I swear I didn't write this Wii article...

[rainless]

...but I did laugh.

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/03/08/wii-is-two-duct-taped-gamecubes-and-other-publisher-rants/

[dicecca112]

Isn't EA the ones that said that they overlooked the Wii as a platform and that it was a mistake :rolleyes:

[Oni]

What are you doing here, brother? Are you actively trying to stir the poop in my forum? Try drag up an article that is over 6 months old just to bait people with?

[rainless]

What are you doing here, brother? Are you actively trying to stir the poop in my forum? Try drag up an article that is over 6 months old just to bait people with?

It was mentioned on Penny Arcade yesterday. :)

http://www.penny-arcade.com

[aja]

What are you doing here, brother? Are you actively trying to stir the poop in my forum? Try drag up an article that is over 6 months old just to bait people with?

LOL!

About the graveyard article, That is very opinionated - the only opinion that matters is the end user. As an analogy, I doubt Microsoft developers actually like windows, but most end users do, and that is where the moola comes from

EDIT: my stars feel very small in this thread hehe :(

[Oc1Kenube]

Wii love it or hate it is no longer a fad and 12m worldwide sales says thats true.

[rainless]

Wii love it or hate it is no longer a fad and 12m worldwide sales says thats true.

Hahahahaha! That's the definition of a fad! :)

I think they sold more Beenie Babies though...

I also think it's hilarious they've sold more consoles than software. (That's probably just... barely not true... maybe.)

[blueswitch]

Didn't Jaffee originally make the duct tape comment months ago? Ironic part is he switched over to making small games that probably could run on one gamecube.

Wii will become a fad only if Nintendo keeps leaving it out in the cold with no software or a respectable online model. And all the 12m people that bought Wii's have them continuing collecting dust.

[Burninate]

Didn't Jaffee originally make the duct tape comment months ago? Ironic part is he switched over to making small games that probably could run on one gamecube.

Wii will become a fad only if Nintendo keeps leaving it out in the cold with no software or a respectable online model. And all the 12m people that bought Wii's have them continuing collecting dust.

Well.... maybe. I think Nintendo likes having control over the games that people buy. They've already sold the consoles on pure marketing. Now, all three games they make every year are almost guaranteed to sell close to 10 million copies each, as there is nothing else (good) to buy for the system other than first party titles. I think Nintendo has already thought this one out and they will clearly come out ahead in the end. But, for $250, I own one and I will enjoy those 3 games a year I would have otherwise missed out on.

[OC Noob]

I thought it was funny, but I am still jaded by the fact that Nintendo thinks I should love the whole farting rainbows and butterflys philosophy at 33 years of age instead of diversifing a bit.

The other rants were interesting too, especially the Vista one.

[FudgeNuggets]

What are you doing here, brother? Are you actively trying to stir the poop in my forum? Try drag up an article that is over 6 months old just to bait people with?

How come he's not getting hated on and finger pointed like I was when I was hating on the BluRay play....errrr I mean PS3? I saw the error of my ways though. I know Sony makes garbage hardware and got one anyway because I wanted more HD movie selection than just HD-DVD damnit!!!

As for hardware vs software sales, I believe it.

I've got a Wii, don't own a single game (other than the Wii-Sports pack in). I've rented several though. Same for the PS3, I don't own a single game, have several BluRay movies though :D

[rainless]

Well.... maybe. I think Nintendo likes having control over the games that people buy. They've already sold the consoles on pure marketing. Now, all three games they make every year are almost guaranteed to sell close to 10 million copies each, as there is nothing else (good) to buy for the system other than first party titles. I think Nintendo has already thought this one out and they will clearly come out ahead in the end. But, for $250, I own one and I will enjoy those 3 games a year I would have otherwise missed out on.


That's completely insane, but that's exactly what Nintendo counts on. Nintendo fans have yet to let them down no matter what kind of irresponsible stupidity they get into.

How come he's not getting hated on and finger pointed like I was when I was hating on the BluRay play

Because I *OUT-RANK YOU* mister Orange Star "Regular User!" :)

...and because I'm right and you were wrong about Blu-ray.

Sony was actually counting-on all everyone with a PS3 to buy Blu-ray discs. That was actually the entire POINT. Everyone here (okay.... it was just YOU) was saying "Why bundle an expensive Blu-ray player?" and "DVDs have more than enough space for gaming..."

