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Let's face facts: the PS2 launch was so far off the proverbial mark that not even NASA could locate it. Yet despite this, the console sold out well before launch and will go ontos sell over 100 million units.
Why? Because of underhand marketting by Sony. Fake "demos" run off supercomputers (I have yet to see a 70 man Tekken brawl), and promises of online gaming that have only just materialised are key examples. The way Sony managed to steal the front page of magazines just as Sega made an announcement about the Dreamcast...
Sega, with the Dreamcast produced a pretty neat piece of kit. Original, innovative games, more than enough exclusives and revolutions like standardised console gaming should have paved the way to success... it failed.
So here we are in the ashes of the Dreamcast, and it seems that Nintendo have learned from Sega's mistakes: play the media. It isn't enough to make a good console- this isn't even necissary. What you need to break the market is media control.
Nintendo have gone about this pretty well. Purposely allowing details of the console's launch to be "leaked" only hours before they were to be announced grabbed media attention- every site and newspaper reported the story thinking they were getting details a head of time. Nintendo's E3 line up has been "leaked" too- just a few days before it was to be formally announced. Guess what? Every gaming site carried the news as a top story.
Meanwhile Nintendo haven't been too kind to serious gamers. They've just stopped retro importers from selling imported American SNES games that never came out in this country anyway. They've even gone to the lengths to make Luigi's Mansion available for puchase only- you won't be able to rnt it anywhere.
But Nintendo have realised that none of this matters. As long as they continue to get good news out into papers and prime time advertising they should do just fine. Most gamers won't know about the Luigi's Mansion news, and won't associate the lack of a copy in Blobkbusters with Nintendo.
That's what it's all about- disassociation. Sony managed to blame the lack of PS2 consoles at launch on the massive demand- ignoring the blatent scandels that arrose after the company's chip manufacturing plant failed to reach quality control standards.
The nice guys, like Sega, admitted fully that the console delay was their fault- they hdn't the capacity for online gaming on day one, so they delayed.
Just goes to show, nice guys finnish last...
Sonic
Why? Because of underhand marketting by Sony. Fake "demos" run off supercomputers (I have yet to see a 70 man Tekken brawl), and promises of online gaming that have only just materialised are key examples. The way Sony managed to steal the front page of magazines just as Sega made an announcement about the Dreamcast...
Sega, with the Dreamcast produced a pretty neat piece of kit. Original, innovative games, more than enough exclusives and revolutions like standardised console gaming should have paved the way to success... it failed.
So here we are in the ashes of the Dreamcast, and it seems that Nintendo have learned from Sega's mistakes: play the media. It isn't enough to make a good console- this isn't even necissary. What you need to break the market is media control.
Nintendo have gone about this pretty well. Purposely allowing details of the console's launch to be "leaked" only hours before they were to be announced grabbed media attention- every site and newspaper reported the story thinking they were getting details a head of time. Nintendo's E3 line up has been "leaked" too- just a few days before it was to be formally announced. Guess what? Every gaming site carried the news as a top story.
Meanwhile Nintendo haven't been too kind to serious gamers. They've just stopped retro importers from selling imported American SNES games that never came out in this country anyway. They've even gone to the lengths to make Luigi's Mansion available for puchase only- you won't be able to rnt it anywhere.
But Nintendo have realised that none of this matters. As long as they continue to get good news out into papers and prime time advertising they should do just fine. Most gamers won't know about the Luigi's Mansion news, and won't associate the lack of a copy in Blobkbusters with Nintendo.
That's what it's all about- disassociation. Sony managed to blame the lack of PS2 consoles at launch on the massive demand- ignoring the blatent scandels that arrose after the company's chip manufacturing plant failed to reach quality control standards.
The nice guys, like Sega, admitted fully that the console delay was their fault- they hdn't the capacity for online gaming on day one, so they delayed.
Just goes to show, nice guys finnish last...
Sonic
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I couldn't agree more sibs, and yes, the SNES games are second hand...
Why would Ninty stop a UK retailer sell games that aren't sold any more and never came out in this country anyway? It's ridiculous!
Why would Ninty stop a UK retailer sell games that aren't sold any more and never came out in this country anyway? It's ridiculous!
