless you feel that you'd be happier with a smaller GBA.
No? Well, here's the top of the line model. Properly backlit screen, fits in your pocket, plays all your favorite games. If you don't want it now, you probably never did, and therefore, Nintendo hasn't lost anything.
The thing that people forget is that there's room for more than one console these days. Many people have at least two of the three big consoles. The GBA is still the bridge system to the Gamecube, as the DS can't connect to it. And yes, the Gamecube can't pump as many texturemapped polys per second. Yes, Gamecube discs hold less data than the competition. Yes, you might lose out on some fancy visual effects.
However, the one thing that Nintendo tends to get right is the biggest one. The games are fun. They take a known formula, update it for the new console, and knock it out of the park. Then they take something completely off the wall, like Pikmin, and somehow manage to get people addicted to it. And the Gamecube is the system people prefer to bring over to a friend's place, usually for Smash Brothers, sometimes for Mario Party. Four players, one system, and fun games.
Sure, the PS2 probably has a bigger library. Sure, the Xbox has those edgier, bloodier games. But somehow, too many of them just aren't fun, and that keeps those games from leading console sales. Aside from the N64, Nintendo's done a pretty impressive job of releasing systems with tons of great games, and that's really what keeps them going. A bit of expertise in delivering the minimum hardware in the optimum form factor doesn't seem to hurt, either.
And really, the Game Boy micro is no worse than the Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Light (only in Japan, I think,) and Game Boy Color. Three functionally identical handhelds, and then one with a minor upgrade and a non-backlit color screen. Not very exciting, but enough of a change to get new customers, as well as getting a few sales from people who just wanted a more compact system. They don't have to be groundbreaking, they just have to impress those people who wanted a handheld that they could carry around in a pocket or a purse.
Raptor
"Procrastination is great. It gives me a lot more time to do things that I'm never going to do."
It's obvious Nintendo is in some trouble now since instead of coming out with really great new products, they're releasing a console
That's like saying the iPod is in trouble because they've come out with four revisions of it. You need to understand that the Gameboy is at such a point of market saturation that they can be constantly revamping and updating their handheld and this is what works for them and has worked for them in the past decade.
Mmmm, -funroll-loops
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?
Playing antique games is a novelty, NOT a major selling point!
It's not a selling point to the public. It's a selling point to Nintendo's legal counsel, who can neatly bust through the fair use defenses that some of the abandonware(z) sites have been trying now that Nintendo is dealing in the works in question once again.
...except that GC and NDS consoles (and games) are selling fairly well in Japan (unlike, say, the Xbox). I know that Slashdot is USA-centric, but it irritates me that, because Nintendo encourage games fitting to the Japanese gaming style, Americans keep saying that the company is dying. Newsflash: it isn't, and there are those of us who deeply enjoy its games.
Prescriptive grammar:linguistics
1. Games are targetted towards an older demographic
2. The thing costs $250 for a unit with no games.
Sony's counting on that older audience to keep the PSP afloat. The fact that it's missing its targets probably shows that the reason the GBA has done so well is that it targets kids as well as teens/adults.
The PSP is going after the gadget/gamer crowd. While there's definitely money there, in no way is it goign to be greater than the gadget+kid crowd.
Agreed. While already noted that if you wanted to play past titles that emulation was an option, for some of us it isn't.
Take my computer for an example, an aging Pentium 3@450mhz with 192mb of ram. For me, trying to emulate games like GoldenEye or Ocarina of Time results in a sound studdering, 5 frames per second, 300 pixel wide window of disapointment.
While I already own a Nintendo64, having to unhook my Gamecube, hookup the 64, and be limited to the games I already own kind of sucks. Sure there are lots of second hand game shops where I could get n64 games for a dime a dozen; but depending on their condition and all things considered, I'd rather have my NES+SNES+N64 all on one console.
With the power now available in these nextgen consoles, I'm glad all 3 contenders are offering the backwards compatability I've been wishing for for years. Just the thought of playing some SMB3, then in a matter of seconds be traversing Hyrule in Link to the Past, then jumping into a good ol round of multiplayer on GoldenEye, it makes me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside.
