24th January 2003, 12:07 PM
Think of the N64. It came out in the US in around September 1996. The last game released for it was in Summer 2001 (Madden 2001). That's 4 1/2 years... MUCH shorter than the NES, which was still around for years after the SNES came out, shorter than the SNES (because the SNES lived for a little while after the N64, but not as long as the NES did against the Genesis and SNES), true, but now compare that to the NGC. It came out November 2001. If the new console comes in christmas '05, it'd only be 4 years... I bet the next generation won't be until mid '06, probably, so it is likely that NGC will at least match the N64 in length... so saying that it will be prematurely killed off is saying that it will be more successful than the N64. Of course, it probably is more successful than the N64, but still, 4 -5 years is the average lifespan of a console, so a replacement in '05-'06 is in line with when the other makers will be replacing it... Nintendo's problem (and at least they recognise THIS one) is that in the past they tried to make consoles last as long as possible... and with the N64 we saw how that fails, given how Nintendo had NO new console games released for several months in late '01...
Anyway, Edenmaster, if you say that internet play doesn't matter much to you you must not play many games online. I probably would have said the same thing in early '97... but then I got into playing games online, andsaw how important that was - to games which its good for. Some games, like Zelda, shouldn't be multiplayer. Stuff like the not too good multiplayer modes stuck into some games (like System Shock 2) prove that... but still, online gaming is HUGE! While not having it won't destroy Nintendo, it will be one thing that will help people to decide to get other consoles instead of Nintendo's... and as time passes and online multiplay console games really enter the mainstream (online multiplay has been mainstream for PC games for years, but on consoles its not there yet...), it'll look more and more like the glaring weakness it is...
And Nintendo's statements about online don't do anything to make me think they've even considered changing their policy. Not good.
Oh, and yes, even if they launch simultaneously I do fear that PS's name will give it the victory... despite other factors (like how it probably won't be the best console, just like both PSes so far). :(
Anyway, Edenmaster, if you say that internet play doesn't matter much to you you must not play many games online. I probably would have said the same thing in early '97... but then I got into playing games online, andsaw how important that was - to games which its good for. Some games, like Zelda, shouldn't be multiplayer. Stuff like the not too good multiplayer modes stuck into some games (like System Shock 2) prove that... but still, online gaming is HUGE! While not having it won't destroy Nintendo, it will be one thing that will help people to decide to get other consoles instead of Nintendo's... and as time passes and online multiplay console games really enter the mainstream (online multiplay has been mainstream for PC games for years, but on consoles its not there yet...), it'll look more and more like the glaring weakness it is...
And Nintendo's statements about online don't do anything to make me think they've even considered changing their policy. Not good.
Oh, and yes, even if they launch simultaneously I do fear that PS's name will give it the victory... despite other factors (like how it probably won't be the best console, just like both PSes so far). :(