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Nintendogs Pummels Sony Products
Gamespot has the news that the hit DS title Nintendogs has allowed the Nintendo DS to pull ahead of the PSP and PS2 consoles for over a month straight. In the week Nintendogs was launched, the DS outsold the PSP and PS2 combined in the nation of Japan. Several weeks after its initial launch, the DS is still outselling the PSP by 5,000-sum units. Those of us in the states still have a little while to wait to see the cuteness firsthand. From the article: "The game is sold in different editions, each housing roughly five types of puppies, from Chihuahuas to Labrador retrievers. As a virtual owner, gamers will pet their pooches using the stylus, order commands through the integrated microphone, and let their canines sniff other gamers' Nintendogs wirelessly. Nintendogs is scheduled to roll over to the US on August 22."
This months Edge has a fact that the Japanese "teeny boppers" control fads out there..
If 5% of them buy it, then another 60% will within a month, or something to that effect!
I am a viral sig. Please copy me and help me spread. Thank you.
The screenshots (GIS) sure look interesting though. Very clean, polished PDA-like interface that sort of reminds me of an 'OS X' application. I thought they would market a game like this towards a younger target demograhic (ie. kids ages 4-14) but, judging from the UI, it doesn't appear the case.
so nintendo =/= teh d00m3d?!?!
oxymoron of the day - Xbox gamer
Truly you have to give Nintendo credit because they really know how to produce a fad that will sell based of off it's 'cuteness' and originality alone. Let's face it, Pokemon as a game wasn't all that new of a concept (basically it was just an RPG) but because of how cute and marketable it was Nintendo was able to warp Millions of unsuspecting tweens.
... On the other hand, nothing will help me pick up women easier :(
Nintendogs on it's own has the potential to match the sales of Pokemon mainly because it can attract both the 'tween' market that Pokemon sold to and at the same time can attract people who aren't currently gamers. Personally, I have shown off Nintendogs (movies, obviously don't have the game) to several 20-something women (who aren't typically interested in videogames) and they were instantly interested in the game.
Maybe I should buy it so that I can pick up women easier
Very expensive Tamagotchi.
Didn't we already decide that tomagotchi's or whatever they were called are a waste of space? Only in Tokyo would feeding a virtual dog be considered entertainment.
Spencer Ogden
Can they really prove its Nintendogs that is causing this? Maybe just the initial excitement of PSP has worn off (or everyone that wanted one got one), and Nintendo just rose back to the top in the handheld console world.
While Microsoft and Sony are pouring billions into hardware, which they expect to lead to game sales, Nintendo keep on doing what they always have done, making games their first priority, and hardware second.
Maybe Nintendogs is the next in the line of Pokemon/Zelda/Mario/Tetris, maybe it's not. The point is that Nintendo is putting it's effort into coming up with this stuff while the other 2 players are competing over how many extra polys they can render in their new WW2 FPS game.
I can see Nintendo winning the next gen war by making a good, cheap console with great games that PS3 and Xbox360 owners buy as their second machine.
A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
The only advantage I can see going for the DS right now is the fact that you can play a huge catalog of GBA games. But if you're going to do that, why not just get a used GBA SP and save $90? I'm sure they will go back in forth, both with huge releases in the coming months. It won't be for a year or so that we see either one emerge as the true "winner".
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
by the release of porn on UMD.
"Those of us in the states still have a little while to wait"
Ah yes, I keep forgetting that the states is the only other country in the world besides Japan....
How difficult would "Those of us outside Japan..." have been?
This is like comparing apples to premature apples and very old oranges.
The PSP has a release date of September 1 in Europe, This obviously skews the number of units sold in comparison to the DS that is available worldwide.
AND the PS2 is more than half a decade old almost everyone who has ever wanted one has one now. Of course the number being purchased is going to decline, it's called the end of the life cycle.
Games that have great appeal and will sell huge amounts of units that cannot be replicated on a PSP.
Obviously, this is not for typical hard core gamers, but I dont think Nintendo much cares if its getting its money from a 19 year old acne ridden starwars geek or a 32 year old soccer mom.
This game probably wont do quite as well in North America, however. It will do quite well if Nintendo can get demo units exposed to the kind of gamer that would buy it.
END COMMUNICATION
The PSP just needs a killer app and it would easly take the lead. Looks dont make games but it sure helps alot - the PSP hands down the games look better. The DS is not taking advange of its hardware. Where is the DS verson of Bejewled or all those other puzzle games that most people play. The DS could also make some nice RTS game or a real verson of the Sims and Simcity.
