The Fate of Nintendo

[briskbc]

The once mighty Nintendo has fallen to third (and last) spot in the console market place. You can argue this is the fault new companies in the field with more money to spend or the release Nintendo's N64 console. A cartidge based system released in a time when CD's were a cheaper medium for prducing games.

You can't argue the improtance of this company to our hobby, but it has fallen on hard times. Sony entered the market with scads of money to blow picking up exclusives and marketing the hell out of its system to consumers and game makers. Now enter Microsoft. Another company with more money that doesn't seem to mind losing money on every console sold.

It's damn hard to compete with that. Ask Sega. Although Sega did a good job of alienating consumers along the way.

Anyway, back to my question. Where will the big N stand in 5 years? Feel free to vote for one of the above or add another option

[Videogamerdaryll]

Voted..
That was a hard choice,,,anything could happen in 5 yrs..

[Mayhem]

The once mighty Nintendo has fallen to third (and last) spot in the console market place.

Highly debatable that point nonetheless... I see them staying well ahead in the handheld market and sticking at second place in the console market...

[Sylentwulf]

Maybe in the U.K. Mayhem, but stateside, Nintendo is definitely in third. Xbox has taken second place for good over here, even after the Zelda release.

[IntvGene]

I think that Nintendo's fate rests in Sony's hands. Right now, they can use their profits from the GBA to keep the GC alive. But, if Sony cuts into that handheld revenue, I think they're in huge trouble. Remember, Sega said that they would stay in the hardware busiiness right until the end, and then one day they just announced that it was over.

But, five years is maybe too short of a time. Nintendo will get their next console out no doubt, but will they make one after that? Who knows. And, I think the next five years might be pretty strange in the console market. Who knows how far or important online gaming will become, will the PC market ever overtake the consoles, or will there be another crash? There are a lot of factors that might change things in five years.

[jaybird]

I'd place good money on the GameCube being the last Nintendo console, but they'll continue to dominate the handheld market.

I'd give up both my GameCube & Playstation 2 before I would my GBA SP. Nintendo knows handheld.

Historically, there's always been room for just 2 consoles in the market. This 3-way thing is bucking the trend. I think that will correct itself for the next generation of consoles.

They'll in turn be one of the Top 3 software developers for the other consoles (ala Sega). Although, playing Zelda on PS3 will just make me feel dirty.

[brandver3]

:hmm:


Nintendo is in second. They are still making money on the Cube, where as Microsoft lost almost 500 million dollars this year on the X-box, I fail to see how that make them second.

If you look at the companies as a whole, NIntenod is the only one doing well. The X-box is a gushing wound for microsoft that keeps bleeding money. At some point they are going to close the cut and call the X-box quits. Its not a hobby for them, they are trying to make money even if "ithey have billions and billions of dollars".

Now for Sony, they are putting up a good front, but they are hurting. 8 year financial low, predicting a 9 year. They need help. So they look to the only profitable section of there buisness, the PS2. So they devise the PSX, and high end PS2. Possablly the next Virtual Boy. They are putting a lot of pressure on the PS2 side of the company to save the ship, and historically, that leads to collosal mistakes.

And we have Nintendo. The "Underdog". They have been making game longer then the other two, single handedlly saved the buisness in the 80's and they are the only one of the three not lossing tons of money at present. Profits were down, but they are still profits. THey have a new man at the top. There line up for the next year is killer. They have a steller hand held and a fantastic counsol. And while the other two have more games, Nintendo generally has better quailty of games. And they are at work on both of their new systems, and with the money they are putting into online support, I don't think they are going anywhere.

So my vote is for NIntendo dominating once again.

[jaybird]

:hmm: Nintendo is in second. They are still making money on the Cube, where as Microsoft lost almost 500 million dollars this year on the X-box, I fail to see how that make them second.


I'm not about to get into a fanboy war over consoles, but rankings are determined by numbers of consoles sold, and Nintendo is third.

If Microsoft has the ability to lose $100 on every console sold & they sell 10 to Nintendo's 8, they win the battle. The battle is about consumer perception, and Microsoft is #2 in those minds right now.

