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Nintendo's New Look
Forbes has an article talking with Nintendo of America's VP of Marketing Perrin Kaplan. She talks a little bit about Nintendo's upcoming plans, and the concept of the Blue Ocean. From the article: "For us, it's all about the experience, not if the technology allows you to play your game on the high-definition formats, which are now in such a small percentage of homes. Many independent sources tell us that experiencing current high-def games on a regular TV makes it near impossible to see everything clearly. That means the majority of homes are experiencing something lesser than what they bargained for. "
From TFA: Microsoft made the first move with the Xbox 360 three months ago, but with fewer than 700,000 units sold so far, gamers appear to be reserving judgment and waiting for Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Revolution, both expected by the end of 2006. Raise your hand if you've seen unsold 360's lying around unsold at your local retailer. This kind of misinformation leads me to question the impartiality of the whole article.
I think its safe to say that this strategy is going to be hit-or-miss. If Nintendo fails with "Blue Ocean" the Revolution (or whatever they end up calling it) will flop, simply because the market isn't there. If it does work though, Sony and Microsoft's "Red Ocean" will find themselves overfishing for a depleting market.
Your comment is interesting. You mention how awesome the interconnectivity of the 360 is (and you're right). But then you mention enjoying playing "indie" games for $5. With the exception of maybe Mutant Storm Reloaded and maybe Marble Blast Ultra, all the others games are about as non-HD as you can get. You don't need HD to play backgammon, or Bejeweled, or a billiards game, or any of the 1980s Midway arcade ports. You don't need an HDTV to enjoy Geometry Wars. Yet these are the games that are flourishing. Sure, they have some bells and whistles that take advantage of the hardware, but that's just that: bells and whistles. It shows there's a market for fun.
Now imagine something similar to Xbox Live Arcade, only the hardware is 1/3 the price. That could be very good.
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
An amazing hardware and software platform get you nothing if you don't have the software to back it up. I've played most of the Xbox 360 titles that have been released so far, and nothing has really made me want to drop the $400 on the console. Honestly, the multimedia features are the biggest draw, but that's not saying much for a game console.
The PSP vs the DS is another excellent comparison. There is no question that the PSP is the superior piece of hardware. What does it have to offer? PS2 ports and clones, games that really aren't made to be portable. The offerings on the DS are MUCH more suited to the system and it's intended use. Hence, it is quite successful.
They're like a car company saying to their customers, "You don't want a big SUV - you want our compact car with good fuel economy".
Your analogy to the car market is a bit funny because it is right on and yet contradicts your point. I will admit that the SUV is a big market. Yet, not everybody wants a big SUV. A lot of people actually do want an economy car. Other people want sports cars. Other people want motorcycles. Have you been reading any news on General Motors? They posted record losses last year in the billion dollar range. Sales of SUVs were dismal in the second half of 2005. During the same time period, companies like Toyota and Nissan reported record sales of their mid-size cars. The demand in the market is changing.
In the same way, Nintendo is trying to target a totally different market and I think if this new controller works and they can produce fun games, they will see great success. Also, I would point out that unlike some companies, Nintendo has proven they actually can make a profit in the video game industry.
Why should I buy a Revolution when the 360 or PS3 has a better selection of games and is HD compatible?
What do you mean by a better selection? More, yeah sure they will have more, but better? I think you're assuming a lot there.
I think you should consider buying a Revolution when, like me, you've gotten a little bored of endless fps, third person shooters, sports games, and driving sims. You should buy it because, if they make a fishing game, you will cast by casting not by pressing "A." You'll swing a sword by swinging, not by pressing A. To shoot you would point and shoot, not by moving a stick and pressing A.I
Your clearly attracted to HD gaming, you mention it a lot, and I bet you're excited by it because it can make games more (photo)realistic, but understand that they way you can play a game can make it far more realistic than more pixels.
If you can't see why that, at the very least, you should consider the Rev over the PS3 & XBox, then you should re-think why you started playing games in the first place. I don't think it was to press "A" in HD.
It seems like you simply don't understand what the Blue-Ocean strategy is all about.
... Their plan in the only way they can go.
If you look at the history of the videogame market you will see one pattern emerging; that as time goes on, one of the platforms in each portion of the market eventually represents the majority of the users. Basically, you have one console everyone owns and one or two other consoles which did not even sell in the same league. Usually, the console which ends up being the market leader does not have better technical specifications and does not have more features; it usually is successful because it has the largest selection of interesting games.
Now what Blue-Ocean is all about is that when a market has too much competition you define a new market which you can thrive in; if the Revolution is successful it could define a completely seperate market (much like the Handheld market) where Nintendo can dominate.
Remember, except for DVD playback the Gamecube was a far superior piece of hardware to the PS2 (the XBox was in every way a better piece of hardware) and Nintendo produced several compelling titles for the platform (and Microsoft also had tons of good content on the XBox) and yet it never (for more than a week or so) even matched the sales of the PS2. At this point in time, Nintendo could produce a system that produced pre-rendered movie quality images, at 1080p, with every electronic device included in the system (including a toster) and sell it for $99 and they would still have problems selling more than the PS3.
Pure and Simple, if Nintendo wants to survive they need a new market
Who are the crackheads that moderated this as Interesting? The post is full of mistakes that only somebody with an anti-Nintendo agenda would write:
o n_faq
On the subject of high definition:
Shigeru Miyamoto has said, "The majority of people won't be playing our system with an HDTV, though with the Revolution, 480p resolution will be standard."
While not 720p, it's still a lot better than SD.
On the subject of console prices:
Compare the PSP to the DS. The technical specs of the PSP leave the DS in the dust, but its pricetag leaves a lot to be desired. Parents don't want to buy a PSP for $280 when they can have a DS and three games for the same price. (Sorry, Canadian prices here) This helps explain in part the popularity of the DS.
On the subject of the ON/OFF button on the controller:
Look for yourself.
On the subject of "What will Revolution bring us?"
- Innovative controller and new game genres
- Downloadable games
- Online play
Read more here: http://www.revolutionreport.com/nintendo_revoluti
You're a troll, and not even a good one.
Looks like people at Nintendo have been reading this:
"Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant" (2005, Harvard Business School Publishing), by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne.
Ironically, it's also the book Ford cited when it took the knife to its belly a few weeks ago...0 6601230398
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20
I have a unique perspective becuase i work in Redmond, WA testing the xbox 360 for a living. I have played just about every game on the market in HD and non-HD. Let me tell you that you are missing a LOT by not seeing it in HD. Many games such as Project Gotham Racing 3 is very difficult to play ona normal tv screen. The dark races are hard to see if the next turn is a left or a right. This system is made much worse when you must realize that not everyone has their optimal brightness/contrast/color ratios set. Many people turn up the brightness and contrast too high on their tv.
Games like DOA 4 as you mentioned are not as effected. You miss some of the finer tones on the skin btu the gameplay is alrgely uneffected. The game is brightly lit and there are not as many small details as in a dark racing game placed in a city.
unzip; strip; touch; finger; mount; fsck; more; yes; unmount; sleep
Digital TV != high definition.
I'm so sick of pointing that out.
"I realise this is not a very popular opinion but it's the truth, and there for needs to be said" -Bill Hicks