I'm sorry but this game just looks like fun. Yeah, it's a tamagotchi, and that's girly-cute and been done before. As a gamer, I should of course shun it at all costs and go buy the next truly innovative FPS that allows you pick your nose with realistic booger textures.
Sorry, but I'm in it for the game, and the fun of it. I'm sure I'll have to purchase another copy just for the girl. Maybe get her one of those nifty new electric blue DSes
-- I have fans? Wow.
Personally, I think the disappointing PSP sales have more to do with the fact that Sony seems to expect you to buy the thing without getting a chance to see it first.
Nintendo has made sure there are DS systems in every major store, showing the latest games. I've yet to see a PSP at all; all the stores have tons of boxes sitting in locked display cases, but apparently Sony thinks people will drop $250 on a toy without seeing it first.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
Who would want to buy something like this...
(Looks at screen shots)
OMG! Puppies! Cute!
OK, maybe I can understand the appeal of this to crazy dog people like me. Darn it, now I'm pondering getting a DS.
It's a strange world -- let's keep it that way
I wasn't jerking off in public, officer. I swear. It's a game. See? Here, it says Sony on it. See? See?
Still, it's a step up over a real cat.
This fight has been discussed tons over at PSP Hacks in their forums. They are obviously biased to the PSP but some good points have been made.
And this is news for nerds how?
zosxavius photography
I love how this post (and other pro-Nintendo posts) bring out the anti-Nintendo fanboys in SWARMS. It's hilarious to see them all get upset at Nintendo for doing so well. I love it.
I've been watching this game very closely for a few months now. At first I was thought it wouldn't be all that great, but after reading about it, watching videos, and viewing images, I'm psyched.
I too like to use the stylus to scratch your anus.
My suspicion is that many Nintendo fanboys are actually just fans of Japanese popular culture
Well, some might call me a Nintendo fanboy (though not a frothing blind one) and I hate anime and manga.
I find that I stick by Nintendo because they have a track record of making solid games, innovating genres, and not disappointing me. I think the only games that I mourn not being able to play are GTA and Katamari Damancy.
If I was a sports gamer or FPS fan, I might have a different opinion, but those genres don't interest me. I'm guessing many Nintendo fans may have this in common (perhaps because fans of these genres have long left Nintendo).
My stupid web site
What works in Japan does not always work in the US.
We have yet to pickup on the trendy tentacle sex phenom that has been sweeping the isle of japan for years.
Of course we are all just waiting for tentacle sex on a handheld branded by Nintendo...
Check out this little flash presentation...
p hp
:)
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/nintendogs.
Sooo cuuuttte
I love games. I'm a typical guy (prefer dogs over cats). And Nintendogs (to say this in the most non-girly way) is uber-cute. What else do I need to buy the DS + ND? ;P But actually I think it's pretty cool from the AI/realism standpoint. Check out the flash movie of it. Even if you hate dogs or tamagotchi or pocket monsters, you have to admit they simulated the dogs darn well. They jump, run, twitch, wag, and bark very convincingly. I'll most likely get it, even though I might not buy many other DS games.
0- Eamonman Proud member of DNRC
Here's some video of Nintendogs in action. Umm, for some reason I don't think this is going to go over well in the US market.
Eh, I'm more interested in "DS Training For Adults: Work Your Brain"... I hope it comes out in the US.
Here is where I first heard of it...
[o]_O
On the surface, it's nothing more than an advanced Tamagotchi (which, by the way, are still on sale in Japan and still very, very popular with younger - under 10 - kids), but the more you play it, the more you can see how much work went into it.
I picked it up right around the time it came out, and really got into it. I bought it on a lark, and was surprised how much I liked it. You do the basic pet owner stuff - walk your dog, teach it tricks, feed it, bathe it, play fetch, etc. - as well as enter it in dog shows, frisbee contests and athletic tournaments (an obstacle course kind of thing). Winning competitions earns you cash that you can use to buy more stuff for your dog (toys, food, collars), upgrade your apartment or even get more dogs. (You can have up to three dogs at once.)
What makes the game work is how well everything is dog. The animation is very fluid and natural. The AI is done well, and different dogs seem to have different personalities. My dog (a Shiba Inu named "Sushi" ^.^) likes to play with a lot of his toys and will chase them all over the apartment or bound around the park when I take him outside to play. However, there's one he seems to be scared of. It's a squeaky ball that makes noise when it bounces. He growls and yips at it, but won't go near it. I've talked to other people who have the same toy, and their dogs all love it. Sure, it could just be that my dog has one line of code (hate ball = yes) that set up this behavior, but it seems very realistic when you see it in action.