[Achika]

I'm voting they will just squeek by with their next console (which they've already announced I thought and starting soon?) As far as alienating their fanbase: they had big plans when the GCN came out to "make games for adults too" and not have so many "kiddie" games, a year and a half later, that's barely happened. While multi-system games are nice and all, exclusives are more impressive and a bit more important as far as Nintendo's original statement will go. Even if a year and a half is short in terms of the "console race" I think Nintendo's period for making up for the Nintendo 64 is over. The first party software will surely NOT be the savior for the system. It might be too late for them, but they will keep chugging along with the GCN and whatever new system is in their pocket and turning their shoulder to think "every thing is ok" before realizing their mistakes.

Since they've been in the console business longer than Sony & Microsoft, IMO, is giving them this mentality that "we can do anything we want and our fans will back us up" Even working somewhere lowly like Funcoland is showing me this isn't the case. They've lost me and those 8 people who have turned in their GCN's for Xbox's and PS2's last week. :/

Don't forget, this may turn into a race with four runners. Next gen we get to possibly look forward to Xbox 2, PS3, -whatever-console-nintendo-has-started-working-on-, and that lovely Infinium Labs Phantom.

I'd have to dig up the article again, but in one of Microsoft's financial interviews the rep. from Microsoft stated they don't plan on quitting the Xbox, no matter how much money they loose--they've got Windows, Office, etc. software sales to back it up. They are throwing money at it, but also in so many words stated "we're doing it for the fans" LOL

[Ed Oscuro]

Argh...no "Nintendo rules the world" option? WTF?

Sony isn't doing as well as you might think and...well, I'm voting for option 0, Nintendo makes a stunning or at least very good comeback.

[TokenGamer]

The cube is gasping for air in the North American marketplace. The only way Nintendo will survive is if they change thier image. If Mario starts shooting hookers, sales will spike.
In the minds of most people, the Nintendo brand is still considered a children's toy. I'm not just talking about gamers, I'm talking about everyone who drops a wad of cash for a system or game. that is the problem Nintendo is faced with.
Kids are quickly becoming the minority in the market for this stuff. More and more games are being created for older gamers and states are writing up laws to make it a punishable offence to sell certain titles to anyone under a certain age. The trend will continue and if Nintendo doesn't make some serious changes, they'll be going down.
Nintendo seems to be afraid of bad publicity but everyone knows that bad press is good press. A little contraversy goes a long way. Just look at Sony.

[brandver3]

So then what happens if now one makes games for kids? No new gamers mean no new money coming into the industry. AS we get older, we die, don't care about video games anymore, there are no kids to take our places. Companies start lossing money, kids and teens don't care, they didn't grow up with the stuff, the've got whatever else. So the whole industry crashes and no one is there to pick it up, so we're all stuck playing the same crap for the next 30 years.

Heaven forbid someone make a kid game. Mayne no one noticed, but NIntendo HAS ALWAYS MADE KID GAMES!!!!

I'll say it again, its unfair to think NIntendo should grow up just because you did.

[TokenGamer]

The most successful businesses in the world enjoy success because they follow the latest trends. When a new trend comes up they jump on the new trend and keep riding high. Nintendo is not following the trend right now and they are suffering.
Right now the trend is older gamers because they have jobs, money and the ability to go out and buy a game. Kids are still begging mom and dad.
Trends don't last forever. Much like bell bottom jeans in the 70's, eventually kiddie games will be back but will Nintendo still be around to cash in on that trend? Kids games won't be back for a long time.

[Mayhem]

Nintendo don't make games for kids (stereotype alert)... they make their games for everyone to play. It's only the fact they have the largest slice of the kid market overall that allows people to dub anything they do as "kiddie". So what if there's no blood, graphic violence or swearing? As long as it's FUN, who the hell cares?

[calthaer]

Anybody here ever read the book *Game Over* that's all about Nintendo's rise to power? The funniest part about that book is how Nintendo dissed Sony on the CD deal and went with 3DO - and now 3DO is filing for bankruptcy and Sony is whipping the big N in the console wars. The N64 killed Nintendo. It was a dumb move.