Kudos Nintendo for continuing to give me reasons to believe in you.
Just to counter your anecdotal evidence, I've got all three of the current systems in my house, and the Gamecube gets the most play by far. Even though I do a large portion of my gaming at my girlfriend's house on her gamecube.
And for the Love of God, would you people stop picking on Mario. Yes, there's dozens and dozens of games with Mario in them. But amongst those games, there's dozens and dozens of entirely different types of gameplay, all of consistently high quality, and tied together by an extremely creative and fun universe that Nintendo has cultivated over more than 20 years. Their franchises are not only a financial powerhouse, they're also a springboard from which lots of fun games have developed. What's the problem with that?
One time I threw a brick at a duck.
I think Nintendo's days as a hardware company are numbered. Handhelds were the last area they had a commanding lead over the opposition, and the PSP has blown that to hell. I have four friends, two of whom have never owned any dedicated video-gaming system, who bought the PSP within a week of release.
This is what concerns me about Nintendo. They're sitting still, keeping to their own ways. Meanwhile, the video game market is evolving. More and more gamers don't WANT innovative and creative games anymore. All they care about is having super duper photo-like graphics and a machine that does everything from play movies to cook chicken. I won't say that Nintendo is serving a niche of the market, but it certainly can be said in a way similar to that.
Marketing is another big thing Nintendo doesn't seem to get. Reggie and the DS commercials were a step in the right direction, but it's still not enough. An example would be the PSP release. Nintendo has the technology to compete with Sony's handheld. I believe it is called Game Boy Player, or something like that. It was released in Japan in February. What does it do? It's a game cartridges with a memory slot that let's the GBA play movies and MP3s. Nintendo could have imported it to the US and run commercials showing it off. Think $150 price for DS plus $50 for the Player and you've got a lot of the PSP's strong features for $50 less. Not only that, but that's not taking into account that it can be used on a $70 GBA.
Instead, Nintendo decides to get into the MP3 player "small size owns" craze. They develop the GB Micro. That's great and all, but who wants to buy a Game Boy when one can get the DS which is better and is backwards compatible? Doesn't make sense to me. But if Nintendo is smart, they can use the GB Player with the Micro and create an ad campaign for that. Say $100 for the Micro, $50 for the GB Player. Now you've got a nice small MP3/movie player. It's not to late to put a plan like this into action. But I have my doubts that Nintendo will do it.
I agree entirely. My brother and I went and bought a couple of bongos, Jungle Beat, and Donkey Konga on a whim a few months back and haven't regretted it one bit. I believe the exact description I heard was "Bongos should be the natural input for a game console". Even more, people I know who "don't like video games" were getting me to come over with the 'cube just to play Donkey Konga for hours on end. High School "I'm too cool for kids games" kids who dismissed it at first couldn't be torn away from it after playing once.
Nintendo makes games with the WTF factor that you can throw down with some friends of varying skill levels and all have a blast. Warioware is another perfect example of this. "This looks lame" quickly makes way for "This game is awesome", despite the lack of plot or "mature" content.
Revolution, just like anything else, is going to be dependent on games before system specs, and if Nintendo keeps on innovating we will all be around to do this again at their next launch.
- Relativistic? That's barely Newtonian!
So how long after playing are your hands numb from clapping like a fool really hard because the faster you go the harder you clap?
I just got both of those last night. Holy crap what fun. Super monkey ball is a lot of fun too.
I'm outside their target demographic at 33 though I bet.
As a rock-in-roll Physicist once said, No matter where you go, there you are.
I have to say, and this as a erstwhile PS fan, Nintendo definitely wins the design prize this time around. The XBox 360 and PS3 both strayed from the simplicity mantra of great design. With the addition of DVD playback and the ability to relive my childhood through those old ROMs, this might actually find a place in my cramped dorm room.
I can totally see my floor girls having Bubble Bobble night in my room.