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How Nintendo Could Win It All
ElFozzie writes "In a huge piece on mobile gaming, Pocket Gamer reports on the latest battles in the handheld console market and reveals why Nintendo might just have the right strategy to win this war. From the article: 'Let's go back the beginning, the games. It's all about the games, Nintendo's faithful fans will argue, and the DS has great, mad and unique games where the PSP so far has, at best, competent-to-very-good PS2-lite fare. Yes, but it's not that simple. See, I was there in the mid '90s playing the genre-defining Mario 64 and the breathtaking Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, perhaps the two greatest games of their generation, on the Nintendo 64. And I remember Sony going on to win that war, and PlayStation becoming the de facto shorthand for 'video games'."
They named it Wii, like.. Wee wee... hehehe man I should be a comedian I am so original.
No sig for you, two weeks!
- First it was Nintendo
- Then it was Playstation
- Now it's going to be Wii?
If anything, the names are definitely getting betterWith the way the Nintendo is marketing the Wii, they just might win the console war as well. Now mind you, I am not a Nintendo fan, haven't owned a system by them since the N64. I was one of those people standing out in line in the bitter cold when the 360 launched so I could have a chance to buy one. Now it sits in my entertainment system to occasionally be turned on to watch a DVD or smack down my wife/friends in a friendly game of DOA. It is all speculation on my part, but I will be buying a Wii as soon as I can, and can see it being used often, definitely more often then the 360. It is something that my 2 year old can play, my wife can play, my friends can play, and something that I would want to play. Throw in all the back catalog titles, and it might be used more then the cable box.
The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel...
I've been talking about this with my wife, who is actually interested in seeing the Wii in action (she's hooked on the Brain Games).
Some things that I think would help cement Nintendo:
1. DVD player - I believe word is that the DVD player aspects are a "plug in" - I'm assuming something like the original Xbox codec plug in device to enable DVD playback. Personally, I'd just as soon see it just built in - bite the bullet on the cost, Nintendo, and people will go "Hm - $200, and it plays games *and* my DVD movies", instead of "Hm - $200, but I have to spend another $30 to play movies? Eh."
2. Push the online gaming. While I'm a single player gaming whore, I still think that online is the way to go. I'm very disappointed that Tecmo is bringing Pangya Golf to the Wii, but not the online play! Maybe they feel it won't matter much, but I think the difference can be crucial. Nintendo should make it clear in cases like these that online play is to be built in - or the game doesn't get ported. I'm not saying they should make online play when it doesn't exist - but in clear cases like this, but the sucker in.
3. Advertise, advertise, advertise. Advertise the sports games during Oprah for exercise. Advertise "Red Steel" during "24" and such. Get the word out, and don't just show the game - show how people play it. Let people see that controller until there isn't a person in the world who doesn't go "Oh - that's that Wii thing - looks interesting."
We'll have to see what happens, but Nintendo could take back a lot of market. So far, I'd say their making a lot of the right moves.
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
Perhaps the link is wrong but all I see at the link the summary points to is a rambling blog of a DS fanboy.
It plays well, has acceptable graphical capabilities, has a gimmick, and, most of all, its a helluva lot cheaper than the competitors. But its all going to hinge on the games. If they can make the Wiimote sing, the colors shine, and tickle your mind at the same time, then they have a fighting chance.
Did you know that you can be apathetic to apathy? Not that I give a shit...
Sony won the last two rounds because it did better than what Nintendo did traditionally. Nintendo has smartly identified that innovation in gameplay will compell users to their platform, not just raw hardware specs. I think Sony will play a close second to Nintendo, although I am a die-hard Sony PS2 and PSP fan, I am very much looking forward to buying my Wii and integrating it with my newly purchased DS.
Even my wife likes the DS and wants a Wii. And she hates most videogames.
Well, Nintendo seems to be going for the strategy, where you get other people than your normal gaming bunch interested. The DS seems to have done this on its part, so I'm expecting some more with the Wii.
I've definetly got my money on Nintendo this time around. I mean, I see no reason why PS3 and/or X-Box won't make lots of money catering to the gaming crowd, but Nintendo will bee the one emerging victorious from under a humongous pile of money.
