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Nintendo's Busy Week
GameDev.net has a wrap-up from Nintendo's busy week. They touch on the release of development kits, production delays for the DS Lite, and the ongoing DS vs. PSP war. From the article: "It seems Nintendo, who have in the past tended to rely heavily on first-party games, are eager to elicit support from third-party developers. According to some big-name developers who have had their kits for some time there have already been several versions of the kit: the first was just the console and a wired controller, while the second had a few minor tweaks and the third a boost in CPU power."
But nothing beats the ol' 8 button NES gamepad! http://www.retrousb.com/
[Insert Witty Sig Here]
who have in the past tended to rely heavily on first-party games, are eager to elicit support from third-party developers
One consistent problem in video game reporting surrounding Nintendo is that Nintendo acts entirely different in the console and handheld markets.
Yeah, Nintendo largely shrugs off third party developers for their consoles like the N64 and Gamecube. But third party titles are the lifeblood of the Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo is treating the DS as if it ought to be in the same state.
I remember on my original 8 bit nintendo, most of the games I had were not made by nintendo..... Konami, Data East, Square etc...
I remember on my original 8 bit nintendo, most of the games I had were not made by nintendo..... Konami, Data East, Square etc...
True. In fact, Konami's planning quite a bit of fun with both the Nintendo and Sony game consoles that are coming out, according to all the presentations at the annual shareholders meeting I watched.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Maybe I'm just a jerk, but nothing makes me smile more than the Xbox's Japanese sales figures. From TFA:
* Nintendo DS: 52,099 (403,901)
* Sony PSP: 27,430 (337,682)
* Game Boy Advance SP: 5553 (57,890)
* Game Boy Micro: 2941 (35,529)
* Game Boy Advance: 105 (1584)
* PS2: 23,433 (241,273)
* GC: 1814 (32,392)
* Xbox 360: 1314 (23,971)
* Xbox: 92 (762)
anybody have any clue when the ds lite will be released in the u.s.? i'm getting itchy ...
http://www.vidaextra.com/images/revones.jpg
"Reggie Fils-Aime revealed today that Nintendo has sent out around 1,000 Revolution development kits. "The response to the controller has been fantastic. Developers are truly embracing the innovation. They're embracing the approach and quite frankly, they're embracing our vision" Reggie said."
.. I knew there was a reason I was holding off buying the DS. Not to mention it is going to be released in "crystal white", I really have no idea what that looks like but it sounds HOT!!!
Good to see the Revolution is getting embraced. I hope it rocks the socks of the other next gens. Nintendo really love to innovate and they deserve alot of popularity.
I can't wait for the DS lite
I just did a google on crystal white DS lite it looks really good. http://ds.ign.com/articles/687/687783p1.html
The new Nintendo DS Lite is smaller (just 133mm x 73.9mm x 21.5mm, compared to 148.7mm x 84.7mm x 28.9mm ) and lighter (weights just 218g instead of 275g) than the previous model. The Start & Select button positions have been changed, they are now located below the four action buttons at the lower right. Also the microphone and power LED indicator are now at a different position. Further the screen backlight can be adjusted in 4 steps. The name "Lite" consists of the words "light" and "bright".
Not to mention that redesign is hot. I am not afraid to admit one reason i didn't buy an original DS is because the silver and shape looked tacky.
Somehow I doubt that $2k figure is for a complete dev kit (including software libraries, compilers, documentation, etc.) considering that DS kits are in the $10k range. More likely that's for a debugging/testing rig that just gives you the ability to run unsigned code (Xbox testing kits are priced similarly).
When exactly did this monopolistic past happen?
"Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
When exactly did this monopolistic past happen?
Nintendo had a monopoly on video game consoles in North America from roughly 1985 (end of the first 8-bit crash and release of NES) through early 1990 (rise of Sega Genesis). Nintendo had a monopoly on video game handhelds in North America from roughly 1989 (Game Boy) through early 2005 (rise of the PSP).
Offensively clueless groupthink with a non-sequitur thrown in for good measure. All in two senteces of power. It should be part of the mod faq. I'm amazed.
Probably some time around the point where Nintendo forbade companies to make games for any platform besides the NES.
I still say the grandparent is flamebait, though.
"When the atomic bomb goes off there's devastation...but when the atomic bong goes off there's celebraaaaation!"
"Try turning the Revolution controller on it's side..."
Exactly. I hope they use this configuration a lot. The controller still senses tilt and movement, too.
"When the atomic bomb goes off there's devastation...but when the atomic bong goes off there's celebraaaaation!"
I'm amazed.
I have the feeling that anything shiny has a similar effect on you.
From TA: "Software houses say that architecturally the system is very similar to the GameCube but roughly twice as powerful. One source elaborates, "At first, we were discouraged that it would be less powerful than Xbox 360, but once we got everything working with the controller, our concerns faded"."
Does God treat us as servants or friends? Check my homepage.
No, shiny things don't usually elicit sarcasm.
Let me check something...yep, that first post is still a turd.
They learned that lesson about 3 years ago. You know, about the time they signed deals with Capcom & Namco promising them cheaper license fees in exchange for developing exclusive content for the gamecube.
just some guy
i discovered something about the DS in the past couple days that makes me seriously irked. Though it can play GBA games, and quite well, there's a catch - you can't play them multiplayer. _At all_. You can't use a wire, and you can't use the DS' inherent 802.11b support to connect between DS units for GBA games. Apparently, though the hardware is there, they've only got layer 1 and 2 protocol support, and rely on the cartridge manufacturers to include their own further protocol support (tcp/ip, etc). Absolutely fucking unbelievable that they'd cripple the unit like that. Un-fucking-believable. The unit is not, in short, a full replacement for a GBA, just sort of a way to get your fix of maybe your favorite GBA single-player games. Also, while playing GBA games, the DS part shuts off entirely, leaving one screen black - why the hell doesn't it have an option to keep alive to let you take game notes, or turn on the built-in wireless and search for pictochat sessions? That wifi harwdare is just -sitting- there while I'm playing GBA, not even -pretending- to do anything useful. What a waste.