The "kids' games" image has got to go, or at least be supplemented with something else. The cartoony look of Zelda wouldn't necessarily be a bad move except for the fact that all their games are kiddie. Metroid Prime wasn't, I'd have to say...that game is fairly mature in some aspects. But Pokémon & Mario are for tykes. Animal Crossing looks simplistic, too. Kiddie stuff is good for people 4-10 years old, but after that it seems like people stop trying to be kids and want to act more like grown-ups. I'm sure that Mario isn't "cool" to 5th and 6th grade kids - he has no edge.

I don't think they need a GTAIII necessarily, but they do need a Deus Ex, a Full Throttle, a Baldur's Gate - something with substance, with story, with less cartoony graphics and gameplay that's more than "jump through some hoops and get a fancy ding and sparkles." That's probably somewhat difficult to do with the limited size of their CDs. Regardless of what I may think of Square's games & storytelling, it is better story-wise than at least 75% of what's out there, and their absence from Nintendo has hurt them, too.

Nintendo can compete again, I think, if:
--they can attract a more mature audience (not necessarily with mindless violence, but with real story and substantive gameplay)

--they let the GameCube linger in the marketplace for a while, acquire a larger user base - maybe even passing up the next generation of consoles? Might be a risky move but it could work - or at the very least they need to make their games backwards-compatible

--Attract more 3rd-party developers...they may even need to do something to foster smaller indie developers who usually create the most innovative games

--develop the multiplayer thing they have going on. If, instead of playing Magic: The Gathering or something people got together to play a multiplayer adventure a la this new Square game, they could have a real thing on their hands. Multiplayer co-op is a HUGELY understated portion of the gaming world right now, and my gut feeling is that it could become big.

[Captain Wrong]

:hmm: Nintendo is in second. They are still making money on the Cube, where as Microsoft lost almost 500 million dollars this year on the X-box, I fail to see how that make them second.


I'm not about to get into a fanboy war over consoles, but rankings are determined by numbers of consoles sold, and Nintendo is third.

If Microsoft has the ability to lose $100 on every console sold & they sell 10 to Nintendo's 8, they win the battle. The battle is about consumer perception, and Microsoft is #2 in those minds right now.

Bingo.

As an aside, among the non-hardcore gamers I know who own consoles, most have PS2, a couple have an Xbox and no one has a Gamecube or even seems to care much about it. These are all more mainstream people who haven't gamed since the Genesis days. They were Nintendo fans back in the day, but really don't seem to have any interest in the company these days. Any time these people talk about a game or ask me if I've heard anything about it, it's a PS2 or Xbox game, even if it's a game for the system they don't own. Never does anyone say "hey that new Zelda look cool" or whatever. These are the people who's interest Nintendo should be trying to capture, but isn't.

Nostalga and old licenses can only take you so far. If Nintendo wants to be a serious contender in the console game again, they've gotta get past that.

[Aswald]

So then what happens if now one makes games for kids? No new gamers mean no new money coming into the industry. AS we get older, we die, don't care about video games anymore, there are no kids to take our places. Companies start lossing money, kids and teens don't care, they didn't grow up with the stuff, the've got whatever else. So the whole industry crashes and no one is there to pick it up, so we're all stuck playing the same crap for the next 30 years.

Heaven forbid someone make a kid game. Mayne no one noticed, but NIntendo HAS ALWAYS MADE KID GAMES!!!!

I'll say it again, its unfair to think NIntendo should grow up just because you did.

Absolutely right. This is exactly what happened to the comic book industry; they didn't build up enough new readers. That's what the Star Comic line was supposed to have done.

Perhaps part of the problem is the lack of any exciting, original ideas? Remember how thrilled we were with Zaxxon, Q*Bert, and Mr. Do!?

[jaydubnb]

I think Nintendo's main problem is a lacking of advertising. I see PS2 and Xbox ads on TV pretty consistantly, but Nintendo? Hardly ever unless its for one of their classic franchises like Zelda/Mario/Metroid.

Call Nintendo kiddie if you want, but they make the perfect games to snag younger players: bright and colorful, like interactive cartoons, and FUN. Every industry needs something to capture the next generation. Granted I dont own a GC because I find the selection of softs lacking, but I recognize Nin's place in the industry. I seriously doubt they'll ever have the #1 system ever again, but they serve their customers well and thats the important thing. But i must say, it would truly be a sad day if Nin went "software only"....

