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Nintendo are not the company that runs risks, this is why they have outlasted so many of their competitors. They are weary of losing money in Online gaming, they're nervous of the amount of money they can lose with mass advertisement and so their main new gameplay ideas such as the GBA-GC connection are on a small scale. But it is these lack of risks that created the Playstation, these lack of risks that mean year in year out Nintendo's sales are slowly depleating...
And so once again, much like this time last generation, we rely on Nintendo kicking butt with their next generation of systems. Why do "we" rely on this? Because dammit I WANT to play Driv3r, I WANT to play Hitman 3 and I WANT to play Grand Theft Auto... I don't care if they look crap (I know Hitman certainly doesn't) but if Nintendo want a cut of these system sellers they NEED to get a larger share of the market. And Nintendo aren't pretending otherwise.
The Gamecube 2, N5 or Dr. Doolittle's house of fun... whatever you want to call it WILL have specifications to match their rivals. Ignore Iwati going on about "no need for good graphics" they did that last time to some effect and Nintendo know the importance of multi-format titles. Hopefully Nintendo can continue their good ties with Capcom, EA, Namco and SEGA into the next generation because that will be damn useful. What games we are to recieve is up for speculation... Smash Brothers and Mario Kart seem a certainty as does a Mario game, whether this is the much touted Mario 128 or not is to be seen. Regardless we won't know anything until E3 2005 and so we will just have to wait and see.
Regarding The Gameboy next/extreme/advance 2/Dr. Doolittle house of fun... we can make a few more educated guesses about. The system will be released late in comparison to the PSP, it doesn't mean Nintendo are giving Sony a head start. The price of the PSP will mean the Gameboy Advance SP... coupled with a nice price cut will still enjoy the exact same success as before. Also Nintendo plan to steal alot of Sony's thunder with the DS... Sony going up against 2 Nintendo handhelds is very risky especially as both will undercut the price greatly. The IQue also gives a hint to what we can expect from the next Gameboy, the IQue has the power to play Nintendo 64 games and is the approximate size of an N64 controller, slap on a screen and you have a N64 handheld... easy. With the fast pacing improvements in technology we can expect a higher specifications system than THAT! What does this mean? Well it means yet ANOTHER re-release (Ocarina of Time was released 3 times last year!) of Ocarina of Time, we'll see the long lost Mario 64 on a handheld console and... as RARE are an official Gameboy developer we can expect Perfect Dark, Banjo and maybe even that PROPER re-make of Goldeneye we want to badly.
But these are systems for the back end of 2005/2006 or even 2007. Nintendo's big issue, their big hitter comes in the form of a third piller... the Nintendo DS. Criticised to start with but the public (62.2% in Japan anyway) are starting to come round, developers are getting very excited about it (93.3% of Japanese ones) and retailers are getting ready for it (64.4% Japanese ones at the moment). The Nintendo DS is a dual screen handheld system, conviently released around the same time as the PSP and plans to offer things not seen in the Gaming industry ever before. Dual Screen was done during the Game and Watch era to a slightly reductive affair but with different memory storage, new types of games, the possibilty of touch screen and wireless technology we can assume that Nintendo are pulling out all the stops hardware wise.
Despite how damn cool the entire idea sounds it is the developers that are truly excited. SEGA have recently declared their interest with Sonic Team's Yuji Naka saying:
"We've been waiting for this! We'll be sure to try out something new with this, and release something for the launch!"
Other developers have reported to say things such as "The roots of gaming are returning and it looks like they will put up a good fight", "It should allow the birth of a whole host of new ideas and play experiences that haven't existed before.", "Having two separately functioning screens suits the time perfectly - with users becoming increasingly multi-tasking." and Nintendo's own Camelot had this to say:
"In a game industry that is feeling more and more penned in, this should create a few openings."
Despite negative reports from the general public moaning about lack of concentration of next gen systems or new software for these systems, the gaming world is getting ready for it... in fantastic anticipation. Developers are all discussing the possibilities of this new handheld, such as Koei who stated:
"I think we can make an interesting game with one screen for the large-scale battle with the other screen focusing on a local battle, in historical strategy games, and so on."
Amusement Vision read the specifications of the system and turned their "?" into a "!" (their words not mine). To me Nintendo's last fight no longer seems like a doomed idea, but instead the birth of probably the biggest change in gaming since the onset of 3D gaming.
Nintendo have run their biggest risk in a very long time...
Are you excited yet?
Dringo.
