EGM has posted a very good, surprising interview with George Harrison of NOA, and I can't believe some of the things he said. Nintendo is admitting a
lot of their mistakes and that is extremely refreshing. He's still iffy on the whole online thing but he is admitting how Sony has been doing so many things right which is why they're number one right now (which is a big :shakeit: to lazy and ABF who said that Sony is #1
soley because of "luck"), and he even admitted that the DVD player actually helped sales of the PS2. It seems that Nintendo is starting to wake up and realize that they have to change some things, that they're really getting their asses kicked. Harrison also talks about how the look of the Gamecube gave the system a really bad image, how it looked like a toy. That ties into how successful the GBA SP has been to adults mainly because of the sleeker, more mature look. They really seem to want to change, and I'm starting to become very optimistic for the future of Nintendo.
One thing that does worry me, however, is that Harrison was suggesting that instead of having a new handheld ready to combat the PSP next year Nintendo might just make a whole bunch of add-ons for the GBA SP(like the Pokemon-only wireless link). Hopefully that won't be the case, and that the E3 surprise which Iwata alluded to a few months ago will be something much more than a simple add-on.
Yeah, I saw this one. The first step is admitting you've made a mistake, the final step is correcting that mistake. It was pretty refreshing to hear someone from Nintendo saying those things, though.
Deep down, I always thought he might be the best Beatle.
That's a pretty good interview. Hopefully now they'll be able to correct their mistakes.
Wow... impressive. I'm amazed that Nintendo is still so skeptical about online, though... hasn't Sony and Microsoft's successes at it proved anything to them yet??? Or will it not be until its way too late that they finally get it...
Warp Pipe isn't really a good replacement. :(
Still, even there it sounds like there might be hope.
Quote:EGM: What do you think Sony and Microsoft are doing right, and what do you think they're doing wrong?
George: I think that in Sony's case, the backward compatibility [from PS one to PS2] gave them a great sense of momentum. That was not possible for GameCube because we were moving from cartridges to discs. I think, in Sony's case, they're doing very few things wrong. While they don't have their own ability to produce huge megahit titles, they were in the right place at the right time with the size, and they got things like Ridge Racer, and particularly Grand Theft Auto, to really drive their whole platform. So I think they're doing many things right, but a few things that are individually driving their overall business.
With the Xbox, I think they did a great job bringing the PC gamer into the console world. They lived off the success of Halo for quite some time. I do think, though, that for both Microsoft and Sony, they're placing a lot of emphasis on the online area, which has a lot of interest from consumers, but hasn't really shown much in the way of results yet.
EGM: Do you feel that Nintendo's conservative approach to online gaming may put you at a disadvantage when the next generation of systems come along?
George: If we look at the situation as it stands today, we've got about 30 million systems sold between the PS2, Xbox and GameCube, and about a million and a half people have actually bought an online service -- about a million for Sony and half a million for Xbox. So that's about five percent of the hardware install base that spent the money to get involved. Most of those people have yet to spend any money on a monthly or annual basis for a subscription.
This holiday season and the following year will be very telling for online gaming, because consumers' free one-year subscriptions will run out and they'll have to decide -- do I spend, or not? That, or our competitors will have to decide whether to continue giving it away for free. So I don't think that we're missing anything by not being involved. I will say, though, that it certainly has played out the way we thought it would in this generation. The hype may have been more important than the actual substance.
But having said that, we know that consumers continue to be interested in online gaming, and we know that it has to be a component of our next system. We're thinking about how we can fit it in, what kind of partners we would need, and so on.
EGM: At the same time, though, both broadband access and interest in online gaming is likely to expand over the next two or three years from now. Wouldn't that put Nintendo's next system at a disadvantage, since consumers are already familiar with the PS2 and Xbox's online abilities?
George: We've always believed that the social aspects of gaming are one thing that propels our market forward. We've focused particularly on four-player games and things of that nature, but Pokemon, with its ability to exchange data between Game Boys, really took that to a whole new level of hardware sales for the system. We believe that is very important, and while the core gamers... I know those are your readers, but while core gamers are important for being trendsetters, the breadth of the market says to us that we have to try to please not only the best of hardcore gamers, but also the casual gamers. We're trying to figure out what the right balance is there.
We believe games like Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and some of the other things we do so well really can cover the gamut of GameCube owners. Hardcore gamers can really enjoy them, but so can the casual gamers which, in terms of numbers, make up the majority of the market,
Hmm... they realize that their next system will have to integrate it in some way. That is very good news... I hope that it leads to a good result by the time the N5 comes out. :)
A lot of those other admissions are good, though... that the design turned people off, that the DVD player sold units (though I personally was much happier with it out, as were most Nintendo fans, I admit that it hurt in the mass market...), that Nintendo needs more third-party support (though there's not much they can do about the fact that their own games are just better most of the time.. :D), etc...
And as for the GB... well, you know what I think about that. It'll be just fine for quite some time.
