Nintendo Stays in Market

I found today's opening story pretty interesting, particularly some of Mr. Iwata's thoughts on why the Gamecube hasn't been as successful as they might have hoped. I've always been of the mind that the more serious console competition there is on the market, the better and more varied the games will be for gamers, so I certainly am pleased to see Nintendo not going anywhere. But, I do wonder why the video game leader appears to be slipping outside of Japan and then blaming gamers for their slip.

Thoughts (preferably unbiased) on the future of Nintendo?

- Elysium

Hope they stay in the marketplace as a hardware vendor and gamesmaker and don''t go the way of Sega . The only problem I''ve had at all with Nintendo is that certain titles seem to be forever in development, the latest Mario and Zelda games were were(are) a case in point announced at the birth of the ''cube they,ve taken far too long to get here and I think that''s hurt them badly in hardware sales. The gameboy is Nintendos really strong card as nobody has yet brought out a credible alternative (for me anyway) and the upcoming release list looks pretty hot. Hope they''re around for years to come yet.

As misguided as I think they are at times, I really think that Nintendo is in for the long haul. They are sitting on a very large pile of cash and they own the portable market. When you get down to basic facts, they still make compelling and interesting games (Pikmin, Animal Crossing, Metroid: Prime) that they simply haven''t marketed particularly well. I would hazard a guess that the next round of console battles will be much closer, as they don''t want to be caught out again and releasing hardware 18 months after their competitors. They need to release on par with the others, or they will find themselves with absolutely no 3rd party support and 3rd party support is absolutely key these days.

I''m really happy to read that they''ll stay. No matter how you look at it, competition and diversity can''t be a bad thing. Plus, I think they make original and different games. I''ll pick creativity over realism any day of the week. The weird part is that I don''t own a cube, but something tells me that I''ll crack down and get one sooner or later.

i love nintendo''s stuff. And as long as I can drive down to the shops and pickup the latest zario melda pokeroid game i''ll be happy. It would be such a shame to lose them, i want my kids to grow up playing their games. No child of mine will play Spyro the Magic Dragon. hmph.

Good on Nintendo to continue to give MS competition in the future. I could seriously imagine that without Nintendo hardware you would have PS3 sitting there at the top and Xbox 2 taking everything else. There would be competition between the two I don''t think. The PS3 is moving in a radicially different direction to the Xbox 2 which is mainly going to be a console but PS3 is all things possible using Cell.

And of course no competition = crappy deal for the public.

AndyB - VE3D.COM

The president of Nintendo is a fool and bases his buisness model on ""IF''S"". He should think about becoming a strictly SOFTWARE/DEVELOPER only company and get out of the console buisness. Because they clearly haven''t a clue on how to compete with the likes of SONY and MS.

The president of Nintendo is a fool and bases his buisness model on ""IF''S"". He should think about becoming a strictly SOFTWARE/DEVELOPER only company and get out of the console buisness. Because they clearly haven''t a clue on how to compete with the likes of SONY and MS.

The above statement is usually what you hear from folks who don''t quite understand what Nintendo does.

Nintendo makes money, they cut a profit every year like clockwork. They don''t have to be in first place, I''m sure they would love it, but their profits cannot be disputed. To suggest going software only would be the best option for a company that''s been in the black almost every fiscal year since the NES is patently ridiculous.

If they want to make their own console designed to show off their own games I say more the power to them. As mentoned by others here, competition is always great.

We will get ready for a battle in 2005 although foreign game developers are now saying that rival next-generation systems won''t come until 2006.""

Huh? I thought Sony and MS were talking about 2005 for their next systems? I thought I even read speculation that MS was shooting for 2004 to get a leg up on Sony.

patently ridiculous.

hehehehe cute!

That''s it! Mr.Geen, go cut me a ban switch.

""Consumers today apparently don''t want to sit in front of the television to play games for hours and hours,"" said Mr Iwata.

Yes. It''s all our fault, please punish and berate us until we see the error of our ways and swear allegiance to Pokemon and Zelda.

On second thought, I''ll just go with a company that caters to MY needs.

More than anything else what turns me off to Nintendo in general is the attitude that my American tastes are much too simple and shallow, that I should be a good little customer and enjoy my sim-dating/cartoon games like the highly evolved Japanese. To ask for anything else is to "not understand" what true console gaming is about.

Judging from the latest numbers, I'd have to say it appears a lot of people feel the same way that I do.

The more the merrier, so I really do hope Nintendo can play catch-up with the rest of the marketplace.

You gajin filth, you will never grasp our eloquence!

now where did I put my monocle?

So what was so wrong about the Spryo games? I would let my child play those games and sequels to them in a new york minute...

It''s going to be a sad day if Nintendo leaves the home console business.

