25th January 2005, 2:52 PM
And for each failure there is a success... and/or a lesson... would you rather that Nintendo hadn't tried bold moves or innovations like introducing a console at the lowest point console gaming has ever seen, the crosspad, mini analog sticks, four controllers on a console, an affordable portable system, etc... I think you get the point... you can focus on Nintendo's innovations that were failures but at least as often they have been successes.
Oh, and as for lessons from its past moves, should Nintendo take the 64DD's failure as an indictment on online-supporting consoles? Because that's certainly one possible lesson from the thing... the point is that it is not as simple as 'Nintendo's love for innovation is stupid and they should do what is popular'. That is not necessarially always true and Nintendo's innovations, whether they succeed or fail, lead to games that are distinctive, different, and fun -- which is clearly Nintendo's goal.
Now, it is a problem that they ignore the Western market and are focusing all their policies (and the innovations in recent years), but the results we get are good... I do not wish at all for Nintendo to restrict their search for innovation. It's one of their most unique qualities these days. Yes, some change would be good, and more recognition of what sells games in the Western world (and badly needed at Nintendo!), but I'd think of that as more something where they should be giving more power to their western first-party developers (and/or creating new ones) to make such things, not a case where I want Nintendo in Japan to dramatically change. In many ways I'd take interesting products that are innovative and fun over more of the same... and so would most other Nintendo fans. Yes, Nintendo fans aren't the majority anymore, and Nintendo's efforts to increase their mainstream presence in Japan seem to often have the opposite effect here. But that isn't NCL's fault... not giving their overseas subsidiaries enough latitude to do what they know would be better for their market (within limits, and under their overall control!) is.
PSP sales, versus DS sales... given the PSP shortages it's hard to compare, but it is obvious that the DS has gotten a nice boost from its availability. I'd like to think that that will carry over into more success for the system than the PSP has... but yes, it needs a better software lineup. It's definitely somewhat lacking right now and with the PSP doing well it should have a better one. The hardware itsself looks great though, with the exception of no analog...
Oh, and as for lessons from its past moves, should Nintendo take the 64DD's failure as an indictment on online-supporting consoles? Because that's certainly one possible lesson from the thing... the point is that it is not as simple as 'Nintendo's love for innovation is stupid and they should do what is popular'. That is not necessarially always true and Nintendo's innovations, whether they succeed or fail, lead to games that are distinctive, different, and fun -- which is clearly Nintendo's goal.
Now, it is a problem that they ignore the Western market and are focusing all their policies (and the innovations in recent years), but the results we get are good... I do not wish at all for Nintendo to restrict their search for innovation. It's one of their most unique qualities these days. Yes, some change would be good, and more recognition of what sells games in the Western world (and badly needed at Nintendo!), but I'd think of that as more something where they should be giving more power to their western first-party developers (and/or creating new ones) to make such things, not a case where I want Nintendo in Japan to dramatically change. In many ways I'd take interesting products that are innovative and fun over more of the same... and so would most other Nintendo fans. Yes, Nintendo fans aren't the majority anymore, and Nintendo's efforts to increase their mainstream presence in Japan seem to often have the opposite effect here. But that isn't NCL's fault... not giving their overseas subsidiaries enough latitude to do what they know would be better for their market (within limits, and under their overall control!) is.
PSP sales, versus DS sales... given the PSP shortages it's hard to compare, but it is obvious that the DS has gotten a nice boost from its availability. I'd like to think that that will carry over into more success for the system than the PSP has... but yes, it needs a better software lineup. It's definitely somewhat lacking right now and with the PSP doing well it should have a better one. The hardware itsself looks great though, with the exception of no analog...