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The Pressures on the Next Nintendo Console
With the launch of Nintendo's next-gen offering a little more than two months away, the importance that Nintendo is placing on this console is finally becoming apparent. Dyed-in-the-wool Nintendo loyalists and haters alike have both come to the same conclusion: if Nintendo is to stay a force in the non-portable console market, this system has to succeed. Along those lines, WhatEntertainment offers an editorial entitled Failure is not an Option. It explores the reality that Nintendo's failure would have repercussions on the industry as a whole. "Most of all I'm worried what this might do to the industry if it's a failure. In a landscape already filled with the carcasses of those that dared to try something new, and publishers more afraid than ever to try something a little different, the high-profile failure of a system that tried to put innovation and fun before graphics could be the final nail in the coffin of creativity." Meanwhile, GameInformer has a piece entitled Will Wii be Dissapointed Again? Billy Berghammer says what he doesn't want to say: the Wii could be another flop for Nintendo. From that article: "The launch price is low enough (outside of the $60 for controller costs) to avoid damaging my wallet the same way the purchase of a Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 will, and the possibilities and promises from Nintendo somehow still keep me hoping for a bright future. But for now, the future is made up of many of the same promises and hopes I had when the N64 and GameCube were announced. I just hope I don't end up being disappointed once again."
Not nessesarily, it depends upon how they did their accounting. Companies have dozens of ways to hide short term losses. Most likly they will continue to hide these loses untill the Wii starts raking in money.
Yes, Nintendo will actually have Madden and FF games. Now, when they get compared to a PS3 running at 1080i, and people see the difference between 480i and 1080i(1080P later), they will spend the extra cash for the PS3. You are starting to finally see it around the web with pro Wii game reviewers looking at games like Tony Hawk on both systems and saying things like "The wii version looks like a kids game compared to the PS3". Yes $500-$600 is expensive, but that price will fall and when the price difference between the Wii and PS3 start to close, the older hardware choices of the Wii will become more and more of a factor.
I will agree that Nintendo will have the kids 10 and under locked up as they always do, but to honestly think they are going to compete in the 12 and older crowd is wishfull thinking at best. Or you have been reading too much Digg and Slashdot. Does that mean the console will fail? Who really knows, but when electronic arts sells a vast majority of their titles on the 360 and PS3, they will start to think twice about the next version of their software for Nintendo.
I personally believe Mario and Pokemon are enough to carry the system, but then again I wouldn't be surprised to see Nintendo go the way of Sega and just start making software. Yes the may make money on their hardware, but they make a TON more money on their software. Think about it this way, what console has ever came out a year after it's competitor with far worse hardware and done well? Now when you factor in that the price is around the same as the 360 (add the $60+ for the second controller) and it doesn't look great for Nintendo to make any serious inroads.
Again, I don't see any doom and gloom for Nintendo. They OWN the 10 and under crowd and those families with children that span the 10 and under crowd. That is something that both Micosoft and Sony seem to be forgetting. I personally think that Sony will end up owning the high end market because 1080P,greater storage and better performance coupled with great 3rd party support almost alway wins the high end market. Nintendo will own the 10 and under gamers as always AND Microsoft will have made some inroads in to Sonys marketshare by getting a console out a year early. The question remains if those 360 owners will also get a PS3, and if they do will they buy the PS3 version of Madden because it is better. If so then the 360 sales will be hurting over the next few years and Microsoft will have to rush their next version of hardware like they did with the 360.
The more I learn about science, the more my faith in God increases.
You seem to be agreeing there.
People who want Wii sports will want two controllers.
People who want one controller will not want Wii sports. (if you claim to be a counterexample, you're a liar)
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All