I think the problem is that Nintendo is just starting to get rid of the old guard and the younger guys are just starting to get their way running the company. Launching the free game deal this late is moronic.

I''m a little confused (read: ignorant) as to the status of the Squaresoft/Nintendo relationship, and I apologize in advance if this is all old news.

Many consider Sqaure to be the 3rd party developer that has the clout to make or break a console, and their marriage to Enix gives them even more weight to throw around. The Square/Enix news has been so prominent that I haven''t heard anything substantial about Nintendo''s part for almost a year now.

Obviously there have been some inroads laid, as FF is coming to both the cube and the GBA, but does anyone know what else is in the chute for Nintendo from Square? Nintendo has certainly been doing pretty well without them (though not as well as with them), so maybe this is just a non-issue...

(also, the guys who launch their console first are set to dominate the next-gen market for a while, but they''re also the first to be out-dated)

"MA17" wrote:

(also, the guys who launch their console first are set to dominate the next-gen market for a while, but they''re also the first to be out-dated)

Y''know, this is one of the reasons I waited for the cube instead of jumping on the PS2 train. It turned out not to be the case. Sure, the XBox and Cube probably have the ability to turn out higher quality games (yes, i know the actual specs indicate ps2 might be able to push more gigafloptagons, etc), but developers have been working on PS2 for so long, they know the hardare better. The games that are coming out for the PS2 now look amazing. And the architecture in all the systems seems to be open enough to support any number of hardware peripherals down the road.

I spent a long time playing my PSX and N64 and convincing myself that the cube will ultimately be worth the wait because it will be so much more advanced than that PS2 antique.

While I do enjoy the select Game Cube games I have, it could never be my staple system. The same goes for X-Box as well. My PS2 is my gaming nucleus in the console area right now. Having one of the other consoles really fills in some niches with certain unique games.

I really do hope the next Nintendo console release is a serious contender to be the nucleus of my console entertainment. It is a shame for GC especially has not done enough to compete with Sony and isn''t doing enough in the online arena to compete with X-Box.

"SmashX1" wrote:

It is a shame for GC especially has not done enough to compete with Sony and isn''t doing enough in the online arena to compete with X-Box.

And where are the awesome possibilities the linking of a GBA to the GC were supposed to afford (besides Animal Crossing and the eventual Pokemon game, which I am not at all trying to cheapen)? Nintendo is doing some pretty interesting things with their hardware, things that MS & Sony aren''t in any position to emulate. The e-reader alone is quite an accomplishment (regardless of your opinion about it).

The problem as I see it is that ""Intendo"" has tons of potential, but too little actual, though the fault isn''t entirely theirs. Third party developers seem hesitant to support what Nintendo offers them...which is a damn shame.

For some reason I always think of Nintendo and Apple Computer in the same thought. Both seem happy not being #1, both make fancy looking hardware and in a lot of cases superior product, yet do not have the same mainstream appeal as the PS2/XBOX and PC. I have to admit, I''ve been on both sides of the fence on the age old Apple/pc debate as well as PS2 and GC. Sometimes it''s fun just saying ""x"" sucks while not having any info at all on the ""flame de jour"", but having grown up on Nintendo products then making the move to Sony, now back to Nintendo I''d be really upset if they went away. Competition for the industry is good no matter what platform you enjoy. Lets see Nintendo jump into the online experience with 2 feet. If so, I think they''ll be around for a long, long time here in the States.

Lastly, how can you not love Nintendo, their mascot is a fat Italian guy chasing some Royal Princess A$$??

Personally, I think Nintendo has been the only console to offer really different games. Animal Crossing and Pikman come to mind, although I haven''t played either.

Kriegshund, I agree. I also can''t believe Super Mario Sunshine didn''t get more props. I''m in the middle of it now. I''ll be the first to admit that the Camera control SUCKS, but the game itself is really quite cool. I never played the N64 version, but I''m very pleased with this game. Lots of little gems and really trippy levels and characters. (if your into that sort of thing )

"Pulse" wrote:

Kriegshund, I agree. I also can''t believe Super Mario Sunshine didn''t get more props. I''m in the middle of it now. I''ll be the first to admit that the Camera control SUCKS, but the game itself is really quite cool. I never played the N64 version, but I''m very pleased with this game. Lots of little gems and really trippy levels and characters. (if your into that sort of thing )

I didn''t think the camera control sucked. It allows you to have total control over it. Once I started playing it I didn''t have a problem. I just didn''t like the Island theme that much.

Yea, the Island theme was a bit of a change from what I was used to. I do however like the props they show previous versions of Mario throughout the game. I thought that was pretty cool.

The Camera still bugs me, but not enough to not play the game.

Did you finish the game Ulairi?