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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'."
- 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
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).
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.
If there was one game i'd re-release on a console it'd be Goldeneye, simply because i think my N64 has given up the ghost, and i just don't want to admit the console's dead and test it properly...
My understanding as to why it's never been done is something to do with Rare and Microsoft, hence buggering up licencing for their old games. I hope this isn't so, it'd really be great fun.
The funnyiest part of this post? The fact that most if not all those games will have versions for the wii. Why are you blaming the games on Nintendo? Its not their fault that third parties are lazy. all Nitnendos games for the gamecube were great.
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.
right, 10 games worth owning
isn't that enough?
i've got: resident evil 4, super monkey ball (planning on buying the sequel soon), pikmin 2, soul calibre 2, mario football and mario kart
(to be fair, i've got more, but those are the ones i play and enjoy)
which other games do i need/want?
yeah, got advanced wars as well, but haven't played yet
/ d
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.
What? Which of those games are going to make it to the Wii? And it's completely Nintendo's fault they had no third party support - do you think 3rd party support just creates itself?
... 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.
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!!!
Probably because everyone has completely failed to care that the PSP plays movies.
UMD movies anyway... Playing ripped movies may be a different story, though I'm not sure if that qualifies as something only 'power users' do, like booting Linux on a PS2. UMD though has turned out to have basically zero impact on the handheld wars. You're right it probably should have been mentioned, even if dismissed quickly.
The enemies of Democracy are
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
Um... PSPs used to play movies. Sony has announced that the UMD movie format will be retired...
Our greatest enemy is neither a single man, nor is it a nation, it is, as it has always been, our own greed.
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.
Just 10 huh?
Ok let's start at the top:
Eternal Darkness
Resident Evil 4
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Mario Sunshine
Pikmin
Pikmin 2
Mario Golf
Mario Kart: Double Dash
Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime 2
Legend of Zelda: Windwaker
Ikaruga
Four Swords Adventures
Crystal Chronicles
F-Zero GX
Other fantastic non-exclusive titles include Ubisoft's entire game library, like the Prince of Persia and Splinter Cell franchises, Beyond Good & Evil, King Kong, etc. Not to mention some killer collections (Mega Man, Mega Man X, TWO Sonic anthologies) and indie releases like Alien Hominid. And let's not even bother with the "quality over quantity" argument!
Now, I will grant that both Crystal Chronicles and Metroid Prime 2 had some disappointing aspects, and everyone knows the gamecube hasn't seen any notable releases since RE4. To boot, the PS2 had a REALLY banner year this time around (Gradius V, God of War, We (Heart) Katamari, Guitar Hero, Shadow of the Colossus) but that is NOT normal. I had to go dig my PS2 out of the closet last summer because there had been nothing but Ratchet and EA Sports sequels for the previous 2 or 3 years, and all of a sudden there were GAMES! Just because the PS2 (finally) had a good year doesn't mean the gamecube all of a sudden has no library.
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.
I didn't intend to give the impression that PSP movies have been much help in sales, but that comparing the directions the two companies are taking to increase market share are totally different paths, and with totally different pitfalls. Yeah, I would like to see who wins, but it comes down to predicting something that (given the directions taken by both companies) is not clear to anyone. So what does this article have to offer in terms of clarification or answers? Nothing.
7h3$3 4r3n'7 7h3 Ðr01Ð$ ¥0 4r3 £00|{1n9 f0r. M0v3 4£0n9. --OB1
And no, 10 good games isn't enough over 6 years if you really enjoy gaming. That was a two years ago I think :)
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.
So contrary to everyone else, you're saying the problem is that Nintendo is focusing too much on hardware, and not enough on games, where as the PS2 is all about enjoyable games with absolutley zero emphasis on hardware?
Sir, I find your rantings very interesting and would like to suscribe to your newsletter.
The wii is the revolution, comrade!
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."
Cut and paste much?
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.
In theory this is true, but almost anyone who can afford a pass is allowed entry (not to mention all the extra tickets given to legitmate press that can wind up in anyone's hand).
No, I'm just saying that the Wii's controller is not going to be enough to make it a great system. To clarify a bit, I'm saying that I have found no corelation between the power of the hardware and how much I enjoy the system.
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
I don't know what exactly I've said to make you think I'm interested in graphics and processing technology. You're acting like a zealot - and you assume because I said I'll buy a PS3, I'm only buying it because it's shiny. Please reread my response. I argue that the least powerful of the three systems was the one I enjoyed the most. Also, I don't own a 360, because there aren't any great games for it yet (please reread my response again) and I don't own a high definition TV.