The whole point was that they stand to make a hell of a lot more off of those blu-ray movies than they ever would off of the games. I think I have about 130 DVDs versus about twenty games. And people will buy Blu-ray movies in that volume eventually.

The Wii hasn't managed to push too many of those Nintendo-brand SD cards...

[FudgeNuggets]

Because I *OUT-RANK YOU* mister Orange Star "Regular User!" :)
...and because I'm right and you were wrong about Blu-ray.
...

oh, come on I've got other things to spend my money and time on besides benching hardware, like movies and games :D Besides, it looks like I'll be white by the end of the month ;)

I'll give you the BluRay thing, they are going to come out on top vs HD-DVD, it doesn't make sense, but because Sony owns so many studios, it's going to happen. They didn't have that clout back in the BETAMAX days.

Then again, it is now my belief that the PS3 is better as a cheaper BluRay player than it is as an expensive gaming system.

Also, Nintendo isn't repaing the $$$$ of the SD cards because unlike MS and Sony they aren't proprietary, the buyers win on that one albeit a minor win.

[Thund3rball]

Then again, it is now my belief that the PS3 is better as a cheaper BluRay player than it is as an expensive gaming system.



You got it Fudge. My opinion from the beginning. As for the Wii... I know too many people with a Wii collecting dust then I'd care to count. No console is getting my cash till they get cheaper cause that's what I am... cheap. And no console has the library or appeal that is even remotely driving me away from my PC ATM. In a couple years maybe. But not anytime soon. I still need to play God Of War 2 on my PS2 - LOL

Other interesting points in that article were the one about education. The lack of kids growing up and becoming engineers is a scary thought. Who's gonna build stuff that works and is reliable?

The other comment I liked was the last one. Digital distribution through consoles. Cut out the middle man! I almost like it. But I have to say I like the little box and discs sitting on my shelf more.

[aja]

What are you doing here, brother? Are you actively trying to stir the poop in my forum? Try drag up an article that is over 6 months old just to bait people with?

UPDATE: the poop has not only been stirred, but also shaken and overclocked

[FudgeNuggets]

Thunder,
Count my Wii as one collecting dust. I played the hell out of it the first month and a half after I got it and have not touched it since, I think I got it in Feb, aside from my wife playing the new Bust A Move that I rented for her. Like all the Wii games I've played, it was uber-short, she who is not a gamer at ALL beat it in 3 days just playing it casually. It'll be used again when Mario Galaxy comes out.

[Krome]

Thunder,
Count my Wii as one collecting dust. I played the hell out of it the first month and a half after I got it and have not touched it since, I think I got it in Feb, aside from my wife playing the new Bust A Move that I rented for her. Like all the Wii games I've played, it was uber-short, she who is not a gamer at ALL beat it in 3 days just playing it casually. It'll be used again when Mario Galaxy comes out.

Fudge... You should rent Metroid for the Wii. That and Strikers is what I've been playing the most, I even sold my copy of Madden 08.

[FudgeNuggets]

I've been meaning to play Strikers and Metroid......

[Oni]

I think I must be the only person on the planet who actually uses his Wii almost every day. Or is it just the trendy thing to say 'Oh, my Wii is collecting dust!' or something? Is that the new slang the kids use? Did they replace 'cool' with 'My Wii is collecting dust'? Or is it some kind of strange new internet meme from 4ch that I'm just not getting?

[deception``]

I think I must be the only person on the planet who actually uses his Wii almost every day. Or is it just the trendy thing to say 'Oh, my Wii is collecting dust!' or something? Is that the new slang the kids use? Did they replace 'cool' with 'My Wii is collecting dust'? Or is it some kind of strange new internet meme from 4ch that I'm just not getting?

People that post on forums with overclocked PC's don't represent the average consumer, Oni.

I know many people with the Wii, and they play it on a daily basis. There isn't a time when I visit a friend's house when their Wii is not on. In short, the people that actually play their Wii don't spend their time posting about it on the internet.

deception``

[Thund3rball]

I think I must be the only person on the planet who actually uses his Wii almost every day. Or is it just the trendy thing to say 'Oh, my Wii is collecting dust!' or something? Is that the new slang the kids use? Did they replace 'cool' with 'My Wii is collecting dust'? Or is it some kind of strange new internet meme from 4ch that I'm just not getting?

