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It is a fact, if you are loyal to a company they will receive money off you and in return they will make a sale, this is the same in the gaming market. Last moth Nintendo released 2 games for the GameCube in America, this amounted to 6% of the gaming markets sales last month in America, but one of these games was a multi-platform American football game which was a big hit on all 3 of the next generation consoles. The Playstation 2 released 8 games last month which amounted to the same as the Microsoft Xbox; they shared 44% of the gaming market between them. You may be wondering by now what they have to do with loyalty or sales, I will now explain why a loyal customer can always be relied on and why a loyal customer sticks by their favourite company; the market wouldn't survive without them!
At the moment there are rumours going around about how badly Microsoft have handled the launch of the Xbox, people have guessed at what the future holds for the Xbox, but no-body really knows what is going to happen at all. Sony and Nintendo have built up a very loyal fan-base over the years which have boosted the gaming market in a financial way which has also helped to boost the reputation of a market which is only second to the music industry in terms of popularity. Nintendo deserve a loyal fan-base, over the years Nintendo have delivered some of the best games that we will probably ever experience on a gaming console, they struck a balance between Graphics and Game-play which seemed to strike the gaming market in a very powerful way, this was the start of a giant empire which would then lead to one of the most powerful consoles ever created, the GameCube. Anyone who owned an N-64 or previous Nintendo consoles was going to be very excited by this new console which was originally named the Nintendo Dolphin. Nintendo’s name alone was going to sell consoles, one person had the console on pre-order for over 1 and a half years, but have Nintendo used their loyalty scheme to draw out its expected life? In my opinion I don't believe they have, but as Microsoft at the moment they are going through a game drought.
Most people like to discuss the failures of the Xbox, people would love to see this console fail, but with the marketing budget that Bill Gates has suggested alone will keep the Xbox going. $2 Billion have been invested into the Xbox over the next 2 years, Xbox Live is going to change on-line console gaming and Bill Gates has promised big things for the console. Looking at the current market, Microsoft has some great games out but the main ones are to be released over the coming months between now and Christmas. The GameCube is no different, they had some great launch titles but they need more top games to keep gamers interested. After browsing the Nintendo forum I found someone (who shall remain name-less) who said that these were must own GameCube titles; Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron 2, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, Burnout, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Luigi's Mansion, Wave Race: Blue Storm, International Superstar Soccer 2, Super Monkey Ball, Bloody Roar Extreme, Driven, NBA Street, NBA Courtside 2002, Extreme-G3, Pikmin and Red Card.
It is not for me to turn around and say that list isn't good, the games which are licensed by Nintendo are superb, but I would hold a question mark next to tiles like Driven and Burnout (Driven scored very poorly). If that is a list which is going to sell consoles then surely Microsoft's list for the Xbox is easily good enough to increase sales? Obviously not, although Microsoft says they are on target for sales world-wide we all know that it could be doing a lot better. This then opens up the loyalty question, Nintendo fans have had past consoles to look upon and see the abilities of what they can do, Microsoft had/has nothing! None of my friends had pre-ordered an Xbox, 2 of them had a GameCube on pre-order months in advance of its release. After asking them why, they replied, "Nintendo have delivered great consoles in the past, hopefully this one will live up to their reputation". Fair enough I thought, it’s a reasonable answer, but what would they say if I asked them about the Xbox?
Without any previous reputation, the Xbox was almost like a lost soul entering a fierce and very powerful gaming market. People weren't prepared to risk their money purchasing an Xbox console, people didn’t trust the words of Bill Gates and they all thought that with Sony's and Nintendo's past consoles that the next generations consoles would live up to all the hype. In my opinion the Playstation 2 never did, I waited anxiously on my 15th birthday morning to play Gran Turismo 3, but all I got was disappointment. Reading magazines and internet articles kept my hope alive for the Playstation 2, on-line functions were promised by the Christmas of 2001 and the launch line-up looked impossible to beat. The hype surrounding the PS2 was huge, 2 years before the console launched in Japan there were already talks about how it will change the way gamers think, all it made me do was think about how Sony has betrayed my favouritism for their consoles, the PSONE sold me the PS2, I was dragged into a media whirl-pool which rested on the foundations of "what if".
