Good article from Nintendojo

[A Black Falcon]

It's an expensive device that doesn't offer anything that could be done by other means.

gim·mick

1.An innovative stratagem or scheme employed especially to promote a project: an advertising gimmick.

2.A significant feature that is obscured, misrepresented, or not readily evident; a catch.

Nintendo does like unique schemes, but I wouldn't say its just to promote its product... that's certainly part of it but they just like to be different. That's where I think the E-Reader comes from 'gimmick' to me makes me think of a more cynical, 'I want attention' reason for making it... which might well have been part of it but I don't think it was the main reason. Its just a unique product which can do some intresting things...

My point is that the E-Reader is not the only real way to add something to a game like Mario 3, it's just the most expensive way to do it. It shouldn't cost over twice as much as the game itself to get extra remixed levels and power-ups!

Its certainly extremely expensive, and that is a major downside... but still. "Twice as much as the game itsself"? Huh? You going to buy $60 in Mario 3 cards? :)

And its the only way right now for Nintendo to do a true add-on to a GB game. There's no net service to upload from so how else would you do it? GC discs full of Mario 3 levels?

They're just not as vocal, or don't have as good of a memory as I do.

And most of the time you're just as critical of Nintendo as I am! You just change your stance every five seconds.

No, they just aren't that cynical. You are so much so that on some issues you hardly look like a Nintendo fan...

No, for me it depends on the issue. In some ways I certainly think Nintendo is quite dumb because of their extreme conservatism... you are extremely negative about a whole lot of things Nintendo does. I am about a few things, but I think that Nintendo isn't that bad and that a lot of what they are doing is good...

And if you read that I think that a lot of the things they have used connectivity for are bad. Just like the Transfer Pak stuff, that kind of usage is just so lame...

As I said, its a tool with a extremely limited use. I think it'd be a lot better, actually, if it was over the internet since then you wouldn't have to rely on only people you know with GBAs to play against... you could play online with anyone with both GC and GBA. That'd be better than their current usage of it for sure...

And of course only a few types of games really would seem to work with that 'i have a hidden screen' thing, in a real, important way. For those it should be used since that sounds like an interesting gameplay dynamic. In others it should not.

Does Nintendo love money? Of course! So do all sane companies! Do they do as much as possible to make as much money as they can? Yes. Makes sense, when you think about it... they just are too conservative about taking risks. Making fifteen thousand Pokemon clone games I can see, and releasing 'unique' stuff like the E-Reader, Transfer Pak, GB-GC link cable, etc, etc like they always do... yeah they make Nintendo money but they have some vague idea of added gameplay value (well not Pokemon, but the cables and stuff...)... they just need to realize that some things that don't make as much money are good ideas because of their affect on the consumers... such as including DVD players, such as making the design of your system look professional and not like a toy, such as a net service, a hard drive, etc...

I acknowledge their flaws, for sure, but give them and their products more credit on the whole than you seem to.

38... that's what, just over three dozen games! Yeah, I am totally off the mark on that one! Not even close, as you put it!

Really, that many games? I didn't know that...

So the question is, in how many games is it a real feature and in how many is it a lame way to unlock stuff? And how many of those features that are added are really worth mentioning?

Nintendo is pretty predictable. I think they'll be too cheap to include a HDD.

If by '06 they've wisened up to needing a internet service I'm pretty confident that they'll have some kind of massive media storage for the system. Since the other two will have it by then it'll just be too big a feature to leave out...

And by '06 I think even Nintendo will have wisened up to netplay. Oh, sure, they could dissapoint me easily... but I'm hopeful they will have by then. :) And as I said if they do net, not having a harddrive would just be idiotic.

In various interviews Miyamoto and other Nintendo heads specially talked about how connectivity is the better alternative to online gaming.

Well they are messed up... that makes no sense. Connectivity has such a huge hassle in gathering people and systems... using the GBA link cable in 'net games would be fine, but calling that an alternative to netplay? What in the world?