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Come the Revolution
GamesIndustry.biz has a piece looking at what game developers think will be required to ensure that Nintendo's Revolution doesn't go the way of the GameCube. From the article: "While this mutual exploitation between indies and Nintendo may grant the GameCube some stay of execution, the Kyoto giant's next home console will require a very different approach to marketing. Solid details about the Revolution remain sparse, yet Nintendo has stated it hopes to attract a different audience to the one being aggressively chased by Microsoft and Sony. This is the console that will support a back catalogue of twenty years' worth of Nintendo games, as well as new titles utilising the intriguing new controller."
You mean, make a profit from the start, build a good base of great games, and offer a wide range of stellar games? They make money, have a good base of people, and offer the best multiplayer on 1 system without falling short. Games are smooth are intriguing. I have no intention of buying a $400-500 system.
My money is going to Nintendo, espically for castlavania, Smash Bros, Mario, Zelda, Golf, Baseball, and all the party games. Rock on Nintendo.If I wrote something witty, you would say I stole it from somewhere.
It's alive and kicking at my house. I do not plan to replace it anytime soon. We get a game maybe 2x per year. The games are fun for everyone to play, same as the older nintendo games.
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Gaming is just as expensive now as it's ever been. The atari 2600 launched at $3-400 in the seventies. SNES carts like FFIII, Chrono Trigger, and The Seventh Saga (which SUCKED) made their debut at 74.99 and STAYED there. The concept of "greatest hits" titles didn't show up until the psx era...the $19.99 game is a VERY new thing, relatively speaking.
In regards to your "flash cart" idea..it's not bad but it's already being done one better. Xbox live arcade has good classic and independent games available for only a couple of bucks. You don't even need the hard drive, you can use the memory card. Nintendo is making their classic library available to download to the built in flash RAM on the Revolution. (prices haven't been announced but come on now, we're talking 15 year old ROM images here.)
combine this with a booming used games market and you have nothing to complain about. There's a good case to be made that 2006 is a cheapass gamer's wet dream.
What's funny is I bought an N64 years ago, and I was pretty thoroughly disatisfied with the quality of the games for my age group. At the time I guess I was really into violent games and what have you. I loved Goldeneye and Zelda and Mario 64 but the rest just seemed too kiddish for me. I also didn't like how staying with cartridges seemed to chase out some third parties.
Now I'm a bit older, and as I play most new games I'm starting to realize they are striving for graphics over gameplay, and that the control design isn't even on their mind anymore. A FPS controlled with both thumbs at the same time isn't my idea of fun or interesting design. Consoles have come to be FPS machines as much as computers, except with mouselook it's easier to control. And the day I buy a mouse and keyboard for a console game is the day I stop playing console games.
Nintendo, doesn't seem to be focused on gearing things to adults. Which, at times can make you feel like a stupid man playing a kid's game. However, at least they try to innovate. Sony was more than happy to have everyone controlling 3d games using a d-pad until the N64 came out. Some of the best strategies for controlling 3d on a console were developed by Nintendo.
And now, I find myself looking at a market gone haywire. I skipped the xbox, PS2, and gamecube generation of consoles because I felt I had been burned so badly on having to buy both N64 and playstation to get my fix. And now, the price of consoles has gone up to an exorbant amount and every console maker seems intent on making a living room computer instead of a gaming system that would be fun to play with friends. But I already have a computer. I don't want to spend 500 bucks on something that plays FPS already played better on my computer. I want a console that will be fun, innovative, with games that look and feel different from the last 5 years of gaming. In short, I want a change from this MS/Sony norm, I want revolution.
While the other console makers are busy putting in every last doodad, into what will still simply be a game console to the public, and charging 5000 bucks for it. Nintendo slides in with a unique design, promises innovation and a developer platform for 1000, console at 150, you have to love that.
After all these years I'm thinking of doing what I thought I would never do again. I'm thinking of going back to the land from which classic console games came...Go revolution!
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