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ziran · May 21, 2006

Newsweek: Nintendo's recently unveiled Wii gaming console could cap off a remarkable comeback.

Interesting article. Nice to see Newsweek giving Nintendo the spotlight:

...The Wii's strong showing at the 2006 expo earlier this month, combined with Sony's announcement of two PS3 models for the mind-blowingly high prices of $499 and $599, has prompted many of the same analysts who dismissed Nintendo to predict its continued resurgence. "Not only will fan boys buy it, but it will also be the second console of choice" for PS3 or Xbox 360 owners, says analyst Michael Pachter of the U.S. research firm Wedbush Morgan. In Japan, publishers like Konami are even more bullish. "I would use the dominance of the DS in Japan to predict the future for Wii, since the vision for Wii is similar," says Michihiro Ishizuka, president of the company's game division. Okasan Securities analyst Masashi Morita believes that in addition to capturing nongamers, Nintendo can even win back some of its lapsed fans with the Wii's built-in support for the company's vast library of classics...

Patcher's comments have been well known for a while but afaik this is the first time a major Japanese publisher has gone on record predicting Wii will dominate Japan.

...Miyamoto freely acknowledges that the first set of Wii games are essentially new ways of controlling the same old games, but stresses that that won't be the case forever. "Two years from now, we'll have a strong lineup that can only be played using this interface," he says...

Interesting quotes from Miyamoto. I thought the E3 showing was strong, can't wait to see what unique, specific Wii games will be coming. Sounds like Nintendo already has a line-up of new nintendogs/Brain Training type killer apps in the works. I'm not surprised we haven't seen them, these games have become some of the most valuable in the industry.

SnakeXs · May 21, 2006

Wii dominates. Set in stone. You heard it here first.

CosmicGroinPull · May 21, 2006

Weeeee!

davepoobond · May 21, 2006

great

Error · May 21, 2006

Konami says Wii is going to dominate japan...

MGS4 for PS3

Elebits for Wii

...uhh yeah Konami whatever.

Xrenity · May 21, 2006

I'm pretty sure Nintendo is going to win this time.

Not only do they have great games, I think there'll be some more surprises.

I recall reading that with Connect24, not only the console is online 24/7, your TV also is. This could be interesting.

Nintendo wins, as long as marketing is done properly.

Error2k4 said:
Konami says Wii is going to dominate japan...

MGS4 for PS3

Elebits for Wii

...uhh yeah Konami whatever.

I think Kojima decides.

acidviper · May 21, 2006

Kid fucking Icarus already.

Tyrone Slothrop · May 21, 2006

Error2k4 said:
Konami says Wii is going to dominate japan...

MGS4 for PS3

Elebits for Wii

...uhh yeah Konami whatever.

that's true. but i think developers were quick to develop for PS3 a few years ago when everybody thought it'd be a no-brainer for taking the top spot again. and now it isn't the case. i'm not saying if 3rd parties knew the situation now there'd be FFXIII or MGS4 for wii, but i think their strategy would be a little different, despite the fact nintendo is getting good launch support as is

Error · May 21, 2006

Xrenity said:
I think Kojima decides.

I meant budget wise.

PkunkFury · May 21, 2006

Error2k4 said:
Konami says Wii is going to dominate japan...

MGS4 for PS3

Elebits for Wii

...uhh yeah Konami whatever.

Hey now, Elebits looks pretty freaking cool

Edit:

Error2k4 said:
I meant budget wise.

Ahh, point taken

davepoobond · May 21, 2006

Kojima has his own studio and he's on the board of directors for Konami

i dont think budget decision is going to be a a huge concern of his. if he wants to make something he can do it

Gigglepoo · May 21, 2006

acidviper said:
Kid fucking Icarus already.

"Miyamoto freely acknowledges that the first set of Wii games are essentially new ways of controlling the same old games, but stresses that that won't be the case forever. "Two years from now, we'll have a strong lineup that can only be played using this interface," he says..."

I'd rather have new types of games. Apparantly the NDS is just the dumping ground for sequels. Why not just put a new KI on that?

