Wha? Nintendo to focus on making games

[Mak-X]

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/news/0,10870,2869633,00.html

Before you jump to conclusions, Nintendo is NOT going to do the same thing as Sega, they are just focusing on games instead of making more powerful hardware, and they are not doing bad in sales. At first I was worried, I don't want to see Nintendo go like Sega, but that's not what is happening. Nintendo is going to focus on creating really good games with the hardware they have instead of just pumping out new consoles. Which makes sense. One of the key things about Nintendo has always been making money off of royalites from liscenses and being the main supporter of their system, so there's no way they would want to go 3rd party anyways.
Basically it sounds like they are going to support the systems they have and use them to their potential to make great games than create a new console that does more or is more powerful. When you think about it, it makes sense, if the Gamecube is powerful enough and is used and developed for years, the developers are going to be able to put out some good games.


Iwata reiterated Nintendo's strategy of appealing to consumers with innovative games, rather than trying to build ambitious, all-encompassing entertainment platforms like Sony's PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox. "We're reaching the limits of how far we can appeal to consumers by boosting the machine's performance or providing more compelling graphics and sound," Iwata said during the meeting. "For the past few years we've been looking for new ways to surprise people, new ways for them to have fun."

[Rijuhn]

YAY! I was worried as well, but the article makes it seem like a last ditch effort or something. I read about it on PlanetGamecube.

[Daarkseid]

I still don't believe Nintendo's going 3rd party is a bad thing, Nintendo seems fully capable of supporting itself without the licensing money from having its own console. Finally, building and selling a console is done at a loss today; Nintendo jettisoning its console would allow it to make more and higher quality games on platforms such as SONY and Microsoft's systems. However this article seems like a step in the right direction, Nintendo fans may not have to buy a new console in 5 years as is the standard of console lifecycles and sales.

And its certainly not hurting SEGA, other than its name is no longer as big since its not labelled as a console maker.

Despite the tight argument I've provided, you Nintendo fanboys will probably skip a heart beat over this anyway(my views on what Nintendo should do).

You'll likely come back with how well the GC is doing, or that having more consoles in the market is a good thing(which it is, it probably in this recent price drop that is doing us well), which I can't really argue.

I think Nintendo would do alot better without worrying about hardware, but otherwise, it isn't failing horribly like SEGA did.

[mrz84]

i for one am a person who likes more than just one system( lets see i own an n64, snes, ps1 and soon GC and ps2. but NOT an x-crap) i must say that the big n is hopefully not gonna be like gates and stick their head so far up their ass they wont know what the heck they're doing. pesronally i think if they went the way of sega, i'd still buy their stuff. as long as they don't touch the x-crap with a plothole the size of texas. :kawaii:

[Mak-X]

Nintendo is doing great! It's shipped 4 million consoles since it launched and its sales are increasing!!1


__________________

#1 console on the market

NINTENDO GAMECUBE

The Nintendo difference.

[Orion]

But you know, X-Box is doing just as well, and PS2 obviously had that head start and is trucking along with no signs of slowing down. The console wars are stupid. They are just a reason for fanboys of one system to bash fanboys of another. X-crap and Gaycube really sound... well... like something an 8-year-old would say (no offence to anyone). It kinda bugs me.

[Menokh]

As long as Nintendo does not abandon the GameCube I'm fine. Having only two competing consoles would be really bad, becuase with less competition companies like to get monopolistic.

Anyhow, nintendo should push their systems as far as they can. The GameBoy Advance is capable of so much more that they have used it for, and so is the GameCube.

[mrz84]

Originally posted by Orion
But you know, X-Box is doing just as well, and PS2 obviously had that head start and is trucking along with no signs of slowing down. The console wars are stupid. They are just a reason for fanboys of one system to bash fanboys of another. X-crap and Gaycube really sound... well... like something an 8-year-old would say (no offence to anyone). It kinda bugs me.

none taken. personally the only system i dont like is that thing gates is passing off as a "console." sony and nintendo have my suport but gates....well he can just go back to the nether regions where he and all other demons belong. :kawaii:

[Mak-X]

If it weren't for Sega and the Genesis beating Nintendo, Nintendo wouldn't have come out with a 16-bit console as early and would have stayed with the NES.

