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Sony have confirmed it. Blu-Ray will be a featured component in what is set to be their most lucrative bussiness move to date.
For those that don't know, DVD is already becoming outdated. Already you can get view high definition TV, that even surpasses that of DVD. In other words you can be watching Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and it'll look better than the latest Star Wars DVD's.
Does this seem right to you? No indeed it doesn't and 2 major companies also agree this. These 2 major companies have developed 2 new forms of movie media, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD.
Sony, along with a whole host of other top names, back the Blu-Ray medium to be the next big thing in home entertainment. It is a massive 50GB in size, looks pretty funky and with it being included in the Playstation 3 will autmatically put Blu-Ray in millions and millions of homes worldwide. Hollywood would almost have to support the Blu-Ray system simply because the popularity of the Playstation brand will mean millions will have the ability to play them already. Sony will add pressure with their Tri-star, Columbia and MGM studios... Spiderman, Terminator and Bond already on Blu-Ray. Watch the new system fly.
Unless something incredibly unlikely happens, such as the PSP flops and the PSTwo fails to start then it is likely Sony will be looking at a steam rolling win for the next generation of consoles.
There is one negative aspect of Blu-Ray. Because it doesn't use the simple red laser system for DVD's (something that is now very cheap to implement) and uses Blue laser, it'll mean the cost of the system will be jacked up. Either Sony will have to release it at a high price, wait an extra amount of time or just suffer a loss on the system. The latter isn't something Sony have ever been willing to do.
It is this PS3 decision that makes the Blu-Ray's competitor, the HD-DVD, look bad. Although the system is cheaper to implement the size of the medium is a mere 22GB, under half that of Blu-Ray.
But hope may remain. It is possible that Microsoft's next system, codenamed Xenon, will use it. Microsoft are desperate to release a cheap system out of the box and not to suffer the price point themselves like they are with the X-box. Already they are removing the Hard drive and to incorperate something like Blu-Ray will mean the Xenon will launch at a very high price. In fact Microsoft are hoping to get a years head start (late 2005) on the competiton and Blu-Ray will be even more expensive to use. If Microsoft want a competitive medium HD-DVD may be the only way.
Microsoft with the weaker system is almost a complete role reversal from the current generation.
What of Nintendo? Who honestly knows. No one. Rumours persist that Nintendo will continue to go their own way and buck the trend of the industry. It persists that Nintendo will play down third party support and stick to first party software, that Nintendo will use a totally new system and won't offer movie playback at all.
These rumours are counteracted with the DS almost entirely. Nintendo now base more emphesis on third parties especially with the latest system and the recent GBA Videos indicate Nintendo willingness to develop video viewing means.
But it is also likely that Nintendo will want to fight piracy in such a way that games will be on a totally different form of medium (A.K.A Gamecube/DS) but it is also likely Nintendo will offer a "second medium". Already confirmed is that the Revolution will be backwards compatible. Which points to the inclusion of either very cheap to implement DVD system or slightly more expensive "HD-DVD".
If both Nintendo and Microsoft use "HD-DVD" then there maybe trouble ahead for Blu-Ray after all. Sure Sony may have the sales advantage, but with Nintendo set to launch simultaneously with Sony and Microsoft a year early. It already kick starts a proper war between the two mediums.
On the other hand, with DVD gaining a firm position in society how likely is it that Blu-Ray and HD-DVD will be replacing it by 2006? Surly it'll take a good 5 years to properly take off? Is Nintendo likely to just stick with DVD movies? Especially as they lack the experience of it. But launching the system next to the Playstation 3 indicates that Nintendo are being really competitive this time, and they will want that to right down to the specifications and what the system offers.
Sony have a brilliant stratagy in place. Something Nintendo and Microsoft will have to be very clever to counteract. Recent reports indicate Nintendo are on the offensive, and it is likely we will see a far more agressive stance from the legendary developer... with the added bonus of brilliant and innovative "DS style" features. Microsoft are stripping down their system and offering in advance of the competiton. It is a surprise risk from Microsoft, hoping that releasing the system early will mean they get a stranglehold on the industry.
