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Nintendo To Dominate Next Generation?
Via GameSetWatch, an editorial on the site Firing Squad suggesting that Nintendo is poised for a gaming industry coup. Their unique controller and appeal to casual gamers, the author posits, will turn the status quo on its head. From the article: "The cheapness of the console will help it sell and it's unlikely that Nintendo will face production shortages since it won't use exotic and difficult-to-make components. With a large installed owner base, more developers will be inclined to take a shot at it, publishers will feel pressured to release key titles (like Madden) for the Revolution regardless of their past GameCube experience. The controller is standard enough to work for most titles - so Xbox and PlayStation games will most likely work on the Revolution without major trouble, yet that same controller offers unique features that will be difficult to replicate for Microsoft's and Sony's consoles."
Anyway, it makes sense that the revo will get independent and interesting games, if only because of the controller, while the other two consoles will get the same old, same old. Not that there's anything wrong with a new NHL game for the Xbox360 or PS3;)
Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
This depends heavily on the public being interested in the system. Nintendo were able to churn out GCs super-cheap for years without taking over the market. Of course, the PS2 and Xbox were already around in large numbers and getting price cuts by that stage- a £130 Revolution going up against a limited stock of £300 360s and PS3s would have a more impressive advantage.
This will also depend on the public, especially non-gamers, "getting" the controller, which will require really good in-store demos.
There's always the risk that good value will backfire in the face of percieved value - namely, that the Revolution will be looked upon as cheap and underpowered in comparison to its competitors.
Finally, there's the assumption that the Revolution will use no exotic, hard-to-produce components. You've got to wonder if the little motion-sensor widgets for pitch/roll/yaw are going to be a rate limiting step in production.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
Despite costing half as much, the GameCube occupied a distand third place in market share.
That's true, except of course on this planet (which we call "Earth", welcome!), where the Gamecube sales numbers were well ahead of the XBox.
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
In the last round of the console wars I went with the XBox and the GC. I really enjoyed the XBox, but as an ex-PC gamer, felt that I was just regurgitating IDs back-catalogue, but with slightly better graphics. The GC provided me with the most fun. The games were cheaper, had greater variety, and for all the fun of Halo 2 Live, playing drink monkey ball proved that its was more important to be able to punch your opponent in the real world, than snipe them from behind a exquisitly rendered rock on Live.
;)
I still don't understand what all the fuss was/is about the PS2. Lifes too short to watch progress bars, when your supposed to be having fun.
Being able to play Nintendo's entire back catalogue sounds too good to be true. Finally having a controller that reacts to its possition in space has been the aspiration of every gamer since the 80s - the only thing that could top that is having a game that gives you extra control when you stick your tounge out
I don't care that its not HD. Even if I buy one HD TV in the next year, that will be one in a house of 4 TVs. I've yet to see any real evidence that I need it. As my PC improved I was able to play Half-life at 640x480, then 800x600 and finally 1024x768. It was the graphics that got better, not the game. It may add a layer of realism to the game, but Doom 3 proved that once you stop looking at the eye-candy it's the underlying gameplay that makes the game worth the money.
Scared of flying, pointy things snce 1979!
Just look at history, since Sony has entered the console market every one they have faced has used the exact same strategy (better graphics, conventional controller, more features, etc.) and has lost; in fact if you compare the strategy of the XBox 360 with that of the Dreamcast there is a remarkable similarity (focus on online service, built in network connection, released a year early, etc.). Sony is so effective because they're masters of the super generic console.
The only time Sony has been humbled is with the Nintendo DS which decided to change things up dramatically; whereas all systems Sony faced before used conventional input the DS has a Microphone and Touch Screen; all systems Sony faced before pushed for greater graphics whereas the Nintendo DS focused settled on a much more modest graphical level; and finally where every system that faced Sony before lacked decent Backwards compatibility, the Nintendo DS contained a catelog of games from one of the most popular platforms ever.
Now the Revolution has many similar charateristics to the DS, they both use a more conventional game medium (DVD and SD [like] flash memory), they have a well established back catelog, they have new input possibilities, they're both (expected) to be affordable, neither are focused on being the graphical powerhouse, etc.
But because Nintendo is making the controller, it's automatically going to reshape the gaming landscape. Such claims need to be taken with a rather large grain of salt - Virtual Boy, anyone?
Force-feedback, anyone? Analog stick, anyone? Shoulder buttons, anyone? Yeah, no-one else has every used anything that Nintendo's pioneered on its' controllers. That would be just plain nutty.
(And I'll put good money on the odds that the PSP2 will have a touch screen, and that the PS4 and Xbox720 controllers will have accelerometers.)
Actually one button + spatial-awareness is equal to lots of input.
:p
Hold "A" and move the controller to the left, certain action if performed. Move to the right, another. Move to front, then up, *another*. Back, left, up-down quickly, and your "Finish Him" move is performed. Or use the nunchaku for movement, and let the controller take care of other actions.
The controller knows where it is in space, what angle is facing, and what speed is moving. That's a *lot* of buttons
Maybe it won't be confortable, or it won't be fun, but that we will have to wait to see...