Some say he is made with ascii, others that he is eyeballed daily by millions. All we know is, he is known as the Sig
Actually I find the large assortment of Nintendo games available to be substandard junk. (Including the N64 and the new DS) there are a few great games for the systems, most of them available from Nintendo themself like Zelda, Mario, Nintendo Dogs, and other Nintendo produced titles. However the bread and butter of any console success is the popularity of 3rd party tittles, as this is what brings most of the money the console makers. Now lets take a look at the "good" titles of this new ds New Super Mario Bros Nintendo Dogs Metroid Hunters Animal Crossing Castlevania Mario & Luigi Partners in Time Mario Kart DS Get the point? most of these hit titles are directly produced by Nintendo itself. Nintendo 64 had the same problem but a much larger selection so just on a larger scale. What nintendo needs to do to win the upcomming console wars is to make 3rd party developing extremely friendly, make it so your console can play revolutionary new immersive games that people WANT to make for the Wii. Now this new console is going to be hard to predict, the new controller style is so new and quite innovative that it might create an entirely new market of games that wasnt previously available. And the most important thing is to DROP CARTRIDGES. They are the least unfriendly thing to 3rd party developing that they ever created, plus they are extremely limited in capacity. Playstation 1 had a great idea on its CD system that allows for multi disk gaming, allowing for the development of titles that had HUGE amount of content like Final Fantasy. I dont know about some of you but I've beat almost every nintendo DS title in less than a week. It took me 2 days to beat the new Super Mario Bros, and i was playing at my spare time at work (spent 3rd day unlocking secret levels).
I remember Golden Eye. That game was a CLASSIC.
Nintendo has something that I think is really going for them. It is the amount of fun in there multiplayer games. I allways enjoyed playing Mario Party with 3 other people back in the days. It is stuff like that, that can be fun for both younger kids aswell as older.
I for one am sold on purchasing a nintendo over the new Sony or Microsoft Box. I think they have a wide variety in fun multiplayer games aswell as action games.
The greatest revenge in life is massive success.
How does this work? Assuming a reasonable bell curve, I'm sure there are PSP owners in Japan with 8 games... what do the people that buy 0 or 1 games do with their PSP? Did the UMD format take off in Japan when I wasn't looking? What's going on?
-Rob
Biblical fiscal responsibility
Many people enjoy immersing themselves in a game that focuses on emotion. While it might be light in strategy and gameplay, the graphics and "feeling" of the game are unmatched. It is more of a self-driven movie than a game. The 360 and PS3 will dominate these gamers. Sports games, Doom, Quake, etc.
Nintendo will focus on gamers who enjoy story and gameplay. This DS is the prime example of this. Unique and fun "gimmick" creating new and exciting gameplay, and the developers have spent more time on the story rather than graphics.
Which is better? Depends on your opinion. All 3 of these consoles will hit a market. The only real question mark is can the PS3 survive, not if the Wii will.
Having played the Wii at E3 I can say that the first thing that jumps out at you about the system is the reality is nothing like the hype.
The Wii hype was crazy with talk of how it would revolutionize(no pun intended) console gaming. But what I saw at E3 was no big deal. And almost everything was not really that much different than playing with a normal controller. I can see myself getting over the initial enthusiasm for the Wii very quickly.
I can see the Wii as being something cool you turn on when you have some friends over. But for mainline, day to day gaming I don't think it really can hold up against the massive amount of amazing stuff I saw on the PS3 at E3.
I will certainly get a 499 PS3 for the majority of my gaming. And I hope the Wii is no more than 200 bucks. Any more and I will be happy to just play it at friends houses and pick one up later. I will be picking up a 1080p TV in the coming months now that prices are coming down so much and even if the PS3 did nothing but play BluRay movies at 1080p I would still pick one up.
I'm looking forward to the next iteration of the system that gave me Xenosaga, SMT Nocturne and Digital Devil Saga 1&2, Katamari 1&2, Metal Gear Solid 2&3, Zone of the Enders 1&2, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, FFX, Kingdom Hearts 1&2, Star Ocean 3, Dragon Quest 8, Ico, Atelier Iris, Grandia II, Devil May Cry, God of War - and a slew of others that I can't recall. For the next generation, I'm going to bet on the system that gave me the innovative and enjoyable games THIS time around, and it wasn't the Gamecube.
You know how Nintendo can win the next generation war? GAMES. It's got nothing to do with the hardware, as the underpowered PS2 proves in unbelievable sales on one end, and the dismal performance of the powerful handheld PSP proves on the other. Games games games.
From TFA: In short, I think Nintendo is coming out of a tunnel that Sony is only just going into and Microsoft hasn't even seen on the horizon.
In short?
In a huge piece on moblie gaming, Pocket Gamer reports...
Yeah, a huge piece of crap speculation. The author starts a melee of paragraphs with "Anyway, After all, Ultimately, It's a fair point, Equally, In other words, All that said, That might be right, Furthermore, However, To an extent, Nevertheless, If history is any guide, What's more, and Still."