Didn't work for the Dreamcast did it.
For those that don't know, DVD is already becoming outdated. Already you can get view high definition TV, that even surpasses that of DVD. In other words you can be watching Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and it'll look better than the latest Star Wars DVD's.
Does this seem right to you? No indeed it doesn't and 2 major companies also agree this. These 2 major companies have developed 2 new forms of movie media, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD.
Sony, along with a whole host of other top names, back the Blu-Ray medium to be the next big thing in home entertainment. It is a massive 50GB in size, looks pretty funky and with it being included in the Playstation 3 will autmatically put Blu-Ray in millions and millions of homes worldwide. Hollywood would almost have to support the Blu-Ray system simply because the popularity of the Playstation brand will mean millions will have the ability to play them already. Sony will add pressure with their Tri-star, Columbia and MGM studios... Spiderman, Terminator and Bond already on Blu-Ray. Watch the new system fly.
Unless something incredibly unlikely happens, such as the PSP flops and the PSTwo fails to start then it is likely Sony will be looking at a steam rolling win for the next generation of consoles.
There is one negative aspect of Blu-Ray. Because it doesn't use the simple red laser system for DVD's (something that is now very cheap to implement) and uses Blue laser, it'll mean the cost of the system will be jacked up. Either Sony will have to release it at a high price, wait an extra amount of time or just suffer a loss on the system. The latter isn't something Sony have ever been willing to do.
It is this PS3 decision that makes the Blu-Ray's competitor, the HD-DVD, look bad. Although the system is cheaper to implement the size of the medium is a mere 22GB, under half that of Blu-Ray.
But hope may remain. It is possible that Microsoft's next system, codenamed Xenon, will use it. Microsoft are desperate to release a cheap system out of the box and not to suffer the price point themselves like they are with the X-box. Already they are removing the Hard drive and to incorperate something like Blu-Ray will mean the Xenon will launch at a very high price. In fact Microsoft are hoping to get a years head start (late 2005) on the competiton and Blu-Ray will be even more expensive to use. If Microsoft want a competitive medium HD-DVD may be the only way.
Microsoft with the weaker system is almost a complete role reversal from the current generation.
What of Nintendo? Who honestly knows. No one. Rumours persist that Nintendo will continue to go their own way and buck the trend of the industry. It persists that Nintendo will play down third party support and stick to first party software, that Nintendo will use a totally new system and won't offer movie playback at all.
These rumours are counteracted with the DS almost entirely. Nintendo now base more emphesis on third parties especially with the latest system and the recent GBA Videos indicate Nintendo willingness to develop video viewing means.
But it is also likely that Nintendo will want to fight piracy in such a way that games will be on a totally different form of medium (A.K.A Gamecube/DS) but it is also likely Nintendo will offer a "second medium". Already confirmed is that the Revolution will be backwards compatible. Which points to the inclusion of either very cheap to implement DVD system or slightly more expensive "HD-DVD".
If both Nintendo and Microsoft use "HD-DVD" then there maybe trouble ahead for Blu-Ray after all. Sure Sony may have the sales advantage, but with Nintendo set to launch simultaneously with Sony and Microsoft a year early. It already kick starts a proper war between the two mediums.
On the other hand, with DVD gaining a firm position in society how likely is it that Blu-Ray and HD-DVD will be replacing it by 2006? Surly it'll take a good 5 years to properly take off? Is Nintendo likely to just stick with DVD movies? Especially as they lack the experience of it. But launching the system next to the Playstation 3 indicates that Nintendo are being really competitive this time, and they will want that to right down to the specifications and what the system offers.
Sony have a brilliant stratagy in place. Something Nintendo and Microsoft will have to be very clever to counteract. Recent reports indicate Nintendo are on the offensive, and it is likely we will see a far more agressive stance from the legendary developer... with the added bonus of brilliant and innovative "DS style" features. Microsoft are stripping down their system and offering in advance of the competiton. It is a surprise risk from Microsoft, hoping that releasing the system early will mean they get a stranglehold on the industry.
Didn't work for the Dreamcast did it.