[hezeuschrist]

Nintendo is most obviously doing it's best to capture the mature gamers right now, and have even point blank stated that's how they intend to market their next console. They aren't stupid, they've been in this business as long as they have for a reason, they know why sales are low, and they know how to turn things around with their next system.

Hell, when you think about it the only kiddie advertising I saw EVER for the cube was for Mario. The Zelda commercials were more serious, as were the Metroid ones. Even the general Gamecube commercials were pretty mature, beating heart in the shape of a cube, sweat dripping from the forehead in the shape of the cube. They even changed the logo intro on the system to be more sleek and 'cool' for the advertisements. Instead of that little jingle with the rolling cube, it's more stylish and less childish.

They KNOW sales are in the shitter. They saw what happened to Sega. Their main focus now is attracting developers for their next piece of hardware and working on a more grown up image without alienating the kids game or fanbase. I don't know how you could really try to market something so an 8 year old boy and his 22 year old cousin both identify with the same system, maybe they'll drop the kids lineup to the GBA. Who knows, but what I do know is that I'm not voting, it's a bias poll against Nintendo.

[TokenGamer]

For the most part I agree with hezeus but your comments failed to mention one key point.
Nintendo is in it's current predicament because of the fact that they f***ed up in a huge way.
The business world works months and sometimes years ahead of anything. Everything must be forcasted and feasability + market analysis must be done before an idea even gets mentioned outside of the executive offices.
For example, the next generation of systems is supposedly in the works already and won't be released for years to come. If a company is planning advertising something for the upcoming christmas season, it should be done by now and be sitting on a shelf untill December. If you walk into a clothing store in the middle of the summer you'll find clothing for the fall season even though it's a 100 degrees outside.
What Nintendo is doing now to market to the older crowd is too little too late. If they were smart they should have done that when the GC was first released. That should have been thier marketing strategy in the first place. They failed to see the upcoming trend and now they are paying for it.
And I'll apologize in advance for saying that the GC really does look like a toy. I have all 3 contemporary systems and the PS2 and Xbox look like they belong in my entertainment center because they look like all the other components. They seem to be designed perfectly for a component rack. They aren't too high so they slide right in and they load from the front so you don't have to pull it out to change games. Sure the power switch is on the back of the PS2 but a properly wired stack doesn't need switches. The power on/off is controlled by the system control. Everything is plugged in "on". The Cube looks like it has been misplaced or something and everytime I want to play a diffrent game i have to pull it out.
How can you make a dinky cube look slick anyhow? Even sizing and weight are important parts of marketing. Just look at NES carts. Ever opened one? If you have then you know how much wasted space there is in those carts. There is a reason for that. Nintendo made you think you were getting alot more for your $50 than you were really getting. If the carts where the size of an hu card at that time, subconciously, you wouldn't think you got as much for your money. It's different these days with disks but the mini disk plays right into that theory.
In other words, Nintendo totally miscalculated and "missed the boat!" and that is what makes them look really dumb right now.

[Mayhem]

Maybe Nintendo are missing the casual market... who knows here. Certainly out of ALL the online people that I know reasonably well (DP peeps included), there are more GC owners than even PS2! That is quite the something. Xbox is way, way behind with practically no one owning one. This comes from most of the online peeps referred to being fairly into games and go for the good titles, not just some casual licensed shit such as "Enter the Matrix" or "Lord of the Rings".

Nearly EVERY ONLINE PERSON I know in the UK has a Cube. Quite amazing...

[calthaer]

I think that one of the big things that helped Sony get its huge lead is the fact that you can play DVDs on the PS2. While the gamers who might be online might be pretty savvy about who makes great games, the average schmoe, when presented with the dilemma of which system to buy, will probably think "hur, lemme get me one of them thar DeeVeeDee playurs with tha thing, ayup." It's a major plus if you don't have another DVD player - you can appease your whining kids with a game system and get something that you can enjoy even if you don't like games.

[TokenGamer]

True that.

[brandver3]

I'm going to step in and point out as a DVD player the PS2 is sub-par and total utter crap compared to the 100 dollar DVD playerss you can get at Wal-Mart.

I can't even watch Tron on my PS2 :(

[Drexel923]

I'm going to step in and point out as a DVD player the PS2 is sub-par and total utter crap compared to the 100 dollar DVD playerss you can get at Wal-Mart.

