I like videogames. I’ve been a Nintendo loyalist since I got the NES deluxe system with the lightgun and robot when I was a kid. I’ve even stuck with GameCube and been happy as Nintendo taken number three in the home system race. Still, for the next generation, I am planning to get either the XBox 360 or Playstation 3 (I used to say, “I’m done with videogames,” for each new generation – I did it for Super Nintendo, N64, and the GameCube before buying each – but I’m old enough not to pretend anymore). Nintendo has made huge marketing errors lately, and I was pretty sure about all third party support would abandon them in this next generation. As Microsoft and Sony were hyping their systems, Nintendo just showed what the new console would look like, had no demo software, and refused to show off their super-secret controller.
And I was like, “Whatever. I don’t even care about you guys anymore.”
Now the controller has been revealed. And, my reaction seemed to follow a lot of people.
“It looks like a remote control; what morons made this?”
“…though it is kinda interesting.”
“…and could possibly completely change the way we play videogames!”
While the new systems from Sony and Microsoft are just more of the same (yay, more polygons), Nintendo actually seems to have something innovative. Being that the system – whenever it comes out – should be much cheaper than the other two, maybe Nintendo still has a chance. And the controller might just be intuitive enough that SarahK could play a first person shooter without her character spending half its time bumping into walls while staring at its feet.
That would be something.
So, what do you videogame players think? I’m still going to have SarahK add the XBox 360 to our wedding registry just in case.
That controller looks dumb.
I’m like you Frank, a total Nintendo loyalist. Not to make you feel old, but the NES came out a few months after I was born and I grew up playing that. I’ve owned every Nintendo system at one point, save for the Virtual Boy and the new DS. I also plan to buy the Revolution, as well.
The other two systems rely on third-party developers to push the systems. IE Sony has Square, Microsoft now has Bungie (which it partly owns, I think so it may not count), Rare, etc. Nintendo makes the best first-party produced games-Mario, Zelda, Metroid. That’s why I’m sticking with Nintendo.
Well, 4 1/2 years ago I would have said, I would never have anything to do with videogames. Never have, Never will.
But my 4 1/2 y/o Super Sweet GrandDaughter has changed all that. She already has mastered nickjr.com and other kiddie websites and is already asking about the dreaded “videogames” who she has heard about at “Head Start”.
So, I guess my education is about to begin as I try and determine what I can get here that I can afford. I assume it will be an obsolete, used one with old games.
Is that the way to go, am I wrong?
Papa Ray
West Texas
USA
Papa:
A PS1 or even a Nintendo 64 (the 64 I know you can buy used at gaming stores-Electronics Boutique or GameStop- for about $20, PS1 new for $40) and a few “E” games would be great for her.
It’s just a ploy because they desperately need to be different or they will tank.
Adam
If you want older systems and games cheap, half.com is great for that.
Steve,
I forget how long ago some of the systems and games came out. What I consider sequels to old classics are brand new games to people younger than me. I grew up first with an Atari (a digital joystick and one button). The NES was so far ahead of that technology wise it was unbelievable.
I’m with you, Frank. I’ve been a Nintendo loyalist since the thing came out. Recently, audiences prefer violence, sports games, and the same recycled anime crap. I prefer Nintendo’s style: keeping games fresh, innovative, fantastic, and, yes, a bit “kiddie” (or “family-oriented,” as the more sophisticated among us say). I like being able to play games with my brother and sister, or with little kids, or with (gasp!) my parents, and Nintendo’s the only major party that cares to target them. And they actually do care about changing the face of gaming instead of just adding more RAM and more polygons.
The day Nintendo stops making games and systems is the day I stop buying games and systems.
I don’t think the new controller will do the wonders that Nintendo expects. I’ve seen their promo vid/commercial for Japanese audiences, and it still doesn’t look like it’s going to hold up, especially since there’s no supporting software right now. Plus, you can only use like, two buttons at most with any ease. If the “light gun” feature controls movement on screen, like head movement in a first-person shooter, it would be so drastic at longer distances from the screen that playing with any precision would be well-nigh impossible.
Of course, that could all be crap since I have yet to actually hold and use one.
This is my run down on the whole gaming console. Now mind you, this is coming from someone who has owned every game console since the original Atari 2600 (Which I still have in working order!)and built my own arcade cabinet.
Nintendo is geared more towards children, for the most part. If you want a more grown up look and play style, you want the XBox or Playstation. The XBox is geared more towards the American death and mayhem audience, but with the 360 is introducing more game type, studios, etc. to bring it more in line with the Japanese market that prefers games like Pokemon. ick! Other than that we aren’t seeing any great advances that differ greatly between the two.