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I'm not scaremongering. Nintendo's profits this quaret are expected to be $112, quite a lot at around £50-60 million.
Reasonably good, but their sales are down 12% on last year and declining every single year. With the new consoles moving into a new league of cost offsetting, they are going to have to increase their user base next generation to maintain what they already have.
I don't think marketing the GC as a bugdet equivalent to the others is the way to go, don't see why you would think that is scaremongering, it's the truth.
Nintendo's profits aren't based on sales here, so making the console a budget option here would undermine their efforts in area where they are making healthy profits. Just a pity we don't live there.
It's easy to see Nintendo have that philosophy too. Europe waits an awful long time to get Nintendo games released elsewhere, Animal Crossing being a perfect example.
Reasonably good, but their sales are down 12% on last year and declining every single year. With the new consoles moving into a new league of cost offsetting, they are going to have to increase their user base next generation to maintain what they already have.
I don't think marketing the GC as a bugdet equivalent to the others is the way to go, don't see why you would think that is scaremongering, it's the truth.
Nintendo's profits aren't based on sales here, so making the console a budget option here would undermine their efforts in area where they are making healthy profits. Just a pity we don't live there.
It's easy to see Nintendo have that philosophy too. Europe waits an awful long time to get Nintendo games released elsewhere, Animal Crossing being a perfect example.
Bonus wrote:
> I think I have read this weeks MCV and know how badly they are doing,
> in the UK.
>
> Already posted the figures in a post a few down from here.
Okay, except Bonus Nintendo report a net profit in the millions every year.
This year they have had to up their prediction.
So going on about how "bad" Nintendo are doing is irrelevant.
They make a killing.
They also have billions in liquid assets. Which excludes the s**t loads of hard assets they are in pocession of.
Don't scaremonger.
> I think I have read this weeks MCV and know how badly they are doing,
> in the UK.
>
> Already posted the figures in a post a few down from here.
Okay, except Bonus Nintendo report a net profit in the millions every year.
This year they have had to up their prediction.
So going on about how "bad" Nintendo are doing is irrelevant.
They make a killing.
They also have billions in liquid assets. Which excludes the s**t loads of hard assets they are in pocession of.
Don't scaremonger.
I think I have read this weeks MCV and know how badly they are doing, in the UK.
Already posted the figures in a post a few down from here.
Already posted the figures in a post a few down from here.
I think Bonus is unware how well Nintendo are doing.
No, it's not for the lack of the GCs power,
The GC already has the Player's choice series, which isn't doing very well either.
People who already have Gamecubes are likely to buy games at a full price anyway, especially big game releases by Nintendo themselves.
For the strategy of seling games at half price is to work, they need to sell twice as many copies to make as much money as they do already. Cutting prices isn't going to double sales, and still wouldn't give them any sort of comeback at Sony in terms of income, only sales figures.
The GC already has the Player's choice series, which isn't doing very well either.
People who already have Gamecubes are likely to buy games at a full price anyway, especially big game releases by Nintendo themselves.
For the strategy of seling games at half price is to work, they need to sell twice as many copies to make as much money as they do already. Cutting prices isn't going to double sales, and still wouldn't give them any sort of comeback at Sony in terms of income, only sales figures.
Ok.
Obviously not a short term price cut because the system is doing fine in Japan and still making a bit of money here.
And obviously killer games would sell systems, but I know loads of people who love games like Smash Brothers and Mario Kart but don't see them as serious enough to spend big money on.
But if they saw it cheap then they might well snap it up.
Basically, you're thinking that NOTHING bit a killer game can save Nintendo now, and maybe you're right. I'd be the first to agree that all their GC games have either been too samey or to short to really get into.
But if you had to pick out of:
a) spending a fortune on a new console and starting from scratch
or
b) carry on with the GC and concentrate on making solid games at more affordable prices.
Which would it be.
That killer game that you speak of, it's not for lack of the Gamecube's processing power, is it?
Obviously not a short term price cut because the system is doing fine in Japan and still making a bit of money here.
And obviously killer games would sell systems, but I know loads of people who love games like Smash Brothers and Mario Kart but don't see them as serious enough to spend big money on.
