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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
Page:
Cheers Gamezfreak!
Nice post garbe!
Yes its true, most people became loyal to companys, making them feel unsure about microsofts new beast, but hey - i have great confidence inthe xbox - its set to be a great console with great games out at the moment and many more exceptional ones to come.
I have confidence in the xbox, when more games start to flow in (over the next 3-4 months theres gonna be loads!) The xbox will hopefully become one of the greats with the Gamecube.
The Dreamcast sadly failed as it came out during the 2nd genaration of consoles, people was'nt ready for it.
Only thing about people being loyal to their desired company/console is they become amazingly biased - but thats just a select few.
Yes its true, most people became loyal to companys, making them feel unsure about microsofts new beast, but hey - i have great confidence inthe xbox - its set to be a great console with great games out at the moment and many more exceptional ones to come.
I have confidence in the xbox, when more games start to flow in (over the next 3-4 months theres gonna be loads!) The xbox will hopefully become one of the greats with the Gamecube.
The Dreamcast sadly failed as it came out during the 2nd genaration of consoles, people was'nt ready for it.
Only thing about people being loyal to their desired company/console is they become amazingly biased - but thats just a select few.
Cheers Strafex! The originality problems should be resolved with the likes of Blinx, but I think that some of the launch titles were original as well. As you said, Halo was sort of an original game, but Project Gotham Racing with an updated Kudos points system over MSR on the Dreamcast, Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee with team work and some very funny voice overs was a very original game in my opinion. There are some great games out there, both original and fun to play but people at the moment don't trust Microsoft 100%, but if people approach the console with a positive attitude they will begin to realise the potential of what it can do.
Very good point.
the Dreamcast failed because of the success of the PSOne.
Sony's reputation was so great, people ignored the DC in favour of the upcoming PS2. When the PS2 came, the DC was actually out performing in terms of games, only because of Sega's bad rep with the Saturn, and Sony's good rep with the Playstation, the PS2 sold and the Dreamcast perished.
Reputation isn't all good though.
Although Nintendo have a HUGE fanbase, there are also a great deal of people who boycott it because they see Nintendo as "kiddie".
Microsoft haven't really had a bad launch (although pricing it at 300 quid wasn't going to work, they quickly resolved this issue) with decent hardware and some classy games.
I think that the only real criticism that has been aimed at the Xbox is a lack of originality.
As great as all the launch games were, they were all based on existing ideas - some, like Halo, pushing an old genre to new levels, but most were merely graphicaly enhanced clones.
This showed especially compared to games like Nintendo's Pikmin.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that MS have done a bad job.
They've done far better with the Xbox than Sony did with the PS2 (PS2 owners had to wait 6 months for the graphically enhanced clone - GT3 - let alone the more original and innoative games).
But the thing is, while Sony have the market in their grasp and can do anything they like with it, MS have to break the strangle hold to get in, and need to push up something really big and revolutionary to do so.
The great thing about the Nintendo Gamecube, because it's cheap and it's games are a different style, people will be happy to get it AS WELL as their PS2 or XBOX.
But because MS are giving the same sort of games that the PS2 offers, at it's price, people have to choose between the Xbox and PS2, and because the PS2 has been around longer and has a better reputation, it steals MS's targeted customers.
When it comes to recommending a console, most magazines don't see anything in the Xbox's future that excites them, other than Halo 2.
Still, many gamers are tempted to get one just for Halo alone (including myself), so i wouldn't condemn it to failure just yet...
the Dreamcast failed because of the success of the PSOne.
Sony's reputation was so great, people ignored the DC in favour of the upcoming PS2. When the PS2 came, the DC was actually out performing in terms of games, only because of Sega's bad rep with the Saturn, and Sony's good rep with the Playstation, the PS2 sold and the Dreamcast perished.
Reputation isn't all good though.
Although Nintendo have a HUGE fanbase, there are also a great deal of people who boycott it because they see Nintendo as "kiddie".
Microsoft haven't really had a bad launch (although pricing it at 300 quid wasn't going to work, they quickly resolved this issue) with decent hardware and some classy games.
I think that the only real criticism that has been aimed at the Xbox is a lack of originality.
As great as all the launch games were, they were all based on existing ideas - some, like Halo, pushing an old genre to new levels, but most were merely graphicaly enhanced clones.
This showed especially compared to games like Nintendo's Pikmin.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that MS have done a bad job.
They've done far better with the Xbox than Sony did with the PS2 (PS2 owners had to wait 6 months for the graphically enhanced clone - GT3 - let alone the more original and innoative games).
But the thing is, while Sony have the market in their grasp and can do anything they like with it, MS have to break the strangle hold to get in, and need to push up something really big and revolutionary to do so.
The great thing about the Nintendo Gamecube, because it's cheap and it's games are a different style, people will be happy to get it AS WELL as their PS2 or XBOX.
But because MS are giving the same sort of games that the PS2 offers, at it's price, people have to choose between the Xbox and PS2, and because the PS2 has been around longer and has a better reputation, it steals MS's targeted customers.
When it comes to recommending a console, most magazines don't see anything in the Xbox's future that excites them, other than Halo 2.
Still, many gamers are tempted to get one just for Halo alone (including myself), so i wouldn't condemn it to failure just yet...
Cheers Console_kid!
Good post Garbe123, I do agree with you, consoels do well, naturally due to their support that they have from fan bases, I have always support Sega, I have owned a lot fo their consoles.
I also agree, that it will take time for XBox to do well, but people are starting to relise now the potential of the XBox, and how dedicated MS really are to it, aswell as quality games, this is persuadingmany people to buy an XBox...... Thats why I bought mine, XBox was the first ever consoles I bought on the launch day!
I also agree, that it will take time for XBox to do well, but people are starting to relise now the potential of the XBox, and how dedicated MS really are to it, aswell as quality games, this is persuadingmany people to buy an XBox...... Thats why I bought mine, XBox was the first ever consoles I bought on the launch day!
Driven is crap, Burnout is great.
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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