SumGamer · May 21, 2006

Error2k4 said:
I meant budget wise.

Do not deny the god. What Kojima says is what we believe.

Error2K4 said:
Konami says Wii is going to dominate japan...

MGS4 for PS3

Elebits for Wii

...uhh yeah Konami whatever.

Don't forget MGS4 will be the last for Kojima. After that he is free and I'm sure he will head straight to Wii.

Gahiggidy · May 21, 2006

There's like, maybey three sentences/quotes in there that was new and not already said elsewhere.

ethelred · May 21, 2006

Mmm... yeah, the Konami President's remarks are interesting, but eh. Elebits was a very cool game, but if Konami's so sure Wii is going to dominate, I'm not sure why they don't have additional announced titles in the works.

And it doesn't explain why Konami keeps producing such horribly shitty titles for the DS (outside of IGA's Castlevania and now Kojima's Boktai 4 / Lunar Knights).

RSP · May 21, 2006

SumGamer said:
Don't forget MGS4 will be the last for Kojima. After that he is free and I'm sure he will head straight to Wii.

so that is why he looks so bored.

sigh.... Just one more.

Fuzzy · May 21, 2006

In Japan, publishers like Konami are even more bullish. "I would use the dominance of the DS in Japan to predict the future for Wii, since the vision for Wii is similar," says Michihiro Ishizuka, president of the company's game division.

I remember reading similar comments in the weekly Media Create threads a while back and people said it was stupid to draw that connection.

norinrad21 · May 21, 2006

Error2k4 said:
Konami says Wii is going to dominate japan...

MGS4 for PS3

Elebits for Wii

...uhh yeah Konami whatever.

The average person doesn't want to play movies or listen to some old guy rant before putting a gun in his ass.

Elebits FTW, its all about the fun factor

Amir0x · May 21, 2006

well Wii needs the developer support atm before it can be a true contender imo. Their 'partial list' from E3 2006 was disappointing (read: terrible) to say the very least. I know Iwata said there might be some hesitation up front, so I hope they can fill in the gaps in the upcoming months.

Chris Remo · May 21, 2006

ethelred said:
Mmm... yeah, the Konami President's remarks are interesting, but eh. Elebits was a very cool game, but if Konami's so sure Wii is going to dominate, I'm not sure why they don't have additional announced titles in the works.

I get the feeling most publishers didn't formulate their current feelings about Wii until they saw its E3 presence.

Slurpy2k20 · May 21, 2006

Chris Remo said:
I get the feeling most publishers didn't formulate their current feelings about Wii until they saw its E3 presence.

Yup. I expect tons of projects to have gotten the go-ahead after the E3 showing.

Maximilian E. · May 21, 2006

So...
NA = 360
EU = PS3
JAP = Wii

??

Xiph · May 21, 2006

norinrad21 said:
The average person doesn't want to play movies or listen to some old guy rant before putting a gun in his ass.

Elebits FTW, its all about the fun factor

His ass? Ain't you the pervert!

Anyways, I do think Wii could be a nice comeback for Nintendo, but like some of you guys already said, they need more games. FF: CC looks badass though.

Emotions · May 21, 2006

Error2k4 said:
Konami says Wii is going to dominate japan...

MGS4 for PS3

Elebits for Wii

...uhh yeah Konami whatever.

MGS4 isn't a system seller, it has it's big fanbase but it's not a big system seller as let's say Halo, GTA , Mario , Pokemon or Zelda.
I think it's a good thing having a launch Konami game, MGS4 isn't coming at launch it's coming in 2007.
Konami is certainly testing the grounds with the Wii so are other developers that never supported GC at launch: Square-Enix,Konami, Bandai-Namco, etc. hell we even have earlier Capcom support. I think things are going quite good right now, who knows what else Nintendo has under it's plate regarding 3rd parties , i'm sure they're trying to get as many deals as they can.

Chris Remo said:
I get the feeling most publishers didn't formulate their current feelings about Wii until they saw its E3 presence.

Well said but remember there's a TGS coming up and Nintendo hasn't reveleaed all the details nor all the upcoming games coming to the Wii, i think we'll get lots of more support from Japan devs and they usually show their projects at TGS.