But if they saw it cheap then they might well snap it up.
Basically, you're thinking that NOTHING bit a killer game can save Nintendo now, and maybe you're right. I'd be the first to agree that all their GC games have either been too samey or to short to really get into.
But if you had to pick out of:
a) spending a fortune on a new console and starting from scratch
or
b) carry on with the GC and concentrate on making solid games at more affordable prices.
Which would it be.
That killer game that you speak of, it's not for lack of the Gamecube's processing power, is it?
Maybe you just don't know HOW bad things have got for Nintendo right now.
In this weeks MCV their is a breakdown of the market share for each of the platforms game sales last month.
PS2 had a 40.4% of a market share
PC 35%
Xbox 14.6%
GBA 5%
GC 3.5%
PSOne 1.1%
Remebering that every game sold, 20% of the revenue goes to the console manufacturer, the GBA and GC combined are at a lower level than the Xbox. The picture is similar in the US, but massively different in Japan, where GC is well ahead of the Xbox.
Lowering the prices in the West could trigger a backlash against high prices in Japan, where Nintendo can't afford to upset people and can't afford to stop making the money which is keeping them afloat.
In terms of publishing share, Nintendo had a 2.4% market share in 14th place last month. Microsoft were at 13 with 2.6%, SCEE 5th with 4.8% and EA well clear at the top with a 22.8% market share.
Nintendo are in third place right now in terms of publishing and format market share. They need better games, not cheaper games.
Consumer apathy at seeing yet another Mario game, or yet another Zelda game?
Maybe even apathy at seeing yet another Pokemon game which was just the same as the first two. I don't know, but something definately is going wrong, and I doubt marketing the GC to be in direct competition pricewise with the GBA is the best answer.
In this weeks MCV their is a breakdown of the market share for each of the platforms game sales last month.
PS2 had a 40.4% of a market share
PC 35%
Xbox 14.6%
GBA 5%
GC 3.5%
PSOne 1.1%
Remebering that every game sold, 20% of the revenue goes to the console manufacturer, the GBA and GC combined are at a lower level than the Xbox. The picture is similar in the US, but massively different in Japan, where GC is well ahead of the Xbox.
Lowering the prices in the West could trigger a backlash against high prices in Japan, where Nintendo can't afford to upset people and can't afford to stop making the money which is keeping them afloat.
In terms of publishing share, Nintendo had a 2.4% market share in 14th place last month. Microsoft were at 13 with 2.6%, SCEE 5th with 4.8% and EA well clear at the top with a 22.8% market share.
Nintendo are in third place right now in terms of publishing and format market share. They need better games, not cheaper games.
Consumer apathy at seeing yet another Mario game, or yet another Zelda game?
Maybe even apathy at seeing yet another Pokemon game which was just the same as the first two. I don't know, but something definately is going wrong, and I doubt marketing the GC to be in direct competition pricewise with the GBA is the best answer.
Ok. Obviously they'd have reduced profit per game, but by now shouldn't games be a lot easier to make with the amount of devellopment techniques and tools they've got.
Also I reckon they'd sell a LOT more units out of it.
Some companies like Ubisoft are already happy to release a brand new game for £20. And what a gem it was.
Another thing is that with the games being released cheap, people wouldn't expect so much of them, so they could afford to be more relaxed with a game.
Another set of levels for Mario Sunshine would seem like a real rip-off at £40, but at £20 it seems almost passable...
Also I reckon they'd sell a LOT more units out of it.
Some companies like Ubisoft are already happy to release a brand new game for £20. And what a gem it was.
Another thing is that with the games being released cheap, people wouldn't expect so much of them, so they could afford to be more relaxed with a game.
Another set of levels for Mario Sunshine would seem like a real rip-off at £40, but at £20 it seems almost passable...
Not really.
Budget would mean budget game prices too, and publishers just wouldn't go for that, neither would retail.
You've got to remember that retail take 40% of the cost of a game, so at £40 each thats £10 to stores such as Game etc. I've no idea how websites manage to sell games at below £30 unless the distributers are getting publishers or developers to cut what they are taking, but at this precise moment in timemoney is the driving force in the game industry.
