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TalkBack / Analysts Recommend Nintendo Turn Third-Party

« on: March 01, 2003, 07:24:52 PM »

Seems like every developer who has a rough year now is going to spawn rumors of Microsoft a buyout. That's exactly what we love to see, a Nazi-style Microsoft conquest of everything in the digital world. It's really kind of depressing.

I don't believe anyone here has mentioned yet how easy it will be to develop an Xbox emulator. It's only a matter of time before its BIOS is cracked, history has proven that any system can be cracked and emulated with enough people contributing to the project. Any PC or Notebook PC with a Pentium III and up, equal to or greater than the clock speed of a bona fide Xbox could theoretically do the same thing. They have told us it's based on PC technology from the beginning.

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TalkBack / Analysts Recommend Nintendo Turn Third-Party

« on: February 27, 2003, 04:24:40 AM »

Yeah, look where we are now! You own a cube, I own a cube, and all these other people in here enjoy their cubes and even a few sickos out there love their GBAs. How did it come to this???

I say, truly Nintendo has shown little attention to the GBA what with the new SP design which is better than the previous one in every way. But of course they were forced to do this because..? I guess because that’s what people wanted. Ruthless! And how thoughtless of them to maintain backward compatibility with all previous generations of GB games! It's all about the money!

Now I remember the PS2 launch well, for I passed on it completely and instead bought a Dreamcast (you know, "the ULTIMATE game system"). Reason was the PS2 had no decent launch titles. It wasn't worth it to me at the time and I wanted to give Sega another chance. My brother played mostly old PSX games on his PS2 for months until decent PS2 releases started to come along. Everyone knows the PS2 had a less than perfect start but it had a LONG time to pick up speed before any other competition came along and that is why it is still #1 now. That head start made a big difference. Eventually everyone bought one including myself and they continue to sell and it’s all about the games, which is what Xbox isn't all about. Is the discussion beginning to make sense?

But if you dony play your GBA then you could flush it down the toilet, or it might be a better move to sell it to someone who would play it. I don’t think you would have much trouble finding a buyer. I'll pass though, I already have two and I am going to get an SP when they're released here. Oh yeah, you might miss out on some of the connectivity between current and future games and the GBA, which seems to be catching on with more developers for some reason like this one I just heard about - maybe you know of them - SquareSoft. What was that about burning bridges?

I'm sure that whenever Microsoft and Sony "decide" to take the handheld market away from Nintendo it will be interesting to see how they accomplish it. Here's one way: get permission from Nintendo to make their handheld play all the GB, GBC, and GBA games! You may not remember a little handheld named the GameGear or another one named the Nomad both made by Sega which was putting a lot of heat on Nintendo at the time. In my opinion that hardware was far better than GameBoy. Nevertheless look where THEY are now.

I'm sure some type of Sony handheld would be a hit but they would have to start from zero. Nintendo has a huge library of games that will fit on those small ROM carts. Does Sony? Does Microsoft? No a portable PS2 that can play movies and still fit into the palm of your hand would be great. I'd buy one except realistically it would cost as much as a notebook PC. Probably would not be as popular with the 5 and 6 year olds then and that would hurt profits, and lose developers of the games we like as well.

I believe I've said enough on the subject, perhaps too much. Time will tell but I think most of us in here know enough about this market to make a better prediction that these other analysts. We know this market inside out and we make the purchases that ultimately determine the outcome.

I don't see Nintendo leaving the hardware market until people stop buying consoles and handhelds. Even then who knows. They can be stubborn. Remember these are the people who stuck with cartridge format for years after it was obsolete and even created that monstrosity known as the VirtualBoy!

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TalkBack / Analysts Recommend Nintendo Turn Third-Party

« on: February 26, 2003, 06:01:06 PM »

StarBlue, I knew MS was losing a lot of money but I didn't know the tally was that high. Maybe by the time I post this message they will have lost another mil? Ouch! Yeah that’s what you get when you manufacture the most expensive machine, sell it for much less than it costs, and then fail to deliver enough worthwhile games to make it back. They are showing how inexperienced they are in this market.

I also have to point out a few times I have seen MS sponsored propaganda, usually on MSN.com which shouldn’t surprise anyone, but what was shocking was when one of my buddies sent me a message after he installed MediaPlayer 9 and said "Did you know Metroid Prime was also on Xbox?" After laughing for 5 minutes I found out that the "Media Guide" page had several images and some blabs about how great Metroid was, and sure enough it was listed under the Xbox games! I guess if you don’t have a decent title of your own you can try to claim someone else’s. This may have been an honest mistake, but I still couldn’t believe they made that mistake at all. So maybe it’s not much more of a stretch that they would do it to confuse customers and make them think an Xbox version was in the works, maybe get a few more sales, and then claim it was a typo to save face. It sounds paranoid but who knows what they would try after losing so much money, or some employee who had lots of stock in Xbox... now that may not be implausible.