Hey I'm not hatin' on the Wii, it's just that EVERYBODY I know (in my circle of friends, family and coworkers) that busted a gut over grabbing one of these things at xmas time hasn't touched it for ages. Some bought 360s since, others are back to their PC and other than Fudge I don't know anyone that's bought a PS3 lately. This is strictly my observation. I could care less how cool it sounds or which console is better blah blah. As I said I haven't touched my PS2 for sometime but will probably sit down for some God Of War 2 when it's price drops :D

[FudgeNuggets]

People that post on forums with overclocked PC's don't represent the average consumer, Oni.

I know many people with the Wii, and they play it on a daily basis. There isn't a time when I visit a friend's house when their Wii is not on. In short, the people that actually play their Wii don't spend their time posting about it on the internet.

deception``

Hey you know me and how I roll just outside the GTA. I drop at least a dime a week on clothes, it's nothing but Dom Perignon and La Corannas at da club and Bentleys in my garage ;)

[rainless]

People that post on forums with overclocked PC's don't represent the average consumer, Oni.

I know many people with the Wii, and they play it on a daily basis. There isn't a time when I visit a friend's house when their Wii is not on. In short, the people that actually play their Wii don't spend their time posting about it on the internet.

deception``

Where the hell is YOUR Wii Mr. "I play it all the time over my friend's house?"

:)

Well I know where my Wii is... Sold it to this nice Korean/French gentleman in Paris. (Smart money says his kid hasn't touched it in months.)

[OC Noob]

I think I must be the only person on the planet who actually uses his Wii almost every day. Or is it just the trendy thing to say 'Oh, my Wii is collecting dust!' or something? Is that the new slang the kids use? Did they replace 'cool' with 'My Wii is collecting dust'? Or is it some kind of strange new internet meme from 4ch that I'm just not getting?

Its a first year library lull. Seems like all consoles have them. If it makes you feel better my kids still use it a few days a week. They might more if it weren't for soccer/gymnastics and of course the fo da devil Webkinz.

[deception``]

Where the hell is YOUR Wii Mr. "I play it all the time over my friend's house?"

:)

Well I know where my Wii is... Sold it to this nice Korean/French gentleman in Paris. (Smart money says his kid hasn't touched it in months.)

Don't own a Wii yet; I only have a 360 for the time being. But I don't spend a lot less time posting on the forums since I have some good games to play when I am at home. Currently I'm approaching hour 50 of Blue Dragon :)

deception``

[xb1az3x]

I think I must be the only person on the planet who actually uses his Wii almost every day. Or is it just the trendy thing to say 'Oh, my Wii is collecting dust!' or something? Is that the new slang the kids use? Did they replace 'cool' with 'My Wii is collecting dust'? Or is it some kind of strange new internet meme from 4ch that I'm just not getting?

You're not alone! I play mine all the time. Between taking my time finishing Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3, and Mario Strikers I am having a blast with it. Honestly I think it is turning into a trend to be another cool person who owns your Wii but don't play it because its got all "kiddie games". I'm not ripping anyone here by saying that either, I honestly think it is a trend.

The list of Wii games shows a lot of third party games coming out late this year and into next year so I think thats a good sign for those worried about playing too many "kiddie games". The one I am waiting for is Sadness (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadness_%28video_game%29), sadly there has been no new news about it for a long time.

[Burninate]

It was the same thing with the 360 last year. Everyone bought one because it was the only next gen console at the time. Then there were no really good games until Oblivion and Gears of War came out (about 10-12 months after launch). Everyone was talking about how it was just sitting there collecting dust and all. Just wait until Smash Brothers and the new Super Mario game come out. The Wii will be the new Xbox 360 at that point, but without all the red lighting.

[rainless]

It was the same thing with the 360 last year. Everyone bought one because it was the only next gen console at the time. Then there were no really good games until Oblivion and Gears of War came out (about 10-12 months after launch). Everyone was talking about how it was just sitting there collecting dust and all. Just wait until Smash Brothers and the new Super Mario game come out. The Wii will be the new Xbox 360 at that point, but without all the red lighting.

You're missing the whooooooooooooooole point. The Wii will NEVER be "the new Xbox 360" because they aren't even trying to cultivate any third party connections. How many first party games has Microsoft come out with in the past two years? Maybe a handful. Now how many third party games? A ship full.

So you can't just say "it's the same" because it's not, and it won't be, and it'll be because that's Nintendo's "business strategy."

