Every time I read one of these "OMG!?! What is Nintendo doing?" stories, I get a good chuckle. Nintendo is still doing what they are good at, and will keep on doing it. I don't think their 'strategy' is so revolutionary. Casual games are HUGE on the PC. They are just going with the flow. They are expanding the console market by making fun, easy to play games. Do you think the casual gamers who buy the Wii are gonna turn into hardcore online FPS players? Probably not. They are expanding the market, but the people they are picking up are people who wouldn't have bought a 360 or PS3 in the first place. I bet they won't in the next generation, either.
For all the people who thought the Gamecube was a failure, keep in mind that Big N made money on every one they sold. They aren't a big conglomerate that subsidizes the cost of their bloated hardware, in hopes of making money off the games. They make money on the systems and the games.
After they got their asses handed to them by Sony and the original PlayStation, They found their little corner of the gaming market and keep expanding it slowly while still turning a profit. What about the GBA? It WAS the hand held console of the last generation. There were some others, but they aren't even worth mentioning. While the Gamecube was seen as a failure(which it wasn't, IMHO), the GBA sold like hotcakes for years. The DS already beginning to repeat that success.
"Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window"
Lower Price + free acessories = still not selling
on
A Million Zunes Sold
·
· Score: 0
You'd think they'd sell better now that they are $229 instead of $249. Every store around me is bundling 2 or 3 free things with them just to get them off the shelves. It's good to see Microsoft passing the buck to retailers.
I've only seen 1 Zune(It was someone from MS's). I didn't think it was a BAD mp3 player. The Zune has a nice (looking) interface. Actually navigating the menus was a chore. You can't just put a circle with 4 buttons underneath on the front of an 'ipod killer'. I remember it being a bit heavy, and it seemed kinda blocky to me. (I have a ipod nano, so most Hard Drive players seem heavy and blocky to me). I wouldn't suggest buying one to anybody I know, but I wouldn't suggest an ipod either. The mp3 player market is wide open and there are TONS of players to choose from.
Microsoft has modest goals with the Zune, like they did with the Xbox. Just getting their feet wet in a new market is what they are interested in.
With all the problems going on in our society, and because of the US unpopular involvement in just about everything around the world, the US gov't probably sees better quality entertainment as a way of distracting the common folk.
Who cares about body counts when you can watch -insert favorite police drama/medical drama/sitcom here- in glittering high definition?
The converter boxes are for people who chose not to upgrade their TV's. I'd hate for Cleatus the slack jawed local to start shooting at the sky because his TV stops working.
And the government is going to make a boatload of money re-selling the VHF spectrum for analog TV after the switchover!
Everybody wins!(at least the ones who are paying attention because they aren't glued to the boob tube.) I have a ATSC tuner in my TV and in my MythTV box, so can I use those credits to buy something useful?
Come to think of it, I'd pay for a channel that showed the carnage of war in 1080i. CNN HD, here I come!
The only console I own is a GameCube, and I love it, but the GBA integration is actually an annoyance for me (as someone who doesn't own a GBA). I hate the fact that my Metroid Prime disc has the original Metroid on it, but it can't be unlocked unless I buy a GBA, a link cable, and Metroid Fusion. Also, at a time when more and more developers seemed to be abandoning the GameCube, Nintendo released the Zelda Four Swords Adventures, which required *multiple* GBAs to play fully. This made me feel like even Nintendo was abandoning the GameCube in favour of a GameCube-GameBoy hybrid platform. I love the Zelda series (the Zelda Collector's Edition is what convinced me to buy a GameCube), but I passed on this one since I couldn't play it the way it was meant to be played. What can I say? My friends and I really liked four swords. I think Sony is going to be pushing the PSP/PS3 "synergy", just because they PUSH everything else onto their customers.
I like to look at the Gamecube/GBA connectivity this way : Nintendo kept supporting it, mostly because of Pokemon. 3rd parties never really bought into it because the cube was already 3rd place anyway.
Nintendo went WAY out on a limb with some GBA stuff, too. Let's see, I have to hook a GBA to another GBA with an e-Reader, put SMB3 into the GBA, then buy the e-Reader cards. Then i have to scan the cards while I play.
2(GBA) + SMB3 + Link Cable + e-Reader = -(fun)
The 3.0 PSP firmware has a bug to allow playing PS1 games, or so I've heard.
PSP + hack + Phil Hartman = Blasto! = fun
And wasn't the Nintendo DS the best-selling console last year? It's hard to shaft people who don't buy the handheld when so many people already have.
All I'm saying is the handheld/console tie-ins are an unraped wilderness for the marketeers to, well, rape.
I think it's funny that none of the analysts mention pre-installed base of portable units. The 'base station' aspect of these new consoles will play into the equation for sure.
Download services and hand-held integration hopefully will play a big part in this generation. A wireless Four Swords would be great, and SOCOM3 has some unlockables when you plug your PSP into a PS2 USB port. I also remember hearing that PS3 has a download service already in Japan.
If Sony and Nintendo can leverage their handheld sales from the last year properly, they will make up ground they lost from the Xbox360's head start.