Either way, you still can't deny the influence that Microsoft has on the technology sector. I'm not surprised to see biased articles popping up all over the place. I am surprised that the Xbox is doing as poorly as it is with them behind it. Microsoft does know how to market a product and fill a niche when it sees one. It also knows how to stamp out competition just by flooding the market with their brand and propaganda. Early in the Xbox's life span, I noticed all the rental places putting Xbox racks out front and pushing the GC stuff way back. But that of course only lasted as long as it took for people to find the hidden GC games and resume renting them in quantity. Whatever MS was paying Hollywood and Blockbuster to make that move apparently ended up not being enough. PS2 is back to the dominant position on the racks and GC is right back with the Xbox stuff in front. I saw the same thing at Toys R Us. This may be because the managers would rather make money by offering what customers want than some payoff for product positioning on the floor.

I really expected a lot more effort from MS on this console in the games department and not just pushing an empty product because it is supposedly more cool. I'm disappointed in MS. For shame. I was at the store on the launch days and it was a toss up between the Xbox and the GC. The bottom line was three words: Mario, Zelda, Metroid. I have no regrets. The only reason I would sell my GC now is to get a platinum one.

Having said that I never did rule out picking up an Xbox. I'm just still waiting for a reason to.

Yeah Dark-Link, its cold and damp and there seems to be no escaping it. These houses are not built for this kind of weather and everyone is coughing and sneezing. Can't wait till that sun comes back out and bakes the bacteria right out of our sinuses with its purifying x-rays and other deadly radiations. I have two boxes of Motrin sinus on my desk right now, a 40 pill and a 20 pill backup supply. I pop them like M&M's and that can't be good...

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TalkBack / Analysts Recommend Nintendo Turn Third-Party

« on: February 26, 2003, 03:03:33 AM »

Great post from StarBlue. Smart guy without a doubt.

I realize most of us in here are already fans of Nintendo and will defend it to the end but that doesnt mean you don't worry about the stability of the brand at times. There is a lot of heat on Nintendo right now.

So in light of some of hte arguments I feel it is necessary to bring out a few points.
1) Microsoft is losing millions on Xbox right now and have been working on strategies to turn this around. Namely, releasing a new version of the hardware that will hopefully make people want to buy it for a change, and possibly pay nearly as much as it costs to manufacture it. Nice plan! However they need to get out of the RED before they are any kind of threat to the GC. First things first. They are in no kind of position to take out the big N in the console wars. As was stated repeatedly, Nintendo designed a brilliant console with the GC that is user friendly, powerful, and inexpensive to manufacture. Any reason to mothball this design? NO! And not in the forseeable future either. MS has to eat from the scraps that fall from Nintendo's table. (HINT: Rare)

2) The Xbox was obvioiusly designed by the same kind of people writing this report. People who don't appreciate the true meaning of game consoles. Small, simple, colorful, and with tons of great EXCLUSIVE games. The Xbox is none of these. It is a PC in a smaller box with a more poorly designed conroller than even my Microsoft Sidewinder GamePad I have had connected to my PC for the past 5 years. If you want to win in the console market you should first know what the heck its all about.

So why would the Xbox beat Nintendo? Better hardware? Depends on how you define better. The PS2 is the oldest of the bunch and no one even pretends to be a threat to Sony right now. So apparently having more powerful hardware is not enough. As far as DVD playback, yes its a great bonus and I still use my PS2 for my primary DVD player (yeah you heard me, Adam but DVD players are so cheap now who really cares. And that $90 player from Radio Shack comes with a remote... bundled for FREE? WOW!

But I digress, the bottom line is oodles of gamers love Nintendo, and we have kept them very profitable over the years. If N can survive the N64's stink cloud against the likes of the PSX, then they have nothing to worry about now. The CG is 100 times as fine a console as the N64 ever was and is gaining much more respect than the 64 had. The Xbox is not even targeted at the niche that kept the '64 alive for so many years, and that audience is just now graduating to the 'Cube.

My personal observations when I go to Best Buy is about 8 people in the GC aisle, about 10 buzzing around the PS2 games, and a nice tumbleweed rolling by the Xbox stuff way on the other side. It's the same the 3 locations I've been to here in Houston. Theres my freakin market observation. I had plans to pick up an Xbox over a year ago but as of yet they havent given me a reason to. I guess thats because having the box with the highest clock speed doesnt make be all giddy with joy. Oh yeah, maybe thats because I already have a PC? Speaking of which, therein lies my ONLINE STRATEGY. I dont need any more network cable running all over my apartment.

BTW I am also an IT professional and I know people who work at MS. I have nothing against MS at all, I use their products almost exclusively. I just have to be honest and say I don't see any real skill in winning the console market with them. Most of the other guys I work with in this field are fans of the GC as well. Go figure, market guys.

Just my $0.02.