It's like his boss told him to write 3,000 words on the Nintendo DS vs. Sony's PSP. How can you have so many meandering arguements that lead nowhere and find no conclusion? How can you read an article that starts with the question of who will win the handheld console war and COMPLETELY FAIL TO MENTION THAT PSP's PLAY MOVIES!!! I would try to be nice, or even diplomatic about it, but I have to say that this article is crap and the author is an idiot.
7h3$3 4r3n'7 7h3 Ðr01Ð$ ¥0 4r3 £00|{1n9 f0r. M0v3 4£0n9. --OB1
The title is not "Nintendo Dogs". It's Nintendogs. Had you ever actually played it, you'd know this.
Castlevania isn't a Nintendo game. Why don't we talk about the awesome DS games from third-party developers? You've already mentioned Castlevania, but there's also Meteos, Sonic Rush, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Sk8land (at last a fresh Tony Hawk's game), Viewtiful Joe, Feel the Magic, Pac Pix or Trauma Center. Nintendo had trouble with third-party support on the N64 and on the Cube, but on the DS, it's changing, and they're investing a lot to get third-parties on board with the Wii.
Although I must admit that I do not care too much. It's great having third-party support, but I'd buy a Wii if only Nintendo made games for it: They're always top notch and a lot of fun.
No DVD player supports HD. The HD support on the PS3 is for Blu-Ray, and Microsoft will have an HD-DVD addon for the XBox 360, but HD-DVD isn't really DVD anyhow. The Wii will support 480p, which is as much as you can say about any DVD player. Whether or not it supports HD has nothing to do with whether or not a DVD player is included.
Some people are saying that unlike when the PlayStation2 came out, everyone has a DVD player now, so noone needs that functionality. Well my DVD player (first one I've owned, besides my DVD-ROM drive) is making all sorts of funny noises, and may be on its way out. So if I can get a sweet game console that includes a DVD player, but is only as big as 3 DVD cases stacked, then that sounds like a great deal. I'd guess I'm not the only one in need of a DVD player replacement.
News Flash
...
While a Sony Fanboy Anonymous Coward is on the loose an Anonymous Coward reports that they were at E3 and, inspite of every Report from people that can prove they played the Wii and said it lived up to the hype, this AC reports that it is just a gimick.
Suprisingly enough, this AC also will be getting a PS3 and believes that it is the future of gaming
Sony won the last two rounds because it did better than what Nintendo did traditionally.
Namely, attract the best third-party game publishers in the world -- the Konamis, the Capcoms, the EAs, the Rares.
Regardless of how fun or innovative the Wii's control scheme is, if the only good titles available for it continue to be first-party, Nintendo will not emerge on top. At this point, it's still too early to say.
... is what will hook it for me. I want to be able to play all the classics such as MarioKart, Smash Bros, Mario64... for the N64, and also lots of games from the SNES such as the classis sidescrolling titles like Ninja Turtles and the great RPGs like Secret of Mana. If I can play all these titles on one system, without any jerry-rigging, I will be in heaven. Now all they need to do is buy out Sega and put some Genesis titles on there and I will be locked in my room for life.
arrrg, (like a pirate)
I dont know about some of you but I've beat almost every nintendo DS title in less than a week. It took me 2 days to beat the new Super Mario Bros, and i was playing at my spare time at work (spent 3rd day unlocking secret levels).
For someone who complains about Nintendo a lot, you've sure spent plenty of time playing their games.
I don't understand the people who say that the Wii will 'win' the 'console war' based on the sales of the DS.
If you take a look at the DS sales and assume they will sell 4 time the amount of Wii you still fall about 17 million short (less then half) of where the PS2 was and (actually a little more) than the Xbox at the end of 2005.
The console and the handheld market are entirely seperate markets. You can't predict success in one because of the other (look at the PSP). As for the Wii inovation, they were inovative with the DS too and (according to June's issue of EGM) 80% of the games don't use either the touchpad, second screen, or either. Again, assuming the wii does twice as well, that leaves 40% of games as standard style games, with slightly better graphics than the (lackluster) gamecube games.
I'm not logging in because bad mouthing the Wii gets you modded down. I think we should wait until all the systems are out before we declare a winner to the (media created) Console War. To assume the Wii has already won is premature and ignorant.
Both are good systems. I personally like the PSP device better, but the game selection is HORRIBLE on PSP right now. Nothing buy driving and sports games. WAY TO MANY DRIVING GAMES!
Daxter and Hotshots Golf has been it's only saving grace for me.
I bought a DS a month ago just so I could experience something other then driving & sports games. Nintendo seems to have a better seletion of adventure and scroller/puzzle(mario type) games. Lately I play the DS more then the PSP, just because I have a larger selection of games (especially when you include GBA games).
Personally I think the success of PS/2 and XBOX over Nintendo is not beause of realistic graphics but because the theme's are more edgey. Nintendo games tend to go a cartoony, more sunny happy route, while PS/2 XBOX games tend to go a darker, more violent route.