Personally, I am going for the xbox since I am not one who enjoys the Japanese game market. 🙂 Also, the xbox is going to be out a LOT sooner than the playstation.
Not to mention, Halo 3 will only be available for Xbox 360. Doesn’t that simply make this a no-contest situation?
To me, Nintendo is dead. RIP, if you like, for me it’s a good riddance. They quit understanding what videogaming was becoming all the way to the Nintendo 64, and still haven’t got a clue.
A conservative (no pun intended) prediction is that they’ll officially go out of business before five years, unless they reinvent themselves as multiformat developers and/or quit videogaming altogether, and return to making boardgames or the like.
Companies that can’t compete go under. It’s the market, baby.
Two words concerning the Revolution: Backwards compatibility. 🙂
Nintendo will not tank; they are still largely in the black due to their handheld sales and low manufacturing costs.
They are more than due for a return to greatness, and I will be praising all creation when that day finally comes.
Bwahahhaahaaaaaa!
I recently won the x360 off that Mt. Dew promotion they are having. First contest I have won since i was 18.
I have to dissagree with a lot of the speculation. Nintendo will be erased off the video game map in N. America and EU. But will retain 2nd position in Japan. If you want know why I am so stoked about the X360 go watch the vids of Kameo or Gears of War over at xboxyde.com. The Tokyo Game Show just ended and they have a ton of new vids.
MS is going to have Sony bloody and stumbling when they launch this Nov.
I’m a child of the 80’s, and back in the day I was a hard-core Nintendo loyalist. Getting my NES was, at the time, the best moment of my life, and I had many fond memories playing that thing to death. I stayed a Nintendo loyalist through the 16-bit era, and was one of the SNES fanboys shouting down the Genesis owners (ah, fun times :). But after that, Nintendo FUBARed big time when they stuck with the outdated cartridge format while everyone else moved to CDs. In doing so, Nintendo lost Square, as well as most other third parties. The Nintendo 64 was infamous for its lack of third party support, as the catridge format limited the memory and imposed an incredible burden on game developers. The rest, as they say, is history. Indeed, most the definining games of the 32/64 bit generation were on the Sony Playstation (Final Fantasy 7-9, FF Tactics, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Grand Turismo, Resident Evil 1-3, etc.). Nowadays, I’m not loyal to any specific system, I merely go where the good games are. I even bought a Gamecube for Resident Evil 4 (and it was worth every penny). I’ll do the same with the next generation. Whoever has the better games, I’ll buy their system. Even if it is the Nintendo Revolution with their fruity remote control of a controller.
Btw, conservatives would love Resident Evil 4. The hero is a straight-arrow American, and the villains are religious cultists (“terrorists” as Leon, the hero, correctly refers to them) bent on taking down the U.S. I swear, the villain even makes reference to America “policing the world.” Imagine if Michael Moore started some freaky cult religion, which employed mind control to take down the United States, and you’ll get the idea. Course in the real world, we have the Democratic party. MUCH different.
Right. So, since Nintendo is actually making money off of its video game lines, but Microsoft and Sony are losing money off of theirs, presumably MS and Sony will drop their lines in favor of something more profitable, right?
Besides, as long as you turn a profit that’s greater than the amount that you could earn off of buying a five-year CD, you’re probably all right, even if you aren’t one of the top dogs. I mean, look at Apple! They control a miniscule portion of the market, and yet they’re doing OK.
All Nintendo has to do to stay alive is to find a market niche–like family-oriented entertainment vs. Sony’s/MS’s teen-adult entertainment–and fill it.
The revolution controller is an interesting idea; it’s got a lot of potential if they implement it right. I can’t wait to play Metroid 3 on it.
Blog Jones got to the point before I did. Nintendo will never go away simply because xbox and sony have almost completely abandoned the kid friendly family market. yeah they put out a few substandard kid titles, but nothing compared to anything with Mario in it.
As long as there’s grandparents or parents buying games (or have a say on the games coming into the house!), Nintendo is here to stay.
they may not get the high profile games, but if they’re operating in the black and pleasing their core audience, who cares?
Besides, a group playing Mario cart or bomberman is almost as much fun you can have with your clothes on and without the authorities getting involved 🙂
Well, I’ve been a die-hard Nintendo fan since my siblings and I put our Christmas money together to buy the original NES back when I was… oh… 5 maybe. I love Nintendo. I can’t help it. And I really, really want this new system to be awesome. GameCube didn’t impress me much, but the N64 owned my soul for about three years. Thank you, Zelda: Ocarina Of Time, for sucking up precious hours of my life. Let me also not forget Super Mario Kart 64, Super Smash Brothers, Banjo-Kazooie, and so on.