Sony fans will disagree with what I just said and they have a right to, if you are satisfied with your Playstation 2 then I am pleased, the console just wasn't for me. After the very successful PSONE, Sony fans thought that the PS2 would live up to its predecessor and as far as hype goes, it did, but it you look further into it, it doesn't even touch the surface of what the PSONE did for gamers world-wide. In Japan the PS2 sells between 70-80 thousand consoles a week, the Xbox sells between 4-8 thousand consoles a week, is this case of divided loyalties? Let’s be honest, after playing my friends PS2 and seeing what Gran Turismo 3 could do in terms of graphics I had already made my mind up about getting one. After Grand Theft Auto 3 I was anticipating what looked like an un-beatable release calendar, Metal Gear Solid 2, Pro Evolution, Max Payne, Deus Ex etc all made me want to kiss my PS2 (I even nearly did), but after each one was released and the reviews said, "too much hype surrounded the release of this game", it just made me realise that out-side of Sony's shell and possibly 2 very good games, there was nothing there. Only very loyal Sony fans would stick by the console and state that it was the best on the market, granted it does have the most games available, but out-side of Grand Theft Auto 3 and Metal Gear Solid 2 there was nothing to keep me playing on my PS2 and I wasn't the only one who felt the same way.
By now there mist be at least one PS2 console in every house in Japan, in sales terms the PS2 is un-beatable and although it has been out longer than the Xbox and GameCube I believe that it will still out sell both by a long shot (especially the Xbox), The GameCube however is doing very well in terms of sales and un-like the PS2 it already has a handful of great games available mixed in with a few mediocre ones which make good rentals. Sony and Nintendo have established themselves very well, they have loyal fan-bases and people are flocking to buy their consoles, past reputations have helped to put the Playstation 2 and GameCube where it is today. The Xbox however still has a lot to prove and so far loyal customers are hard to come by, this explains the poor sales which the consoles has obtained so far. As time goes by people will begin to support the Xbox more and sales will begin to increase, but until then the 2 'power-houses' which are Nintendo and Sony will continue to control the sales market and attract more customers to their consoles. As the Dreamcast showed, no matter how great the console is it needs the sales to keep it alive, lets just hope that the Xbox will soon be up there with the Playstation 2 and GameCube battling for the TV's in peoples living rooms, until then we will just have to wait and see.
Thanks for Reading!
Garbe123
At the moment there are rumours going around about how badly Microsoft have handled the launch of the Xbox, people have guessed at what the future holds for the Xbox, but no-body really knows what is going to happen at all. Sony and Nintendo have built up a very loyal fan-base over the years which have boosted the gaming market in a financial way which has also helped to boost the reputation of a market which is only second to the music industry in terms of popularity. Nintendo deserve a loyal fan-base, over the years Nintendo have delivered some of the best games that we will probably ever experience on a gaming console, they struck a balance between Graphics and Game-play which seemed to strike the gaming market in a very powerful way, this was the start of a giant empire which would then lead to one of the most powerful consoles ever created, the GameCube. Anyone who owned an N-64 or previous Nintendo consoles was going to be very excited by this new console which was originally named the Nintendo Dolphin. Nintendo’s name alone was going to sell consoles, one person had the console on pre-order for over 1 and a half years, but have Nintendo used their loyalty scheme to draw out its expected life? In my opinion I don't believe they have, but as Microsoft at the moment they are going through a game drought.