For teens and college kids, it's just not "cool" to be playing cartoony mario games while all your friends are killing hookers in Grand Theft Auto.
Gadget News at Gizmo.com
Nintendo is finally breaking the mold in a practical way. Is the use of gyros in controllers new? Is the use of a remote control new? Is the use of wireless controllers, or networked games new? All of these are clearly "NO" answers. So, what is different?
Nintendo is making a very simple and approachable system, that is still elegant and versatile. Plus the departure from the two-handed, all-in-one controller that perpetuates games that are more about button-mashing then much else is a nice touch. The Wii's Wii-mote (remote) gives the player quite a bit more interactivity with the games, but still is simple enough to pick up with little prior knowledge of how to use it.
Clever and fun games is a big aspect of it too. A lot of PS2 and Xbox/Xbox360 games require a huge time investment, and can't easily be put down whenever the player would like without hurting progress. Obviously I'm speaking in general...and don't wish to get in an argument of which specific games I'm picking on. To be fair, there are a few games on Nintendo's platforms that have poor save-points.
CHEAPER. This is a huge one. Having a nice gaming system that provides fun and distraction, and is simple and elegant, but is also cheaper than everyone else is a big deal to me and most people. The Xbox360 decent system at $500 and the PS3 at $600 is pricey...especially with games for $60-70. At this point I would start to question why I just wouldn't by a Windows computer. So, $200-250 is pretty affordable, especially keeping titles at $50.
I love Nintendo's commitment to simple, elegant, and inexpensive systems...with clever and fun distractions and games. I'm happy they haven't gotten sucked into the contest that Sony and Microsoft are in with their systems.
I guess lots of people only buy one game (simply because if you buy a PSP for Lumines or Katamari, there may be no other PSP game that appeals to you) - or no game at all because they want to keep the old firmware and play emulators. So it's not going to be a bell curve.
Others probably buy tons of games.
A Nintendo victory would have far reaching implications, well beyond just the console video games market imho. As a former SEGA fanboy (that part of me died the sad day SEGA announced they were leaving hardware) I have no love for Sony; nothing would please me more than to see blue ray fall flat on its face. Nintendo's current position in the 7th generation battle warms the cockles of my heart. As I see it, Sony has a lot riding on the success of the PS3. Significatly, they're main reasoning for including blue ray on the PS3 was to beat out HD DVD in the biggest advantage HD DVD had over blue ray, price point. That means a floundering PS3 hurts blue ray's chances against HD DVD, as well as (coupled with sliding UMD sales and a PSP encountering a far harsher market than expected,) forming as sort of trifecta of interrelated market failings. If demand for blue ray is less than expected, that could easliy translate back to less PS3 sales.
What's better is that this has implications for the other side of HD DVD and Microsoft's game console. We know that Microsoft will offer an HD DVD accessory, and while that may not be sufficient reason to buy an XBox 360, it will be advanced leverage for HD DVD in convincing any current XBox 360 owner to buy the HD DVD accessory over an excessivly expensive stand alone blue ray player or the still more expensive PS3 for its blue ray capabilities; at last count ~1.5million or so people world wide.
What does this have to do with Nintendo? Alot. As we know, Microsoft and Nintendo's systems together are still projected to be cheaper than the PS3 alone. This affects those who would buy as second console most of all. Rather than PS3, persons primarily concerned with gaming may choose Xbox 360 as their second console, adding to the number of persons who would find it logical to buy into HD DVD once they have HDTV (I assume that those concerned with games have a lower probability of owning HDTV than other concerned groups.) A resounding victory for Nintendo could bolster Microsoft sales into or tied with PS3 in second, effectivly neutralizing the blue ray PS3 advantage and instead giving an even better advantage to HD DVD. Even a minor victory could create an deadlocked tied between the three, yet still give some advantage to HD DVD.
Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft are not only the warriors of the next console wars, but indeed key figures in a greater battle unparalleled in its depth compared to any battle before it, that I would call The Great Home Entertainment War!
Demented But Determined.
I don't buy it.
I like the small controller. I like the backward compatibility. I even like the concept and active movement by the player. But I don't buy it.
Let me say for the record, I hope it does well. I hope it's a success. I even hope it is the new revolution in video gaming. But there is no way Nintendo Wii will be a mega-hit in the United States.