Slashdot Mirror
Every time I read one of these "OMG!?! What is Nintendo doing?" stories, I get a good chuckle. Nintendo is still doing what they are good at, and will keep on doing it. I don't think their 'strategy' is so revolutionary. Casual games are HUGE on the PC. They are just going with the flow. They are expanding the console market by making fun, easy to play games. Do you think the casual gamers who buy the Wii are gonna turn into hardcore online FPS players? Probably not. They are expanding the market, but the people they are picking up are people who wouldn't have bought a 360 or PS3 in the first place. I bet they won't in the next generation, either.
For all the people who thought the Gamecube was a failure, keep in mind that Big N made money on every one they sold. They aren't a big conglomerate that subsidizes the cost of their bloated hardware, in hopes of making money off the games. They make money on the systems and the games.
After they got their asses handed to them by Sony and the original PlayStation, They found their little corner of the gaming market and keep expanding it slowly while still turning a profit. What about the GBA? It WAS the hand held console of the last generation. There were some others, but they aren't even worth mentioning. While the Gamecube was seen as a failure(which it wasn't, IMHO), the GBA sold like hotcakes for years. The DS already beginning to repeat that success.
got the cats covered atleast..... http://www.kittenwar.com/
"Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window"
You'd think they'd sell better now that they are $229 instead of $249. Every store around me is bundling 2 or 3 free things with them just to get them off the shelves. It's good to see Microsoft passing the buck to retailers.
I've only seen 1 Zune(It was someone from MS's). I didn't think it was a BAD mp3 player. The Zune has a nice (looking) interface. Actually navigating the menus was a chore. You can't just put a circle with 4 buttons underneath on the front of an 'ipod killer'. I remember it being a bit heavy, and it seemed kinda blocky to me. (I have a ipod nano, so most Hard Drive players seem heavy and blocky to me). I wouldn't suggest buying one to anybody I know, but I wouldn't suggest an ipod either. The mp3 player market is wide open and there are TONS of players to choose from.
Microsoft has modest goals with the Zune, like they did with the Xbox. Just getting their feet wet in a new market is what they are interested in.
Erm, nevermind.
I thought every month was the month of myspace bugs.
With all the problems going on in our society, and because of the US unpopular involvement in just about everything around the world, the US gov't probably sees better quality entertainment as a way of distracting the common folk.
Who cares about body counts when you can watch -insert favorite police drama/medical drama/sitcom here- in glittering high definition?
The converter boxes are for people who chose not to upgrade their TV's. I'd hate for Cleatus the slack jawed local to start shooting at the sky because his TV stops working.
And the government is going to make a boatload of money re-selling the VHF spectrum for analog TV after the switchover!
Everybody wins!(at least the ones who are paying attention because they aren't glued to the boob tube.)
I have a ATSC tuner in my TV and in my MythTV box, so can I use those credits to buy something useful?
Come to think of it, I'd pay for a channel that showed the carnage of war in 1080i. CNN HD, here I come!
They better get Assy McGee on the case, pronto.
Also, at a time when more and more developers seemed to be abandoning the GameCube, Nintendo released the Zelda Four Swords Adventures, which required *multiple* GBAs to play fully. This made me feel like even Nintendo was abandoning the GameCube in favour of a GameCube-GameBoy hybrid platform. I love the Zelda series (the Zelda Collector's Edition is what convinced me to buy a GameCube), but I passed on this one since I couldn't play it the way it was meant to be played. What can I say? My friends and I really liked four swords. I think Sony is going to be pushing the PSP/PS3 "synergy",
just because they PUSH everything else onto their customers.
I like to look at the Gamecube/GBA connectivity this way : Nintendo kept supporting it, mostly because of Pokemon.
3rd parties never really bought into it because the cube was already 3rd place anyway.
Nintendo went WAY out on a limb with some GBA stuff, too. Let's see, I have to hook a GBA to
another GBA with an e-Reader, put SMB3 into the GBA, then buy the e-Reader cards. Then i have
to scan the cards while I play.
2(GBA) + SMB3 + Link Cable + e-Reader = -(fun)
The 3.0 PSP firmware has a bug to allow playing PS1 games, or so I've heard.
PSP + hack + Phil Hartman = Blasto! = fun
And wasn't the Nintendo DS the best-selling console last year? It's hard to shaft people who don't buy the handheld when
so many people already have.
All I'm saying is the handheld/console tie-ins are an unraped wilderness for the marketeers to, well, rape.
Who do you think pays to have the tubes cleaned?
I think it's funny that none of the analysts mention pre-installed base of portable units. The 'base station' aspect of these new consoles will play into the equation for sure.
Download services and hand-held integration hopefully will play a big part in this generation. A wireless Four Swords
would be great, and SOCOM3 has some unlockables when you plug
your PSP into a PS2 USB port. I also remember hearing that PS3 has a download service already in Japan.
If Sony and Nintendo can leverage their handheld sales from
the last year properly, they will make up ground they lost
from the Xbox360's head start.