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Consoles are becoming more and more versatile these days, so perhaps it was with some trepidation that Nintendo fans heard the announcement that their new console would be a games only machine.
Sega had first launched their Saturn with a Video CD add on which didn't really sell, due to the unpopularity of the Video CD format, and then had launched the Dreamcast with net access and a keyboard, so that you could surf the web through the television. Adding bits to consoles which didn't directly involve gaming took an upturn, though, when Sony first announced that their PS2 would have DVD playback. This accounted for many of the original machines' sales, after all you were getting a DVD player and a new games machine for £300, a bargain.
Sony have always stated that their machine was meant for more than just games, and Microsoft too seem to have gone down this route, having a hard drive and preparing for the downloading of Music and media files. You could speculate that this could perhaps go even further, making the machines more user friendly for CDs and even minidiscs and coming with their own surround speaker set up, turning them into more of a multi-entertainment system. It may even go as far as becoming a full stereo sound system, with radio and graphic equalizers, allowing buyers to get an all-in-one entertainment centre.
Nintendo have stated that they are sticking to games, as that is what they do best, but Panasonic have shown that the buyers may be interested in having more than this by giving the Japanese public the Panasonic-Q system, a Gamecube, DVD player and entertainment system in one. I already know of quite a few people who will be importing one of these and of many more who would buy this over the standard Cube, but is all this all-in-one stuff going too far?
People do not always buy TVs with videos or DVD players built in to them for one important reason. These items have a habit of going wrong during the first 5 years of their lives and customers know that they would have to send the whole thing back for repairs, losing not only the use of a player, but the TV as well. Once the warranty is up, the technology could be made useless because of one of its many parts. The same could be said of these new games machines, if one part fails then you've paid a lot more money for something that will sit around being useless after your warranty expires.
Now obviously, people hope that things don't always go wrong and are prepared to pay their £300 for a new console with DVD playback, but what if this trend continues and we see a far more versatile machine sell for much more than this? Perhaps people will stop buying their multimedia machines and revert to the plain old games machines of old, choosing the safety of multiple pieces of equipment, or perhaps they will go with the trend.
Either way, Nintendo isn't playing it safe by any means, but it does mean that their sales will be high from those customers who either can't afford the other consoles or just aren't bothered by the extra features.
Sega had first launched their Saturn with a Video CD add on which didn't really sell, due to the unpopularity of the Video CD format, and then had launched the Dreamcast with net access and a keyboard, so that you could surf the web through the television. Adding bits to consoles which didn't directly involve gaming took an upturn, though, when Sony first announced that their PS2 would have DVD playback. This accounted for many of the original machines' sales, after all you were getting a DVD player and a new games machine for £300, a bargain.
Sony have always stated that their machine was meant for more than just games, and Microsoft too seem to have gone down this route, having a hard drive and preparing for the downloading of Music and media files. You could speculate that this could perhaps go even further, making the machines more user friendly for CDs and even minidiscs and coming with their own surround speaker set up, turning them into more of a multi-entertainment system. It may even go as far as becoming a full stereo sound system, with radio and graphic equalizers, allowing buyers to get an all-in-one entertainment centre.
Nintendo have stated that they are sticking to games, as that is what they do best, but Panasonic have shown that the buyers may be interested in having more than this by giving the Japanese public the Panasonic-Q system, a Gamecube, DVD player and entertainment system in one. I already know of quite a few people who will be importing one of these and of many more who would buy this over the standard Cube, but is all this all-in-one stuff going too far?
People do not always buy TVs with videos or DVD players built in to them for one important reason. These items have a habit of going wrong during the first 5 years of their lives and customers know that they would have to send the whole thing back for repairs, losing not only the use of a player, but the TV as well. Once the warranty is up, the technology could be made useless because of one of its many parts. The same could be said of these new games machines, if one part fails then you've paid a lot more money for something that will sit around being useless after your warranty expires.
