How many times Nintendo shot themselves in foot on purpose?

[TeddyRuxpin]

[quote="Sylentwulf"]

Um..... AM? FM? XM? Any of this sound familiar to you? When was the last time you tuned in to a rip roaring time on 1380 AM on your radio?

For the most part AM is included in radios with FM radios. XM isn't faising out FM. Why? XM costs a lot more than AM/FM radios.

But you said that was because of widescreen, yet you have no problem with letterboxing films. If that's your main complaint, isn't it hypocritical?

And did you argue when the SNES replaced the NES? The Playstation repleced by the PS2? Same situation. Everything becomes obsolete eventually, and with games, it happens every few years. This TV standard has been around for LONG time. It's time to finally move on.

It boils down to the poor way the transition is going. Instead of forcing the HDTV owners to either get special cable or satellite HDTV service like they SHOULD be doing until the cost of HDTVs goes down at LEAST 50% instead of punishing the people who own the STANDARD in TVs.

The TV standard has changed many times. Look up early TV ads. Many had ROUND screens in the late 40's/early 50's. Then they went to the more familiar square. And then color TVs became popular around 1960. And then cable TV became widely popular in the late 70's/early 80's, etc.

SNES replacing NES isn't a fair example. A game system such as NES or SNES has one function, games. And besides, an "obsolete" game system never changes it's form. It stays just as it was made. Changing your game system shouldn't mean you should have to replace your TV.

Think about what Atari did for the 2600. They included a switch so it's official games had support for both color and black & white TVs.

We can discuss this forever but the fact remains, owners of non-HD are being bullied into buying HDTV's when the prices are still sky high.

[Ed Oscuro]

The TV standard has changed many times. Look up early TV ads. Many had ROUND screens in the late 40's/early 50's.

http://www.area31.org/robs1.html for an illustration of what he means. The picture itself - if I'm tracking correctly - wasn't round, though. That's just the shape of the viewing glass. The picture was still the same NTSC standard. I don't see how the format has changed many times - I see the early definition, and then the late '53 adoption of guidelines for color. What else?

[evildead2099]

Declined Sony's CD support on the SNES, then released another cart based system. (I don't believe they actually had the balls to say "see I told you so on this one"

I once held similar thoughts toward Nintendo in that regard until I learned that Nintendo's partnership with $ony to create a CD-ROM upgrade for the SNES/Super Famicom meant that Nintendo no longer had a monopoly over that system's distributive media (With the NES & SNES, game developers were subject to Nintendo's scrutiny and censorship as they appealed for blank, licensed NES cartridges to transfer game data to for selling games in the commercial market). CD-ROMs, unlike NES cartridges, were and continue to be a standard format for media distribution.

I'm not saying that I approve of Nintendo's decision to stick with cartridges. Cartridges, as I'm sure you're aware, are expensive and have a weaker storage capacity than CD-ROMs. I am not pleased by Nintendo's decision to do what made them the most money instead of doing what consumers demanded - but, in the Big N's defense, the company was just 'looking out for number one,' doing "business as usual."

[evildead2099]

Released special component cables for the gamecube that included special chip in cable, driving prices up, and only first party. Then removed component support from gamecube saying "see we told you noone wanted HD support"

And thereby reducing the cost of the base machine for the vast majority of people buying a Gamecube (95%+) who would not be using the component port of the machine.

That's the logic. Same reason the power supply is on the outside; makes it easier to change if it blows.

That's a good point.

[evildead2099]

On the subject of HD in general, it's NOT a standard yet. And it wouldn't BE a standard for about 10 more years if not for the industy FORCING it down everyone's throats.

It's also not yet a standard because North America has generally been slow to adopt it. I generally agree with you, though: the fair thing to do would be to offer people the option to receive either regular or HD signals until HD televisions become affordable and commonplace. If HD isn't affordable by the time it, as you say, becomes forced upon television subscribers, my cable company stands to lose at least one customer (that being myself).

[TeddyRuxpin]

I mostly watch old TV programs so HDTV/widescreen TV would be a waste for me.