Nintendo has a whole iPod-looking website up right now dedicated to their new, small form factor game console. They have gone back to their roots with signature franchises like Super Mario, Metroid, and The Legend of Zelda. This is no surprise -- Nintendo always phones home when it's taking a risk. Two Italian guys, some swords, and Excite Bike (Excite Truck in Wii's case) didn't save Gamecube, and nothing is going to make Wii an American hit on the scale of Xbox, Xbox 360, and all the numerical Sony platforms. The Public Relations Guys and Girls on all sides are trying to chip away at public opinion as we speak.
Wii has had plenty of publicity. Most video game consoles tend to generate a fair amount of buzz. Nintendo clearly beat Sony in public relations efforts at The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3).
E3 is often the soapbox that media corporations use to unleash their latest and greatest onto the world. For all intents and purposes, Nintendo swept the hype awards.
Maybe this is why their marketing initiative flopped at E3.
Sony gave too much away -- despite the price of the Playstation 3, which I expect to drop by $100 before the launch. They said, here it is, it's great, here's when you'll get it, and here's everything you'll get.
Take another look at the first Nintendo Promo Video. No prices; no exact release date. All you're getting here is a high energy video in a high energy booth at E3 that teases the assembled journalists so that they'll want more.
Sony put a gyroscope into their new controller -- in effect this could be better than the Wii controller because no external hardware will be required by the Playstation 3. However, they kept the exact same looking "dual shock" design that the original Playstation had. Wii's controller is different -- it looks like nothing you've ever seen before. Thus, you want to touch it, feel it, and get to know the Wiimote. It may offer absolutely sub-par gaming, but it's different and journalists love different.
So, Nintendo won the public relations battle at E3 over Sony. Nintendo gets a point.
In other news, Molly Smith, senior director of communications and brand development, one of the top public relations officials at Sony, quit June 1. Gamespot reported that the departure came as the result of changes being made at the public relations level, which included bringing in a former THQ executive.
A problem of specs
Simple problem: Wii only supports up to 480p resolution. Xbox 360, released over a year before the Wii will be launched, already supports 1080i resolution. All Xbox 360 games run at a minimum of 720p. Gamepro confirmed what I had suspected as well, Wii will have no digital audio port. This means you're limited not only to low resolution graphics (and trust me, 480i will be low resolution by the end of the year) and two-channel audio.
Playstation 3, according to Gamespot, will feature support for up to 1080p resolution and will boast built-in HDMI ports (yes portS) and optical digital audio supporting Dolby Theater Sound.
Nintendo Wii will not feature built-in DVD video support. An external dongle will be required. Playstation 3 will support not only DVD but next generation Blu-ray technology. Playstation 3 will be the only console at the time of release to support that technology.
Nintendo boasted their new and unique style of gameplay. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata lays out the philosophy:
With each passing year, video gaming has become an exclusive experience. The complexities of some of the newest games have alienated those who used to play games with their enti
I recently bought a used N64, Super Mario 64, Zelda Ocarina and Majora's mask, rumble pack, and console memory expansion to ensure that I can replay these in the future. At used prices ($35 for the N64 console and controller, similar pricing for the games) this was cheap insurance against the kid moving out of the house and selling/losing/destroying the original N64 we all first played these on. And I agree that Super Mario 64 was quite a leap from everything before it at the time.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
You didn't ask me, but anyway. I own a DS. From grandparent's list, I own the following games:
Castlevania DS: Awesome game. Easily the best Castlevania I've ever played.
Meteos: Used to be the best puzzler until Tetris came along. And getting beaten by Tetris is no shame, really.
Tony Hawk: The first time that I've actually played through a Tony Hawk's since THPS2. Also the first time they actually introduced some really great new features since THPS2.
Sonic Rush: Finally, a new 2D Sonic. And it rules.
Trauma Center: Played it about two hours. Fun game, great idea, frantic gameplay, unfortunately too hard for me.
Phoenix Wright: Can't wait for part 2. Great, great adventure.
I haven't played the other games, but these are really awesome games. Each of them is worth getting a DS for on its own.
No. Nobody else is ticket off at this. Because it's not true. Gameranking lists 106 games rated 80% or higher. Every last one of these is worth owning, and a lot more are worth it, too.
And why the heck do you want to die when playing a game? I bet Monkey Island must have been a huge disappointment.
Nevertheless, for the first time since 1996, Sony looks to be fire-fighting, and not quite in control of the battleground. Not only is the shoe on Sony's foot, the company is on the back foot. Nintendo has its chance.
Wow. That's too many metaphors.
Fire-fighting
battleground
shoe on foot
competitor on back foot
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
The Cube had no Mario game, no Zelda game and no Excite Bike when it launched. There's still no Excite Whatever, and Mario and Zelda took a long time to appear on the Cube. What are you talking about?
And I remember Sony going on to win that war, and PlayStation becoming the de facto shorthand for 'video games'.
