Nintendo Revolution > Nintendo missed the boat

Nintendo missed the boat

In my eyes, nintendo seems to be in a product cycle which mirrors where Sega was when the dreamcast was released: almost a full design cycle behind.

It killed Sega and it will likely do the same for Nintendo's VGS if they can't send comparable product to market in the same product cycle as Microsoft and Sony. I'd really be worried about Nintendo if they didn't completely own the handheld gaming market. I don't see Sony taking that market away from Nintendo in the near future with the PSP (there are how many thousand gameboy titles available???) but Nintendo won't be able to survive on this platform alone.

Finally, I'd echo the first poster's comment and hope that a few more "adult" and "mature" level titles will be developed and published for Nintendo's new platform. I like the Mario games but every now and again I do like to play games like Halo, GTA, Hitman, etc...

reply to AuroraJock

said by AuroraJock:

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While PS2 owners were busy playing SOCOM and Xbox owners were busy playing Live titles, Nintendo failed to realize that online playability was something that gamers wanted. Nintendo manufactured broadband and dialup adapters for Gamecube, but abandoned those peripherals completely. Instead, they focused on Gameboy-to-Gamecube adapters and gamers were able to unlock stupid features with this combo... what a complete waste of time. Gamecube had a lot of promise... Mario Kart, Tennis, Golf, Metroid Prime, Rogue Squadron all ONLINE ENABLED would've done some serious damage the past few years.

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reply to Ronin4740
Explain how Sega was a "full design cycle behind" with the Dreamcast.

reply to AuroraJock
WRONG! Sega gave Nintendo Phantasy Star Online v1 and 2 and that game got the most online subscribers for Gamecube. It's not Nintendo's fault Electronic Arts or Uri-Soft or Namco didn't want to make their Gamecube games Live. GC had an network adapter, keyboard, hell even a subscribe service. And that statement about hacking....Datel made a developer's kit that lets you run small programs up to 8 MB in size on Gamecube without the need for modding. It's called Gamecube Dev Kit. Comes with a USB cable, memory card and boot disc.

reply to Ronin4740
Nintendo Gamecube was a very successful video game console, but not as successful as it had hoped. Although number two in global sales, the Xbox is catching up and its successor may succeed the planned Nintendo Revolution. Many people dismiss Gamecube as a childish system, yet it shares many many games with the other systems (i.e., EA Sports Games, Tom Clancy Games, other common games). In fact, the Gamecube does not really have that many childish games. The image, however, for Nintendo has been created as that of a children's company. This is the first fault of Nintendo.

The Gamecube was designed as the perfect gaming system and it succeeds in that. However, people want a console for more than just gaming, they want to reach in other fields of entertainment, like music and movies. Using the smaller optical discs to prevent piracy was another reason why the Gamecube was not as successful as planned. People want to listen to music and play DVD's.

The Gamecube, unfortunately, was designed for a perfect world. Nintendo envisioned a world where kids and teenagers would go to each other's house and play many multiplayer games like Super-Smash Brothers Melee and Mario Party. However, people are continually becoming more solidary. People want to be alone, but they want to communicate and play with others. How? Online Gaming. Nintendo does not share Microsoft's and Sony's position on online entertainment. However, in order to capture the market, a company must not be stubborn with their idealistic views on gaming. This is the third reason why the Gamecube "failed."

Nintendo should make Revolution just that, REVOLUTIONARY. It should be more of an entertainment console rather than a video game system. It should seek to enter the online world. And third, it should seek to change the gameplay experience. Nintendo should create something that just does not improve on graphics and audio, but on the whole experience. They should have a niche. Let's just hope that they won't try something too revolutionary as to turn off their base (DS does not look all too bad, but it may be turn off). I am an avid Nintendo fan, but currently i put my full support for Playstation, because they got the Playstation 2 right. I cannot stand Xbox fanboys (they seem to be a bit more obsessive than their Nintendo/Sony counterparts)...the Xbox does not change anything, its just a PC in disguise with worse components, and games designed for people with incredibly short attention spans (i.e., first person shooters, etc.).

May Nintendo revolutionize gaming!

reply to AuroraJock
I agree with this they should've focused more on online capability and not as much as the gameboy gamecube combo. They should've also promoted the online capability more.

reply to AuroraJock
I'm not nearly as big into this topic as you all seem to be, but I read a recent article about on line gaming for game systems (X-box, PS and Nintendo) and the poll showed something like 88% of consumers have either had a negative experience or are simply not interested in on line gaming. The numbers seemed to change with regards to PC on line gaming. I don't see that this is an issue that really hurts Nintendo.

I agree with the other comments, Nintendo has a PR problem. They carry many of the games the kids want ... "The blood and Fang games" ... but when kids go to buy those titles, it never occurs to them that Nintendo has those titles too.

I have always preferred Nintendo games because I have always liked RPG games like Zelda .. and others .. better then sport games and kill mayhem games that was typically found on PS.

I have to admit though, Sony now has more of these types of games then Nintendo does. I think Nintendo has neglected titles for their home system .. in favor of supporting their GBA titles and this has really hurt them.

So not only does Nintendo have an image problem .. they have a shortage of titles. So I don't think it really matters how good Nintendo's new system is. I think until they change their image .. it will remain being thought of as a third rate company with fewer games then the other two.