Now obviously, people hope that things don't always go wrong and are prepared to pay their £300 for a new console with DVD playback, but what if this trend continues and we see a far more versatile machine sell for much more than this? Perhaps people will stop buying their multimedia machines and revert to the plain old games machines of old, choosing the safety of multiple pieces of equipment, or perhaps they will go with the trend.
Either way, Nintendo isn't playing it safe by any means, but it does mean that their sales will be high from those customers who either can't afford the other consoles or just aren't bothered by the extra features.
One of the reasons I bought a PS2 was because I could watch DVD's on it.
I would prefer not to have a TV, and a seperate VCR and a seperate DVD player and a seperate games console. I just get a mess of wires and cables behind the telly, and it's a nightmare.
Also, with me being halfway through my universirt course, and moving around the country a bit, I don't want to have to move all the electronics equipment around with me.
So I've got a TV/VCR combination thing, and a PS2 to play games and watch films.
4 bits of equipment, only two units to move, only two plug sockets required.
Jubbly.
I can see what you mean about if it goes wrong after the warranty expires you could bein the poo, but TV's and stuff are only designed to last 5 years anyway. Yup, you read that right. They are designed and built to go wrong between 5 and 7 years after purchase. So you'd have to buy a new one at some point anyway.
I would prefer not to have a TV, and a seperate VCR and a seperate DVD player and a seperate games console. I just get a mess of wires and cables behind the telly, and it's a nightmare.
Also, with me being halfway through my universirt course, and moving around the country a bit, I don't want to have to move all the electronics equipment around with me.
So I've got a TV/VCR combination thing, and a PS2 to play games and watch films.
4 bits of equipment, only two units to move, only two plug sockets required.
Jubbly.
I can see what you mean about if it goes wrong after the warranty expires you could bein the poo, but TV's and stuff are only designed to last 5 years anyway. Yup, you read that right. They are designed and built to go wrong between 5 and 7 years after purchase. So you'd have to buy a new one at some point anyway.
I think the all in one home entertainment unit thing is a nice idea, but relying on just one piece of kit for so many functions is a danger, as you say pb.
Also, I'd already spent enough money on a nice CD player, and DVD player, I'd resent having to fork out extra for a console for a feature I didn't need or want.
Adding DVD playback to the Playstation, fortunately, didn't add to the cost of it. Apparently the machine already used a similar type of playback for parts of the games anyway. I don't care what it's called, it was just in there already, okay?
So you're not paying extra, it's a nice bonus, but if, in the future, I found that I'd have to pay extra for a console, as it also wants to play my CDs, pick up my TV signals and walk the dog, I might not be so pleased.
Especially as I don't have a dog.
Also, I'd already spent enough money on a nice CD player, and DVD player, I'd resent having to fork out extra for a console for a feature I didn't need or want.
Adding DVD playback to the Playstation, fortunately, didn't add to the cost of it. Apparently the machine already used a similar type of playback for parts of the games anyway. I don't care what it's called, it was just in there already, okay?
So you're not paying extra, it's a nice bonus, but if, in the future, I found that I'd have to pay extra for a console, as it also wants to play my CDs, pick up my TV signals and walk the dog, I might not be so pleased.
Especially as I don't have a dog.
I prefer a games console to be just that - a games console, pure and simple. I've owned a PS2 for over 12 months and there hasn't been a DVD movie within 20 feet of it. If it had a modem also I wouldn't have used it to connect to the net either.
I like the GameCube's purist approach, but one thing they shouldn't do is start releasing add-ons, but no doubt they probably will - it never goes down well.
I like the GameCube's purist approach, but one thing they shouldn't do is start releasing add-ons, but no doubt they probably will - it never goes down well.
Consoles are becoming more and more versatile these days, so perhaps it was with some trepidation that Nintendo fans heard the announcement that their new console would be a games only machine.
Sega had first launched their Saturn with a Video CD add on which didn't really sell, due to the unpopularity of the Video CD format, and then had launched the Dreamcast with net access and a keyboard, so that you could surf the web through the television. Adding bits to consoles which didn't directly involve gaming took an upturn, though, when Sony first announced that their PS2 would have DVD playback. This accounted for many of the original machines' sales, after all you were getting a DVD player and a new games machine for £300, a bargain.