I'll have to agree with that, but the average Joe who isn't as knowledgable about games is usually also not as knowledgable about other electronics. They will always go with the system that has the most features, especially when those features are cutting edge.

I'll also have to agree that Nintendo has screwed up over the past couple of years, but I really don't care. I have loved their games since DK and I still love them now. I think it will be a shame if they end up leaving the hardware business. I don't think they are as dead as everyone is making them out to be. As stated already, Nintendo makes a profit every year. Thats certainly not a sign of a company thats going to throw in the towel. I think that has given them the ego problem which we all see, that they refuse to change the way they do business. Like I said before they make good games, but if they just altered some things, they could easily be in second place right now and maybe close to Sony.

Even though they seem to have abandoned their promises of change, and stayed on the safe road of constant profit and no risk, I think they have done a good amount since the N64 got its ass beat. They lost many of the third party developers to Sony and they are already starting to get many back. They are starting to embrace some more mature games. And they are playing with some new ideas...connectivity (instead of rushing into online)

To be successful with their next system Nintendo will have to do the following things:

-Make a bigger sized disc...I like the small size, but scares some developers away because of low space...it's not hard to put the game on two discs, but it shouldn't have to be that way.

-Have a nice balance between the games they make now and new mature type games...theres nothing wrong with Mario and Zelda, those games are fun and anyone can play, but a GTA and a much bigger library wouldn't hurt.

-Have additional features to system...I know they want to be known as a game company only, but you won't win the casual gamer without a DVD player, HD, and whatever else you can think of...a slot for Gameboy games would be nice too.

*Phew* ^^;

A lot of the things I mentioned have been said before and seems like common sense...I just hope Nintendo realizes it before its too late. But they still seem safe for now.

[hezeuschrist]

Yeah, I forgot to mention that they did kinda stick their own dick in their ass with the design/marketing for the cube. They know they fucked themselves on that though, and they won't make the same mistake again. Already they are working on marketing the system more appropriately and working on 3rd party support and design ideas to be able to steal some of the market from Sony in the next gen. I think a logo change for them could turn the company around 180 degrees.

Perhaps an image of their new console eating your cat and shooting an old lady in the hip would attract the mature audience.

Oh, and if I were to vote in this poll, I would say "Majority of Handheld market (55%-60%) and a more prevalent console presence (25%-30%)"

[Anonymous]

I think that a lot of the things people are talking about now are things that would have worked with the Nintendo64. Keep in mind that when the Genesis came out it had a 2 year head start on the SNES and the SNES subsequently beat the genny, so Nintendo probably expected the same thing to happen when the PS1 came out. But, what I think Nintendo (and many people at the time) were not considering was the fact that Sony is a brand name with broad appeal. You don't buy a portable cassette player, you buy a walkman. You don't buy tissues, you buy kleenex. When faced with the choice between a Nintendo and a Sony, many common consumers bought the Sony. And, for many people, Sony is their return to games that have 'grown up'.

The views most people have re: Nintendo and Sony I think is analagous to the views people have with the Fisher Price "My First..." series, and the real thing. After all, they grew up playing Nintendo, and now that they are adults, people are looking for the 'real thing'. I think Nintendo was fine with this model at first. In fact, if anything, the company should have specifically avoided confusing the brand name by allowing anything post teen to be allowed on the system. Doing otherwise only confused it's user base. The problem arose when, after the introduction of the N64, Nintendo began to realize that Fisher Price makes toys for a fraction of the cost of the 'real thing'. But to make a mario game, it costs the same as a mature title (more, actually), but the smaller base of children have neither money nor brand loyalty. In that situation, children will go with the most impressive brand with the highest mindshare. Since Nintendo did not fit into a 'children only' bracket, they were directly compared to Sony, a brand with an adult image.

For a time, Nintendo considered creating a new brand name to carry mature content for the N64 (similar to Disney's Touchstone pictures), but decided against it. Nintendo also decided to make their system appeal to older gamers with the Gamecube, but have failed to realize that they have lost brand loyalty. (hardcore fans and people outside the prime demographic don't count unfortunately. If they did, Nintendo would be in Second place at least). It's this kind of indecision and overestimation that has led Nintendo to it's current position, abandoned and impotent in the eyes of the mainstream.

