Johnny Nighttrain said:how do you figure? i hope your reasoning for this isn't because they're not leading in market / consumer mind share, because with that logic, Microsoft had no right to say "full force online" with xbox, or this new "HD Era" stuff they're preaching.
I'm not defending Microsoft here. Read the other thread, I'm just as skeptical as what they can do. I do, however, feel they will do better than Nintendo for one key reason - they understand the pulse of the consumer community a bit better than Nintendo does when it comes to consoles. I don't necessarily mean with the games they make (although obviously Halo 2 proved they can mass market like nobodies business), I mean in terms of how they sell their products. To be blunt, they're better than Nintendo here. And it's possible that they are also more adaptable than Sony in this regard. The MTV unveiling proves this. And no matter how idealistic we are about the gaming community, this is extremely important. It's even more important when you're intent on pushing your product in such a different direction.
Obviously, we don't really know how Nintendo will handle the Revolution push, and it's far too early to speculate as much.
Johnny Nighttrain said:what it comes down to is, Nintendo is creating their own system, and they can do whatever the fuck they please with it. they have just as much right as anyone else to say what direction the industry should go in. call me a fanboy if you want, but considering that they're responsible for most of the standards we have today, i'd straight up say they have more right than sony or MS to say what they feel the future of game design should be.
That's... not the point. I can release a product called "Shit on a stick" and try to market it, but if the industry doesn't believe it will sell or consumers don't like it, "Shit on a stick" is not going to be having any say on where the "objects on a stick" market goes.
It's clear from THIS generation of consoles that consumers are more than happy with the way things are, or else they would not continue to make this the industry grow as such astonishing rates. And I think the indications are that they will follow suite next generation. That's just a personal opinion, obviously, but I am confident that it is the correct assumption.
Johnny Nighttrain said:you're basing this on all the developer feed back i take it?
Well, all things equal -
We have a PS3, we have an Xbox 360 and we have a Revolution.
By all accounts, XB360 will be out by the end of this year. PS3 and Revolution will follow in 2006... supposedly. We already hear neverending plans from developers about what they will do for PS3 and what they will do for XB360. What's the reason Revolution has not even been mentioned in most plans from big developers? Saying you're supporting that system certainly wouldn't reveal what "big giant industry changing" plans Nintendo has in mind. But nothing (Note: I know it's not literally nothing. Camelot has announced plans. I believe Namco has said they intend to in passing, as has Capcom).
Once again, it's still early. I know that, you know that. We also both know that plenty of developers will pledge some form of support for Revolution. You'd have to be foolish to believe otherwise.
What I am suggesting is that the priorities here are clearly not leaning towards Nintendo's direction, and nothing except ideological banter from admitted hardline Nintendo fans indicates anything about why the entire industry would suddenly shift in Nintendo's general direction when they have not proven themselves the last two gens to be in touch with consumers in the console sector (comparative to Sony). You guys seem to be taken this as some sort of personal insult, but it's the truth.
Again, there's a lot we just don't know. And I'm sure your tireless faith in Nintendo and whatever insider info you have causes you to once more trumpet their great historic value. I myself am a huge Nintendo fan. But I am also not delusional, and truthfully I cannot see them ever guiding the direction the console-side industry goes again. Can I be wrong? Of course. I would not dare suggest otherwise. I just don't believe I am.
Johnny Nighttrain said:granted, they don't have the same consumer mind share as Sony or MS, but last time i checked, the numbers go back to 0 come next life cycle, and uh yeah, that's something that MS is totally banking on. why can't Nintendo?
No, see, that's the single most simplistic outlook you could possibly have. SALES wise, of course numbers go to 0. MINDSHARE wise absolutely does not revert back to zero. Consumers have a thing called brand loyality. It exists in essentially every major market that is around. It takes a major misstep or a change of incredible importance to cause consumers to lead off from that brand loyality and try something else out. I believe you feel that this "incredibly important" aspect is exactly why you feel Nintendo will win consumers back over. I, however, do not see consumers desire for such changes in the console sector. I don't see it in terms of the types of peripherals or games that sell, and the only market that really has shown such enthusiasm for these types of products has been the handheld sector with Nintendo's wildly succesive DS. And the handheld market has always been ruled by them, so we can't even properly quantify how much has to do with mindshare - just like Sony entering into the 256bit gen.
Johnny Nighttrain said:i hope you never develop a game, or run a videogame company.
I know, I know... you want ass controlled videogames and taste-bud activated input devices, but I think the consumers will continue to be satisfied with much of what we have now. The only difference, of course, is that possibilities will continue to be opened by advanced technology. And, as I said, Nintendo is in no trouble financially, so I'm sure they will carve their own unique, impressive niche whose games I will continue to love regardless of massive market success (by marketshare). And I'll appreciate that difference, because it's what makes Nintendo important to me.
But it's just not where I see the industry going. Where I see the industry going. And if I'm reading the signs correctly, I don't think many people disagree with me.
gamergirly said:It's pretty hard for outsiders such as yourself or I, who have no clue what Revolution looks like or what MS potentially has up its sleeve to determine who developers think are important. The only thing important to developers is making money and in that sense, developers and publishers have no allegiance to anything but this:
$$$$$$$$$$
You said it. $$$$$$$$$. And third party developers have made more money with Sony than Nintendo these last two gens.
Jonnyram said:I realise there has been plenty of good games released this gen, but compared to the previous generation, we've been underfed. Not only has the number of AAA titles decreased, companies have also been less willing to try new ideas. If you don't see it, I'm not going to be able to convince you otherwise though.
You're damn right you're not going to convince me otherwise, since that's the damned silliest thing you've ever said. Yeah, perhaps we've been underfed if the only system you own is a Gamecube. I think it's impossible to ever be "overfed", but I think in all honesty we can EASILY say we've been fed just as good, if not BETTER than previous generations. The amount of stellar, quality titles reaches damn near overwhelming proportions at times, and this Fall it's set to get even worse. I don't even know how to respond to this except to say that your view on what makes a AAA game must be so narrow as to make your tastes completely irrelevant to any meaningful discussion on the issue.
Jonnyram said:NES and PS were not the lead platforms when they were released either. Similarly, what did the SNES and PS2 do for the future of the industry? Nothing at all... The industry moves in cycles, and it is time for change.
What did they do for this industry? Nothing at all? Well, I guess "nothing" can translate to "allowed us to play some of the best games ever made", which I guess translates into "making more money for companies in the industry". This applies to both SNES and PS2, you realize.
The industry moves in cycles, but no it is not time for such drastic change - at least according to the consumers. That is to say, it's no more time for change than that it had been at the start of this gen. We're still getting phenomenal titles, we'll always get phenomenal titles, and new control scheme or interesting novelty aside we always will. If you're in such a hankering for a change, then you hedge your bets on what you will. It's clear you already have, what with your rather interesting opinions on alternative "game"play types as it is.
Who will win? Well, I feel traditional style gaming will win, until which time it is needed to move forward to another type of gaming. The industry, or more specifically the consumers, have already decided. We'll see if they change their minds next gen, but I'm willing to place a vegas dollar down that they won't.