This thread has been about how Nintendo has ignored HDTV support and other "older" mechs such as monochrome gameboy for so long, the colorless virtualboy, using carts in N64, etc.

While it's true that Nintendo has done some things that might not have been the best choice but at the same time, they try to stay affordable and appealing to the masses without trying to be the best.

Think about the Nintendo DS vs PSP. Sure, PSP has better graphics, good titles and many other features .... but it also costs twice as much!

Sure, they milked monochrime gameboy dry, but look how poorly the more expensive, more powerful systems color did in contrast, due to battery life and/or weak titles.

The Atari Lynx was the most powerful handheld for 12 years (1989-2001) until GameBoy Advance came out. Yet it did miserabley due to lack of good titles. And then there's GameGear with Sonic games and had a TV attachment! And it didn't do that well due to poor battery life. (And it uses 6 AA's!!)

Don't get me wrong, I'm not bad mouthing these less sucessful handhelds. I own a GameGear and a VirtualBoy and enjoy them very much. My point is the most powerful doesn't always equal the best.

The idea of movies in PSP disc format boggles the mind when portable DVD players are down to $100 at Wal-Mart as everyday prices. Seems wasteful to buy PSP movies. DVD players are going to be around longer than PSP most likely. Unless you plan to use PSP for most of your movie viewing I think it's a waste of money.

Where as GBA video carts make a little more sense and are more affordable all around. The sytem costs a fraction that PSP costs and is cart based. And as we all know cart systems last a lot longer than CD systems since there's typically no moving parts to have conk out.

[GarrettCRW]

The problem with the shift to HDTV is that a number of Neo-Cons (and the various broadcasters who are currently forced to simulcast their programming) are trying to enforce a hard switch-over date, which would force millions of consumers to either buy a converter box or an extremely expensive new TV. At present, the switch-over becomes final when 85% of the country has HDTVs (the chances of this happening by the end of next year are basically zero). Given that your average family replaces its TV only when their current one breaks down (which even for crummy TVs can be years), no one's expecting that 85% to happen anytime soon. Which displeases a number of companies to no end.

[evildead2099]

The Atari Lynx was the most powerful handheld for 12 years (1989-2001) until GameBoy Advance came out.

That's not true if you count the Neo Geo Pocket Colour (and possibly the original Neo Geo Pocket) which hit Japan in 98 and USA in 99.

[poopnes]

The Atari Lynx was the most powerful handheld for 12 years (1989-2001) until GameBoy Advance came out.

That's not true if you count the Neo Geo Pocket Colour (and possibly the original Neo Geo Pocket) which hit Japan in 98 and USA in 99.

Seems everyone's forgetting the Nomad. And I'd say that the Wonderswan was more powerful too.

[CRV]

Seems everyone's forgetting the Nomad. And I'd say that the Wonderswan was more powerful too.

Excluding portable versions of existing consoles, I would have believed the Lynx was the most powerful until the GBA, too. I'll gladly retract that if someone can get me some specs showing the Wonderswan and NGP were more powerful (which I find hard to believe).

[TeddyRuxpin]

That's not true if you count the Neo Geo Pocket Colour (and possibly the original Neo Geo Pocket) which hit Japan in 98 and USA in 99.

Seems everyone's forgetting the Nomad. And I'd say that the Wonderswan was more powerful too.

I guess I stand corrected. I could have swore the Lynx was though. But even still, the fact remains that monochrome GameBoy outsold the better, more powerful color units. I didn't forget the nomad exactly. Since it's a portable version of a console I left it out.

[TeddyRuxpin]

Excluding portable versions of existing consoles, I would have believed the Lynx was the most powerful until the GBA, too. I'll gladly retract that if someone can get me some specs showing the Wonderswan and NGP were more powerful (which I find hard to believe).