Also, there is no reason to get childish and assume that because I play video games I don't enjoy my share of outdoor activities, social interaction, or a solid workday.
*pulls up GNC release list*
Lesse..
Metroid Prime 1 & 2
Resident Evil 4
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
(and no, i didn't die. But I did have fun, isn't that the point?)
Viewtiful Joe 1 & 2
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II
F-Zero GX
Super Smash Bros. Melee (series)
Pikmin 1 & 2
Super Monkey Ball 1 & 2
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Animal Crossing
Ikaruga
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean
Star Fox Assault
Sega Soccer Slam
Mario Power Tennis
Mario Golf
WarioWare Inc.: Mega Party Game$
And that's just the exclusives or games that didn't hit other consoles for months. They got ports of probably 80%+ of the other major releases (EA sports, Prince of Persia, Soul Calibur, Tony Hawk, BG&E, Splinter Cell, X-men Legends, Spider-Man 2, Lego Star Wars, etc etc etc)
jello.
aka aron.
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?
No. of Games:
I actually have more games (in number, and that I enjoy playing) on NGC than on PS2. I also have more for the N64. So, it's really the preference of the gamer. I only liked 3 of the games you listed.
WindWaker:
I had fun, but was never a really big Zelda fan. Twilight Princess should fix that problem finally.
GBA and size of DS:
Never had a GBA, but it was certainly the best handheld out there for a while. As for the DS, I don't think it's that big, personally. The main reason I'm getting a Lite is because my mom has started hogging my system, and we need another.
NGC Controller:
In my opinion, this is the best controller out to date. SSB:Melee is also perfectly set up to play on it, it's essentially a 1 button game with 3 auxilliary buttons. I saw some people playing it on a projector on campus yesterday, because it's so good.
That being said, I prefer playing MegaMan on playstation controllers because of the dominant position of the D-Pad.
So, it's all about personal preference, and a lot more people just happen to prefer the way Nintendo is doing things now.
Yay, time to feed the troll!
Isn't anyone else ticked off at the fact that there are under 10 games worth owning for the Gamecube?
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/
There's at least 10, I could find at least 20 or 30, but you can do your own research. Likewise for the N64.
How about the miserable excuse they called WindWaker (did anyone actually die once playing through it?)
That "miserable excuse" sold millions of copies, and got almost universal acclaim from the majority of people that played it.
How about the crappy controller that makes it impossible to truly master Smash Bros Melee.
To be blunt, some of us actually have some skill. Personally, I can use the controller well enough to massacre the CPU players and people of medium skill, but i've seen other players that are far, far better. Try hunting down videos of tournament matches or Home Run Contest high scores sometime.
They named it the Wii, people. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
You say that like it's a bad thing. I also notice pretty much everyone has stopped the lame jokes about the name, except for whiny trolls like yourself.
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.
So don't buy one. Nintendo won't miss you, I promise.
You know how Nintendo can win the next generation war? GAMES.
He can be taught!
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?
Maybe because no one cares about UMD movies and most if not all studios actually retired all their UMD movie offerings some time ago?
The ability to play movies on the PSP attracted people to the PSP for what? 2 weeks? Then most people realized that the UMDs were overpriced (selling lower graphics proprietary format for the same price as a full blown DVD?), low quality (compared to DVDs) and that the PSP had a fucking low autonomy (having to carry your AC adapter around isn't much fun for a handled).
"The way we can tell it's C# instead of Haskell is because it's nine lines instead of two." -- wadler
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.
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
F-Zero GX
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Geist
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Luigi's Mansion
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Pikmin
Pikmin 2
Ribbit King
Star Fox Adventures
Star Fox: Assault
Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
Super Mario Sunshine
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Tales of Symphonia
WarioWare, Inc.
Wave Race: Blue Storm
Here are GC games I own that are available on at least 1 other platform. Most are worth owning, though there are about 4 exceptions (*cough* "Muppets Party Cruise" *cough*):
Beyond Good & Evil
Call of Duty: Finest Hour
Dead to Rights
GUN
The Hobbit
Killer 7
Peter Jackson's King Kong
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Metal Arms: Glitch in the System
Midway Arcade Treasures 2
Midway Arcade Treasures 3
Monopoly Party
Muppets Party Cruise
Resident Evil 4
Second Sight
The Simpsons Hit & Run
Skies of Arcadia Legends
Spyro: A Hero's Tail
Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly
Starsky & Hutch
Super Monkey Ball
Super Monkey Ball 2
TimeSplitters 2
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
True Crime: New York City
True Crime: Streets of LA
Turok: Evolution
Viewtiful Joe
Viewtiful Joe 2
X-Men Legends
XIII
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
It could be because the capability to play movies on the PSP is limited to the media format to which it mainly is available.
