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| Burning Ranger 584th Post
 
New Red Carpet Member
 
    
    
|  "Re(3):Time Magazine bashes Nintendo"
, posted Wed 10 Dec 20:02
It's not bashing. Time is just stating the facts. People who think that Gamecube is doing better than the X-box in the US are only fooling themselves. In Japan, it may be a different story, but in the US, PS2 and X-box are dominating, not Gamecube. And yes, the GC is in a decline at the moment. Go into any game store in the US, and you will find massive PS2 and X-box sections, with a relatively small Gamecube section. To me, at least, it seems like the GC, while it has fantastic games, is going to go the way of the Dreamcast.
Then again, thats my opinion...
Advanced Cyborg E. Branger AKA Burning Ranger
"Never underestimate the predictabilty of stupidity." -Vinnie Jones from SNATCH
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| Minuteman
54th Post
Occasional Customer
| "Re(2):Time Magazine bashes Nintendo" , posted Wed 10 Dec 20:42
Yea, I mean, I'm still a Nintendo fan (I enjoy my GC quite much, thank you), but I thought the article was fair. Nothing new really.
I'd like to know if Nintendo has truly "missed the boat" with online gaming. I mean, yes, PS2 and Xbox have online gaming and yes, people use it. But what percentage of people who own those systems are actually online w/ them? And is it profitable?? Any hard numbers out there?
And it does point out that they have $6 Billion to work with. And Nintendo sort of is expanding into realms with the Triforce arcade, which I think they could expand on greatly, to introduce new franchises.
Things will be interesting over the neext few years for sure...
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| aderack
101th Post
Regular Customer
| "Re(3):Time Magazine bashes Nintendo" , posted Thu 11 Dec 01:51:
quote:
I don't know if I should say this but, what do you think Nintendo could have done to get a better result?
What Nintendo really needs to do is pay more attention to third parties. The current impression in the development community -- and it's been this case almost since the beginning -- is that it's kind of a waste of money and effort to pay too much attention to Nintendo's box. Sony has the marketshare, so put all of your money on Sony and you don't have to think; you don't have to worry.
Nintendo needs to conduct some psychology experiments. Figure out what it'll take to change that impression -- to give third-part developers confidence that they'll be on at least an equal level with Sony, that there aren't any demographic problems, that Nintendo intends to listen to and to help developers even more than Sony will. Lower licencing fees. Get a few key secret blockbuster third-party games contracted for launch -- and get all of this ready before they unveil their next system.
Then they have to go to the public -- convince them that Sony is the old guard, and is no longer hip. Go a bit more in-your-face about Sony's weak spots (the fact that their systems break if you breathe on them, for instance). Make people think "hey, they're right. Sony's become kind of boring now. Maybe I've been missing something over here..." Position themselves as the mythological kings of old, revitalized, reborn, and ready to reclaim their throne from those who have been keeping it warm for the last decade or so.
This is what has to be done, in a nutshell. People won't care enough otherwise, to make a huge difference over the performance of the previous two consoles. If Nintendo doesn't have the constant and substantial software support, and if they're still seen as kind of dismissable and fuddy-duddy by the mainstream, they'll not be in a good position.
It's all about relations; public and private. Nintendo doesn't like to talk to people. They need to change that, fast. Make everyone really, REALLY believe that they've got a winner this time -- as Sega did during the first few months of the Dreamcast. Only more so. And keep that momentum. Don't let go. They need to pace themselves, and plan ahead to always have a next card to slap into place. Make sure the public and press never come too far off the launch high. Don't just make it, then lean back and expect things will work out (as Nintendo has been wont to do). That people and games will come. It won't. They won't.
Another thing that's important is to beware of potential sabotage from Sony. Try to anticipate what weird tricks they might pull, and build in some safeguards. Always have something better stashed away, to counter a weird claim from the other side.
So I guess there are two themes. Communication and planning.
If they can accomplish all of the above, Nintendo will have a winner. In theory they have got more weight and substance as a videogame company; if they're just smart enough to bend and use that fact in a comparative, qualitative sense -- and if they've enough developers on their side to back it up with -- people will be attracted.
EricJonRösselWaugh
YOU CANNOT STOP ME WITH JUST A PARAMECIUM!
[this message was edited by aderack on Thu 11 Dec 02:07] |
| Ishmael 1077th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member
  
| "Re(2):Time Magazine bashes Nintendo" , posted Thu 11 Dec 12:25
A nice mainstream article from Time magazine covering the Nintendo's difficulties. As for Nindendorks, they certainly lived up to -or lived down to- their name.
quote:
"Not only is Nintendo struggling to keep pace with its larger, better-funded rivals—Sony and Microsoft—in the console business, but its Game Boy division, Nintendo's previously unassailable monopoly in handheld games, is suddenly facing a host of formidable foes."
