I'd say 90% for that last one. :) There's only one reason Nintendo would do it: to get otherwise reluctant Namco to actually release a game for their console. So it's possible... if Namco actually wants to again.
But Namco obviously only takes its Nintendo support so far... witness now the next Tales and Soul Calibur games are PS2 only! I don't know how much they want to support Nintendo... perhaps if Nintendo paid them well?
The SC3 thing makes absolutely zero sense since the second one sold the best on the GC, despite its relatively small userbase. So Sony must have paid them a shitload of money or something, to get exclusive rights.
Yeah, money from Sony is the only reason I can think of that they'd do something so stupid... not only not on the GC, but also not on the X-Box, which is doing quite well in most of the world!
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)
I'm tell you, if all Sony can do is run in the red for all these years in a rather vain attempt to irradicate Nintendo, it seems like Nintendo is playing to it, all Nintendo needs to do is keep it up and eventually Sony will burn out and crash. I'm starting to get the feeling that Nintendo's secret strategy is to run the marathon against of a bunch of sprinters.
N_A, i've read alot of financial and business dribblings here and there about companies that have used that exact strategy and often times succeeded. It even makes sense with the 'elder' of the 3 having more of a solid grasp on the workings of the industry. Since, arguabely, they invented it.
But two generations? Two generations of a lackluster offering in comparison to the previous two generations where they nearly owned the market entirely. I dunno, I mean of course all 3 companies are in it for the money but Nintendo seems to be the only one that actually gives a shit about the industry. That statement losses its flavor after you think about the failure Nintendo has with acquiring 3rd party support for thier last 2 consoles. And I guess that comes down to pure dollars and sense - Nintendo always made money off third parties in a virtual mafia-esque 'protection' ring. In other words, pay Nintendo to have your games on thier system.
MS and Sony, as far as I know, dont play to that ideal. Instead, taking a percentage off of sales. Which Nintendo has always done as well. I mean, that's why Nintendo is still the more successful of the 3 companies financially.
But remove that, and you have Nintendo being the third least popular of the systems (to consumers and devs alike), so even if you remove the fees, you'll have to garnish thier interests even further. It's a big mess.
But when new hardware hits the shelves, it's anybodies game. One title could sway the public's interest in favor of any system, even if a no-name entered the fray. You'll have people thinking "I like my PS2, so the PS3 will be great for me.", but if the PS3 doesn't have that killer title that has the world buzzing, they'll second guess thier blind purchase.
I'm afraid that there's no Nintendo fans left, and if they do pop up they're rediculed and bastardized by the rest of gaming's society. I still start near-riots in EB and Babbages with the Sony and MS fanboys, and I do it because no one fights for Nintendo anymore; they dont even remember why they liked them. No matter what Nintendo does, no one seems to care. Nintendo could announce a new peripheral that makes your penis larger and causes money to grow from your nose and people would find ways to downplay it, redicule it and ultimately destroy any glimmer of its propects.
But then they release 4 screens of a Zelda game and the entire earth simultaneously ejaculates. MS fanboys quickly, as if offended, try to find current or upcoming games with similar graphical beauty, Sony fans scramble to quickly point out that even though it's Zelda which is always fun, and even though it's beautiful, it has the name Nintendo on it... so it must be garbage. All the while thinking in the backs of thier minds about how awesome Zelda will be, or could be.
A game that actually sells hardware, not the other way around as with MS and Sony. So I guess there is hope just yet. My only hope is that people will remember what games are, not the interactive music video krap we've been getting from countless 3rd parties who think they can tell stories; but actual games, the kind of games that remove all traces of reality and suck us in so deep that you really are this character and you are really doing these things. That's what it's all about. And people forgot.
I only get into arguments with biased fanboys, who take sides with either company and refuse to admit that there's anything worthy from the competitors. But I did grow up a Nintendo fanboy, so I'm always rooting for them more than anyone else. However I don't translate that into meaning that you cannot criticize your favorite company. It's like a parent who wants the best for their child and is saddened when they do things that hurt themselves. IMO Nintendo is our biggest hope for the future of the industry, and I hate to see them fall behind so much.
Remember the "Bo Knows" commercials? Of course you do. But do you remember "ProStars", the cartoon that starred Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson, and Wane Gretzky?
Holy shit I haven't thought about that show in over a decade! I remember watching it pretty often, thank you so much for bringing it up! Damn, now I have to go find some episodes of that show. I think I even had some action figures.
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