Rotanibor · May 21, 2006

I assume we didn't hear this stance from Konami before, because they are now going off of the Wii's hype train from E3 was. So while they only had one title at E3 for the Wii, I think they're going to start annoucing stuff like crazy for it now after seeing how big of hit it was.

Haha this is intresting for me because the only reason I owned a PS2 was to pretty much play the Capcom and Konami games on it. I didn't really even realize this until I was looking at my PS2 games a couple days ago and noticed thats who all of them were by. Depending on what Capcom does, it may become a one console future for me.

Elebits looks really promising and I can't wait to see what else they come up with!

Vibri · May 21, 2006

Great article from N'Gai. The comments from Miyamoto are heartening as well.

Chris Remo · May 21, 2006

Capcom hasn't really announced anything though, right? They seem to be really light on Nintendo support (across all platforms) at the moment.

Gigglepoo · May 21, 2006

norinrad21 said:
Elebits FTW, its all about the fun factor

It's not really that fun, though. Certainly not one of the twenty or thirty best games I played at E3. I sure hope the finished product is deeper than Hide-And-Go-Seek with a gravity gun...

Oblivion · May 21, 2006

Chris Remo said:
I get the feeling most publishers didn't formulate their current feelings about Wii until they saw its E3 presence.

Yup. Dunno if suddenly publishers are going to start greenlighting a dozen projects all of a sudden, but I definitely feel they have a lot more confidence in the Wii, now.

Chris Remo said:
Capcom hasn't really announced anything though, right? They seem to be really light on Nintendo support (across all platforms) at the moment.

Well, they announced an exclusive RE game. That's about it.

Emotions · May 21, 2006

Chris Remo said:
Capcom hasn't really announced anything though, right? They seem to be really light on Nintendo support (across all platforms) at the moment.

They're doing RE Wii, and i think they're gonna bring the Megaman games to the Wii as well, judging by the game's creator comments , saying that megaman now is best suited for Nintendo or something along the lines.

ziran · May 21, 2006

i think the chances for wii succeeding have been increased in many ways by the success of ds. developers have seen software can be successful if they approach it correctly and offer something different. i believe they realise it has nothing to do with nintendo franchises or their name as developers (most of the people who bought nintendogs and brain training will likely think nintendo develops everything on the handheld) it has to do with great games that are accessible and hit a chord with consumers.

ea, mentioned in the article, are using this strategy, and while nothing is a guarantee for success, they certainly stand a better chance of making decent money from wii because of it.

Error24k said:
Konami says Wii is going to dominate japan...

MGS4 for PS3

Elebits for Wii

...uhh yeah Konami whatever.

i think konami is saying the nintendo audience (and the audience wanting something different) is growing rapidly in japan and will cause wii to outsell ps3. however, the metal gear solid fans are gamers who will buy a ps3, so it wouldn't make sense putting mgs on wii (at the moment).

imo, just because konami thinks wii will dominate in japan, doesn't necessarily mean they think they will profit the best from this situation, but i do think they'll be working on several, potentially successful, games for wii.

ShockingAlberto · May 21, 2006

Chris Remo said:
Capcom hasn't really announced anything though, right? They seem to be really light on Nintendo support (across all platforms) at the moment.

As far as I know, the only Nintendo platform projects they're working on right now are Rockman ZX, Phoenix Wright: Justice for All, Gyakuten Saiban 4 (God knows where this has been), and Resident Evil Wii (which probably isn't beyond planning stages).

Have they announced anything else lately?

ethelred · May 21, 2006

Chris Remo said:
I get the feeling most publishers didn't formulate their current feelings about Wii until they saw its E3 presence.

That's certainly my hope, and it would be consistent with the positive turnaround we've seen from other developers in the wake of E3. For instance, the enthusiasm from SNK Playmore and Capcom's Inafune's belief that Wii is the platform of choice for the Megaman franchise.