[Burninate]

You're missing the whooooooooooooooole point. The Wii will NEVER be "the new Xbox 360" because they aren't even trying to cultivate any third party connections. How many first party games has Microsoft come out with in the past two years? Maybe a handful. Now how many third party games? A ship full.

So you can't just say "it's the same" because it's not, and it won't be, and it'll be because that's Nintendo's "business strategy."

Agreed, but Nintendo does hold quite a few more first party licenses than Microsoft. Microsoft has Halo and..... Halo. Nintendo has Mario (and the whole Mario Universe including Donkey Kong, Princess Peach, Wario, etc), Metroid, Zelda, Pokemon, Star Fox, and you get the idea. While Xbox has quite a few more third party games, Nintendo has a lot more licenses, giving them quite a few more first party games (3 to 4 a year usually) while Microsoft has 1 every 3 years. I didn't mean to imply that the Wii will literally be the new Xbox 360 in terms of developer support, I was just giving analogy to the lull in games and that the void will be filled with a first party game every 3 or 4 months consistantly.

[Krome]

As soon as my friends found out that I got a Wii, they are all saying "why didn't you bring your Wii" when I go visit them. I need to get the special bag for the Wii, I wonder if it has a pocket for the sensor bar?

[YellowDart]

One of my best buddies got a Wii for xmas too. He's the type who'd play the ultra-rainbow-happytime games, though... so I'm sure his isn't collecting dust.

My wife's cousin sold his recently. He was an assistant manager at GameStop last holiday season, so he had easy access to them. Bought one, and I'm almost positive he never played it after he got tired of zelda and that sports game.

I'm glad I didn't end up dropping the money for one though. I'd be in the same boat as my wife's cousin. I'd love to see Nintendo get their act together w/ the 3rd party support and online deal, but that's just not their thing. Dare to be different, I guess.

[OC Noob]

Agreed, but Nintendo does hold quite a few more first party licenses than Microsoft. Microsoft has Halo and..... Halo. Nintendo has Mario (and the whole Mario Universe including Donkey Kong, Princess Peach, Wario, etc), Metroid, Zelda, Pokemon, Star Fox, and you get the idea. While Xbox has quite a few more third party games, Nintendo has a lot more licenses, giving them quite a few more first party games (3 to 4 a year usually) while Microsoft has 1 every 3 years. I didn't mean to imply that the Wii will literally be the new Xbox 360 in terms of developer support, I was just giving analogy to the lull in games and that the void will be filled with a first party game every 3 or 4 months consistantly.

MS has Halo, Forza, whatever Rare is working on at the time (Banjo), Fable and who knows what else. What they have to do to compensate and do fairly well this time around is get the 3rd party exclusives.

Nobody can compete with Nintendo 1st party support and nobody could compete period if the had half the 3rd party exclusives that MS and Sony have or in Sony's case had.

EDIT: forgot Mystwalker with Blue Dragon and that other jRPG. not bad, but its still no Nintendo.

[funnyperson1]

I have Paper Mario and Madden for my Wii, it was sitting collecting dust until I was gifted Madden (which is pretty fun once you get past the shoddy graphics) because I forgot to bring paper Mario back to college.

Of course most any time someone comes over, we end up playing Wii sports.

I'll play through a couple franchise seasons of Madden, beat Paper Mario, and then look forward to getting Metroid Prime and Mario Galaxy whenever it comes out. I would play a lot more but my sources of entertainment far outnumber the actual time I have considering the work I have to do.

[Burninate]

... I would play a lot more but my sources of entertainment far outnumber the actual time I have considering the work I have to do.

Same here, I have full time work and full time+ school :( But, I was a little disappointed in Super Paper Mario. I was such a huge fan of Super Mario RPG and the first 2 Paper Marios that Super Paper Mario just wasn't nearly as much fun. I liked the turn based boss battles. The boss battles in SPM were just way too easy. Oh well.... here's to hoping they do actually release a proper sequal to Mario RPG some day.

[rainless]

Agreed, but Nintendo does hold quite a few more first party licenses than Microsoft. Microsoft has Halo and..... Halo. Nintendo has Mario (and the whole Mario Universe including Donkey Kong, Princess Peach, Wario, etc), Metroid, Zelda, Pokemon, Star Fox, and you get the idea. While Xbox has quite a few more third party games, Nintendo has a lot more licenses, giving them quite a few more first party games (3 to 4 a year usually) while Microsoft has 1 every 3 years. I didn't mean to imply that the Wii will literally be the new Xbox 360 in terms of developer support, I was just giving analogy to the lull in games and that the void will be filled with a first party game every 3 or 4 months consistantly.