And so once again, much like this time last generation, we rely on Nintendo kicking butt with their next generation of systems. Why do "we" rely on this? Because dammit I WANT to play Driv3r, I WANT to play Hitman 3 and I WANT to play Grand Theft Auto... I don't care if they look crap (I know Hitman certainly doesn't) but if Nintendo want a cut of these system sellers they NEED to get a larger share of the market. And Nintendo aren't pretending otherwise.
The Gamecube 2, N5 or Dr. Doolittle's house of fun... whatever you want to call it WILL have specifications to match their rivals. Ignore Iwati going on about "no need for good graphics" they did that last time to some effect and Nintendo know the importance of multi-format titles. Hopefully Nintendo can continue their good ties with Capcom, EA, Namco and SEGA into the next generation because that will be damn useful. What games we are to recieve is up for speculation... Smash Brothers and Mario Kart seem a certainty as does a Mario game, whether this is the much touted Mario 128 or not is to be seen. Regardless we won't know anything until E3 2005 and so we will just have to wait and see.
Regarding The Gameboy next/extreme/advance 2/Dr. Doolittle house of fun... we can make a few more educated guesses about. The system will be released late in comparison to the PSP, it doesn't mean Nintendo are giving Sony a head start. The price of the PSP will mean the Gameboy Advance SP... coupled with a nice price cut will still enjoy the exact same success as before. Also Nintendo plan to steal alot of Sony's thunder with the DS... Sony going up against 2 Nintendo handhelds is very risky especially as both will undercut the price greatly. The IQue also gives a hint to what we can expect from the next Gameboy, the IQue has the power to play Nintendo 64 games and is the approximate size of an N64 controller, slap on a screen and you have a N64 handheld... easy. With the fast pacing improvements in technology we can expect a higher specifications system than THAT! What does this mean? Well it means yet ANOTHER re-release (Ocarina of Time was released 3 times last year!) of Ocarina of Time, we'll see the long lost Mario 64 on a handheld console and... as RARE are an official Gameboy developer we can expect Perfect Dark, Banjo and maybe even that PROPER re-make of Goldeneye we want to badly.
But these are systems for the back end of 2005/2006 or even 2007. Nintendo's big issue, their big hitter comes in the form of a third piller... the Nintendo DS. Criticised to start with but the public (62.2% in Japan anyway) are starting to come round, developers are getting very excited about it (93.3% of Japanese ones) and retailers are getting ready for it (64.4% Japanese ones at the moment). The Nintendo DS is a dual screen handheld system, conviently released around the same time as the PSP and plans to offer things not seen in the Gaming industry ever before. Dual Screen was done during the Game and Watch era to a slightly reductive affair but with different memory storage, new types of games, the possibilty of touch screen and wireless technology we can assume that Nintendo are pulling out all the stops hardware wise.
Despite how damn cool the entire idea sounds it is the developers that are truly excited. SEGA have recently declared their interest with Sonic Team's Yuji Naka saying:
"We've been waiting for this! We'll be sure to try out something new with this, and release something for the launch!"
Other developers have reported to say things such as "The roots of gaming are returning and it looks like they will put up a good fight", "It should allow the birth of a whole host of new ideas and play experiences that haven't existed before.", "Having two separately functioning screens suits the time perfectly - with users becoming increasingly multi-tasking." and Nintendo's own Camelot had this to say:
"In a game industry that is feeling more and more penned in, this should create a few openings."
Despite negative reports from the general public moaning about lack of concentration of next gen systems or new software for these systems, the gaming world is getting ready for it... in fantastic anticipation. Developers are all discussing the possibilities of this new handheld, such as Koei who stated:
"I think we can make an interesting game with one screen for the large-scale battle with the other screen focusing on a local battle, in historical strategy games, and so on."
Amusement Vision read the specifications of the system and turned their "?" into a "!" (their words not mine). To me Nintendo's last fight no longer seems like a doomed idea, but instead the birth of probably the biggest change in gaming since the onset of 3D gaming.
Nintendo have run their biggest risk in a very long time...
Are you excited yet?
Dringo.
Page:
Belldandy wrote:
> Dringo wrote:
> And Nintendo have learned from their mistakes.
>
> *points to Gamecube*
Nintendo lacked third party support... they worked with far more third party developers than ever before to get more exclusive games. (Final Fantasty, Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, Sonic, Super Monkey Ball, Tales of Symphonia... plus a load of increased multi-format games).
Nintendo create a UK base to improve the situation in Europe.
Nintendo release games quicker.
Nintendo now make games on discs.
