The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
And no- I'm not talking about the similarities between the Xbox and N64 launches! (Both consoles dropped £100 within a month of launch).
Instead, I'm talking about the GC and the Xbox...
You see, MS really had a good thing going. No one would say that the Xbox is a bad console- it certainly has as good quality games as the PS2, and equal launch pricing. However, despite this, the Sony brand has come out on top, forcing MS to lower prices swiftly.
Now, unlike MS, Ninty already knew that Sony would dominate even if they did come out with the greatest console of all time... So rather than launch at a "normal" launch price (£300ish) they decided to lower the cost of the console AT THE OUTSET by not including extras like the DVD player.
The amazing thing is that Ninty, by planning to set a low price, have come off worst. Rather than have the lowest priced console that, although has no extras, comes at a price far less than the competition, they have managed to get a console with no extras at a price almost the same as the competition. Meanwhile MS may be making a huge loss, but this was always the intention.
Your thoughts…
Sonic
Instead, I'm talking about the GC and the Xbox...
You see, MS really had a good thing going. No one would say that the Xbox is a bad console- it certainly has as good quality games as the PS2, and equal launch pricing. However, despite this, the Sony brand has come out on top, forcing MS to lower prices swiftly.
Now, unlike MS, Ninty already knew that Sony would dominate even if they did come out with the greatest console of all time... So rather than launch at a "normal" launch price (£300ish) they decided to lower the cost of the console AT THE OUTSET by not including extras like the DVD player.
The amazing thing is that Ninty, by planning to set a low price, have come off worst. Rather than have the lowest priced console that, although has no extras, comes at a price far less than the competition, they have managed to get a console with no extras at a price almost the same as the competition. Meanwhile MS may be making a huge loss, but this was always the intention.
Your thoughts…
Sonic
Page:
Indeed. They should have made the Dreamcast backwards-compatible. It would have been so much better if it was.
But any Sega fan will tell you, in terms of innovation and game quality, the Saturn was possibly Sega's greatest hour. Panzer Dragoon Saga is a collectors must have, NiGHTS! still tops the originality lists, and VF2 was the first arcade perfect conversion... and Daytona followed.
Shame the console was poo.
Sonic
Shame the console was poo.
Sonic
Not sure, but no-one on here really counts because we all know that the Dreamcast and MegaDrive were class. :-D
Well, I never played a Saturn, loved the MegaDrive, and I will be getting a Dreamcast this summer! Does this help to prove your point Turbonutter.
Well, as long as we get our consoles and games and stuff..
No, they were just seriously stupid. Think about it:
Saturn - appalling. Easily the worst of the 3 consoles in the last generation. So, Sega have a bad track record, especially with that oh-so-important 18-30 age range who don't know of Sega's fantastic successes with the MegaDrive. So, they release a very good console in the lull PSone <-> PS2. This was a massive mistake. People don't want a DC because the Saturn was crap anyway. Also, the PS2 is just around the corner, no one wants to spend £200 on a DC, with less power, and possibly miss out on a PS2. It's a price thing. I woul've loved a DC, but I just couldn't afford it because I wanted a PS2 more. 18-30s could possibly have afforded one, but the Saturn's successes, the lack of power and the imminency of the PS2 combined made the Dreamcast an unsure purchase. Their loss no doubt, but that's the way the cookie crumbles and Sega should've known this.
Saturn - appalling. Easily the worst of the 3 consoles in the last generation. So, Sega have a bad track record, especially with that oh-so-important 18-30 age range who don't know of Sega's fantastic successes with the MegaDrive. So, they release a very good console in the lull PSone <-> PS2. This was a massive mistake. People don't want a DC because the Saturn was crap anyway. Also, the PS2 is just around the corner, no one wants to spend £200 on a DC, with less power, and possibly miss out on a PS2. It's a price thing. I woul've loved a DC, but I just couldn't afford it because I wanted a PS2 more. 18-30s could possibly have afforded one, but the Saturn's successes, the lack of power and the imminency of the PS2 combined made the Dreamcast an unsure purchase. Their loss no doubt, but that's the way the cookie crumbles and Sega should've known this.