Problem is, this is NOA, not the one who actually CONTROLS the decisions of the company, which is in Japan...
That is true, but I believe he was also speaking on Iwata's behalf.
Quote:And I think one of the things that Mr. Iwata's trying to figure out is how the next system should look like, and how should we go out and research or test that.
One interesting point about online he made was that the numbers the companies (ie Microsoft) put out saying online play is successful include all the 3 months free players. We don't really know how many players are actually paying to play online because Microsoft hasn't released those figures. I think Nintendo still has a point in saying that online isn't profitable yet, but I don't think that should excuse them from making a big push for it on their next system.
What do you mean Warp Pipe isn't a good replacement? Sure, it's not an officially licensed Nintendo product, but it's gonna be awesome and free. It would be wonderful if Nintendo would fully support online, but this is a great replacement until they do. And maybe it will help convince them that we really do want online gaming.
The Warp Project is going to be great, but it isn't the most convenient thing in the world and only a few Gamecube games have LAN support.
True, online console gaming hasn't gone as far as it can yet. I'm sure that over time it will grow, but its not there yet... but its so big among harder-core gamers that ignoring it for long will really hurt in that market. And for all the talk of softcore gamers... hardcore ones buy a LOT of games.
Online gaming has been pretty damn successful for Sony and Microsoft so far, and neither of them have the kinds of AAA titles that Nintendo could offer. Just imagine how successful it would be for Nintendo with their amazing games.
Nintendo, though, generally measures their success in profit, not in how popular something is. No doubt online Nintendo games would be insanely popular, they would probably even get me to pay $50 a year and I never play games online, but Nintendo won't push ahead until they see a way for it to make money.
Well LL, having used XBConnect and the Gamespy XBox Tunnel, I can say why the Warp Pipe isn't the best solution. As has been said, it's somewhat inconvenient. Takes a while to fully understand exactly what needs to be done to set up the link first off, and after that it's all a matter of rushing between the computer and the system. For me, that's not a problem. My computer is in the same room as the system. Another thing is communication about things like what level to play next must be done at the computer.
From a technical standpoint, the main problem that I've seen is that a lot of XBox system link games are designed assuming a direct connection, one that is faster than online (direct connects being either 10 MB a sec or 100 MB a sec, depending on the router/switch/hub being used). It's VERY fortunate that most system link games are still designed to handle lag should it occur, otherwise online play wouldn't be possible at all with these tunnels. In any case, the data sent isn't exactly super optimized for actual online speeds, so lag occurs fairly often on system link games, at least from my experience. Takes some fairly tough searching to find a lag free game. In fact, lag is prevalant enough that various myths about how to eliminate it have been formed. One says if you don't rush the counter in the loading menu of Halo (used to give other people time to show up, but it can be "rushed" by hitting a button), the game won't lag. Sure it's a silly rumor caused by lack of understanding, but that's what's happening. Tunnel services are great, and I'll love Warp Pipe for existing. However, it just doesn't really beat native online support fully optimized for the task.
I wonder, how is warp pipe handling the matchmaking part of this? I bet if I'd actually READ the interview with the guy, he answers it, but I'll ask here anyway :D.
I really don't know... it might just be IP...
Quote:Nintendo, though, generally measures their success in profit, not in how popular something is. No doubt online Nintendo games would be insanely popular, they would probably even get me to pay $50 a year and I never play games online, but Nintendo won't push ahead until they see a way for it to make money.
That's one of Nintendo's biggest strengths
and weaknesses, Derek. They do make a lot of money but they probably could have been doing much better these past eight years had they taken certain chances. Nintendo didn't want to do the DVD thing because they didn't think it would pay off for Sony and MS, yet it did. They don't want to do the online thing until they see
just how successful it's going to be for MS and Sony
in their second year. This wait-and-see attitude is killing them right now. It's especially hurting thid party sales for them, which are bad enough as it is. Who in their right mind would want to get SSX 3 for the GC if they have a PS2 (the PS2 version has online play)? Same thing goes for XIII, NFS Underground, THUG, all of Sega's and EA's sports games, Medal of Honor Rising Sun, etc. The list goes on and on. I can kind see why Nintendo is reluctant to put their games online (because setting up a LAN is
so much easier than playing someone online
), but they should have made it easier for third parties to include online modes with their games like Sony and MS have. Give them more incentive to do so.
Ya know, I've had an idea for matchmaking and.... wait no... can't tell you, you'll steal it and kick me in the shins!
Yeah... when they do start making money, and online console gaming hits mainstream, unless Nintendo catches up REAL fast they'll be left behind in the dust finally realizing the obvious, just like they were with carts... it seems so easy for that to happen to them... it'd be just like Nintendo, actually. I half expect that to happen, and when it does it will not be pretty...
Sure, right now the others aren't making money. But they are making fans happy and getting goodwill with them, and especially with the harder-core ones... things that will certainly pay off in the future. Nintendo just doesn't get it!
Until Nintendo really changes I expect the constant stream of cancelled third party games to continue on.