Most people like to discuss the failures of the Xbox, people would love to see this console fail, but with the marketing budget that Bill Gates has suggested alone will keep the Xbox going. $2 Billion have been invested into the Xbox over the next 2 years, Xbox Live is going to change on-line console gaming and Bill Gates has promised big things for the console. Looking at the current market, Microsoft has some great games out but the main ones are to be released over the coming months between now and Christmas. The GameCube is no different, they had some great launch titles but they need more top games to keep gamers interested. After browsing the Nintendo forum I found someone (who shall remain name-less) who said that these were must own GameCube titles; Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron 2, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, Burnout, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Luigi's Mansion, Wave Race: Blue Storm, International Superstar Soccer 2, Super Monkey Ball, Bloody Roar Extreme, Driven, NBA Street, NBA Courtside 2002, Extreme-G3, Pikmin and Red Card.
It is not for me to turn around and say that list isn't good, the games which are licensed by Nintendo are superb, but I would hold a question mark next to tiles like Driven and Burnout (Driven scored very poorly). If that is a list which is going to sell consoles then surely Microsoft's list for the Xbox is easily good enough to increase sales? Obviously not, although Microsoft says they are on target for sales world-wide we all know that it could be doing a lot better. This then opens up the loyalty question, Nintendo fans have had past consoles to look upon and see the abilities of what they can do, Microsoft had/has nothing! None of my friends had pre-ordered an Xbox, 2 of them had a GameCube on pre-order months in advance of its release. After asking them why, they replied, "Nintendo have delivered great consoles in the past, hopefully this one will live up to their reputation". Fair enough I thought, it’s a reasonable answer, but what would they say if I asked them about the Xbox?
Without any previous reputation, the Xbox was almost like a lost soul entering a fierce and very powerful gaming market. People weren't prepared to risk their money purchasing an Xbox console, people didn’t trust the words of Bill Gates and they all thought that with Sony's and Nintendo's past consoles that the next generations consoles would live up to all the hype. In my opinion the Playstation 2 never did, I waited anxiously on my 15th birthday morning to play Gran Turismo 3, but all I got was disappointment. Reading magazines and internet articles kept my hope alive for the Playstation 2, on-line functions were promised by the Christmas of 2001 and the launch line-up looked impossible to beat. The hype surrounding the PS2 was huge, 2 years before the console launched in Japan there were already talks about how it will change the way gamers think, all it made me do was think about how Sony has betrayed my favouritism for their consoles, the PSONE sold me the PS2, I was dragged into a media whirl-pool which rested on the foundations of "what if".
Sony fans will disagree with what I just said and they have a right to, if you are satisfied with your Playstation 2 then I am pleased, the console just wasn't for me. After the very successful PSONE, Sony fans thought that the PS2 would live up to its predecessor and as far as hype goes, it did, but it you look further into it, it doesn't even touch the surface of what the PSONE did for gamers world-wide. In Japan the PS2 sells between 70-80 thousand consoles a week, the Xbox sells between 4-8 thousand consoles a week, is this case of divided loyalties? Let’s be honest, after playing my friends PS2 and seeing what Gran Turismo 3 could do in terms of graphics I had already made my mind up about getting one. After Grand Theft Auto 3 I was anticipating what looked like an un-beatable release calendar, Metal Gear Solid 2, Pro Evolution, Max Payne, Deus Ex etc all made me want to kiss my PS2 (I even nearly did), but after each one was released and the reviews said, "too much hype surrounded the release of this game", it just made me realise that out-side of Sony's shell and possibly 2 very good games, there was nothing there. Only very loyal Sony fans would stick by the console and state that it was the best on the market, granted it does have the most games available, but out-side of Grand Theft Auto 3 and Metal Gear Solid 2 there was nothing to keep me playing on my PS2 and I wasn't the only one who felt the same way.