I think that with what Nintendo is doing, they have a better shot. The big N can’t afford to play the super-power console war because they have nowhere to make up for the loss if it fails. Sony and Microsoft have several other departments where they can cover for PS3 and 360 losses. So instead of amassing polygon counts, Nintendo decided to try something different.
I’m sure the Revolution will be considered a joke by the Maddenites, but I think it shows a hell of a lot of promise. Now if they’d just show some damn software for the system. I’d be happy.
Oh, wow, the controller looks like a remote. Big deal. I tell you, Nintendo is going to be rolling in the dough for this. Think of their market. Kids, mainly, and diehards. The diehards will get it no matter what they say about sticking it to Nintendo, so they don’t matter. But will somebody please think of the Children?! Nintendo has. Think about it: every child born in America has the inborn ability to use a remote. EVERY child. At one they may like eating it over using it, but THEY KNOW!!!
Besides, two sticks are really gay. I mean, think about it a moment: TWO STICKS. You have to play with TWO STICKS! Myself, I am a one-stick sort of person.
Oh, and FrankJ, if you don’t like it, you can use that fancy regular GC controller in the Revolution. Backwards compatablilty and all.
Well, you could get both. This is America and we have a reputation of conspicuous consumption to uphold. I like my xbox, but I do miss the good old days of zelda and metroid, but until they have online play I don’t think I’ll be moved. And the wierd controller reminds me of the Dreamstation ones, that were supposed to revolutionize everything too.
Sorry, but the Nintendo controller is going to seem wonderful and revolutionary for about the first twenty minutes, after which you’re going to get sick of having to aim it at the screen.
Ask yourself: how many times has your wireless controller screwed you up because you shifted your hands slightly and broke the beam?
“Sorry, but the Nintendo controller is going to seem wonderful and revolutionary for about the first twenty minutes, after which you’re going to get sick of having to aim it at the screen.”
Uhh, no, today you point the wireless at the screen…not really they use RF not IR. (2.4Ghz radio frequency, not Infrared, like your regular remote.)
“Ask yourself: how many times has your wireless controller screwed you up because you shifted your hands slightly and broke the beam?”
Hello, have you heard of the Wavebird, wireless controller works flawlessly, It plays (in my house) 40 feet away perfectly, without it being directly aimed at the TV.
“And the wierd controller reminds me of the Dreamstation ones, that were supposed to revolutionize everything too.”
You mean the Dreamcast by Sega? …I have never heard of a DreamStation.
” Think of their market. Kids, mainly, and diehards.”
The whole reason why Nintendo did a different controller was to attract an entirely different market.
Women, Elderly people, girls, etc, why should Nintendo fight over the “hardcore” gamers when 70% of the population is an untapped resource?
“All Nintendo has to do to stay alive is to find a market niche-”
Nintendo doesn’t want to become “Niche-tendo” they want to appeal to the masses. That’s why the controller is “as simple to use as a remote.”
Microsoft and Sony will pull out of the gaming business before Nintendo goes under. Nintendo has /insane/ amounts of cash in reserve. I think it’s somewhere in the hundred millions, if not billions. And they’re actually turning a profit on systems. The worst thing that could happen is they’d pull a Sega and become a third-party developer, but I honestly don’t see that happening. Nintendo absolutely owns the handheld market worldwide; that alone can keep them well above the waterline.
I’m honestly excited about the Revolution. I think Nintendo will have a chance to perhaps regain its lost glory. If the controller idea pans out, Nintendo will (once again) have succesfully changed the way video games are played. Imagine, an FPS where you hold the controller like a gun and squeeze the a trigger add-on to fire. Or a Zelda game where your controller /is/ the sword. The X360 and PS3 can’t boast much except increased horsepower and storage. If the Revolution controller works, Nintendo has a trump card.
Oh, and there’s the ability to play every Nintendo game ever made. That’s literally hundreds of still-great games, and some might even be improved for Revolution. If they can get second- and/or third-parties to sign on, the number will reach into the thousands.
They have 6 Billion in cash reserves.
Yes with a “B.”
Frankly, they way I see it, the Revolution controller is all novelty and no practicality.
Swordplay and such? Can you imagine any non-geek person you know swinging that thing around for more than ten minutes?
And using it for an FPS seems pretty dumb. (Yes, I know conventional controllers are even worse, but you don’t fix something that’s broke by replacing it with something equally broke)
Then again, the PS3 and Xbox 360 don’t exactly have much to offer either. The PS3 is basically the same thing with more power, although it does continue the Playstation’s legacy of having the best games. The Xbox, on the other hand, has the good old hard drive and Xbox Live, but they’re both useless without good games to go with them.
Anyway, that’s my made-in-a-hurry rant about consoles.
-Agent Orange
Sticks with a PC