Hopefully a lot more stuff has gotten the greenlight since E3 and we'll start to hear about some new projects soon. Because while Elebits was an extremely innovative (my pick for the most innovative game at E3) and fun game, Konami needs to lay out a bit more than that if they're so sure that the Wii will be this kind of success.

Chris Remo said:
Capcom hasn't really announced anything though, right? They seem to be really light on Nintendo support (across all platforms) at the moment.

Well, they haven't announced anything other than RE Wii, but see Inafune's remarks about Megaman recently

PlayStation 3, probably the target audience that's going to purchase the PlayStation 3, uh, it's going to be people with a lot more money, and maybe it would not be the most suitable, uh, platform for the Mega Man series. However, the Wii definitely has some potential, and it's maybe one where our target audience could embrace the Mega Man series. So while we haven't planned anything specific now at this time, I think probably that the potential is the highest on that piece of hardware.

Rotanibor · May 21, 2006

Chris Remo said:
Capcom hasn't really announced anything though, right? They seem to be really light on Nintendo support (across all platforms) at the moment.

Yeah it seems like its been like that for a while. What the hell Capcom step up to the plate here. I'm hoping that the resident evil game for the Wii will be pretty much a successor to re4, but I am not getting my hopes up. They probably will dash my hopes, but hell if Capcom really wants me to buy another system, I guess thats what I'll be doing. Eh maybe they'll go to the 360, and give me an excuse to get it. I'm seeing some stuff from that direction thats beginning to look intresting to me.

Jacobi · May 21, 2006

Error2k4 said:
Konami says Wii is going to dominate japan...

MGS4 for PS3

Elebits for Wii

...uhh yeah Konami whatever.

Maybe MGS4 has more production value but Elebits could sell more.

davepoobond · May 21, 2006

ziran said:
i think the chances for wii succeeding have been increased in many ways by the success of ds.

so why didn't the gameboy help out n64 or gamecube? nintendo's home console marketshare has been falling since NES/SNES, while their handheld is as strong as ever. consoles have to make it on their own, and a handheld doesn't help/set in place anything that can really help a home console if you look at it that way.

Rotanibor · May 21, 2006

ShockingAlberto said:
As far as I know, the only Nintendo platform projects they're working on right now are Rockman ZX, Phoenix Wright: Justice for All, Gyakuten Saiban 4 (God knows where this has been), and Resident Evil Wii (which probably isn't beyond planning stages).

Have they announced anything else lately?

Now that I think about it have they annouced much stuff even on other consoles? Nothing that big seems to be coming out of them lately besides Okami and Lost Planet. It feels like they're putting all their efforts into handhelds lately.

ethelred · May 21, 2006

Rotanibor Eht said:
I'm hoping that the resident evil game for the Wii will be pretty much a successor to re4, but I am not getting my hopes up. They probably will dash my hopes, but hell if Capcom really wants me to buy another system, I guess thats what I'll be doing.

You know it'll be a Gun Survivor game.

Reusing the RE4 engine would... make too much sense.

ShockingAlberto · May 21, 2006

Rotanibor Eht said:
Now that I think about it have they annouced much stuff even on other consoles? Nothing that big seems to be coming out of them lately besides Okami and Lost Planet. It feels like they're putting all their efforts into handhelds lately.

Okami, Lost Planet, RE5, DMC4...all I can think of off the top of my head.

IGN seems to believe they have some untitled Action Project in the works.

Oblivion · May 21, 2006

davepoobond said:
so why didn't the gameboy help out n64 or gamecube? nintendo's home console marketshare has been falling since NES/SNES, while their handheld is as strong as ever. consoles have to make it on their own, and a handheld doesn't help/set in place anything that can really help a home console if you look at it that way.

One again, the N64 and GC didn't do anything different from their competitors. The Wii is new and wacky and will be more noticeable than the previous consoles.

davepoobond · May 21, 2006

Oblivion said:
One again, the N64 and GC didn't do anything different from their competitors. The Wii is new and wacky and will be more noticeable than the previous consoles.

the gameboy "didn't do anything different from its competitors" either..

gameboy - didn't do anything different
gamecube - didn't do anything different

DS - new and wacky
Wii - new and wacky

ShockingAlberto · May 21, 2006

davepoobond said:
so why didn't the gameboy help out n64 or gamecube? nintendo's home console marketshare has been falling since NES/SNES, while their handheld is as strong as ever. consoles have to make it on their own, and a handheld doesn't help/set in place anything that can really help a home console if you look at it that way.