===SONICRAV---> wrote:
> Ah, Strafex, I think you missed something...
>
> You assume that MS wants to make back the console losses with game
> sales... Not true!
>
> In fact, MS DON'T expect to get profit until the NEXT console
> generation... the whole point of the xbox is to get some foothold into
> the console market now- at ANY cost.
Sheesh! Talk about long term planning!
> And when you consider that a console as good as the Dreamcast failed,
> then I think you'll agree that this takes some effort- even with MS's
> wallet. All of which says that MS must be doing a good job against
> tough odds.
I think that Sega was just SERIOUSLY unlucky. I don't think that it'll happen again so easily...
Having said that, there might not be a next generation for a long while yet, especially with uses of big amounts of power becoming more and more trivial...
> Ah, Strafex, I think you missed something...
>
> You assume that MS wants to make back the console losses with game
> sales... Not true!
>
> In fact, MS DON'T expect to get profit until the NEXT console
> generation... the whole point of the xbox is to get some foothold into
> the console market now- at ANY cost.
Sheesh! Talk about long term planning!
> And when you consider that a console as good as the Dreamcast failed,
> then I think you'll agree that this takes some effort- even with MS's
> wallet. All of which says that MS must be doing a good job against
> tough odds.
I think that Sega was just SERIOUSLY unlucky. I don't think that it'll happen again so easily...
Having said that, there might not be a next generation for a long while yet, especially with uses of big amounts of power becoming more and more trivial...
Well, the situation is this:
JAPAN:
PS2 amassing huge sales
GC doing well, but still miles off Sony
Xbox..... *cough*
AMERICA:
PS2 amassing huge sales
Xbox doing very well (perhaps it's be breaking PS2 sales in a few years?)
GC doing well, and getting a big foothold.
Europe:
PS2 amassing huge sales
Xbox getting okish sales. It's stay alive so long as it exists in America.
GC not out... but should do a bit better than the Xbox.
Sonic
JAPAN:
PS2 amassing huge sales
GC doing well, but still miles off Sony
Xbox..... *cough*
AMERICA:
PS2 amassing huge sales
Xbox doing very well (perhaps it's be breaking PS2 sales in a few years?)
GC doing well, and getting a big foothold.
Europe:
PS2 amassing huge sales
Xbox getting okish sales. It's stay alive so long as it exists in America.
GC not out... but should do a bit better than the Xbox.
Sonic
Yep, no matter what Ninty and MS try to do, it's too late. The PS2 has already topped the sales charts and won't be moving.
All they can do now is rival with each other and continue to produce the goods to keep their fans from turning elsewhere.
I really wish the GameCube could at least play normal CD's!
I'm not that bothered about the DVD player, but at least Nintendo have shown that they are creating a GAMES console and not a monstrosity for all-sorts of bits and bobs.
All they can do now is rival with each other and continue to produce the goods to keep their fans from turning elsewhere.
I really wish the GameCube could at least play normal CD's!
I'm not that bothered about the DVD player, but at least Nintendo have shown that they are creating a GAMES console and not a monstrosity for all-sorts of bits and bobs.
We'll ignore today's price cut news, as to be honest, the Gamecube would sell a certain amount of units no matter what the price, simply because it's a Nintendo console, and it's the only one that will let you play the likes of Mario, Zelda and Pokémon games.
The Xbox price drop will no doubt help to shift some units, but again they'll stop selling if games that appeal to the public don't keep coming. Personally I reckon they'll need to have Halo, and some other launch titles rereleased as budget titles (like the Playstation's Platinum titles) in time for Xmas to give them aboost to get them through their first year, after which you can only hope that there will be plenty of decent titles in the pipeline.
The Xbox price drop will no doubt help to shift some units, but again they'll stop selling if games that appeal to the public don't keep coming. Personally I reckon they'll need to have Halo, and some other launch titles rereleased as budget titles (like the Playstation's Platinum titles) in time for Xmas to give them aboost to get them through their first year, after which you can only hope that there will be plenty of decent titles in the pipeline.
Page: