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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'."
With 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
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
Believe it or no, for a lot of people that nintendo is aiming (those in their 40s, 50s or 60s), what you are doing while sitting in front of the TV with that strange controller is "playing Nintendo". My father is one of them, I myself grew up with NES and SNES (although I had a 2600 that my father bought when I was like 5 or 6 Y old, I palyed a bit).
I think Nintendo is still the sinonimous of video game, even between non gamers, and that is because in the NES era, there was nothing else*, just the Nintendo, unlike the Playstation era where you had 3 or 4 different systems making a real competition.
* I know there were the Segas, NECs and even NEO-GEOs, but for your parents, you where always going to "play the Nintendo" to your rich friend house (who happened to have the Neo-Geo)
Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
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.
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.
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.
*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.
Because is it a Nintendo System and there are endless jokes that can be made here I have decided to call Nintendo's new console:
The Wii Nintendo Entertainment System
Or
The WiiNES