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World-Wide Revolution Launch Unneeded
GamesIndustry.biz reports that, in the words of Nintendo President Iwata, a simultaneous global launch for the Nintendo Revolution is not necessary. From the article: "We don't think it's necessary to do the simultaneous worldwide launch simply because others are doing this." He also goes on to mention that they plan to have the DS shortage problem at least partially taken care of by the end of April.
Worldwide launches are OK if you know you have enough units to make everyone happy, otherwise they aren't. Look at xbox 360. Tons of units sitting on the shelves in Japan, and people can't even find one in the US. Customers get very annoyed when they can't get something that's been released. Retailers get mad when customers leave their store empty handed because they don't have access to the products that the customers want.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
While worldwide launches are probably a bad thing for the customers. I think it's a very effective way of creating media hype. Then again Nintendo is more fan-consoles than oooh-they're-trendy-consoles.
Kudos to them!
Blah blah sig blah blah blah irony blah blah
He also goes on to mention that they plan to have the DS shortage problem at least partially taken care of by the end of April.
What shortage problem? I live in Canada and I see lots of them in stores. Is this a problem outside of North America?
This is unlikely to mean delays for America-- with the DS, the American launch was before the Japan launch*, and Nintendo has been vaguely quoted as saying the Revolution launch will be "similar" to the DS one.
This does, however, mean that Europe will be getting the Revolution probably a few months after the expected November-ish launch for Japan and America...
* Although Japan's launch had a plethora of games America wouldn't get for another four or five months
but not that big. Nintendo is making a killing and the new DS Lite and the coming Zelda are just going push things even higher I expect.
A guy from work is willing to buy my DS for his daughter at a fair price if I want to trade up to the DS Lite. I guess a lot of children are asking their parents for them. My dentist will even loan one to you so that you can play other patients while they clean you teeth, fix a cavity, whatever.
Buy em up, sell them on Ebay! And whatever you do, don't post it to /.
You say that like it's a bad thing.
Warning: Apple/Nintendo fangirl. Likes her electronics cute & cuddly. May be rabid.
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
I don't think that's what he meant. I think he expected people to go apeshit over the possibility that some will have to wait longer than others for the Rev. If you put his reply into that context, it sounds more like he's saying "relax, a non-worldwide launch isn't necessarily a bad thing. Just look at what happened to the 360."
I hope I'm not putting words into his mouth, but that's how I interpreted it.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Am I the only person who thinks Iwata is being quoted out of context? Perhaps he's saying they have other reasons for attempting a global launch and couldn't give two shits about what Microsoft and Sony are trying to do. It's like saying, "I don't think it's necessary to post comments on slashdot simply because others are doing this." Maybe I think it's necessary to post comments on slashdot because every post contains a link to my web site and I'm trying to bump up my page rank on google. But you could quote me as saying, "killmenow doesn't think posting on slashdot is necessary..." and add your stupid bit of guesswork that perhaps I'll stop.
Perhaps...
Nintendo never said Revolution would launch worldwide exactly on the same date. Jim Merrick, Nintendo of Europe's Senior Director of Marketing, stated they hoped to launch Revolution globally within 14 weeks.
Re-reading it, you're probably right. On the first reading, it sounded kind of like "Oh, they're trying to cover their asses because they know they can't deliver."
Warning: Apple/Nintendo fangirl. Likes her electronics cute & cuddly. May be rabid.
"We don't think it's necessary to do the simultaneous worldwide launch simply because others are doing this." Interesting line of reasoning: "We don't think it's necessary to become the market leader in console market simply because others are doing this." "We don't think it's necessary to breath simply because others are doing this." why didn't I think of this? These CEO's are really brilliant!
...what matters is what you like, not what you are like...
I don't think it's particularly relevant for Nintendo to have considered it anyway. Consider the 360, the context was totally different:
a) There were no direct competitors at launch. Other "competitors" were previous generation and the likely early adopters targeted at launch would most likely own at least one console from that generation.
b) If it had worked, it would have been a hailed as a brilliant consumer friendly idea. Consumers in territories that receive the consoles last in the roll-out always feel left out. Microsoft wants everyone to feel "wanted". Remember, it is currently in second place.
c) Microsoft could afford / were prepared to throw money at the logistics problem to (try to) solve it.
d) The concept behind Live is of a global community, which does work better if everyone has access to consoles at the same time.
Notice now, that Microsoft have upped the stakes too. They had a moderately low risk launch (so what if we're a few consoles short, there's nothing else to buy) in which they could try this out. Sony, on the other hand, now has to match that and better it. It's far from easy to manage. Although it would be a poke in the eye if they do.
Nintendo, on the other hand, aren't even pitching at the same market as Microsoft / Sony. The (initial) audience for the Revolution will inevitably be smaller, just due to momentum from this generation of consoles. So why even introduce the pain? Far better to have a smoothly managed and *efficient* roll-out, than a painful and expensive one. If the Revolution is successful, it will achieve it through word of mouth, not big marketing budgets.
BB
Microsoft did it simply to get a foothold in this gens "war". Sony is going to attempt it because they screwed up their Japanese launch. Note I said attempt. The fact that they are still showing fish and duck demos and there is sitll no finalized hardware or controller. Nintendo, on the other hand, dont need to do it. They arnt worried about hype, they arnt worried about media recognition, and they arnt worried about the MTV generation. Ill be upset if I dont see the system this year, but thats just how things go.
---space.is.the.place---