Gamecube released at a low price.
Nintendo try to improve adult demographic with help from Capcom, especially with the aquistion of the Resident Evil series and the ownership of Silicon Knights.
Nintendo advertise more than they did during the N64 era.
Points of Concern: Still need to work on third party support but doing a good job so far... Nintendo still working on this especially with Namco, Konami and EA. Release date, need to release things at the same time or before your competitors... Nintendo plan to do this. Need to keep working on changing the adult demographic. More Advertisement still needed.
Those are massive changes, Nintendo really are trying VERY hard to make sure they don't keep making the same mistakes and look what the Gamecube did over it's predecessor... sure nothing to improve Nintendo owners as such but they did do an awful lot to correct what went wrong. Sadly it looks a bit too late.
> *points to DS announcement*
He Says despite not knowing the full capabilities of the system, what it will look like, the specs, how the games will work, how it is being marketed.... in fact we know so damn little about the console that to criticise it is just sodding stupid. As far as we know we'll have a very mature looking system, complete with analogue control... a touchscreen for menus and such forth... new and genius methods of transferring games... could they even be downloadable?
We know nothing, nought, not a thing. So why do you believe Nintendo announcing a new console such as the DS is a mistake?
I can't guarentee it's success... in fact although I have no doubt of its brilliance... I'm worried myself it may fail. But then again it may not and I am waiting till E3 to make a more accurate prediction. As for the PSP though... I am waiting till this time next year when I will utter those immortal words "I Told You So"
> Dringo wrote:
> And Nintendo have learned from their mistakes.
>
> *points to Gamecube*
Nintendo lacked third party support... they worked with far more third party developers than ever before to get more exclusive games. (Final Fantasty, Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, Sonic, Super Monkey Ball, Tales of Symphonia... plus a load of increased multi-format games).
Nintendo create a UK base to improve the situation in Europe.
Nintendo release games quicker.
Nintendo now make games on discs.
Gamecube released at a low price.
Nintendo try to improve adult demographic with help from Capcom, especially with the aquistion of the Resident Evil series and the ownership of Silicon Knights.
Nintendo advertise more than they did during the N64 era.
Points of Concern: Still need to work on third party support but doing a good job so far... Nintendo still working on this especially with Namco, Konami and EA. Release date, need to release things at the same time or before your competitors... Nintendo plan to do this. Need to keep working on changing the adult demographic. More Advertisement still needed.
Those are massive changes, Nintendo really are trying VERY hard to make sure they don't keep making the same mistakes and look what the Gamecube did over it's predecessor... sure nothing to improve Nintendo owners as such but they did do an awful lot to correct what went wrong. Sadly it looks a bit too late.
> *points to DS announcement*
He Says despite not knowing the full capabilities of the system, what it will look like, the specs, how the games will work, how it is being marketed.... in fact we know so damn little about the console that to criticise it is just sodding stupid. As far as we know we'll have a very mature looking system, complete with analogue control... a touchscreen for menus and such forth... new and genius methods of transferring games... could they even be downloadable?
We know nothing, nought, not a thing. So why do you believe Nintendo announcing a new console such as the DS is a mistake?
I can't guarentee it's success... in fact although I have no doubt of its brilliance... I'm worried myself it may fail. But then again it may not and I am waiting till E3 to make a more accurate prediction. As for the PSP though... I am waiting till this time next year when I will utter those immortal words "I Told You So"
Dringo wrote:
> And Nintendo have learned from their mistakes.
*points to Gamecube*
*points to DS announcement*
> And Nintendo have learned from their mistakes.
*points to Gamecube*
*points to DS announcement*
What I am surprised to read is that so many people honestly seem to think history will repeat itself.
The amount of time I read Nintendo point out they know they messed up it won't happen again is almost sickening.
It isn't a matter of selling power, as a portable system Sony can sell it. It's what Sony does... Nintendo had a games machine and Sony turned the gaming market into more of a multi-systemed gaget... that worked heavily in their favour.
Sony are attacking a market that is still VERY much game orientated... it's nice to have something that can play music and games but then my mobile phone does that. It's really not that simple.
Gameboy is still amazingly popular... the console is number #1 The world over despite the fact the GBA came out at £90... only went down when the SP came out and that is still #£90.
Imagine how tough Sony will have, trying to imprint an entire new gaming twist on the handheld market when Nintendo are trying to do the same thing with the DS and Nintendo themselves holding the king of the handheld world... a king that could in fact counter the PSP with a simple price cut? And perhaps a Pokemon game.