Nintendo always does this kind of shit. They think that someone else is going to do it, and surprise, there are right now only 4 carts that support internet play. Granted, the system is only a little over a year old, but still. Is this part of some genius marketing strategy? No, sadly, I really don't think so, or Nintendo wouldn't be hurting the way it has been in the past six or more years. If they don't straighten up, they'll lose the handheld market, too. Though the PSP is far too expensive, and that's good. But what they've potentially got is a relatively cheap device with instant-on capability (if only they'd put an option to get rid of the 'don't have a seizure' nag screen) with a great cheap form of media (the DS cartridge is small and cheap, but holds a good amount of data from what I can tell). It's got a touch-screen and stylus for quick input and simple, easy to understand and mostly universally recognized controls and an intuitive software interface.
Let me interject for a moment to say that I've always had a weak spot for nintendo. I have high hopes for them always, because of the fun I had in my young days playing Gameboy and NES; I've been a video gamer since I was old enough to be held up to pac-man machines by my mother and beat the scores of the teenagers around me. Games, and Nintendo, are in my blood. Now that I'm older, I see what Nintendo -could- be doing and it shakes me to the very core. Toys not just for kids, but for everyone, with the easy to use features that appeal to kids and the complexity that appeals to adults - and you don't even have to be too geeky to like or use the stuff.
The thing could be about 1000 times what it is now, if only they'd put some guts behind it.
Imagine a GPS cart for it, or doing data analysis on it. Writable cartridges and a text reader with the ability to annotate and take notes via stylus. Home control via wifi on this thing. A remake of the Japanese-only Gameboy Sonar unit, with a sonar bobber made by nissan. Gameboy camera with a real camera, not the innovative but weak piece of trash that was the old GBCam. Doodle on your friends' faces.
You name it, the unit could do it - if they'd pull their heads out of their asses. Yes, there are some independent projects to do these things, but they'll never see the open market - nintendo tends to require a hefty financial backing and lots of previous games development experience before they'll even think of licensing to you, then SELLING their development kits to you.
Fuck you Nintendo, fuck you. You've been doing this with the gameboy since day one. Ok, the original I can let go - it was beautiful and unique. But now, technology has changed, and demand has changed. I'm not asking for a nintendo cellphone or anything. I'm just asking that you take your ideas and really be willing to stand behind them and make them into something great. Do you even _ask_ gamers what kind of features would be
Nintendo was cited for price fixing back in the N64 days, and they forced many third-party developers to be nintendo-only, which is one of the reasons they don't have very many now.
Nintendo may seem like the underdog now, but when they were on top they were never very nice about it.
Weren't Nintendo quite keen on getting third party developers already for the Gamecube? Still, all their efforts will amount to nothing if they can't keep their platform commercially attractive (again, Gamecube).
Hiroshi Yamauchi was a bastard and a maniacal control-freak. That's why the Playstation is around now, because he couldn't work together with Sony.
Satoru Iwata is in charge now. He is a gamer and game developer, and is going out of his way to help third-party developers. The creative team that has always made Nintendo's games the best are still there, but the management is now less insane.
anybody have any clue when the ds lite will be released in the u.s.?
If the Game Boy Light is any indication, don't get your hopes up.
Isn't sony causing lots of companies to be sony only? based on sales from the last generation, i'd say they are pretty much in a monopoly position.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
Sony is signing a lot of exclusivity contacts for individual games, which is fine. What Nintendo did, if I recall, was tell developers that if they make games for any other system, they would not be allowed to make Nintendo games. That is far different from anything Sony does in this regard.
If Sony's system is so popular that market conditions suggest games be Sony only that is not at all a monopoly. There is still competition, and there is even room for the competition to gain ground, should they think of something really clever.
monopoly? not really. sony doesnt stop most companies from creating cross platform games.
/are/ a few key franchises that sony signs exclusivity contracts with. however even these contracts eventually expire. that is the reason why many sony based franchises eventually make their way to the other consoles too. think: grand theft auto, metal gear solid... sony gets x amount of months being the exclusive company with a certain game published for them. these contracts are few and far in between in comparision to the cross platform games.
that is why you see so many simultaneous releases for all three major consoles. there
the companies that are sony-only are usually first party developers. SCEJ, whatever they call sony europe, SCEA and SOE. you will not see first party titles ported to the other consoles under normal circumstances. ie, gran turismo, god of war, etc... every console has first party titles, you will not see ports of halo or super mario brothers on any other major console either. it just so happens that due to the large userbase of sony consoles, developers tend to release more software on their platform in order to maximize their profits.
until the 16 bit era, cross platform games were almost non existent. nintendo effectively sought to punish those that created cross platform software. until the playstation emerged as lead console during the 32bit era, companies didnt have many options; i hear that sega at the time was no where near as friendly as sony was from a business and hardware standpoint. when sony offered the chance for third party developers to break free of nintendos stranglehold, most companies jumped at the opportunity. its just now that nintendo seeks to regain much of their once infamous third party support. solid third party support is what will win any generations console war.