7th May 2006, 11:06 PM
Hmm... Nintendo's efforts to make the name 'Wii' anything more than a sophomoric joke hated by most will fall flat on their face?
Also, the flood of PS3/X360 games will continue -- "Next Generation Platforms" will not include Revolution in most cases, just like Gamecube. Even if the console is successful this will not change -- for as Nintendo platform most of the games people buy will be first party. Notice how the DS is blowing away the PSP in Japan, yet the PSP's Japanese third party support seems to be just as good (if more heavily into upgraded ports, they're GOOD upgraded ports...)?
... what, you wanted positive predictions? Oh... :D Um... games we haven't heard of yet will be announced, and they will be good. There. :)
Seriously, Nintendo will do well, but they've got a long way to go, and a lot of hurdles to overcome, both longtime ones and self-imposed ones, and I can't say that they'll succeed. Oh, the Revolution's goal of doing better than Gamecube should be attainable, but beating Sony or MS? That'll be harder... and Nintendo is not exactly impressing me with its efforts to try to win. 'Google' may be an odd name (that I honestly don't like all that much... I still prefer Yahoo, darnit... :)), but this is so much worse...
I know that the console is far more than the name, but looking strictly at a sales and marketing (and marketshare) approach, itseems like it's emblematic of an approach that will be a LOT harder to have succeed for a home console than for a portable. Adults are quite simply more likely to want to play the kinds of casual games Nintendo is pushing on handhelds than on major consoles, I think... and that's not even getting in to how most of their 'age-group-expanding' titles are Japan-only, making it pretty darn hard for them to have any chance of winning here too...
Now, the competition's hardly in perfect shape either, with Sony set to lose massive amounts on PS3 hardware sales, seemingly having trouble finishing the hardware so they can do a decent launch, and pushing Blu-Ray at a time that the market doesn't seem to care, but while Nintendo's strategy might do really well in Japan, it'll be a whole lot harder for it to have any impact here.
Also, the flood of PS3/X360 games will continue -- "Next Generation Platforms" will not include Revolution in most cases, just like Gamecube. Even if the console is successful this will not change -- for as Nintendo platform most of the games people buy will be first party. Notice how the DS is blowing away the PSP in Japan, yet the PSP's Japanese third party support seems to be just as good (if more heavily into upgraded ports, they're GOOD upgraded ports...)?
... what, you wanted positive predictions? Oh... :D Um... games we haven't heard of yet will be announced, and they will be good. There. :)
Seriously, Nintendo will do well, but they've got a long way to go, and a lot of hurdles to overcome, both longtime ones and self-imposed ones, and I can't say that they'll succeed. Oh, the Revolution's goal of doing better than Gamecube should be attainable, but beating Sony or MS? That'll be harder... and Nintendo is not exactly impressing me with its efforts to try to win. 'Google' may be an odd name (that I honestly don't like all that much... I still prefer Yahoo, darnit... :)), but this is so much worse...
I know that the console is far more than the name, but looking strictly at a sales and marketing (and marketshare) approach, itseems like it's emblematic of an approach that will be a LOT harder to have succeed for a home console than for a portable. Adults are quite simply more likely to want to play the kinds of casual games Nintendo is pushing on handhelds than on major consoles, I think... and that's not even getting in to how most of their 'age-group-expanding' titles are Japan-only, making it pretty darn hard for them to have any chance of winning here too...
Now, the competition's hardly in perfect shape either, with Sony set to lose massive amounts on PS3 hardware sales, seemingly having trouble finishing the hardware so they can do a decent launch, and pushing Blu-Ray at a time that the market doesn't seem to care, but while Nintendo's strategy might do really well in Japan, it'll be a whole lot harder for it to have any impact here.