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Nintendo Learns from Mistakes with GameCube

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the a-company-that-learns-is-no-company-at-all dept.

kukyfrope writes "Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America's Executive VP of Sales and Marketing, talks about what went wrong with GameCube and how Nintendo will not make the same mistakes when launching Wii. Reggie admits that the initial software lineup for the GameCube was simply not 'diverse and strong enough from a first and third-party perspective,' and by Nintendo's showing at E3 2006, the Wii will launch with a wide variety of games for may types of gamers."

2 of 315 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I think I read this article already.... by barawn · · Score: 5, Informative
    Seriously though...I've seen a few articles like this for the Wii, but I can almost remember them saying nearly the same things about how the learned from mistkes with the N64 and promised for 3rd party support for the 'Cube.

    Note what he's saying, though: it's not just 3rd party support (honestly, I couldn't care less about where the game comes from) this time. Here he's saying "yeah, the launch titles weren't diverse enough - period."

    That's a big deal. And actually, I personally think that the problem with the N64 was 3rd party support, and the problem with the GameCube was first-party support at launch. The Nintendo launch titles for the GameCube were.. well.. less than stellar. Note here that I'm going to glom first and second party together, as I'm never sure which ones are first or second.

    Here's Nintendo's at launch titles for the GameCube:
    • Luigi's Mansion
    • Wave Race
    • Rogue Squadron


    Even afterwards, it, uh, wasn't that much better. Soon-after-launch titles:
    • SSB:M
    • Pikmin


    Uh. Yeah. That's... not that stellar. Not even that many, either. It's not that they were bad games. It's just that they were... well, few. And not Mario. Or Zelda. Instead, Wind Waker showed up a year later. Mario, nearly a year later as well. Both felt like too little, too late.

    There's still plenty of time for Nintendo to screw up, mind you, but delaying Twilight Princess to the Wii launch (which virtually everyone thought that was what they were doing when they announced the delay) is actually quite smart. If they can get a good fraction of the titles at E3 out the door by launch, they're going to have a much, much more successful launch than the GameCube.
  2. *ahem* Excuse me, Nintendo don't make mistakes by bunbuntheminilop · · Score: 5, Informative

    They made $4.5 billion profit last year.