If the ability to play movies, etc. was such a big deal then the GP2X should really wail on the PSP and DS because it's nearly
twice as powerful AND plays movies. Not to rag on the GP2X (because I'm probably going to get one soon...), but it's not
in the same class as a PSP or DS in sales, etc.
Besides, I strongly suspect that the DS could be made to play movies in the same fashion as the GP2X does (via SD card) with
a player firmware cartrige with a SD slot in the cartridge body- the reason why you don't see that is because it's less desireable
to have that sort of thing and there's better MPEG2/4 players out there if you're going to watch movies.
In reality, movie playback is secondary to overall gameplay for most consumers, no matter what you think- because that's how
the market has actually spoken.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
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.
My collection dwarfs that in total number of games and number of consoles covered. I could take a picture of it, but then it would just be a picture of an Xbox.
Looking at that picture...
I think thats a pretty good indication of why the current numbers are the way they are.
There's a few cartridge games, but no one wants to spend a crazy amount of money on them.
There's a few Xbox games and Gamecube games, because there were a few worth buying.
And there are a scary amount of PS2 and PS1 games because there were that many good titles to buy.
Its hard to see in the picture, but i can make out Katamari, FFX (and other square games), MGS, some greatest hits titles, etc.
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.
Production scaled back, sorry. It matters not, however, because this is pretty much the death sentence for the format.
Our greatest enemy is neither a single man, nor is it a nation, it is, as it has always been, our own greed.
The 16-bit era didn't follow the pattern: the SNES was a much better system tech-wise than the Genesis or the TG-16, and it ended up winning. The graphics in the Donkey Kong Country games, for example, were far better than anything released for either of those systems, plus it had the rudimentary polygonal games like Starfox. The 3DO and the NeoGeo were never competitors.
Missed the point of my comment.
From TFA: but everyone can understand that a dual-screened machine with a stylus is different, or that a controller you move about in the air to control the game is different. It's obvious.
I am not an apologist for Sony or Nintendo, but I do think that the author, in discussing strategy, should have mentioned THE FAILED strategy of Sony's UMD movies. And how it affected console sales, good or bad. At least MENTION it once... in passing... with some sniggering. Because, if you're pointing out differences, why mention Nintendo's and not Sony's? Seems a bit one-sided to me...
7h3$3 4r3n'7 7h3 Ðr01Ð$ ¥0 4r3 £00|{1n9 f0r. M0v3 4£0n9. --OB1
In reality, movie playback is secondary to overall gameplay for most consumers, no matter what you think- because that's how the market has actually spoken.
No matter what I think? Try reading my comment again. You extracted one thing I said, took it completely the wrong way, and then propped me up as arguing for something I think is idiotic and stupid. Every reply I have gotten so far has shown that the people replying rarely take the time to absorb what they've just read. Don't be a reactionary. My point was simply this: In a discussion of strategy, dual-screen was mentioned and UMD wasn't. If we are comparing features (good or bad; I really don't care people) then there should be full disclosure. Every reply I have received, including yours, had better information that should have been included in the article. That's what I was saying in my comment. More needed to be said, but with that long of an article, and no mention of UMD... it just struck me as massively stupid.
7h3$3 4r3n'7 7h3 Ðr01Ð$ ¥0 4r3 £00|{1n9 f0r. M0v3 4£0n9. --OB1
A simple reply like that... so beautiful... and yet that info was left out of such a long article... makes you wonder.
7h3$3 4r3n'7 7h3 Ðr01Ð$ ¥0 4r3 £00|{1n9 f0r. M0v3 4£0n9. --OB1
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.
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.
I would like to also point out that yes, you did infact copy and paste that dribble.
And it's complete, and udder bullshit.
Let's rapp.
"But there is no way Nintendo Wii will be a mega-hit in the United States."
This is rediculous. You have no basis for saying such a thing. EVERYONE, and I do mean everyone, thinks the Wii is a sweet idea. Read any forum. Talk to any teenager/young adult. They all want one. And yes... mom and dad will buy one for Johnny because it costs 200 dollars vs 400,500, or $600. You are again, another blind Sony-ite that will follow that company off their proverbial cliff.