Sony is rakin git in in roylaties to the tune of $2.5 billion per year from the sale of third party games on their Playstation branded goods.
Don't know the figure for Nintendo but their saving grace is that for a first party game they are the developer, publisher and console manufacturer and are therefore taking 60% of all money taken for every game sold by them.
Considering the only games worth owning a GC for are really Nintendo's games (meaning most other games are on other platforms or will be at some point), this means that making a loss on the hardware and maximising the number of first party games Nintendo can sell at full price is their best way of making money right now.
By cutting the GC to be a budget machine at this stage of the game is just dooming it to be an also ran, not taken seriously by the casual gamer, and not being what kids might want to play this Christmas.
If you really want to know what I think Nintendo shoudl do is, controversially, so I'll hide for this one, start making game for other platforms. Not their major IP, but new games, maybe not even first party and definately not the IP Nintendo fans would buy a Nintendo console for, but definately publishing some AAA quality software for other consoles in the last few years of the PS2 and Xbox, get people interested in what Nintendo are doing, then switch it all to Revolution exclusives when it comes out. If people like those games, they will follow it, with a killer Mario, Zelda and proper Pokemon game on a new console, they couldn't go wrong. Traditionally Nintendo do make the best games, not always my cup of tea, but they could make a lot of money by releasing the sort of quality the PS2 and Xbox sorely lack in so many genres.
Tantilise a new audience who didn't ever play on a SNES or NES and get back some of the titles they lost to the Playstation by being the bad guys of the industry 15 years ago.
Budget would mean budget game prices too, and publishers just wouldn't go for that, neither would retail.
You've got to remember that retail take 40% of the cost of a game, so at £40 each thats £10 to stores such as Game etc. I've no idea how websites manage to sell games at below £30 unless the distributers are getting publishers or developers to cut what they are taking, but at this precise moment in timemoney is the driving force in the game industry.
Sony is rakin git in in roylaties to the tune of $2.5 billion per year from the sale of third party games on their Playstation branded goods.
Don't know the figure for Nintendo but their saving grace is that for a first party game they are the developer, publisher and console manufacturer and are therefore taking 60% of all money taken for every game sold by them.
Considering the only games worth owning a GC for are really Nintendo's games (meaning most other games are on other platforms or will be at some point), this means that making a loss on the hardware and maximising the number of first party games Nintendo can sell at full price is their best way of making money right now.
By cutting the GC to be a budget machine at this stage of the game is just dooming it to be an also ran, not taken seriously by the casual gamer, and not being what kids might want to play this Christmas.
If you really want to know what I think Nintendo shoudl do is, controversially, so I'll hide for this one, start making game for other platforms. Not their major IP, but new games, maybe not even first party and definately not the IP Nintendo fans would buy a Nintendo console for, but definately publishing some AAA quality software for other consoles in the last few years of the PS2 and Xbox, get people interested in what Nintendo are doing, then switch it all to Revolution exclusives when it comes out. If people like those games, they will follow it, with a killer Mario, Zelda and proper Pokemon game on a new console, they couldn't go wrong. Traditionally Nintendo do make the best games, not always my cup of tea, but they could make a lot of money by releasing the sort of quality the PS2 and Xbox sorely lack in so many genres.
Tantilise a new audience who didn't ever play on a SNES or NES and get back some of the titles they lost to the Playstation by being the bad guys of the industry 15 years ago.
I was more thinking of what I'd like to see rather than what Nintendo would realistically do. But perhaps after laying low with some cheap 'n cheerful games, perhaps they're ready to try something major again...
Anysway Bonus, what do you make of the budget Gamecube plan.
Do you think it could finally give Nintendo their own place in the market, alongside rather than against MS and Sony, or do you think it would just be giving up and pining away?
Anysway Bonus, what do you make of the budget Gamecube plan.
Do you think it could finally give Nintendo their own place in the market, alongside rather than against MS and Sony, or do you think it would just be giving up and pining away?
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