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[B E N K E]

I interviewed Julian Eggebrecht at E3 and was a bit surprised to hear him talk about a prototype for the Gamecube controller that featured a motion sensor (they used it in early development for Rogue Squadron). If they send out protptypes to second parties it's a pretty far gone thing in my opinion. How would it have changed things if the Gamecube controller would have had a motion sensor (similar to PS3 I presume). Had it been something that would have lifted the Gamecube or was Nintendo wise to wait until they could fully implement it (Wii)? It's definitively an interesting "what if"-scenario...

Anyway, I hadn't heard about this before so I'm sure some of you hadn't either.

The interview can be viewed here: http://www.gamereactor.se/grtv/player/popup.php?cat=E3&id=1119

Eggebrecht also discusses what a possible Lair sequel will feature.

 

[ToyMachine228]

That is the first time I've heard that. Would have been interesting if it had been used.

 

[Imperial Hot]

Nintendo SIXAXIS?

 

[[Nintex]]

That is the first time I've heard that. Would have been interesting if it had been used.

Yuji Naka also mentioned it during the development of the GameCube.

When I first saw the Wii Remote I thought about Fludd and the WindWaker wand. It seems that Nintendo had this planned beforehand.

 

[megateto]

It's not the first time Julian talks about this controller; I think it was a gametrailers interview when I first heard about it, but at the time it went unnoticed.

Seeing that he repeats the story, it can only give it more weight. So it seems that Nintendo were working on it some time ago.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Wouldn't have worked. The failure of the GameCube is not just a failure to innovate, it's probably one of the biggest branding explosions ever. Here are some of the many failures of the Cube:

- Strategic pricing, instead of causing higher sales, caused a loss in consumer value perception.

- The form-factor which was promoted as compact, durable, quiet, and economical was perceived as childish, easily damaged, and too dissimilar from other residents of the home theatre to earn a place.

- Despite a substantial increase in third party support and a push on Nintendo's part to include Mature content, the reputation of the system's software is decidedly kiddie.

- Even though the Cube had many incarnations of Madden and other sports titles, absolutely no one looked at the Cube as a primary sports title machine; both the PS2 and the XBOX did this successfully.

- Nintendo utterly failed at product placement for the GameCube. In an era where more people than ever are playing video games inside movies or on TV shows, the GameCube is virtually absent; this is not just because it was less well known, it's because Nintendo dropped the ball at raising awareness.

The Wii has monopolized a ton of this; the form factor and interface have found glory normally only reserved for hyper high-end industrial products and Apple designs, the price is widely seen as being high-value despite the fact that it's lower value than either of the two systems, third party fortunes are perceived to be turning (and actually are turning even more), high profile marketing of Tiger Woods and Madden Wii as well as Wii Sports and promotional stuff from various celebrity athletes have given the Wii a great base to attack the X360 sports domination, and product placement is doing great and picking up steam even now.

Maybe Nintendo could have tried to use Wii technology to revive the GameCube. It's really good for them that they didn't.

 

[Christine]

It's probably best for them that they didn't use it. It would have been wide open to be hit with the 'gimmick' stigma and the kiddy/toy stigma.

 

[castle007]

This is very interesting

 

[Argyle]

Maybe Nintendo could have tried to use Wii technology to revive the GameCube. It's really good for them that they didn't.

Wait, I thought that's exactly what they did...seems to be working out well for them