By now there mist be at least one PS2 console in every house in Japan, in sales terms the PS2 is un-beatable and although it has been out longer than the Xbox and GameCube I believe that it will still out sell both by a long shot (especially the Xbox), The GameCube however is doing very well in terms of sales and un-like the PS2 it already has a handful of great games available mixed in with a few mediocre ones which make good rentals. Sony and Nintendo have established themselves very well, they have loyal fan-bases and people are flocking to buy their consoles, past reputations have helped to put the Playstation 2 and GameCube where it is today. The Xbox however still has a lot to prove and so far loyal customers are hard to come by, this explains the poor sales which the consoles has obtained so far. As time goes by people will begin to support the Xbox more and sales will begin to increase, but until then the 2 'power-houses' which are Nintendo and Sony will continue to control the sales market and attract more customers to their consoles. As the Dreamcast showed, no matter how great the console is it needs the sales to keep it alive, lets just hope that the Xbox will soon be up there with the Playstation 2 and GameCube battling for the TV's in peoples living rooms, until then we will just have to wait and see.
Thanks for Reading!
Garbe123
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Oh its Ok, I just wished that things hadn't got out of hand over something that wasn't even to do with this post, everything has calmed down now though so all problems have been resolved :)
Yeah sorry, it's just TOSH has been winding a lot of people up.
This topic has been wrecked enough, can we just forget the other stuff and talk about what was posted? I think that would be best all around.
TOSH wrote:
> white stripes you swear at everyone
Nope, only idiots like you.
> ill report you if you dont calm down
Oh, YOU'LL report HIM? Yeah, like that would work. You've got to be in the WRONG (like you) to be reported.
> you set off a topic about me because i dont like pokemon
No, he set off a topic about you because of your incessant spamming and childish behaviour in the Nintendo forum.
> said i dont use gramar call ofered me a dictionary everyone stuff which
> is ofensive swear at me and others watch it ok.
This post alone is proof you don't use grammar, and by the way, Whitestripes hardly ever swears. It's only at people like you that blatantly disregard the rules and what others have told you not to do.
> white stripes you swear at everyone
Nope, only idiots like you.
> ill report you if you dont calm down
Oh, YOU'LL report HIM? Yeah, like that would work. You've got to be in the WRONG (like you) to be reported.
> you set off a topic about me because i dont like pokemon
No, he set off a topic about you because of your incessant spamming and childish behaviour in the Nintendo forum.
> said i dont use gramar call ofered me a dictionary everyone stuff which
> is ofensive swear at me and others watch it ok.
This post alone is proof you don't use grammar, and by the way, Whitestripes hardly ever swears. It's only at people like you that blatantly disregard the rules and what others have told you not to do.
And I hardly sent any swearing or abuse your way, and I didn't start a topic about you because you don't like Pokemon!
With that sort of post what do you expect? Besides, everyone at the Nintendo forum seemed to agree with me.
I've mostly just called you an idiot, I've never considered that a major insult as such, just a way of expressing my dissatisfaction at the way you don't seem to understand the point of my posts. Just ignore it.
This is what I said:
Or is just that you can't afford to get it so instead you would share your jelousy with us?
It was a question, I asked if it was due to the fact that you might not be able to afford Broadband, I can't afford at the moment to get Broadband, there is nothing wrong with that. By Christmas I will have it but until then I am too poor to get Broadband. But you then directly turned around and called me "POOR", I merely asked a question, you replied accusing me of being poor, do you see the difference? This is what has happened throughout, you have used abussive language or insults towards me when I was only pointing out or asking you a question? May I ask why?
Or is just that you can't afford to get it so instead you would share your jelousy with us?
It was a question, I asked if it was due to the fact that you might not be able to afford Broadband, I can't afford at the moment to get Broadband, there is nothing wrong with that. By Christmas I will have it but until then I am too poor to get Broadband. But you then directly turned around and called me "POOR", I merely asked a question, you replied accusing me of being poor, do you see the difference? This is what has happened throughout, you have used abussive language or insults towards me when I was only pointing out or asking you a question? May I ask why?
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