Quote:We see plenty of reporting and regurgitation of marketing hype. And we could subsist on an endless diet of wild speculation. But we rarely get the kind of business analysis that we need.
This gap was painfully obvious to me post-E3. Because while everyone was busily laying bets on the horse race between Sony and Microsoft for the dominance of the next generation of gaming, Nintendo was quietly disregarded on the side.
Business-wise, this was weird. Because as far as I can tell, Nintendo is the business story to watch. And strangely enough, you don’t have to try very hard to see why. I can only conclude that most of us are not looking at all.
Quote:In this light, it’s odd how few game commentators seem to understand just how profitable Nintendo really is. With a net margin of over 20%, Nintendo is a financial rock star. Just by way of comparison, General Electric, that monster global conglomerate whose executives write the books about corporate leadership that other Fortune 500 execs read, clocks in with a net margin of 11% Nintendo’s business engine is so efficient that even though they sell far less than Sony, they make, bottom line, about as much as all of Sony, Yes, that’s right. Little Nintendo generates about as much cash as giant Sony—electronics, movies, the works. (For a bunch of good financial data on this subject in one place, see PCVSConsole).
Now there are a number of lessons in this. But let me point to the most obvious:
When looking at the current console war, it’s important to keep in mind that Sony is a big company that does well on its games and film subsidiaries, but has been taking big losses in electronics. Microsoft is a very, very profitable software company that has so far taken large losses in its entertainment division. And Nintendo is a reasonably large company that has continued to make money with no obvious financial liabilities. As businesses, these three companies have different strengths and weaknesses. But none is the overwhelming leader from a business position.
Posted by: EdenMaster - 30th May 2005, 10:25 AM - Forum: DS Reviews
- No Replies
Continuing in the increasinlgly more popular WarioWare franchise comes this, the first must-have game for the DS. Fans of any previous WW game will be right at home. The game's simple yet maddening gameplay is just what you need for those few minutes on the bus in the morning, or whittling away the hours trying to unlock and defeat every microgame.
<b>Sound</b>
Sound and music comes through crisp and clear on the DS' sual speakers, and everything fits well. The music, what there is of it, is so short during the microgame that you barely notice it, but it does play during some characters stages (Ashley, for instance, has a song about her that plays all through her stage). Sound effects don't blow you away, but the occasional explosions or bowling pin clatter sound good, especially in situations where they're not necessary.
<b>Graphics</b>
Graphics on the microgames can range from the simplest 2D Game & Watch screens to some that have N64-like quality. It's difficult to rate this game on graphics because it's obviously not trying to impress with them. Graphics are functional, that's about all you can say about them. Before and after each characters stage, you get to watch a short cartoon with them as well. As I said, nothing spectacular, but you didn't buy WarioWare for it's graphics, you bought it for it's...
<b>Gameplay</b>
Oh yeah, here's where the game delivers. As every WW title before it, this game shines through on it's gameplay. On the main screen you have many characters and levels to choose from, and in each stage you get 3-5 second long microgames thrown at you in rapid succession until you lose 4 microgames. (or more if you manage to get 1ups from boss games). The microgames almost all make use of the touch screen and stylus, though some require you to blow into the DS microphone as well. The games are varied, and mostly broken up by character into basic categories. Kat and Ana's stage requires mostly scribbling, Ashleys require you to drag something on the screen somewhere else, and good old Wario,you never know what he might throw at you.
Varied and fun as the games may be, and though the game does not fall short on the number of microgames it has, the diversity of how you achieve them is the games weak point. Most of the time the games can feel repetitive, especially in Mike's level, where you must simply blow on the microphone for nearly every microgame. Most of the other levels simply require you to circle things, scribble, draw, or other such tasks. Though the game is fun, a tad more variety in it's microgames would have been welcome.
My final verdict? Touched! is a great addition to the WarioWare franchise and makes good use of the DS technology, but if a sequel is made, it could be better with more variety in the game. It also suffers from the shortness of it's predecessors, but the sheer replayability of the game almost negates this. Beyond that, this game is just as perfect as any other WW title before it. I rate the game 8.0.
Just found this. Lucas and Spielberg have approved a script for Indiana Jones 4, but Ford still has to sign off on it. He hasn't read it yet. Lazy, I'd definitely say this is the project that Rob Coleman said they were planning and couldn't talk about.
Nintendo might have a problem on their hands concerning their download content.
Like most of us, I own pretty much every Nintendo made game from the past 20 years as I also own all the consoles from the big N. Being able to download them all in to the Revolution is great for people that never got a chance to play them or lost them. But for people like me, I need an extra incentive to download the games, especially if i'm paying for it.
