After a bunch of back and forth this week regarding when, or even if, a new nintendo home console will come out it has apparenty been anounced that the new console codenamed N5 (only called that by internet folk I believe) will be on display at E3. No word on if there will be any games on demo, or just a mockup of the system.
I'm a huge nintendo fan so this is good news. I'll just be kinda sad the day that the gamecube gets replaced. Sure I can always pull it out of the closet and use it now and then, but it won't be the same. For as much abuse as that little machine takes from people, I have had a helluva lot of fun with it: Metroid Prime, Mario Sunshine, Zelda Windwaker, Eternal Darkness, Mario Kart, Viewtiful Joe, Gameboy Player, etc. At least we've got another year and a half worth of new game sin it. Here's to hoping that the next console has some great new classics, as well as a better public perception.
Anyway, here's the news snippet- originating from some site called Games are fun:
< Near the beginning of the week, news sites all over the place sprung the news that Nintendo was putting their next-generation console plans on hold in order to focus more on the handheld market. Rumors started flying about that the Gamecube's successor wouldn't hit store shelves until 2007, way after Sony and Microsoft would debut their next consoles.
In order to quell all the unsubstantiated rumors, Nintendo announced that they will have their new home console (codenamed the "N5") on display during 2005's E3. Nintendo representative Yasuhiro Minagawa explained that what the statement MEANT to convey was that they won't release a new console until the 2005-2006 period, which Sony and Microsoft are likely to release their new consoles by.>>
"The Universe is shaped exactly like the Earth- if you go straight long enough you end up where you were."
Quick, place your bets -- what oddball media format will THIS new Nintendo console use?
"It looks like it was a larger dog with tighter skin, and then someone grabbed him by the anus and pulled him as hard as they could." -- David St. Hubbins of Spinal Tap, explaining the Shar-Pei
The thread title is a total bait and switch. I was ready to be extremely pissed off if Nintendo was going to announce plans as early as this May for replacing the Gamecube. But May 2005 (for a preview!) I can deal with.
-Jag
"I'm going to go now and demand beer money from my representative. We simply must deal with the problem of my sobriety." - PalpatineW
Originally posted by JaguarThe thread title is a total bait and switch. I was ready to be extremely pissed off if Nintendo was going to announce plans as early as this May for replacing the Gamecube. But May 2005 (for a preview!) I can deal with.
-Jag
Well, obviously they would never *release* a console at E3- it's just an unvieling. And yes, I would be pretty upset too if they were replacing the Gamecube this May. Even 2005 seems a bit soon. That will only be three and a half years for the Gamecube (and for Xbox, which will be "replaced" around the same time), which is a really short life for a console. What happened to consoles lasting a good five to six years? Do we even need anything new at this point, or is it just the companies looking to one up each other with new hardware that won't be that big of an inprovement over the old stuff?
"The Universe is shaped exactly like the Earth- if you go straight long enough you end up where you were."
Originally posted by EradicatorAnd yes, I would be pretty upset too if they were replacing the Gamecube this May. Even 2005 seems a bit soon. That will only be three and a half years for the Gamecube (and for Xbox, which will be "replaced" around the same time), which is a really short life for a console. What happened to consoles lasting a good five to six years?
Sega happened.
The Saturn, the best example of this, debuted in '95 (a bit prematurely). It didn't take long for the PSX to take a substantial lead... and Sega promoted Bernie Stolar to COO, who promptly decided to yank the plug on the system in America waaaaay too early. Bernie figured that they'd softpedal the Saturn just long enough for their next system (the Dreamcast) to get out of R&D, which would dominate the industry because it was newer and flashier, right?
What Stolar forgot was the first rule of console gaming: superior specs mean jack shit against a superior game library. Frontrunning systems have big third-party libraries, big franchise titles with name-recognition value and more games than the other guys have on the shelf. Also-ran systems don't. Building a bigger and badder beast does not in and of itself attract sales.
(See also: why the Atari 2600 ruled the planet and the 5200, Intellivision and ColecoVision played catch-up. Why the NES destroyed the Sega Master System. Why the Game Boy line thrived in the face of the Game Gear, TurboExpress, Nomad, Wonderswan, NeoGeo Pocket Color and other portables. Why the PS2 has a massive lead over the Xbox and GameCube combined.)
