X-Box: $-1,000,000,000 a year

[A Black Falcon]

I just don't think that the Revolution is the way to go...but I hope I'm wrong.

Since when is expanding the market to include more non-gamers a bad idea? On the contrary, that's the best thing any company could do for this industry... it's not healthy to have such a focus on a comparitively small demographic, and Nintendo's trying to exploit that. Given that Sony and MS are just doing more of the same, I'd say Nintendo is the only one with a chance to change that... and they certainly could, at least in some places. How successful they are at it in the US depends fully on things we don't know... games, marketing, when it launches, etc...

I already said why this doesn't really say anything good about Nintendo. The fact that Xbox sales eclipse Nintendo's without Japan is just plain bad for Nin.

It's not like Nintendo has failed in the US, you know... they've done okay. Maybe not as well as we would have liked, but okay. It is far from the dire situation you seem to be suggesting. Third? They'd tell you they're second, because they (rightly) count handhelds. :)

You want my opinion and I'm giving it to you. I don't agree with you one bit on that subject.

Saying "this console counts and this one doesn't" is absurd.

Last I checked the difference was several million units. The fact that Microsoft doesn't exist in Japan tells just how much success it has despite not having that market...imagine if it did. Nintendo selling poorly, or not as well as their past console ventures, on their hometurf is just sad.

I'm glad their DS is doing well though, and I have a feeling the next Gameboy will also be a success...for their handheld market.

It's not just about the US and Japan you know. You also have to factor in how horribly Nintendo does in PAL regions (with how well Microsoft has done in Austrailia/New Zealand and how abysmally badly Nintendo has done there), for good reasons like 'PAL usually gets Nintendo stuff way late'... Nintendo is doing well in the US when you compare it to how they've done in Austrailia! (and really, they've done okay in the US... not well enough, but okay.)

And yeah, I've heard several million as the difference too, but that's out of a larger number...

It is necessary that they make money otherwise they'll have to dump the Xbox all together. You can't just ignore a black hole in your bank account. Microsoft has said they are hell bent on making the Xbox a success, and they've taken a path that I believe will lead them to that success. I've already outlined their hardware decisions that differ, and they've gone to great lengths to strengthen their developer relations plus expand their first party offerings. What remains to be seen is whether it all pays off.

I can't speak for the MS execs and their take on how they feel about losing money, and I don't think you can either.

I was looking at the past four years and what they've done so far, and extrapolating from there. I highly doubt that their whole philosophy is going to change overnight to a Nintendo-style "profit comes first" one.

My personal take on the subject of Nintendo's next console is that it will achieve niche status success, and when it comes to console sales (that is, those that plug into the TV and have controllers and such, just to clear that up) will be a distant third to MS and Sony.

That's a very premature assessment, but you asked.

You do know that you can play all GB, GBC, and GBA games on a television, right? Makes that definition of "console" kind of useless from your perspective... :)

Anyway, "niche"? I just don't get why people think this... their whole philosophy is heading in the opposite direction, and the success of the DS based on this concept shows how it can work. "Niche"? Not even close.

As they said... you release the games everyone can love, and you also release the games your base of hardcore gamers will love (such as Nintendogs and Advance Wars DS). You do both, and hold on to both groups of customers. You don't assume that the hardcore will ONLY buy your console, but you assume they'll get it for the games you make for it. Which many will, of course. Gamecube? They tried to do this, kinda, but didn't really... having a big "A" button to "simplify the controller" didn't exactly work (and never would, given how it's not really much of a change worth mentioning). So this time they tried a much better idea... 'how about we change the controller as we know it again? (while still having something to keep the hardcore gamers happy)'. :)