Sony have always stated that their machine was meant for more than just games, and Microsoft too seem to have gone down this route, having a hard drive and preparing for the downloading of Music and media files. You could speculate that this could perhaps go even further, making the machines more user friendly for CDs and even minidiscs and coming with their own surround speaker set up, turning them into more of a multi-entertainment system. It may even go as far as becoming a full stereo sound system, with radio and graphic equalizers, allowing buyers to get an all-in-one entertainment centre.
Nintendo have stated that they are sticking to games, as that is what they do best, but Panasonic have shown that the buyers may be interested in having more than this by giving the Japanese public the Panasonic-Q system, a Gamecube, DVD player and entertainment system in one. I already know of quite a few people who will be importing one of these and of many more who would buy this over the standard Cube, but is all this all-in-one stuff going too far?
People do not always buy TVs with videos or DVD players built in to them for one important reason. These items have a habit of going wrong during the first 5 years of their lives and customers know that they would have to send the whole thing back for repairs, losing not only the use of a player, but the TV as well. Once the warranty is up, the technology could be made useless because of one of its many parts. The same could be said of these new games machines, if one part fails then you've paid a lot more money for something that will sit around being useless after your warranty expires.
Now obviously, people hope that things don't always go wrong and are prepared to pay their £300 for a new console with DVD playback, but what if this trend continues and we see a far more versatile machine sell for much more than this? Perhaps people will stop buying their multimedia machines and revert to the plain old games machines of old, choosing the safety of multiple pieces of equipment, or perhaps they will go with the trend.
Either way, Nintendo isn't playing it safe by any means, but it does mean that their sales will be high from those customers who either can't afford the other consoles or just aren't bothered by the extra features.
Sega had first launched their Saturn with a Video CD add on which didn't really sell, due to the unpopularity of the Video CD format, and then had launched the Dreamcast with net access and a keyboard, so that you could surf the web through the television. Adding bits to consoles which didn't directly involve gaming took an upturn, though, when Sony first announced that their PS2 would have DVD playback. This accounted for many of the original machines' sales, after all you were getting a DVD player and a new games machine for £300, a bargain.
Sony have always stated that their machine was meant for more than just games, and Microsoft too seem to have gone down this route, having a hard drive and preparing for the downloading of Music and media files. You could speculate that this could perhaps go even further, making the machines more user friendly for CDs and even minidiscs and coming with their own surround speaker set up, turning them into more of a multi-entertainment system. It may even go as far as becoming a full stereo sound system, with radio and graphic equalizers, allowing buyers to get an all-in-one entertainment centre.
Nintendo have stated that they are sticking to games, as that is what they do best, but Panasonic have shown that the buyers may be interested in having more than this by giving the Japanese public the Panasonic-Q system, a Gamecube, DVD player and entertainment system in one. I already know of quite a few people who will be importing one of these and of many more who would buy this over the standard Cube, but is all this all-in-one stuff going too far?
People do not always buy TVs with videos or DVD players built in to them for one important reason. These items have a habit of going wrong during the first 5 years of their lives and customers know that they would have to send the whole thing back for repairs, losing not only the use of a player, but the TV as well. Once the warranty is up, the technology could be made useless because of one of its many parts. The same could be said of these new games machines, if one part fails then you've paid a lot more money for something that will sit around being useless after your warranty expires.
Now obviously, people hope that things don't always go wrong and are prepared to pay their £300 for a new console with DVD playback, but what if this trend continues and we see a far more versatile machine sell for much more than this? Perhaps people will stop buying their multimedia machines and revert to the plain old games machines of old, choosing the safety of multiple pieces of equipment, or perhaps they will go with the trend.
Either way, Nintendo isn't playing it safe by any means, but it does mean that their sales will be high from those customers who either can't afford the other consoles or just aren't bothered by the extra features.