I don't think Ninty should stop people importing... they may well do, but I don't think they should as what's wrong with people getting games from a different country if they are cheaper/ out earlier etc.? And stopping the SNES game imports is ridiculous. Ninty won't make any money off em anyhow (they'll be second hand games I'd assume) and if people don't buy the cart they'll just download a ROM which is a threat to ALL gaming consoles and developers, I'm sure there are already PS2 emulators and ROMs and probably GameCube and Xbox ones around somewhere or in development by people.
Although I think ROMs are okay for old consoles which are no longer in production and their games are no longer in production either, they are a threat to new consoles, and surely Nintendo should see them as a greater threat than importing games of an old 'dead' system...?
Although I think ROMs are okay for old consoles which are no longer in production and their games are no longer in production either, they are a threat to new consoles, and surely Nintendo should see them as a greater threat than importing games of an old 'dead' system...?
===SONICRAV---> wrote:
> RM18 wrote:
> True, to be honest I think I've been a little mixed up with piracy
> and
> importing.
>
>
> Like Sony... who claim both are equally as bad ;)
But privately liking it :)
> RM18 wrote:
> True, to be honest I think I've been a little mixed up with piracy
> and
> importing.
>
>
> Like Sony... who claim both are equally as bad ;)
But privately liking it :)
RM18 wrote:
> True, to be honest I think I've been a little mixed up with piracy and
> importing.
Like Sony... who claim both are equally as bad ;)
Sonic
> True, to be honest I think I've been a little mixed up with piracy and
> importing.
Like Sony... who claim both are equally as bad ;)
Sonic
True, to be honest I think I've been a little mixed up with piracy and importing.
RM, surely by using the small discs, it AIDS importers? After all, people are now completely free to create chips for the console, and Ninty can't say "but chips let you play copied games", because you can't make copied games anyway!
And yes, I agree that Ninty have never been import friendly- the mark up on UK games has traditionally been so big for them that they don't want people saving money (SHOCK!).
Sonic
And yes, I agree that Ninty have never been import friendly- the mark up on UK games has traditionally been so big for them that they don't want people saving money (SHOCK!).
Sonic
I'm not sure to be honest, but Nintendo have always struck me as a company that is against imports and chipped consoles. No matter what they say about loading times etc etc (although I'm sure that was a contributor) I think the decision to choose small 8mmm discs over DVD's, which if I remeber correctly have 4.5 GB of data to the GC discs 1.5, was because of importts and cheap copies.
Handheld consoles have never (to my knowledge) not allowed imports to be played on them. After all, it's not like they're running through a different TV system.
What I would like to know is how often Ninty will change the security chips inside the GC to stop old importing chips working on them. In theory they shouldn't- after all, you can't make copied games. In reality they may want to stop importing.
Only time will tell...
What I would like to know is how often Ninty will change the security chips inside the GC to stop old importing chips working on them. In theory they shouldn't- after all, you can't make copied games. In reality they may want to stop importing.
Only time will tell...
Nintendo appear to have neglected worrying about import problems now - as the GBA can run British, Japanese or American games. Plus for the PS2 any attempt made by Sony to stop imort games and DVD's never seems to work, because you get the inevitable thrid party releasing an all region add on or something.
Actually, as I clicked on the topic to check your reply I'd realised that I'd missed out the piracy issues! Seems you beat me too it...
But to add to what you said, what about importing. Because neither the N64 nor DC games could be copied (in theory at the time!) then neither company did anything to stop importing- the DC chips stayed exactly the same almost throughout the whole life of the console, and Sega openly said that they didn't mind hardcore gamers importing.
Meanwhile, Sony will do anything to keep the importing gamer down- suing closing chip making companies. Of course, much of this is to stop piracy (cough)... basically it's a way to make sure that it's as hard for Wetsren gamers to get Eastern games as possible. Interesting to note that Eastern games have a far lower mark up than eastern ones... not that it has anything to do with Sony's policy...
But to add to what you said, what about importing. Because neither the N64 nor DC games could be copied (in theory at the time!) then neither company did anything to stop importing- the DC chips stayed exactly the same almost throughout the whole life of the console, and Sega openly said that they didn't mind hardcore gamers importing.
Meanwhile, Sony will do anything to keep the importing gamer down- suing closing chip making companies. Of course, much of this is to stop piracy (cough)... basically it's a way to make sure that it's as hard for Wetsren gamers to get Eastern games as possible. Interesting to note that Eastern games have a far lower mark up than eastern ones... not that it has anything to do with Sony's policy...
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