Well, that's odd, because I don't. Here in the UK, my experience is that the N64 and the Playstation were about equally ubiquitous. 'Playing Nintendo' was synonymous for playing a console game. N64s were pretty much everywhere.
And certainly, from what I've seen, the N64 was far more desirable --- no moving parts! Silent! Solid! No delicate, easily-scratchable disks! No load times! No fiddly save-game cards! Analogue sticks! Rumble packs! One of the best controllers ever made! Playstations always seemed cheap and plasticy by comparison.
Are things really so different in the US?
Why I think Nintendo will re-emerge as a leader of the video game console "war" is because they will sell the crap out of the console, parents and people looking to guard their pocketbook will see the Wii as a great alternative to the PS3 and XBox 360. The ability to give people a more intuitive interface to play games will be a big drawing point when grandmas get their hands on it. When the sales numbers are in by Christmas, the 3rd parties will see that investing in a very popular platform to develop games is a no-brainer. 3rd parties will lose money if they don't support the Wii in that kind of sales climate. It's a chicken-egg-chicken argument. Lots of consoles = lots of games = lots of gamers.
I take your point about the 3rd party support, but I think the press is reporting that Nintendo is doing a good job with the Wii.
Anyone who believes that the PSP and DS sales are "roughly equal" doesn't know enough about the situation to write an article about it.
At this point, it's still too early to say.
The officially announced games include Ubisoft, Activision, EA, Square Enix, Sega, and Konami. Capcom and others have announced titles for later.
This does not mean it isn't too early to say nevertheless, but Nintenco IMHO has a good chance.
"When I first heard Daydream Nation it quite frankly scared the living shit out of me." -- Matthew Stearns
I largely ignored the N64, but there's a world of great games for it I'd like to try. Got my 1st taste from that Zelda Collectors disk that came bundled with my NGC.
I thought what you wanted to do as a business was produce a profit and continue to expand. That's the understanding I got from both normal day-to-day life, and the first-year economics classes that were required for my degree.
So why does Nintendo, which is a business first, have to "win" some kind of ideology war? Isn't this really more about people who attach sentimental feelings to something? Perhaps it's because some had been swept up in the "console war" marketting Sega used 17 years ago, and which Microsoft has been trying to capitalize on in order to gain that 18-25 market of males who like FPSes.
Seriously, Nintendo doesn't need to win anything. They produce games I don't mind buying and systems which have games I like. They've been consistently profitable. They're doing what they're supposed to do; anything else is anthropomorphism.
--
Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
If somebody says "a Mario game" without further qualifiers, that usually means "a Jump-N-Run with Mario as the main playable character". Luigi's Mansion had no Jumping and no Mario as a playable character, so it most definitely is not a Mario game. If anything, it's Nintendo's version of Resident Evil :-)
Super Princess Peach, on the other hand, could possibly be called a Mario game. It has no playable Mario, but at least it has jumping and running.
I think that I have been wrong about consoles.
While I have never owned a major console product line from Nintendo, and having only owned the Game Boy (Original off-beige clunker that still works to this day) and the Game Boy Color, I have been a little bit behind in my personal purchases of products from Nintendo.
I never really got into the whole TV/console gaming scene, and while occasionally playing each successive generation at friends' houses, I can say that each system seemed to have a certain allure that allowed me to look beyond its minor (read: insignificant/nonexistant) flaws, and see the console as a good gaming machine.
There were a few reasons that I went the PC gaming route instead of being a more console focused person. Maybe it was that the computer became more of a main part of my life, and gaming only seemed natural on it. Or maybe it was the fact that when the Xbox/PS2 came out, I was still seeing a very binary view, that of "Console vs. PC."
Or more recently, it was the fact that I could either drop four hundred dollars on a 360 with no games (nevermind the fact that I do not own a high def TV, which is a de facto requirement; if you can output hi-def, then show it on hi-def), or I could drop 300 on a new graphics card and more RAM, and still have money left over for more games.
Maybe it was the fact that I was sick of hearing all the Halo/Halo2 fanboys screaming their heads off how consoles are perfect for FPS's; even though the PC Gamer Magazine challenge to the Xbox Magazine people proved once and for all that the keyboard and mouse is a superior control setup for FPS's when compared to a gamepad (especially that of the Xbox).
Perhaps all of these reasons culminated in the fact that I have not made any additional console gaming purchases since the GameBoy Color era.
Of course, after playing the new Metroid game on a friend's DS gave me a new outlook on gaming from Nintendo. A first person shooter that has an intuitive control system (albeit tiring, but what's a Nintendo system without the trademark Nintendo Thumb?), that anyone can get used to, either from the PC camp, the console faction, or a new gamer.