One good game every 3 or 4 months? THAT'S HORRIBLE! :)

The SNES would never have been a serious challenger to the Genesis with only one decent game every three or four months. They would've been blown off the planet. And the SNES was key to Nintendo's continued existence. There were plenty of companies that had a decent run with their first system and later filed for bankruptcy (*cough*Atari*cough*).

There's no reason to believe that the Wii will be any more viable than the Gamecube was (it could possible have fewer overall releases) unless Nintendo "smartens up".

Microsoft doesn't really need anymore than Halo. First party titles usually just help show the light in terms of hardware development (most third party companies never have a better understanding of hardware than the company that made the system.) God of War was probably the extreme example of that.

[funnyperson1]

Same here, I have full time work and full time+ school :( But, I was a little disappointed in Super Paper Mario. I was such a huge fan of Super Mario RPG and the first 2 Paper Marios that Super Paper Mario just wasn't nearly as much fun. I liked the turn based boss battles. The boss battles in SPM were just way too easy. Oh well.... here's to hoping they do actually release a proper sequal to Mario RPG some day.

I never played any of those games, because I was never into RPGs. Only "RPGS" I have played are DiabloII and Fable, both of which were great games, I guess Deus Ex is sort of an RPG as well.

I thought Paper Mario was a lot of fun, they really made good use of the Wii remote, and the strategy/puzzles are fun.

I can't wait for Mario Galaxies though as that is more my type of game, SMB3 and Mario64 are two of the greatest games of all time imho.

I do think that rainless has a point in saying that Nintendo needs more 3rd party games, but I don't think they're in dire straits. They are still making ridiculous amounts of money, and unlike MS and Sony, they can do this just by selling hardware.

Even if they end up selling only 30 million Wiis overall, they're making like $100 profit on each unit, and most people will at least buy one other game.

As an engineering student with a part time job I don't really have that much time to play games, and even if there are just 6-10 exceptional games over the Wii's lifespan, that will be enough for me.

I have a regular Xbox and the only games I really played through are PGR2, Halo1/2, NCAA06, Madden06, Fight Night Round 2, and Fable. To be honest, that was enough to keep me occupied (well that and XBMC streaming movies from my computer).

I see myself getting Mario Galaxies, Mario Strikers Charged, Metroid Prime Corruption, the next iteration of Fight Night and any other great games that come along.

[Springbok]

Nintendo is using the exact same strategy they've been using since the NES, create first party AAA titles to sell hardware, all the third party producers follow the hardware base. Complain and fight it all you want, cry about the gaps between games, whine about the inferior hardware, people aren't going to buy 360s just because you think they should.

[Burninate]

I know that 3 or 4 games a year doesn't sound like much.... and well.... it isn't. But, they're exclusive games that are usually AAA titles. Meaning that if you don't want to miss out on them, you better have a Wii or reliable access to one at the very least. Cross-platforming is a much more common practice now-a-days and the Wii, with its inferior hardware, only loses out on this as it can't possible have a better version of any games that's cross platformed with the 360 and PS3 as well. I don't think that anyone will dispute that the NES and SNES were the king of their respective generation. 3rd party support was easier as they only had to make the game for one system and no one really had to make a shotty cross-platformed title with one system losing out (Mortal Kombat for the SNES being one of the few exceptions that comes to mind). Nintendo knows its new system has much less capability than the 360 or the PS3, and the price reflects that. Knowing this, they are betting that people will buy their system not for terrible ports, but for awesome 1st party games. And in the end, it's essentially a monopoly on those 1st party games. Nintendo, knowing everyone is buying the system for these first party games, stands to make a killing, as pretty much everyone buys them when they come out. From a developer stand point, ports are easy money. With more than one dominate system now and developement costs per game as high as they've ever been, developers' best option to reach the widest audience possible is to cross-platform. And making a port (A good one) that requires extra development to compensate for the control scheme on the Wii and one that will suffer performance issues from the Wii's lack of techinical capability, just isn't worth it and almost certainly won't sell. I think most people buying the Wii knows this. That's why there were so many people saying, "It's about gameplay, not graphics," when the Wii came out.