"This is no surprise -- Nintendo always phones home when it's taking a risk."
Why is this considered a bad thing? I've never played a Mario game (traditional, that is; Super Mario 1,2,3,World,64,Sunshine,NSMB) that I didn't like. And most of those I love. The same for Zelda. Many critics might dog a certain release of Zelda or Mario, but they were all good games. Period. Some other factor might have been involved to keep the 64 or GC to REIGN SUPREME, but no-one regrets playing those games. They were good.
Also, why does this seem to only apply to nintendo? They're dogged for pulling out the Zelda, Mario, Metroid Pyramid Powerhouse, when other companies do the same. Why isn't playstation dogged for releasing new MGS, and FF games? Or xbox for Halo and Splintercell? BECAUSE THEY'RE GOOD GAMES. Because we love to see the concept taken to new hights. This isn't a bad thing. This is an excellant thing. try again, douch bag.
"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."
The price will NOT drop before launch. I promise. They might tank as a company as it is (a bit of an exaggeration, but definately not impossible), so they can't afford to lose another $100 on each console. They just can't. You also said they said "look, here it is, here's what you'll get, and when you'll get it... and at what cost." Sony didn't lose the PR war at E3 because they annouced the price or date, they lost because of WHAT THAT PRICE IS. Too expensive. Many more are learning that sony's pushing another format on us that no one wants (at least right now), and we're paying for it with no choice in the matter. They told us what we'd get from the playstation... but its nothing that was previously promised. Two DVI ports? NO FUCKING SUCH THING. One on the premium model. Three Network (RJ45) ports? NO FUCKING SUCH THING. Only one. 7 USB ports? only 4. 1080p gaming? Nope. Only 720p gaming, save some arcade style 'small games' that might see 1080p. See the promises falling through? Sony talks much, and delivers little. Always has.
Also, many would argue that the Dual Shock design is old and tired. I would agree.. but yes, this is purely opinion. In any case, the gyros in the dual shock design seems quite gimiky. Also, many would agree. In fact, I have yet to find someone who agree's with your rediculous views on the matter. Many are crying for the gyro functionality to be optional in the games that support it, as they don't want their games rui
...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.
"They named it the Wii, people. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
You say that like it's a bad thing. I also notice pretty much everyone has stopped the lame jokes about the name, except for whiny trolls like yourself."
I agree with pretty much everything else you said, but I still call the thing the Revolution. That was the right name for it. Wii? Who the hell are they kidding? WTF? I still have that WTF? reaction, after all that time. I'll probably airbrush 'Revolution' over the Wii logo.
-- Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?
Aside from that, I think it's kind of funny for someone to say that just because they didn't like games like Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time, that GoldenEye 64 was the ONLY reason to own an N64. Just because YOU didn't like it doesn't mean that other people didn't - thus, it is crazy to say that the worth of the console can only be judged by the one game you did like. Clearly for a lot of people, Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time were pretty good reasons to own an N64.
And even though I was only a poor college student at the time, I clearly recall owning over 20 n64 games (far more than I owned on the PS1) and enjoying every single one of them. I also rented over 10 games that brought great joy to my life. (To compare, I own about 60 PS2 games, about 5 of which I regret buying. But, to be fair, about 40 of those games are RPG or Strategy games.)
Windwaker was fun. I don't remember if I ever died playing it, I do remember it wasn't stupidly frustrating, if that's what you mean. There was a long stretch near the end that was disappointing, but overall a good game.
What was wrong with the original GBA? I quite enjoyed the original GBA, and still have it. I never picked up an SP, because it never made a difference to me. Now, I do think the DS Lite is better than the DS, but I have a few friends who prefer the original DS simply because it's larger. That's more a matter of preference than failure. In fact, people are still buying the original GBA, so obviously some people prefer it.
And I don't know what you're talking about as far as the GC controller. It is, flat out, the best controller I had ever held until I got ahold of the new 360 controller, which is basically the same controller with a few key upgrades. I also prefer the heightened sensitivity of the Nintendo style analog thumbstick over the PS2 style, or the horribly crappy, inaccurate original Xbox analog. So that wasn't so much a failure as you being strange. The controller worked perfectly in SSBM, I never had a second of trouble from it.
Nintendo has never let me down. I own more PS2 games than I do GC games (I only own about 12 Xbox games), yet I can guarantee you I've spent more time playing my GC than I have my PS2 hands down. Fewer games, but with much, much better replayability. Even the ports are generally better because the GC controller is better, but, of course, that's a personal preference.