I honestly can say that I will be buying a DS Lite (as soon as they come out in the jet/matte/flat black; whatever, so long as it matches my computer coloring scheme of black) and truthfully, I will be purchasing a Wii. There is just something about the control scheme, something about what Nintendo is doing that somehow re-captures the interest of gamers such as myself.
I find the 360 interesting, the control setup has been greatly improved from its predecessor, but I still don't find a need to purchase it.
I somehow doubt the eventual playability of the PS3 will be all that great, given all the information that we've seen that shows Sony's pitfalls in its creation, and of course, the fact that the Blu-Ray technology might follow in the footsteps of every other media format that Sony has brought to market. One would expect them to learn their lesson after the Betamax, MemoryStick(somewhat), UMD, and their ATRAC music format.
I figure that my investment in the Wii and the DS Lite will still be completely worth my money, and if Nintendo puts out 'mature' games (read: Battlefield 2, any game from Rockstar) for the Wii, I can safely say that Nintendo can capture a broader gaming market.
Of course, that's just my opinion.
Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.
I never played Mario 64. I played Zelda: Ocarina for about 10 minutes before I hated it. The only thing that makes a Nintendo 64 worth having is Goldeneye. That was, without doubt, the finest FPS on a console to date. Sure it's dated now but I think it was even more defining than Halo. Here's the problem Nintendo faces: when you (arguably) only have ONE game worth purchasing your platform for, you don't get licensing fees. Sure, you sold a system. Little to no money is made in that process. If you only make, say, $20 off me for one game that's NOTHING.
On the other hand, while the PS2 had a slow start, it has SOLID franchises only available on that platform: Sly Cooper, Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, Gran Tourismo, Metal Gear Solid, etc. It also has every game the other platforms have. I have over 25 games for my PS2. That's obviously a high number, as some are gifts, etc. But the SAME ARGUEMENT used by every Fanboy of a particular platform wil be the same: *my* platform are where the games are at.
Current Generation Status:
-- Nintendo GameCube: 2 or 3 games unique enough to justify a purchase.
-- Playstataion 2: Most SCEA title... there's DOZENS.
-- XBox: Halo. That's it.
Next Generation Hype:
-- Nintendo Wii: Aside from "worst name ever", this will fall into the same category as the GameCube. A niche player that will attract all the Nintendo fanboys and do little to lure anyone else away. The biggest plus it has going for it will be price. There's nothing wrong with any of that-- I'll use the Apple argument: Nintendo could be 3rd place for the rest of time and be profitable and happy.
-- Playstation 3: SONY will probably have a rocky start, but FREE online play and e-distribution with the built in HD will be essential. Also essential are the 25-35 crowd who want Blu-ray, can afford it, and like to play games. They're numerous. Will have a ton of unique titles, most of which will be 6 months after launch. Price could hurt it but that will come down with time. IMHO, easily the winner of the living room battle if they get a killer game to market.
-- XBOX 360: No unique content. If you have a PC, you have an XBox 360. Same old story as the Xbox 1. It's killer features are e-distribution and awesome UI. Probably selling more consoles due to lack of other next-generation systems, but again the success will be in number of GAMES sold, not UNITS sold.
"Politicians find new names for institutions which under old names have become odious to the people."
I remember reading somewhere that classic games downloaded to the Wii could be stored on SD cards (I'm fuzzy on whether any other types of starage, IE usb hard drives). This alone has me conviced to get a Wii. Quite frankly, I'm tired of paying over and over to play the same classic games I had on the NES. I have a feeling piracy will be rampant with these downloaded Wii ports, and quite frankly I'm glad. Maybe that will convince Nintendo to start working on NEW content, ala "New Super Mario Bros" for the DS.
Why do people keep calling it "backwards compatibility"? The Wii will have backwards compatibility with Gamecube games only, and maybe an attachment for GBA/DS games. "Virtual console" is a different concept. If you have a stack of vintage games, backwards compatibility lets you play them. All virtual console does is let you pay for them again. If Sony charged you $10 a pop to "register" a PS1 game to be playable on your PS3, people would scream bloody murder, but when Nintendo does it it's damn near heroic, people just can't wait to re-purchase all their favorite games. Nintendo inadvertantly struck gold, everyone suddenly thinks an electronic machine can bring their childhood back. If you sit back and look at the past rationally, you'll see that Nintendo isn't "the good company", their tactics for a time were damaging to the entire gaming industry. Well, that's five minutes of my time wasted, as soon as I post this will inevitably be dropped to -1, Flamebait by someone who somehow considers speaking ills of their favorite childhood dreamfactory to be offensive...
Very biased and retarded article after reading the first section.