[rainless]

Nintendo is using the exact same strategy they've been using since the NES, create first party AAA titles to sell hardware, all the third party producers follow the hardware base. Complain and fight it all you want, cry about the gaps between games, whine about the inferior hardware, people aren't going to buy 360s just because you think they should.

Aww... Isn't that cute. Mario sent a rep :)

People ALREADY bought the 360, and a hell of a lot of its games, and it had very little (though not "nothing") to do with me. Software titles sold Xbox360 vs. Wii=You don't know what you're talking about.


I know that 3 or 4 games a year doesn't sound like much.... and well.... it isn't. But, they're exclusive games that are usually AAA titles. Meaning that if you don't want to miss out on them, you better have a Wii or reliable access to one at the very least. Cross-platforming is a much more common practice now-a-days and the Wii, with its inferior hardware, only loses out on this as it can't possible have a better version of any games that's cross platformed with the 360 and PS3 as well. I don't think that anyone will dispute that the NES and SNES were the king of their respective generation. 3rd party support was easier as they only had to make the game for one system and no one really had to make a shotty cross-platformed title with one system losing out (Mortal Kombat for the SNES being one of the few exceptions that comes to mind). .


You have an extremely short-term memory:

There was mortal kombat, street fighter 2, the NBA Jam series, the madden series, (hell almost every EA game was released on both systems), Samurai Shodown, Primal Rage, etc... etc... There were more cross platform games between the SNES and Genesis then currently exist on the next gen platforms.

I repeat: The NES and SNES would not have been the successes they were without third party support and Nintendo will never... evvvvvvvver... achieve that level of success again without it.

It might be "about the gameplay" but it's currently "about the gameplay without the games." And I predicted this would happen because it's been a trend over at Nintendo HQ. What they're failing to take into account with Super Happy Mario Funtime Link is that a lot of their adult players have moved on to more adult games and, like a number of people who've posted in this thread, don't want to play with rainbows and turtles.

That was the extremely HARSH lesson Nintendo learned with Mortal Kombat on the SNES. That little snafu turned into a total eclipse and was directly responsible for Nintendo getting their heads out of their asses for the very last time.

Something truly weird happened between the SNES and what was supposed to be the Ultra64 and eventually wound up being the N64. Last generation the Gamecube was actually technologically superior to the PS2, but they simply couldn't overcome the PS2s third party titles and more adult oriented releases (instead relying on Mario and a vaccuum cleaner... which didn't quite workout.) This console generation they've decided that even THAT was a little bit too close to "reality."

I do believe that some 3rd party games could be better on the Wii... because of it's unique user interface. If Nintendo actually put their backs into support and development they could have some AMAZING sports games. But so far the reality of Madden hasn't lived up to the promise. And the out-of-nowhere developers that made the DS famous are nowhere to be seen.

What Nintendo should've been doing is taking everything they were able to accomplish on the DS to the next level.

[Burninate]

I don't want to quote your whole wall in this post, Rainless :D All very valid points. The main difference in the Genesis Vs SNES generation and now in reference to third party is support is that the SNES and Genesis were very comparable in terms of capabilities. The Wii can't compete on the level of graphics with the other 2 systems this time around, effectively making cross-platforming worthless as all titles produced on the 360 and PS3 are going to look WAY better than the Wii version. Too many people judge a game by its looks and won't even touch the Wii version if they have one of the other 2 systems, no matter how much work the developer puts into making the game have awesome Wii-friendly controls. I'm fairly sure developers know this to be the case and don't bother taking the time to really invest in R&D to make a "fun" game that won't sell due to its lack of eye candy. I know many may feel that Nintendo is "failing" due to its lack of third party support. And most are going to say a "failure" is having fewer games on the system. That's not accurate at all. If Nintendo had third party support, they would still release the same amount of first party games per year: 3 to 4. And they've already sold the consoles with some extremely good marketing right off the bat. All they need to do now is keep releasing 3 to 4 games a year and watch the money come in (as they have already started to see quite a healthy profit from the system). In contrast, Microsoft has WAY more games, but has actually lost quite a bit of money (in the billions, I believe? and not just due to hardware failure). I read somewhere that MS actually lost money on the original Xbox overall (over a billion $), but were just trying to dethrone Sony as the gaming giant in preperation for this generation when they could really clean up. Nintendo is playing an extremely smart game this time around and that is exactly what they meant when they said they don't really have any competition this time around. The goal of a company, as I understand it, is to turn a profit, not have the most games available on its system at any cost. Even though Nintendo is disenfranchising some of its customer base, they're still making a HUGE profit, and that's what matters.

