6th December 2005, 9:00 PM
So the system will be about twice as powerful as the GameCube. One developer said it might not even be quite that powerful. It really is GameCube 1.5 or GameCube Turbo, take your pick. But it actually makes sense that they're doing it this way. They said they weren't going to compete with Sony or Microsoft. They said they weren't going after the same market. Boy were they not lying!
They have a three prong approach to getting "non gamers" on board:
Simplify the controller: Too many buttons scare old people.
Nostalgia: Old people like old games.
Inexpensive: $99 - $150 at launch. No way non gamers would pay $400 for a game system.
And that's what it really comes down to. Nintendo is aiming this as a mass-market device that will appeal to regular non gamer folk. The kind of people that wouldn't be willing to spend $300 - $400 on a game system. There's no way that Nintendo could put the kind of tech that's in the Xbox 360 in this thing at the price they want to sell it at and still make a profit.
They have a three prong approach to getting "non gamers" on board:
Simplify the controller: Too many buttons scare old people.
Nostalgia: Old people like old games.
Inexpensive: $99 - $150 at launch. No way non gamers would pay $400 for a game system.
And that's what it really comes down to. Nintendo is aiming this as a mass-market device that will appeal to regular non gamer folk. The kind of people that wouldn't be willing to spend $300 - $400 on a game system. There's no way that Nintendo could put the kind of tech that's in the Xbox 360 in this thing at the price they want to sell it at and still make a profit.