[20:36] wwwdot/.dotorg
True. But there are some points to consider:
Now this is simply not true. The worst-rated DS game "Sprung" is only the 49th worst rated game on Game Rankings.
There are plenty of crappy games on other consoles.
...is in its library. The best selling consoles always have the largest libraries. Take any generation of any console or handheld, and you will find this to be true. Even the Gameboy, with four shades of green, outsold competitors like Atari and Sega with color handhelds. Why? Because the Gameboy had a superior gaming library.
The PS1 and PS2 outsold its competition due to its superior library. No one gives a damn about the hardware. If the PS2 broke down, people would buy another because of their gaming library.
The DS is outselling the PSP because... of its library. The PSP library is not exactly diverse or as interesting. More importantly, the DS's library hits more demographics than the PSP does (thanks to the Brain games, to Nintendogs, and the rest). PSP's software keeps hitting the same demographic. Since handhelds do not follow the console cycles, whoever wins the handheld war will be the victor for probably the next ten years.
The victor of the console war will be the one with the largest library? Which console had the most playable games at E3 this year? Nintendo. Which console will have the most available software upon launch? Most likely, Nintendo.
Nintendo's dirty little secret is that, not only has the company completely restructured in the last few years, Nintendo has been expanding their software development studios like crazy in both Japan and America. Nintendo intends to flood the market with quality content.
Xbox 360 and PS3 have a big strike against them with software creation. By jumping on the HD bandwagon, their games will take more time to be made, are riskier to make, require bigger teams, and are much more expensive. The Wii is extroadinarily cheap to develop for. The Wii's development kit costs around $2000, cheaper than even the PSP's.
The fact is that third parties are interested in making money, not playing fan boy. The Wii is very attractive to publishers as it represents a low cost revenue stream which is desperately needed today. The Wii is very attractive to developers because of the controller and the innovation it allows.
The Wii will end up putting out more software, on a faster basis, than either Sony and Microsoft's machiens. Even worse for them, the Wii attempts to have the largest gaming library ever with the NES, SNES, N64, Genesis, and Turbographix 16 games on the Virtual Console.
No one cares about the console itself. People care about the library. People buy the PS2 today not because they like Sony but because it gives them access to a large game library. Nintendo realizes that with the N64 and Gamecube, they were competing too much on a hardware basis. Now, Nintendo is focusing and investing heavily in the software.
Then, add in the vast price differences of a $600 machine, $400 machine, and a less than $250 machine. Nintendo is definately re-surging. The most comical part is if Nintendo does take the top spot, analysts will have so much egg on their faces. It was only a year or two ago when people were asking if Nintendo would leave the console business...
"How Nintendo could piss all over the competition"
sigh. I'll have more coffee and get a second draft back to you by lunchtime.
If the writers of the article had actually paid attention to their sources, they would have seen that Sony's statement listed their 17 million as 'shipped', as always, and that Nintendo's statement listed their 16 million as 'sold', also as always. So, unless you go to the store and don't see any PSP's on the shelves, then the DS is almost definitely beating the PSP in sales.
just to remind you....final fantasy VII came out at around the same time. enough said.
One of the great features of the new Wii is that with the controllers you don't just sit and play , you have to actually be physically active and play. So now we have a great new form of exercise thats fun too.
Q: So how did you get so fit and such a great build?
A: A couple ours of Wii a day and you'd look like this too!
OK, you all have a good point. Some DVD players and many video processors upconvert to whatever super-awesome resolutions you want. But my intended point is still correct, which is that the content available for DVD players (not HD-DVD players) is not available in resolutions greater than 720x480 (or 720x576 for PAL). As for WMV HD, the Wikipedia article cited contains the following line:
The technology was considered a stepping stone to true high definition optical disc formats (HD-DVD and Blu-Ray) and Microsoft never intended the discs to be played on anything but personal computers.
So I don't consider WMV-HD to be HD content that's playable on a standalone DVD player.
Now that I think of it, why don't Nintendo have a program where you can send in your carts and give the WII version for free! Now you can play Super Mario 64 on the WII, and Nintendo gets proof that you actually own(ed) the games you claimed to already have.
Oh wait... That isn't what you really wanted, was it? Besides that, all Nintendo has as proof that you actually own those games is your own word. But I guess then Nintendo will believe me when I claim I own all the games that they are offering on their service... And it *isn't* like someone could make a database or website full of the info you need to send to Nintendo....
Seeeesh these "I already own it, they should give me it for free" posts like yours are unrealistic and out of touch with reality...... Seriously, these kinds of comments leave me with a "I really just want a free lunch, FREE R0MZ PLZ!11!" type feeling. If you don't want to "... pay $10-20 to buy it again" keep a NES/SNES/N64/TG16/etc handy to play the stuff you already own.