Formidable foes in the handheld market? I've yet to see any. I agree with the console point, though. I love the GC, but it isn't doing too hot, sadly.
I was wondering about that one too. The N-Gage is such a turkey it's worthy of it's own article and Sony's portable device is still in the development stage. Time is right, however, in pointing out that just because the GameBoy and it's offspring own the handheld market right now that doesn't mean that will always be the case, especially if Nintendo doesn't change it's general business strategy.
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| Henaki
76th Post
Occasional Customer
| "Re(3):Time Magazine bashes Nintendo" , posted Thu 11 Dec 16:53
Agreed.
Nintendo is pretty much going into the generation saying "We'll do it our own way, even if it won't work." Their current strategy right now is "There's no TEAM in I". Until they actually realize the big bucks is in 3rd Party, they're pretty much screwed. I also think they made a poor desicion on how they developed the Gamecube, style wise. I was almost turned off by the console itself, until I realized there were some nice games for it. They *really* need to fix up the controller, it's major flaw is the BIG AS HELL A BUTTON, which makes certain third party games really annoying to play *coughfightingameshackpuzzleswheeze*
I also just generally hate how the X-Box and GC have the joystick as the PRIMARY directional item, while I still enjoy using a D-Pad unless I need full 360 motion.
Anyway, until Nintendo's mindset changes, they're dead.
So...how about those...things....
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| DarkZero 538th Post
New Red Carpet Member
| "Re(7):Time Magazine bashes Nintendo" , posted Thu 11 Dec 23:57
quote:
But the thing is that Nintendo *is* doing a lot better than the X-Box. It was third place in the US before the price cut, but after that, they have taken the second place pretty with a good deal.
This is incorrect. If you would care to peruse the current sales data, the GC is doing slightly better in current console sales than the Xbox, but they still have a 1.2 million console deficit to make up for. The Xbox and GC are also dead even in software sales, and not just this week, but apparently at any point in the last two months. The Top 10 sales lists in EGM for the last few months (which, sadly, I lack a link for) usually show relatively little difference between GC and XB games. So really, who has second place is too close to call at this point. Until one console or the other makes SOME sort of headway in software sales, hardware sales, and total hardware sold all at the same time, it will remain too close to call.
That's actually one of the main flaws with the Time Magazine article. It pays brief lip service to the fact that the Xbox and the GameCube are dead even in the United States, but then continues to focus on nothing more than the Nintendo's mistakes and failures without any comparison to Microsoft. The article brings up the Japanese market when it talks about 3G cellphones trying to compete with the GBA as if it were a major concern for Nintendo, but apparently doesn't care about the fact that the GameCube has the second place spot locked in Japan, or the fact that the Xbox isn't even beating the Gameboy Advance (the one that blinds and maddens its victims, not the SP) on the Japanese sales charts. I mean, really... think about that. Nintendo's mighty competitor is soundly losing ground in Japan to a piece of hardware that was so bad that it had to be revised just a year or so later. That's not worth mentioning, even just for the pure hilarity of it, in an assessment of Nintendo's global business situation? Wait, scratch that. That's not worth mentioning, but N-Gage... THE N-GAGE... is?! Come on.
The article wasn't as bad as Nintendorks made it out to be, but parts of it were still laughably false. They even quoted a representative from From Software, a company whose only hit in years (Otogi, an Xbox game) didn't even make a dent on the North American sales charts. Yeah, I bet that guy's a real player in the industry. When he talks, people listen. Until they realize what company he works for.
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| Ammadeau 581th Post
New Red Carpet Member
| "Re(8):Time Magazine bashes Nintendo" , posted Fri 12 Dec 01:36
quote:
The article brings up the Japanese market when it talks about 3G cellphones trying to compete with the GBA as if it were a major concern for Nintendo, but apparently doesn't care about the fact that the GameCube has the second place spot locked in Japan, or the fact that the Xbox isn't even beating the Gameboy Advance (the one that blinds and maddens its victims, not the SP) on the Japanese sales charts.
Uhh... the GBA outsells everything, even the PS2, in Japan. I think the comparison you're looking for is Wonderswan. It doesn't help matter than xbox has had the worst promotion ever in Japan and they also get the shaft as far as games go there.
quote:
They even quoted a representative from From Software, a company whose only hit in years (Otogi, an Xbox game) didn't even make a dent on the North American sales charts. Yeah, I bet that guy's a real player in the industry. When he talks, people listen. Until they realize what company he works for.
Ever hear of the Armored Core series?
Also, Otogi is better than anything Nintendo has put out recently (imo). If you want to slander them, mention Murakumo, which was complete crap.