However, If they had been able to create a system specifically for a younger market, and sold the system for a fraction of the cost, and figured out a way to make the games half the cost, I think it still would have failed. The video game market is like the VCR market. I believe the licensing model introduced by Nintendo will eventually be dropped in favor of exclusive contracts. The competition model may never go away, but I think Nintendo's consoles will.

[YoshiM]

Other than a smattering of exclusive titles, the Cube really doesn't have much to offer a casual gamer looking for titles to play. When you look at a lot of the titles on the Cube, they are ports. Sure, ports are okay, but if you want customers you have to separate your product from the rest of the pack. They got SMS, Zelda, Metroid Prime, F-Zero, Resident Evil and Starfox. The guns have fired and the payload was delivered. Now what? What else is on the Cube that could bring people in other than franchise titles? Not much, IMO.

In the future Nintendo definitely has to rope in more developers in the future and keep titles onto their platform or else. People want games and will play the system that has what they want the most. People are more apt to buy multiple systems these days but we all know the money is in the software. If they don't buy the software for your system, your company is going nowhere.

[calthaer]

-Have additional features to system...I know they want to be known as a game company only, but you won't win the casual gamer without a DVD player, HD, and whatever else you can think of...a slot for Gameboy games would be nice too.


They do have a "slot" for the GBA, it's their new GBA player, which they're allowing customers to pick up "free" instead of one of those four free games in their newest promotional deal...the one that says for $150 you can get the GCN + one game (Metroid, Zelda, two others I can't remember) OR instead of the game - the player.

Of course, it's not integrated right into the 'cube itself, if that's what you were getting at.

[Drexel923]

-Have additional features to system...I know they want to be known as a game company only, but you won't win the casual gamer without a DVD player, HD, and whatever else you can think of...a slot for Gameboy games would be nice too.


They do have a "slot" for the GBA, it's their new GBA player, which they're allowing customers to pick up "free" instead of one of those four free games in their newest promotional deal...the one that says for $150 you can get the GCN + one game (Metroid, Zelda, two others I can't remember) OR instead of the game - the player.

Of course, it's not integrated right into the 'cube itself, if that's what you were getting at.

yes i do mean that they should integrate it right into the cube itself...think about it...they would sell alot more gameboy games that way....and you wouldn't lose any sales on the the gameboy itself, becuase the people who buy it to play away from home would still buy it. doing this would also make it alot easier to link up gameboy and cube games.

[Achika]

-Have additional features to system...I know they want to be known as a game company only, but you won't win the casual gamer without a DVD player, HD, and whatever else you can think of...a slot for Gameboy games would be nice too.


They do have a "slot" for the GBA, it's their new GBA player, which they're allowing customers to pick up "free" instead of one of those four free games in their newest promotional deal...the one that says for $150 you can get the GCN + one game (Metroid, Zelda, two others I can't remember) OR instead of the game - the player.

Of course, it's not integrated right into the 'cube itself, if that's what you were getting at.

yes i do mean that they should integrate it right into the cube itself...think about it...they would sell alot more gameboy games that way....and you wouldn't lose any sales on the the gameboy itself, becuase the people who buy it to play away from home would still buy it. doing this would also make it alot easier to link up gameboy and cube games.

Once the GBA player comes out on the 24th I think the plan was to offer it free with the system (like the Zelda/Metroid Prime, RE 0, etc.)

[overengen]

If you look at the hardware of the N64 and the Gamecube they are both excellent in many ways compared to their competitors, but they also have some major disadvantages. Nintendo probably thought that Sony would be a minor threat just as Sega back in the beginning of the nineties but as you all know they underestimated the power of Sony. If you look back at the hardware developed by Nintendo before the release of the Playstation it is easy to understand why they didn't take the Playstation as a threat.
The hardware of every Nintendo console prior to the N64 is being surpassed by some other competitor, like Sega or Atari. Compare NES with SMS, SNES with MD, and Gameboy with Lynx and you will understand what I mean.
On the paper all Nintendo consoles where technically underpowered, but they survived and stood out thanks to good marketing and good software.
But the huge success would in the end become a backlash for Nintendo themselves. Everyone wants a fair share of the profits, software developers and 3:rd part hardware manufacturers was looking for alternatives to the almighty Nintendo. That's when Sony launched their Playstation.