And I'm sorry, but every game you've just listed there? All of them except God of War is 3rd party. Xenosaga, Digital Devil Saga, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Dragon Quest, and Devil May Cry all either have been, or plan to have, sequels/offshoots/remakes on a Nintendo system. I know nothing about SMT Nocturne. Katamari is in the hands of Namco, who is generally friendlier with Nintendo than with Sony, they only backed Sony because it gave them a larger audience. If Wii outsells PS3, you can bet Namco, Capcom, Konami, Sega and a number of other Nintendo friendly companies will support Nintendo wholeheartedly over PS3. You mentioned Ico twice, but it and Shadow of Colossus are made by a development team that is more concerned with artistic game development than anything else, so it doesn't matter to them what system it's on, as long as it meets their requirements. Star Ocean is made by a division of Square-Enix, so if Wii is getting Final Fantasy & Dragon Quest, there's a good chance they'll get Star Ocean as well. ZoE is an anime property, I'm not sure who it belongs to, but if it's Bandai Namco, well, there's your answer right there. Atelier Iris is made by a very small dev team, who will be more attracted to the cheaper dev costs on the Wii. Published in the US by Nippon Ichi, who are also a fairly small team, who have expressed interest in making games for both 360 & Wii. So that leaves you with Grandia & God of War as being sacrosanct at this point (and I don't remember who made Grandia, so I can't tell you the prospects of it appearing on a Nintende console).
Now, I did enjoy God of War, but I will not be getting God of War 2 unless there are some really significant changes to it. It's a fine game, but it's by no means great. It's like a very dumbed down, bloodier version of Prince of Persia (the new 3d vers
just some guy
An excellent response, but you did make one mistake. Several of the games demoed at E3 by Sony were running at 1080p. So you will see some 1080p games (like Gran Turismo...whenever it releases). Assuming you actually have a tv that supports it, of course.
just some guy
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.
MARIO FOOTBALL they actually made that man im looking for that tonight. Are you sure you dont mean Futbol like soccer please clarify because I really would like a mario football game.
Hmmm, I was not aware of that. But it could just be because Nintendo plans to continue offering backwards compatibility & the virtual console on future machines, and code that uses their API will be easier to emulate on a new hardware architecture than code that uses unique hardware tweaks. I still think it's a good idea either way. As long as their API is decent, which I've heard it's much improved over the original Gamecube API.
just some guy
Final Fantasy VII, as a game, absolutely pales in comparison to it's predecessors. I have played and beaten FFVII twice. It was okay. I have played Chrono Trigger, FFVI, FFIV & FFV more times than I can count. I play through Chrono Trigger once every other year because it's just that good. I haven't played FFVII, FFVIII or FFIX since I got a PS2.
Mario 64, on the other hand, was a significant departure and improvement over its predecessors. I would be hard put to say it's a better game, because it's just so damn different. I think I actually like SMB3 more. That doesn't change the fact that Mario 64 still remains one of the most impressive video game achievements of all time.
Of course, this is my personal opinions. In my personal experience, no game has impressed me graphically since Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. That game was an absolute visual experience I have never forgotten. Though games have visibly gotten better, they're no longer impressive. Everything after that has just sort of been expected.
just some guy
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!
I have about 30 gamecube titles.. I think. Something like that(I'd have to go count, I do have every game on the grandparent's list though + a bunch more). 4-player party games is where the system really shines(and the PS2 just doesn't, it's more of an all by myseeeellllffff system, metric ton of JRPGs, etc.), but there were some other gems that came out on it. And with the wavebird, lower load times, and just overall better feel imo I tended to get cross-platforms on the Cube when I could.
I definately got my money's worth out of the lil ol' Cube. Also sorta got my money's worth out of the PS2(and I'm on my third now[well fourth, 2 broken, 1 stolen], the slimline model rubs me wrong for some reason).
The key to the enjoyment of pop music is to replace any instance of "love" with "C.H.U.D."
False. Component is capable of carrying 1080p
Technically feasible, but it would look crappy and you can bet that no product will ever be able to output it.
It was a welcome change to read a well thought out response - I agree with most of the points you've made.
I don't know about that, I have a Toshiba 34HFX85 (which I don't recommend to anyone, although HD looks great on it). It has an HDMI input and a couple component. My cable box outputs DVI and component. Switching between component and a DVI->HDMI connection I notice no difference at all, we're talking 1080i resolution here. Maybe with a bigger TV one might notice a difference, I don't know.
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.