Look I'm not saying it isn't dangerous, I know Sony are a dangerous Company... but this isn't their ground anymore... for the last 8 years Nintendo have tried to re-capture their fallen home console empire...
But Sony are taking the war to them, defeating Nintendo's handheld castle will almost certainly kill off the final and most original hardware developer to date. But then Sony are going against a market Nintendo have grabbed hold of far more tightly... This land is far better manned and far harder to bring down.... Nintendo have crushed every being that dare oppose them...
And Nintendo have learned from their mistakes.
We talk about failure for Nintendo being the end of their reign as console super-heavy weights.... but what about defeat for Sony?
What would that do?
The amount of time I read Nintendo point out they know they messed up it won't happen again is almost sickening.
It isn't a matter of selling power, as a portable system Sony can sell it. It's what Sony does... Nintendo had a games machine and Sony turned the gaming market into more of a multi-systemed gaget... that worked heavily in their favour.
Sony are attacking a market that is still VERY much game orientated... it's nice to have something that can play music and games but then my mobile phone does that. It's really not that simple.
Gameboy is still amazingly popular... the console is number #1 The world over despite the fact the GBA came out at £90... only went down when the SP came out and that is still #£90.
Imagine how tough Sony will have, trying to imprint an entire new gaming twist on the handheld market when Nintendo are trying to do the same thing with the DS and Nintendo themselves holding the king of the handheld world... a king that could in fact counter the PSP with a simple price cut? And perhaps a Pokemon game.
Look I'm not saying it isn't dangerous, I know Sony are a dangerous Company... but this isn't their ground anymore... for the last 8 years Nintendo have tried to re-capture their fallen home console empire...
But Sony are taking the war to them, defeating Nintendo's handheld castle will almost certainly kill off the final and most original hardware developer to date. But then Sony are going against a market Nintendo have grabbed hold of far more tightly... This land is far better manned and far harder to bring down.... Nintendo have crushed every being that dare oppose them...
And Nintendo have learned from their mistakes.
We talk about failure for Nintendo being the end of their reign as console super-heavy weights.... but what about defeat for Sony?
What would that do?
Hedfix wrote:
> If Nintendo don't still have the biggest share of the market after the
> PSP is released I will be surprised, then again I'm continually
> surprised by the stupidity of the general populace.
>
> Should be interesting.
> If Nintendo don't still have the biggest share of the market after the
> PSP is released I will be surprised, then again I'm continually
> surprised by the stupidity of the general populace.
>
> Should be interesting.
Back to the DS/PSP debate...
One thing that bearly anyone has mentioned is this.
Pre Playstation launch just about everyone - magazines, internet, word of mouth - all said the same thing. Sony couldn't break into the videogame market despite them buying up god knows how many games/publishers. Within a month of launch that changed. Gamesmaster magazine were the ones to really start the ball rolling when they reviewed a pile of import Playstation games - Ridge Racer in particular - it WAS the arcade game in your home. sounds daft now, but it was true then. Playstation's line up was pretty weak to begin with - relying on Namco for Ridge Racer, Tekken and Ace Combat, and a few other publishers along with a PC port of Doom.
You all know the rest. Sony is now #1 in the world for videogames in terms of popularity. You can argue all you want, the brand and the consoles are the most popular regardless of your opinion of how that came about.
Now Sony is taking on the handheld market.
What was a main reason behind the Playstation's unimaginable success? Marketing to the people who didn't have a console or play videogames. Not the people counting down the days to launch, but the people who would see it advertised on tv and in magazines etc.
It idn't matter if people had one console already, because odds were they would choose Sony or another brand anyway. Sony went after the new market, the people who hadn't even chosen. Most of those people chose Sony and will do for the considerable future.
The same will happen with the PSP. The DS and SP do not have much appeal to non gamers. Sorry, but Mario is still a fat cartoon character to most people with an annoying accent. Already the gaming press's knives are out for the DS - Edge and Games TM both criticise it in the latest issues along with running third party columns doing likewise. It's the Ngage all over again. Compare this to the favourable reactions Sony's PSP is getting. It has that look about it, appeal. It's not a gaming device with it's techy twin screens and strange ideas, it plays games, it's shiny, Japanese and has the Sony/Playstation logo.