Speaking on hardware, Iwata noted that technology had reached a point where upgrading might be unnecessary. "We can't be optimistic about the game market. No matter what great product you come up with, people get bored," he said. "I feel like a chef cooking for a king who's full."

"The effort to produce machines with better technology has reached its limit," Iwata said. "If things continue, they may lead to the decline of the entire game industry."

Now that's kinda interesting, talking about the decline of the game industry. When Atari died, the video game industry collapsed, and Nintendo revitalized it and learned from Atari's mistakes. Nintendo keeps putting a emphasis on the games and making them good and fun and innovation. One of the reasons Atari died was because the games were bad and people lost interest. If games get to the point where they are boring, people will stop playing. This is like the height of the video game industry right now, without knowing what it will be years from now.

"Former Nintendo leader Hiroshi Yamauchi said that original games could become extinct. "The element of surprise is critical. But delivering surprise is becoming extremely difficult," he noted. "Game developers are running out of ideas." "

Hmm, by this I take it Yamauchi is talking about games being the same old same old without much new stuff, adding to what Iwata said to players getting bored.

[vegeta1215]

After reading the news articles about the new president's decision to concentrate on making better games, I feel really good that he will take the company even further and do a great job as president.

No way will Nintendo give up making consoles. You think they're scared of Sony of MS? Ha!

[zables]

Well... to say the very least, what i have read tonight has given me a whole new train of thought to stay up until the wee hours of the night thinking and pondering about...

[Daarkseid]

Originally posted by vegeta1215

No way will Nintendo give up making consoles. You think they're scared of Sony of MS? Ha!

Who cares? The X-box and the PS2 specwise don't have any drastic difference with the GC. The PS2 might be the underpowered system, but its offset by backwards compatibility; there is whole PSX chipset inside the PS2 that can be utilized by clever developers to help add more power to their games.

If Nintendo stopped making consoles, they're still going to make their games, IE, its not the end of the world. The only good they're really doing is keeping console competition going, which is probably a good thing, although with me, it doesn't matter. I intend to own a GC, an X-box and the PS2 by the end of this console cycle.

[Orion]

I actually already own all three consoles. Of course, with my luck, I bought the X-Box just before they dropped the price... There are plenty of good games for all three system. It's just gamer's preference.

[MottZilla]

I own a GC, but I'd also like Xbox and PS2. There's nothing wrong with any of them. And I hope what nintendo means is the GameCube will be around for along time and not just replaced after so many years. I also hope someone will have the balls to make more 2D games.

[Daarkseid]

Originally posted by Mottzilla
I also hope someone will have the balls to make more 2D games.

Not on anything but the GBA... with the exception of a few eclectic games(meaning not traditional platformers or overhead RPG/adventure games) possibly showing up on the main consoles, 2D is pretty much dead. Even the new Castlevania on GC, which was supposed to be 2D initially, is going to be 3D afterall.

[MottZilla]

See, this is why the industry is having such trouble. Everyone HAS to be 3D now. The industry first crashed because everything was the same. I think it can go the same route again almost.

[Mak-X]

The only 2-D game I can think of for Gamecube is Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO (GCN).

GBA is like the savior of 2-D.
I guess the best to hope for is a game that uses 3-D graphics for 2-D game play, like Goemon's Great Adventure(N64) and Mischief Makers (N64). Goemon's Great Adventure is a great example of how 3-D can spice up a 2-D game.



Originally posted by Mottzilla
See, this is why the industry is having such trouble. Everyone HAS to be 3D now. The industry first crashed because everything was the same. I think it can go the same route again almost.

That kinda sounds like what Iwata from Nintendo is talking about. No innovation, same thing, players get bored.



Originally posted by Mottzilla
And I hope what nintendo means is the GameCube will be around for along time and not just replaced after so many years.

Planet Gamecube is thinking that Gamecube will last for a long while too. Check out their comments.
http://www.planetgamecube.com/news.cfm?action=item&id=3103