You're kind of missing the point. It's not that successful handheld = successful console, but rather it's the approach Nintendo took on the DS is similar to the approach they're taking with the Wii. So, it's more like successful approach might mean success for a similar approach.

The handheld isn't directly proportional to the console anymore than the PSP not being market leader hurt the PS2. Most people are willing to note that the Wii and the DS are not all that different in terms of strategy, however.

Oblivion · May 21, 2006

davepoobond said:
the gameboy "didn't do anything different from its competitors" either..

The gameboy was already winning, though...

davepoobond · May 21, 2006

ShockingAlberto said:
You're kind of missing the point. It's not that successful handheld = successful console, but rather it's the approach Nintendo took on the DS is similar to the approach they're taking with the DS. So, it's more like successful approach might mean success for a similar approach.

The handheld isn't directly proportional to the console anymore than the PSP not being market leader hurt the PS2. Most people are willing to note that the Wii and the DS are not all that different in terms of strategy, however.

well, what i was getting at is that what works in handheld doesn't necessarily work in console, just like you said.

methodman · May 21, 2006

davepoobond said:
the gameboy "didn't do anything different from its competitors" either..

gameboy - didn't do anything different
gamecube - didn't do anything different

DS - new and wacky
Wii - new and wacky

Yes it did: It made the quality of graphics WAY lower levels then the game gear or neo geo had, and was the easiest to produce/ develop games for.

davepoobond · May 21, 2006

Oblivion said:
The gameboy was already winning, though...

and?

methodman said:
shouldn't it be:

Yes it did: It made the quality of graphics WAY lower levels then the game gear or neo geo had, and was the easiest to produce/ develop games for.

okay

ShockingAlberto · May 21, 2006

davepoobond said:
well, what i was getting at is that what works in handheld doesn't necessarily work in console, just like you said.

Well, yeah, not necessarily. But the chances aren't exactly bad this time around, either.

Alien Bob · May 21, 2006

the gameboy didn't have any competitors that were an actual threat

ethelred · May 21, 2006

davepoobond said:
so why didn't the gameboy help out n64 or gamecube? nintendo's home console marketshare has been falling since NES/SNES, while their handheld is as strong as ever. consoles have to make it on their own, and a handheld doesn't help/set in place anything that can really help a home console if you look at it that way.

Because the DS isn't just a standard handheld in the same sense that the Wii isn't just a standard home console.

Nintendo didn't simply make an upgraded Game Boy -- they instead decided to test an entirely new philosophy towards console and game design and marketing.. in attempting to broaden their demographic appeal. And that new philosophy and marketing aproach has been proving successul.

In other words, the DS's success wasn't just the success of a new Nintendo handheld -- if that were the case, we wouldn't be seeing Touch Generations games selling so well, and we wouldn't be seeing the DS taking the status of fastest selling system in Japanese history, or the system that sells the most in a post-launch week ever. The theory goes, it's not the system that's succeeding, it's the new approach to gaming, it's a success of the entire philosophy and marketing strategy of appealing to non-gamers, lapsed gamers, and hardcore gamers.

If that theory is correct, then since the Wii is designed around that same philosophy and marketing approach, it stands a good chance of seeing a similar success (600$ pricepoint for the competition doesn't hurt). We'll soon see if that theory is valid, but I think it just may be.

davepoobond · May 21, 2006

ShockingAlberto said:
Well, yeah, not necessarily. But the chances aren't exactly bad this time around, either.

i dont see why it would, really. The DS succeeding is going to have a very marginal influence on whether or not Wii succeeds or not. you can draw parallels all you want, but i've seen many people here say many times before that handheld is a completely different market than console.

Alien Bob said:
the gameboy didn't have any competitors that were an actual threat

the DS and PSP comes to mind.

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