So while it's easy to dismiss the game as yet another virtual pet, there's a lot more going on under the hood than has been done in the past. I'm not sure how well it'll do in the US, but I'm sure it's got a market there.
And as for the DS sales surging when Nintendogs came out, I doubt it hurt that the Pink and Blue DSes were released on the same day that Nintendogs came out.
...for my Nintendog to POOP ON!!!
If one of Sony's big games was killing the DS, would that be news too?
In the movie "As Good as it Gets", Jack Nicholson plays a writer. Some fan comes up to him gushing about how well he portrays female characters, and asks him how he does it. His insta-classic response (Paraphrased as best as I remember it):
"I think of a male, then I remove all reason and accountability"
I nearly pissed myself laughing at that.
"Cheeze it!" - Bender
Personally the problem with the release of the PSP is that everyone was fighting over the Xboxs and the Nitendo DS's this past christmas that people are just now receiving them from the over demand of them. This is probably why the PSP's release was not at a good time, with the picture Ipod and the Creative Zen Mp3 and various other media veiwing devices coming out at this time. The PSP's problem was just that it got drowned out by all the other tech. hubub out there and it's price tag isn't what people aren't wanting right now.
GCS/MU d- s: a--- C++ W+++ w+ M-- PS--- PE++ t+ R+ tv b+ DI++ G e- h! !y
I remember reading about how the Japanese market was struggling and how sales have been slowing down in Japan and especially worldwide, Nintendodogs goes to show why. While this may be popular in Japan I'll bet there will be only little interest in US and Europe.
There are also many reasons why I think the DS has been successful in Japan. The PS2 has a strong catalogue of RPG games in Japan and as Japan love this genre the Sony fanbois are still playing on these PS2's more than ever. These Sony fanbois are buying these PSP's as well so this means they have two consoles to buy for. For a Nintendo fanboy there is absolutly nothing out for the Cube, they've played through thier Resident Evil 4 (an amazing game) in 6 hours adn all they have to look forward to is Zelda. So I can understand why the DS is doing so well because this is the only machine that Nintendo fans are playing. The charts week in and week out prove this, the top 20 in Japan is dominated by PS2, there are a few PSP titles in there and a few more higher renking DS titles, while the cube games are rare.
Both in the US and EU, PS2 games and Xbox games dominate, both DS and PSP game are rare, I think the highest rated DS title in the UK this wek was Need For Speed DS at #17. So I'm telling you that it seems thereis a lack of interest in PSP games when your wrong its due to the fact Sony fans like me are still on their PS2's. I have 5 PSP games and about 80% of my gaming time is spend on my PS2, I use the PSP when I'm about. And I bet in Japan they spend around 95% on their DS's and 5% on their cubes.
Another fact is that the demand is extremely high all around the world, when you see Japan figure like, weekly PSP's sold 17,000, why do you think this? No its nothing to do with lack of interest, its due to the fact Sony can't build them fast enough. As soon Sony puts aload of PSP's on Japan's shelves, they take one turn and the shelve is empty. Sony is struggling to supply Japan and in US there is none. Its gonna be hard for them to have any for Europe in September and I don't think Sony will reach the 12 milion shipped PSP's at the end of the year as there hoping for. No doubt that eventually Sony will get 12 milion out there and then 20 million and then 30 million. So you lot can brag all you want about the success of a big faggots went dream you call Nintendodogs because I don't think Nintendo will ever reach 20 million as that figure is more than there are Nintendo fanbois and its only you nintendo fanbois that are buying these DS's.
if you could beat-off the dog.
Red Rocket
I am curtainly not surprised that Nintendo is doing well. I just traded my psp in for 2 DS units and some games. Very true there are more psp games out there but the fact of the matter is 99% of the just plain suck. Too darn easy to beat. how many racing games do you really need at launch? Nintendogs is a killer app sure but not THE killer app. actually you can take your pick. quite a few good games are coming down the pipe (first coming to my mind would be animal crossing). nintendo games are kind of like porn. You swear up and down to the world you dont play the games then in the middle of the night you crank up the old snes or whatever. dont worry psp will get its killer app with GTA. whenever that comes out I believe its been pushed back yet again dont quote me though.