Slashdot Mirror
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
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.
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.