Buy a Nintendo DS Lite
1. We've had a chance to watch the 1st next-gen console launch, with its attendant hardware failure stories, and criticise it (X360)
2. We've seen Sony do ridiculously stupid things with DRM in the music space, and so we hate them, and have possibly boycotted them
3. Nintendo showed us a really wizzy controller... and not much else.
I like Nintendo, they are true innovators, but the way the hype is blowing right now, people are expecting the sun and moon from their next console. If it doesn't deliver, the fan base is going to be incredibly bitter (well, except for the really hardcore fans). Expectations are very high for the Revolution. But its only partially based on that neat demo they did - the rest is bitterness and resentment towards MS and Sony. Nintendo looks good just standing still... but the Revolution had really better be a true revolution, I actually think the hype is higher for that box than any other at the moment.
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
"4 Controller Ports, Bally Astrocade, 1980"
Virtually non-existent again until the N64. Now it's standard fare on everything except the Sony systems.
"Analog stick, Emerson Arcadia, 1982"
Virtually non-existent again until the N64. Now it's standard fare on everything.
"Rumble, Sony Dual Analog Japanese version, 1996 (Rumble Pack was 1997)"
Nintendo's Rumble Pack was announced well before the Dual Analog Sony controller came out. This is the exact reason Nintendo was so secretive about the Rev controller.
I never used the word invent. Nintendo's been leading the controller parade since the SNES. They have also been leading the portable parade, despite bringing up the Virtual Boy.
"Derp de derp."
"Japanese nationalism hurt XBox 360 sales"? Bullshit.
From TFA: "In Japan, as usual, an American-made (or rather, American-designed) product has flopped. Like countless other American companies, Microsoft has faced a stiff, impenetrable and informal wall of Japanese nationalism which clings stubbornly to a Japanese product."
The author ignores the fact that Microsoft dominates the desktop PC OS market in Japan as it does in most other parts of the world.
Look, I wouldn't try to counter claims that there's a lot of unchecked racism in Japan, and I've been told -- by many Japanese people -- that believe they take their nationalism more seriously than people in other countries. But I think that when it comes to games, the formula is this simple:
( fun game + reasonable price ) -->yields--> ( customer of game producer and platform manufacturer )
It's the kids of middle-class families and the teen-to-thirtysomethings who decide whether the 360 will sink or swim, and they sure as hell aren't thinking about the emperor when they try to decide whether to drop the money for it. It may be that Microsoft didn't cater to the gaming preferences that are more prevalent in that country, but if so, that's their *avoidable* problem. It's not like they don't have huge corporate offices in Japan.
I can't speak for everyone but what a lot of people said the first time that they saw the XBox 360 up close was "Is that it?"
People have been spoiled by the graphical improvements of previous generations; when the Nintendo Entertainment system came out people made comments like "It looks like a cartoon" because of how advanced the graphics were compared to the Atari and Colleco systems; when the Super Nintendo Entertainment system came out people were (once again) blown away by the graphics; the N64 amazed people with it's amazing 3D graphics because (beyond games like Starfox) it was the first time that people had seen real-time 3D graphics at a decent level of detail; finally, the Dreamcast/PS2/XBox/Gamecube all came out with a refinement of 3D graphics which meant that you no longer had to interpret what you're looking at (it's no longer a 'blob' that represents a rock-man, it actually looks like a rock-man).
For PC gamers/Graphic whores, the next generation represents a massive leap forward in performance because they're willing to spend $500 every year for a new graphics card; for the general public it is not that amazing. It's like pre-rendered movies, up-until Ants or Toy-Story the average person saw a massive improvement in graphical quality, but they would have difficulty expressing what was the difference between The Incredables and Toy Story; even though The Incredables had some amazing shading effects which emulate the look nylon, and the lighting is far more realistic.
Nintendo is downplaying Graphics because they know the average person is not going to be all that impressed with the improvement in graphics and that the average person will not be able to tell the difference between a game produced for the Revolution and the PS3. On the other hand people Will be impressed with how expressive the controller is and will become excited about the possibilities it presents.
You know what my favourite type of comment on Slashdot is? The type of comment both this post and the grandparent made when they pulled out a bunch of numbers without a URL to back it up.
(My second favourite type of post is a tie between unneccesary sarcasm and blatant hypocracy)
As for the Revo, don't underestimate it. I completely agree with Nintendo's sentiment that Sony and MS are moving in the wrong direction. High costs, high prices, system shortages, and the like.
Personally, I don't even really care about the differences between the 360 and a plain vanilla XBox (or Gamecube for that matter, though PS2 draws the line). The graphics, while better, don't affect the gameplay, and don't get me any more into the game at all. But I know lots of people who do feel a big difference, so fair enough. Clearly, all the consoles will have a good share or supporters, with the Revo being the most "different" of the three.
Hopefully Nintendo will be smart enough to get kiosks wherever they can, not just in game retail stores. The low price is really going to help them in some markets, and the controller is another big point. Hopefully, they'll fund indie companies to make games for their console as they claimed they would, because that'd be another big draw for me.
"When the atomic bomb goes off there's devastation...but when the atomic bong goes off there's celebraaaaation!"