With the OoT re-release on GC, we got a version of OoT in progressive scan high res, as well as some frame rate issues in certain areas fixed up. The game seems to be locked at 30 fps with very few moments of stutter, only in the hairiest of moments. I noticed that MM got a similar treatment.
So when we start up our Revolutions for the first time and we see the download games, if OoT is there and costs, let's say 10 bucks, what would get you to buy it? If it's the same game as the GC re-release I wouldn't get it. I would need it to have something new.
If it's free, of course i'll grab it. But if it has a cost, I would need something like high res @ 60 fps... That would interest me, but it's still not enough. new dungeons/areas? Okay, now we're talking.
In fact, for all the downloadable games, I would have to be able to have a 'perfect' version of the games to really interest me. No slow down, high res and in surround sound, and of course any and all bugs removed. For Nintendo, this wouldn't be a big deal at all, but new content like levels, characters, etc will take time, energy and money that Nintendo will need to spend on new games for Revolution.
So now we have our perfect versions and we want some new content, something that justifies the price when we already have it available.
I think the answer comes from Nintendo's past. A network of users who use Nintendo-made tools to make game-edits. Entire games, or just an added level. We see roms all the time of dungeons for the original Zelda made by fans. Imagine if Revolutionaries could download the original game along with an editor and make their own levels, weapons, etc and then put them up on a network for other people to download. It would be slow to start up, but within months you would see completely original versions of all our favorite games.
So now we have our perfect versions with new content and a price would be juistified.
How about take it in another direction? Instead of focusing on graphics or new levels etc, they could use the Revolutions wi-fi network to allow us to play all our old favorite 2 player games online. 10 bucks to download Mario Kart for SNES with the bonus of playing it online for free. Suddenly a picture is painted that could really push the entire industry in a whole new direction.
IGN had an interesting article. They were looking at the XBox and PS2 netplayers and noticed a trend; People with handles like Zeldafan or Mario64rules, avatars of Yoshi and their racing car with a paint job of a giant ocarina with Epona's theme drawn down the side with classic C-button icons. The majority of Nintendo fans might have jumped ship but they certainly haven't left Nintendo. If Rev follows suit with their older and newer games, it would sweep them all up. Companies would then be competing with 8 and 16 bit games.
It would be a mad scramble not only for the consumers dollar, but for their play time. Current gameplay designers would have some big shoes to fill if suddenly, their awesome graphics weren't getting any play time because 9 million people are playing Super Bomberman online with their Revolutions.
What about classic one player games? Games like Super Metroid could borrow from current gen titles like Metroid Hunters. Imagine Super Metroid: you start as per usual with nothing, but there are dozens of other players mixed all around Zebes. When your paths cross with other bounty hunters, you can decide to make a team, or try to take them down. You could trade weapons, items or map info with them, too. It could even become a 24 hour world where hunters fight for relics, upgrades and weapons all over Zebes. You could have different levels and handicaps as well for newbies.
This could be applied to just about any one player game from Nintendo. Imagine playing Starfox 64 where your wingmen are human controlled and can each take your own path or even play as the bosses. Couple all of this with the ability to edit your own levels and you have yourself a dream come true. Each game infinitely expandable so you can play it how you want it and share it with others.
And finally, more third parties. The biggest one being Rare for obvious reasons. But online versions of Final Fantasy 2 and 3, Chrono Trigger, Street Fighter, Double Dragon, you name it. It would be a huge incentive to grab a Revolution, even for people who feel like Nintendo isn't for them.
So here's the bottom line:
1.) The downloadable games should have new content.
2.) They should have online capabilities if possible whether they are multiplayer games or not.
3.) Each game should have the option of an editor to make your own versions of the games.
4.) Frame rate issues should be completely fixed, as well as any bugs - 'Perfect Versions'
Quote:Zelda DS: Four Swords No More --- posted by ZackDivozzo at 8:53 PM CDT on Saturday the 21st
In a recent interview with Eiji Aonuma, Aonuma revealed that the newest addition to the handheld Zelda series on the Nintendo DS will not be a Four Swords title. Aonuma also confirmed that this title is being developed by Nintendo themselves, breaking away from the recent Capcom development of Link’s GBA adventure, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. The in-house team that is working on this title is the same group that brought us console versions of Zelda, surrounding this game with much mystery and intrigue. Could this be the 3D DS Zelda adventure that we have been waiting for? Stay tuned to DSRevolution in the future to find out.
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