[rainless]

I don't want to quote your whole wall in this post, Rainless :D All very valid points. The main difference in the Genesis Vs SNES generation and now in reference to third party is support is that the SNES and Genesis were very comparable in terms of capabilities. The Wii can't compete on the level of graphics with the other 2 systems this time around, effectively making cross-platforming worthless as all titles produced on the 360 and PS3 are going to look WAY better than the Wii version. Too many people judge a game by its looks and won't even touch the Wii version if they have one of the other 2 systems, no matter how much work the developer puts into making the game have awesome Wii-friendly controls. I'm fairly sure developers know this to be the case and don't bother taking the time to really invest in R&D to make a "fun" game that won't sell due to its lack of eye candy. I know many may feel that Nintendo is "failing" due to its lack of third party support. And most are going to say a "failure" is having fewer games on the system. That's not accurate at all. If Nintendo had third party support, they would still release the same amount of first party games per year: 3 to 4. And they've already sold the consoles with some extremely good marketing right off the bat. All they need to do now is keep releasing 3 to 4 games a year and watch the money come in (as they have already started to see quite a healthy profit from the system). In contrast, Microsoft has WAY more games, but has actually lost quite a bit of money (in the billions, I believe? and not just due to hardware failure). I read somewhere that MS actually lost money on the original Xbox overall (over a billion $), but were just trying to dethrone Sony as the gaming giant in preperation for this generation when they could really clean up. Nintendo is playing an extremely smart game this time around and that is exactly what they meant when they said they don't really have any competition this time around. The goal of a company, as I understand it, is to turn a profit, not have the most games available on its system at any cost. Even though Nintendo is disenfranchising some of its customer base, they're still making a HUGE profit, and that's what matters.

Excellent points. But by Microsoft's and Sega's example, Nintendo is only taking short-term gains and setting themselves up for long-term failure... a-la Sega.

I believe Sega either came out ahead... or was nearly neck-and-neck to nintendo in the SNES/Genesis wars. But we see where they wound-up ultimately. The amount of consoles sold is ultimately meaningless. The reason the Gamecube couldn't surpass the PS2 is because the PS2 had the lion's share of developers and about 75% of the market in its pockets. The trend for Nintendo is not good. Even if they're making a profit, they risk eventually having ZERO support from third parties. Which is effectively what killed the Dreamcast. Everyone jumped ship at the same time.


It's not enough for just Nintendo to make money. If they're the only ones making money then the developers will bounce them like a bad check. And all those consumers who bought a Wii and felt like they got burned on the software library will be EXTREMELY reluctant to purchase Nintendo's next console (main reason I didn't buy a Gamecube), and will probably skip out to a competitor before this generation is over.

Another thing we don't know: How many of those consoles they've sold have already been sold back to gamestop...

[Krome]

NEWS FLASH! Nintendo is Japan's Second Most Valuable Company! (http://play.tm/story/13439)

[FudgeNuggets]

NEWS FLASH! Nintendo is Japan's Second Most Valuable Company! (http://play.tm/story/13439)

I read that ealier in the week, right behind Toyota. I wonder where Sony is on the list, I'd say pretty low because even though they rake in megabucks they dole it out too. I actaully am REALLY surprised to see Canon at #3, I would've thought Honda before them.

[Thund3rball]

Toyota #1 I knew. Nintendo #2 never would haver guessed. I don't know about Nintendo but Toyota is a company that has their **** together and is kicking butt all over our Domestic auto makers. Their methods have spawned a whole movement in industry called "Lean Manufacturing". I think the Nintendo move to #2 is slightly more fleating and a flash in the pan :\

[rainless]

I read that ealier in the week, right behind Toyota. I wonder where Sony is on the list, I'd say pretty low because even though they rake in megabucks they dole it out too. .

Sony:

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z89/inspectorbloor/tsesony.jpg

Nintendo:

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z89/inspectorbloor/tsenin.jpg

Mind you there's a gigantic difference between stock values and holdings.

Look at Sony's volume versus Nintendo's. Whoever wrote that article doesn't know much about the Stock Market.

[OC Noob]

NEWS FLASH! Nintendo is Japan's Second Most Valuable Company! (http://play.tm/story/13439)

Second highest stock price is not second most valuable company. That would lead people to believe that Nintendo is a mega-company like Toyota or Sony.