By the time that the DC debuted (with a somewhat lackluster game list apart from NFL2K and Soul Calibur), the PSX had unchallenged dominance of the console industry, a massive list of third-party developers and a host of valuable franchises, AND the PS2 on the not-too-distant horizon. Sega had one year with which to try and grab market share before the PS2 arrived, and they failed, largely because the DC's online-gaming capabilities went strangely unsupported for the first year.
Sega has always had a habit of rapidly trotting out new platforms (SMS '86 -> Genesis '88 -> Sega CD '92-> 32X '94 -> Saturn '95 -> Dreamcast '99). Not surprisingly, they've usually been playing catch-up, and now they're out of the hardware business altogether.
"It looks like it was a larger dog with tighter skin, and then someone grabbed him by the anus and pulled him as hard as they could." -- David St. Hubbins of Spinal Tap, explaining the Shar-Pei
I've never bought a system at launch (well, except for the GBA SP, if it counts), and I don't plan on starting now. My GCN and PS2 are barely cold on the shelf, so I for one wont be rushing out to upgrade them regardless of how quickly their next iterations are born. I can't be the only one with this mindset, either.
And other than historial interest, I don't see what Bernie Stolar and Sega have to do with the issue at hand. Sega isn't Nintendo, and the things that occured five, ten, or twenty years ago in the industry don't necessarily have any effect on what will happen in the coming years. There's no way to know if similar business practices are going to take hold, or if Nintendo is simply "building a bigger and badder beast." I thought it was established that Nintendo's goal isn't to outsell Sony.
As for the DC, I'm sure there were also other factors at work that led to its demise; rampant piracy being one if them.
To answer the "what happened" question, I would say it also has to do with the explosion of the industry, which continues to be heavily reliant on taechnological breakthroughs.
Originally posted by jermAnd other than historial interest, I don't see what Bernie Stolar and Sega have to do with the issue at hand.
The question I responded to was "What happened to consoles lasting a good five to six years?" Sega is the poster child for short-lived platforms, and hence a good example.
I thought it was established that Nintendo's goal isn't to outsell Sony.
With the GameCube, that'd be a ridiculous goal right now. But in the future? If anyone stands up at a Nintendo planning meeting and says "Our goal is to be in second place in the industry three years from now, with our next console trailing Sony's," that person would probably get fired in a heartbeat.
It wouldn't shock me to see Nintendo eventually go the route of Sega and develop their franchises for multiple platforms, sticking to the Game Boy line as their sole home system.
As for the DC, I'm sure there were also other factors at work that led to its demise; rampant piracy being one if them.
That certainly didn't help... though it was more of a problem later in the console's life cycle, when broadband Internet connections and cheap CDR burners became more prevalent.
"It looks like it was a larger dog with tighter skin, and then someone grabbed him by the anus and pulled him as hard as they could." -- David St. Hubbins of Spinal Tap, explaining the Shar-Pei
I thought the dual-screened handheld Nintendo's coming out with (called the Nintendo DS) was going to be the next big thing the WWE was releasing.
SD2: April, Year 3; what's the point to the Career mode, anyhow? FF7: Disc 1; 4h into game; en route to the next reactor FF8: Disc 2; 15h into game; Squall, Rinoa, Irvine vs. Master NORG. FF9: Disc 1; 3h into game; traversing the ice cavern
Originally posted by SOKI thought the dual-screened handheld Nintendo's coming out with (called the Nintendo DS) was going to be the next big thing the WWE was releasing.
The DS will be on display at E3 (and there was a recent picture of it released) but there were rumors flying about that Nintendo would also unleash it's new console. I don't think Vince McMahon can afford to get into the video game market at a hardware level, however. ;)
Originally posted by SOKI thought the dual-screened handheld Nintendo's coming out with (called the Nintendo DS) was going to be the next big thing the WWE was releasing.
The DS will be on display at E3 (and there was a recent picture of it released) but there were rumors flying about that Nintendo would also unleash it's new console. I don't think Vince McMahon can afford to get into the video game market at a hardware level, however. ;)
Whoops...that was a "MY BAD" on my part; as it was getting close to the pay per view. :-)
I'm stuck as to how well the DS would sell, if at all. SOmeone even said one of the screens would be an LCD touch screen. THat's getting a bit advanced, huh?
SD2: April, Year 3; what's the point to the Career mode, anyhow? FF7: Disc 1; 4h into game; en route to the next reactor FF8: Disc 2; 15h into game; Squall, Rinoa, Irvine vs. Master NORG. FF9: Disc 1; 3h into game; traversing the ice cavern
Thread rated: 5.58
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