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"They think it's all over..."

A wave of steady Nintendo criticism has emerged from the massive European market as of late, stores are dropping prices ready for clear outs, consumers are distasteful over lack of marketing and delays are a constant news item on the C-E news desk. And yet please let me assure you that Nintendo have not pressed the self-destruct button and in fact Nintendo’s “bizarre” decisions are far from bizarre.

CONNECTIVITY

After what was concluded a disappointing E3 (for a change) on Nintendo’s behalf a mass hatred for the Big N’s connectivity plan hit the web. Millions wondering why Nintendo would sacrifice time and money, that could be spent on online play, on some daft connection between the GBA and GC.

But there is a reason, a very good reason in fact, and that this is Nintendo’s “back up” plan. Zelda sales (despite raising Nintendo briefly) weren’t as phenomenal as hoped and neither was Sunshine’s, in fact Nintendo came to realise their AAA titles weren’t cutting it in the long term anymore… it was time for a new strategy. The GBA was a success from day one and the crazy Japanese sales of Pokemon made the latest Gameboy easily as big as the Playstation brand, time to leach that success. The connectivity was always a quirky extra that really has failed to take off, but if Nintendo can somehow make it bigger then you’ll see some of that GBA success emulated on the NGC. What Nintendo need to do is re-launch the idea. Enter Final Fantasy, Pokemon, Zelda and Pac Man, combined with 20 plus EA games and nearly EVERY other Gamecube game. 80% of GC games will feature a connectivity option… you simply can’t escape it. If Nintendo can make the Gamecube and GBA two halves of the same console as they proposed 2 years ago then you could see a leap in sales. That’s not all, as a short term fix Nintendo revealed the GBA player, which is a clever little device that has indeed bumped sales. It is less notable in the west but in Japan (where the simple word Gameboy sells like hotcakes) Gamecube sales have risen from approximately 7,000 to 13,000. Nice.

MARKETING

The idiot who thought it was amusing to say Nintendo cannot market seemed to have a good case. Whilst Sony was selling their products on prime time slots on ITV and in Heat magazine, Nintendo opted for Kerrang and Cartoon Network and print adverts on the back of the Beano… wow. But you see prices for Heat and prime time slots on TV are ludicrously expensive, and if these adverts don’t pay off (SEGA’s Dreamcast catastrophe being a notable example) then Nintendo would be in a whole host of trouble… it’s best to play it safe. Please remember Nintendo has outlasted all of its original competitors and is still surviving against the “young guns” Sony and Microsoft. Evidence of Nintendo’s capability to advertise comes in the form of a creature phenomenon… Pokemon. Everyone knew about Pokemon, many loved it and those who hated it secretly played the games at home… it became a moneymaking company in itself, proof Nintendo can market if they want to.

THE END IS NIGH

No it bloody well isn’t. With Virgin and WH Smiths being the next inline for a Nintendo clear out following on the heels of Dixons and Argos many claim that this signals the end. Pappa_Lazarou commented saying: “You brought it on yourselves Nintendo, and I can't say I'm particularly bothered anymore.” Is this really the final farewell from Nintendo? Not a chance, you see the reason why Dixons and Argos are stop selling Nintendo products is because they weren’t selling Nintendo products… so what’s the problem? All it means is that Nintendo can now concentrate stocking the high street stores that are selling Nintendo titles, online juggernaut Special Reserve has reported that Gamecube products are amongst its best selling items as has high street store GAME. The reason why Dixons and Argos didn’t sell their products was because of simple high street rivalry; GAME got Argos’ customers because GAME did loads of Gamecube related promotions… Argos and Dixons did not.

But of course you can’t hide the fact that Nintendo are simply not selling in some places in Europe (namely the UK, places like Germany love Nintendo), but this isn’t a permanent thing. Nintendo sales change places with Microsoft when Nintendo release a big game, it is that simple… out comes Metroid up goes sales… and this will happen to a far more dramatic effect when we, at long last, get a decent Christmas. Despite the apparent delay of Crystal Chronicles (which might I add, with the wealth of titles is a good thing… it’s always been bigger in Japan anyway), Nintendo have pulled out all the stops this year for a Christmas explosion. F Zero, Metal Gear Solid (America anyway) and Mario Kart are sure to triumph over a GTA missing PS2 or Halo less X-box line up and of course we shouldn’t forget Pikmin 2, Mario Golf, Party 5, Viewtiful Joe and a whole host of others. And what about that price drop? Since the launch of the Gamecube Nintendo have not dropped the price once… how can a company that is apparently struggling in Europe not feel the need to drop the price. Sony and Microsoft keep second-guessing Nintendo with their own price drops and yet Nintendo, now quickly becoming the most expensive console, haven’t done it once. Will we see one in time for Christmas? And if we do will we see Argos and Dixons knocking on Nintendo’s door once more?

Watch this space.

Dringo.

Practical Magic wrote:
> Quote in new OXM from ex Sega bossman about GBA-GC Connectivity;
>
> "We put it in Sonic Adventures 2, the consumer said 'big
> deal'"
>
> He was being sarcastic by the way...

Ignoring of course the entire connectivity wave of first party games... and that all EA games have connectivity involved... And that connectivity will boost Nintendo sales through the Gameboy.

Quote in new OXM from ex Sega bossman about GBA-GC Connectivity;

"We put it in Sonic Adventures 2, the consumer said 'big deal'"

He was being sarcastic by the way...

RastaBillySkank wrote:
> Dringo wrote:
> 1: I've always been a sad lover of the Nintendo franchise
>
> Me too but you take it to the point of fanaticism.

It was a request from conor at cube-europe to write an optimistic view on Nintendo and i thought no problem... sadly he took so long thinking about how it would fit in i gave up and posted it here.

Yeah.

Don't get me wrong: I'd love to see the Cube at the top of the FPS console pile - but it isn't.

Hedfix wrote:
> *Hear's people wheel out MP and TS2 for a poor defence*

They're both amazing games but Metroid prime isn't an FPS and TimeSplitters 2 is multiformat.

Oh, that's what you were saying? :-D

Hedfix wrote:
> Hedfix wrote:
> Although Nintendo have been in the market of game-making way before
> 1985...
>
> Nah dey wazn't u lyer...

kaboom

Damn.

I tricked myself.

Hedfix wrote:
> Although Nintendo have been in the market of game-making way before
> 1985...

Nah dey wazn't u lyer...

Dringo wrote:
> 1: I've always been a sad lover of the Nintendo franchise

So have I. Unfortunately my N64 was better. I love my FPS games and this time Nintendo are getting thrashed FPS-wise.

*Hear's people wheel out MP and TS2 for a poor defence*

*Waits for Geist*

Still Nintendo are the masters of gameplay. So far though my N64 has given me more joy than my Cube...

Dringo wrote:
> 1: I've always been a sad lover of the Nintendo franchise

Me too but you take it to the point of fanaticism.

> 2: I wrote it as an article for another site but was ignored.

Doesn't that tell you something? :-P