It's all sort of a moot point anyway. GBA sales are still huge so Nintendo isn't going anywhere anytime soon, even if Sony ends up kicking their ass in the next handheld gen.
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| VManOfMana 275th Post
Copper Customer
| "Re(8):Time Magazine bashes Nintendo" , posted Fri 12 Dec 08:37
quote:
But the thing is that Nintendo *is* doing a lot better than the X-Box. It was third place in the US before the price cut, but after that, they have taken the second place pretty with a good deal.
This is incorrect. If you would care to peruse the current sales data, the GC is doing slightly better in current console sales than the Xbox, but they still have a 1.2 million console deficit to make up for. The Xbox and GC are also dead even in software sales, and not just this week, but apparently at any point in the last two months. The Top 10 sales lists in EGM for the last few months (which, sadly, I lack a link for) usually show relatively little difference between GC and XB games. So really, who has second place is too close to call at this point. Until one console or the other makes SOME sort of headway in software sales, hardware sales, and total hardware sold all at the same time, it will remain too close to call.
I said that Gamecube is doing a lot better in the *present*, and I mean that they are second place now in the *present*. So they have a 1.5 million to make up in the US. No problem. That deficit is more than made up in Europe and the US (the price drop increased Gamecube sales by 400% in Europe).
Also, you may think that the number is difference on the last month is not that much, but I think it is. There is a difference of (254 - 176) / 176 = .44 - that means the Gamecube/XBox ratio is almost 1.5/1
But back to my very main point. Nintendo is making a profit (the loss reported last month also mentioned that the full year is expected to be profitable at the end). Why should they change their strategy? If people think they are kiddy is those person's fault, not Nintendo's. It is not Nintendo's fault that the mainstream is not intelligent enough to distinguish see a good game because it doesn't look good.
And on the FFX-2 comment, I will go over any kiddy looking, Brownie Brown developed Seiken Densetsu game over a fanservicefest of RPG. Why? I buy a game to play it, not to watch it.
Jabel D. Morales - VMan of Mana.
http://vman.animecafe.net/
"Tameraeba makeyo!"
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| DarkZero 539th Post
New Red Carpet Member
| "Re(9):Time Magazine bashes Nintendo" , posted Fri 12 Dec 14:46
quote:
The article brings up the Japanese market when it talks about 3G cellphones trying to compete with the GBA as if it were a major concern for Nintendo, but apparently doesn't care about the fact that the GameCube has the second place spot locked in Japan, or the fact that the Xbox isn't even beating the Gameboy Advance (the one that blinds and maddens its victims, not the SP) on the Japanese sales charts.
Uhh... the GBA outsells everything, even the PS2, in Japan. I think the comparison you're looking for is Wonderswan. It doesn't help matter than xbox has had the worst promotion ever in Japan and they also get the shaft as far as games go there.
Perhaps you should take a look at the link before posting. The GBA does not (at times) outsell the PS2. The GBA SP does. I was saying that there are more Japanese gamers choosing to buy an original Gameboy Advance instead of the SP than there are Japanese gamers choosing to buy the Xbox. That means that there is a solid, quantifiable number of Japanese gamers who are clinically insane, and the number of Xboxes being sold is actually lower than that. Also, the comparison to the WonderSwan is no longer viable for the Xbox, as there were nearly 12 (11.76) times more Xboxes sold than WonderSwan Crystals during the last week of sales that we have data for. Again, just take a look at the link. It's that simple.
quote:
They even quoted a representative from From Software, a company whose only hit in years (Otogi, an Xbox game) didn't even make a dent on the North American sales charts. Yeah, I bet that guy's a real player in the industry. When he talks, people listen. Until they realize what company he works for.
Ever hear of the Armored Core series?
Also, Otogi is better than anything Nintendo has put out recently (imo). If you want to slander them, mention Murakumo, which was complete crap.
Ever hear of an Armored Core game reaching the Top 10 or Top 20 in North America in the last two years? I haven't. And that was my point. I wasn't talking about what games you like or don't like, I was talking about SALES. When a journalist goes to a puny little company like From Software for an inflammatory quote, you can tell that they're more interested in the inflammatory quote than getting the opinion of someone that knows what they're talking about. Konami's representative belonged in that article because Konami is in or near the same tier as Nintendo. Konami is enormous and enjoys monumental sales. From Software is nowhere near that tier. They have less influence on the console industry than many American PC game developers that just dump ports of their games onto the console market.
VMan:
quote:
I said that Gamecube is doing a lot better in the *present*, and I mean that they are second place now in the *present*. So they have a 1.5 million to make up in the US. No problem. That deficit is more than made up in Europe and the US (the price drop increased Gamecube sales by 400% in Europe).
Do you have a link for that 400%? I tried to find some European sales data for my post, but I had no idea where to look.
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