Atari Lynx specs:
http://www.cyberiapc.com/vgg/atari_lynx.htm

Wonderswan specs:
http://www.cyberiapc.com/vgg/wonderswan.htm

NeoGeo Pocket/Color specs:
http://www.cyberiapc.com/vgg/neogeo_pocket.htm

[Sylentwulf]

Seems like everyone is forgetting a LOT of handhelds.... TG express was more powerful than any of them, and had a great library

[TeddyRuxpin]

Seems like everyone is forgetting a LOT of handhelds.... TG express was more powerful than any of them, and had a great library

Again, a portable based on an existing console like Nomad.

[evildead2099]

The Atari Lynx was the most powerful handheld for 12 years (1989-2001) until GameBoy Advance came out.

That's not true if you count the Neo Geo Pocket Colour (and possibly the original Neo Geo Pocket) which hit Japan in 98 and USA in 99.

Seems everyone's forgetting the Nomad.

Forgot about the Nomad have I not; I didn't mention it because the Nomad is actually a console that Sega managed to squeeze down and slap a small display upon. Same goes for NEC and its Turbo Express handheld (based on the TG 16).

Hmm... According to those specs TeddyRuxpin provided links to, the Atari Lynx is more than twice as fast as the Neo Geo Pocket in terms of how many megahertz its processor is designed to handle. I guess it is I who stands corrected. My apologies for the erroneous statement that I made; it only seemed logical to assume that a handheld which came so many years after the Atari Lynx would be at least as powerful (if not moreso) than its predecessor.

Good call on the Wonderswan, though. However, the Wonderswan, like the Neo Geo Pocket (And Neo Geo Pocket Colour, unfortunately), never really caught on in North America... Too much damn Pokemon-mania stealing the spotlight away from such worthy and powerful handhelds

[Raedon]

And thereby reducing the cost of the base machine for the vast majority of people buying a Gamecube (95%+) who would not be using the component port of the machine.

That's the logic. Same reason the power supply is on the outside; makes it easier to change if it blows.

That is like saying, "no digital audio out" I think everyone could have used a digital audio port by now but noooo. Just because I don't have an HDTV I will some day and support would have been nice.

Like the Top Loader being well designed up until the stripes and the no AV out or the lack of S-Video support on the SNES Jr. I wouldn't have cared about those "cost saving" features back then but I care now.

[Ed Oscuro]

Hmm... According to those specs TeddyRuxpin provided links to, the Atari Lynx is more than twice as fast as the Neo Geo Pocket in terms of how many megahertz its processor is designed to handle.

It has far fewer colors (16/"scanline") and a smaller screen 160x~100) than the NGPC, though in terms of processing power it seems to have an edge (that's always nice).

Too much damn Pokemon-mania stealing the spotlight away from such worthy and powerful handhelds

Good games > Good hardware.

[evildead2099]

Too much damn Pokemon-mania stealing the spotlight away from such worthy and powerful handhelds

Good games > Good hardware.

I agree that Good games > Good hardware, and that's why I used the word "damn" to refer to Pokemon-mania; I find most console-style RPGs lame in general, and Pokemon is definately no exception to that preference (Give me an RPG that actually challenges me enough to THINKthroughout the course of its many battles, like the Fallout series or Shining Force!). Other than the Nintendo's franchise games (Zelda, Mario, Kirby, etc), the Gameboy library is comparable to the PS1 in terms of abundant crap (much of which is based on movie / television licenses). Although it boasts a smaller library, most of the Neo Geo Pocket's games are at least halfway decent.

[Ed Oscuro]

Pokemon still was a good game; it might not have been up your alley, that's all.

[Poofta!]

nintendo, my friends, has rocket propelled grenades mounted to its thighs to ensure the most quick and efficient way of blowing its feet away.


-third party policy - n64
-cart medium - n64
-screw over sony - snes
-virtual boy (reseller market doesnt help the company, virtual boy is a dud and everyone knows it)
-no dvd playback - GC
-no real online support to speak of - GC x_x
-color/aesthetic design - GC
-DS (there are like 5 games worth playing, and they are all the same. thanks for nothing. what a waste of my money that was)

did i miss anything?