People WANT it. People who have never had a handheld before WANT it. They are the people that any company wants because they represent a new market and the best chance of unseating the competition in that area. How many GBA's in the UK? Couple of million ? Great, that's about 60 million people without a GBA. Convince 5% of them to buy a handheld and you dominate the market. Say of those couple of million that 75% love Pokemon and that is how Nintendo holds their loyalty. Wow, that means more people DIDN'T like Pokemon and didn't buy a handheld to play the games than didn't. This is why Pokemon cannot help Nintendo against Sony. If you like Pokemon and like the idea of the games odds are you have a handheld.
Sony didn't do what it did by competing for a market, it carved out a new one then made sure no one else would do the same. Microsoft has tried but failed - in Japan this has been spectacularly bad.
One thing that bearly anyone has mentioned is this.
Pre Playstation launch just about everyone - magazines, internet, word of mouth - all said the same thing. Sony couldn't break into the videogame market despite them buying up god knows how many games/publishers. Within a month of launch that changed. Gamesmaster magazine were the ones to really start the ball rolling when they reviewed a pile of import Playstation games - Ridge Racer in particular - it WAS the arcade game in your home. sounds daft now, but it was true then. Playstation's line up was pretty weak to begin with - relying on Namco for Ridge Racer, Tekken and Ace Combat, and a few other publishers along with a PC port of Doom.
You all know the rest. Sony is now #1 in the world for videogames in terms of popularity. You can argue all you want, the brand and the consoles are the most popular regardless of your opinion of how that came about.
Now Sony is taking on the handheld market.
What was a main reason behind the Playstation's unimaginable success? Marketing to the people who didn't have a console or play videogames. Not the people counting down the days to launch, but the people who would see it advertised on tv and in magazines etc.
It idn't matter if people had one console already, because odds were they would choose Sony or another brand anyway. Sony went after the new market, the people who hadn't even chosen. Most of those people chose Sony and will do for the considerable future.
The same will happen with the PSP. The DS and SP do not have much appeal to non gamers. Sorry, but Mario is still a fat cartoon character to most people with an annoying accent. Already the gaming press's knives are out for the DS - Edge and Games TM both criticise it in the latest issues along with running third party columns doing likewise. It's the Ngage all over again. Compare this to the favourable reactions Sony's PSP is getting. It has that look about it, appeal. It's not a gaming device with it's techy twin screens and strange ideas, it plays games, it's shiny, Japanese and has the Sony/Playstation logo.
People WANT it. People who have never had a handheld before WANT it. They are the people that any company wants because they represent a new market and the best chance of unseating the competition in that area. How many GBA's in the UK? Couple of million ? Great, that's about 60 million people without a GBA. Convince 5% of them to buy a handheld and you dominate the market. Say of those couple of million that 75% love Pokemon and that is how Nintendo holds their loyalty. Wow, that means more people DIDN'T like Pokemon and didn't buy a handheld to play the games than didn't. This is why Pokemon cannot help Nintendo against Sony. If you like Pokemon and like the idea of the games odds are you have a handheld.
Sony didn't do what it did by competing for a market, it carved out a new one then made sure no one else would do the same. Microsoft has tried but failed - in Japan this has been spectacularly bad.
Indeed, almost everyone I know has old GB games from when they were young they can now still play, even though their original Game Boys have been broken/discarded/partly mauled by family dog.
Still, launching the DS from scratch without a back catalogue is risky.. but if the line-up is good, with some adult-appealing titles I can see it working.
Still, launching the DS from scratch without a back catalogue is risky.. but if the line-up is good, with some adult-appealing titles I can see it working.
True, but back catalogue also indicates 2nd hand copies and people who want to play their old GB collection on the latest GB handheld.
People say that GameBoy had the back catalogue, but there aren't that many shops that stock really old GameBoy games. Admitterly you can get some second hand, but for some reason the GB 2nd hand bins are never as HUGE as they should be!
:)
:)
* minus the '?' at the end. :D
Bottom Line:
The Gameboy IS the Playstation of the handheld market.
To a degree Nintendo are doing what Sony did in the console market. Sony still sell the very outdated PS1 aswell as the PS2, Nintendo are doing the same but with their handhelds.
The Gameboy has the back catalogue, the established presence and the biggest draw of exclusive licences.
Like I said, if Nintendo lose their no.1 spot in the handheld market I'll be very surprised?
The Gameboy IS the Playstation of the handheld market.
To a degree Nintendo are doing what Sony did in the console market. Sony still sell the very outdated PS1 aswell as the PS2, Nintendo are doing the same but with their handhelds.
The Gameboy has the back catalogue, the established presence and the biggest draw of exclusive licences.
Like I said, if Nintendo lose their no.1 spot in the handheld market I'll be very surprised?
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