Very impressive none-the-less, though.

[rainless]

Second highest stock price is not second most valuable company. That would lead people to believe that Nintendo is a mega-company like Toyota or Sony.

Very impressive none-the-less, though.

Exactly. You can have stock worth $1000... but if you only have ONE STOCK... then your company's still only worth 1000 bucks. That's why you have to also lookat Volume and turnover.

[jmp123]

How i see it is nintendo is quite set this generation if they can get 3rd party support. The problem is with the other consoles being graphically superior the cross platform games need to really utilise the motiion capabilities to get sales, so basically nintendo needs to help them do this otherwise its never going to happen. The first party games will pretty much sell 1:1 with wii's, if nintendo want to continue initial success they need to sort out 3rd party support because 1st party wont cut it in the long run.

[cornbread]

YAs for the Wii... I know too many people with a Wii collecting dust then I'd care to count.

For the record, mine is also "collecting dust", I'm dead serious when I say that, sad to say, but true.

I may pick it back up when Guitar Hero comes out for it though. Time will tell.

[Burninate]

I was trying to get at the fact that third party developers kind have an extra disincentive to produce quality games for the Wii in addition to Nintendo kind of pushing away third party development in the past. The extra development cost going into making functional controls and the fact that people are really looking at next gen graphics when buying games as opposed to clever controls. Add to that, Wii games are $10 cheaper than games on the 360 and PS3 (meaning less profit for developers of games), it's just even more of an incentive to not produce any quality games. I really don't think the third party support is going to get any better for the Wii. If only Microsoft or Sony could get their act together, one of them could really make a clean sweep this generation (it would be Microsoft IF they could make a functional console).

[Springbok]

Software titles sold Xbox360 vs. Wii=You don't know what you're talking about.Actually if you'll read the post I mentioned the gaps between the titles that Nintendo releases, not that they were ahead in software sales. Even though there may be more games for the 360, they don't have close to number of recognizable franchises that Nintendo has. Even if they only release two or three a year, people will still buy Wii's just so they can get those titles in the future.

Also, from my perspective the main reason the PS2 dominated the Gamecube was the DVD drive. I was living in Asia when it was released and there was a huge amount of piracy from the get-go. When you can buy games for $5-10 a pop it made a lot more sense to get a PS2. Plus you had the non-gamer audience who bought the PS2 and only used it for DVD playback since it was the same price or cheaper than the DVD players on the market at the time. Gotta get back to game study class so that's all for now.

[rainless]

Actually if you'll read the post I mentioned the gaps between the titles that Nintendo releases, not that they were ahead in software sales. Even though there may be more games for the 360, they don't have close to number of recognizable franchises that Nintendo has. Even if they only release two or three a year, people will still buy Wii's just so they can get those titles in the future.

Also, from my perspective the main reason the PS2 dominated the Gamecube was the DVD drive. I was living in Asia when it was released and there was a huge amount of piracy from the get-go. When you can buy games for $5-10 a pop it made a lot more sense to get a PS2. Plus you had the non-gamer audience who bought the PS2 and only used it for DVD playback since it was the same price or cheaper than the DVD players on the market at the time. Gotta get back to game study class so that's all for now.

"Game study class"?!?! Jesus has it come to that?! :)

I was also living in asia when the PS2 came out. I was also in Tokyo the day the Gamecube came out. I figured I'd walk down to Shinkjuku and pick up a couple of them since they wouldn't be out in america for quite some time. I thought there'd be lines down the street and around the block like there were when the PS2 was released. What did I see instead? NOTHING.

I was shocked. The streets were litterally FILLED with Gamecubes... Nobody was buying them. Not at the video store on the way to Shinjuku. Not at Yodobashi or BIC Camera IN shinjuku... Not anywhere. No takers. I couldn't believe it.

Nintendo's library of characters is the only thing keeping them alive. But they'll never be #1 in software sales ever again with just that.

[Krome]

Also, from my perspective the main reason the PS2 dominated the Gamecube was the DVD drive. I was living in Asia when it was released and there was a huge amount of piracy from the get-go. When you can buy games for $5-10 a pop it made a lot more sense to get a PS2. Plus you had the non-gamer audience who bought the PS2 and only used it for DVD playback since it was the same price or cheaper than the DVD players on the market at the time.


That's a very good point. I never even realized that the PS2 had a DVD player. PFFFFFFT!