I believe that Nintendo have learnt from their mistakes with their N64 and Gamecube consoles. Nintendo will never be able to correct or make up for all of their mistakes but I am sure they will do everything they can in order to avoid repeating them again!

And I think you will have to add another option to this poll: Nintendo will survive and get stronger!



Top reasons why Playstation sold better that N64.

- Right timing, the Playstation console was not considerably delayed and backed up with massive commercial campaigns.
- The CD medium was a wise choice, easy and cheap for software developers to use.
- Choosing an adult audience as their major target, a share of the market with considerably more money to spend.
- There are ten times more software titles to chose from compared to the N64.
- The Playstation console can be linked to another Playstation console.
- The Playstation console can be chipped (and you all know what that means).
- The Playstation console can play CD's.



Top reasons why Playstation2 sells better that Gamecube.

- The Playstation2 console was launched a year ahead of the Gamecube console.
- The Playstation2 console is backwards-compatible.
- Most users of the first Playstation generation tend to stick with a the brand name.
- The Playstation2 console can play DVD's.
- The hand control did not need a major redesign in order to be used for the Playstation2.
- The Playstation2 console can be chipped (and you all know what that means).



Top N64 mistakes.

- The use of a cartridge.
- Delayed launch of the hardware.
- Only 10% of all software titles released for the Playstation was ever released for the N64 consol.
- No link feature (hey, come on even a gameboy can do that).
- Not enough tested and to drastic redesign of the controller.
- No backwards compatibility.



Top Gamecube mistakes.

- The Gamecube consol was launched one year after the Playstation2 consol.
- No backwards compatibility.
- No serious use of lan or internet.
- Total redesign of the controller.

[calthaer]

Just wanted to point out since it hasn't been mentioned yet: in April Nintendo reduced their third-party royalty rates for the GameCube in an effort to attract more developers. The news was posted on 4/11/03 on GameSpy - the Reuters article on it has expired...

When they were the only game in town you're right - they ruled with an iron fist. That did come back to haunt them when 3rd party devs flocked to Sony. Maybe the royalty reduction means that Nintendo is becoming less draconian in its business practices.

[brandver3]

I think the biggest factor that everyone in this post is over looking is the new president.

That means sweeping changes not only with buisness but with software as well. Yamachi (sp?) was with the company when they made cards. He didn't make games, he just sold them. Satoru Iwata used to be a game developer, and I'm sure he see's the industry in a very different way then Yamachi did.

I imagine that the next Nintendo counsol will be marketed different then any before it. I think things are going to change in a big way.

I also did not vote since , as previously stated, this poll is 100% "Nintendo is dying" biased.

[hezeuschrist]

Top reason why Playstation sold better than N64:

- Final Fantasy 7. Not because it was the best game ever, partially because of the huge Square fanboy following, mainly because EVERYONE came to see what the machine could do, and it quickly became the top dog because of it. Then other developers saw the faith Square was putting in Sony and quickly jump onboard.

If Nintendo had made a disc system and Square still developed for the big N exclusively, it would be a whole different market.

[Drexel923]

-Have additional features to system...I know they want to be known as a game company only, but you won't win the casual gamer without a DVD player, HD, and whatever else you can think of...a slot for Gameboy games would be nice too.


They do have a "slot" for the GBA, it's their new GBA player, which they're allowing customers to pick up "free" instead of one of those four free games in their newest promotional deal...the one that says for $150 you can get the GCN + one game (Metroid, Zelda, two others I can't remember) OR instead of the game - the player.

Of course, it's not integrated right into the 'cube itself, if that's what you were getting at.

yes i do mean that they should integrate it right into the cube itself...think about it...they would sell alot more gameboy games that way....and you wouldn't lose any sales on the the gameboy itself, becuase the people who buy it to play away from home would still buy it. doing this would also make it alot easier to link up gameboy and cube games.

Once the GBA player comes out on the 24th I think the plan was to offer it free with the system (like the Zelda/Metroid Prime, RE 0, etc.)

i understand that, all i'm saying is that if there was a built in gameboy player in the next console, i think they would sell a lot more units.