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« on: December 23, 2003, 05:21:35 PM »
Until the year 2003, Nintendo had never been "in the red" (meaning losing money instead of gaining any profit). And to top that, Nintendo has announced that a new home console is in the works. I don't know about what all of you think, but I personally believe this is an act of desparation.
Think about it? No, seriously, do. Nintendo released the Game Boy Adavance SP in February (of 2003), and although a backlit handheld was greatly needed, why did they really do it? I hope it was to just please fans (and make a few grand while doing it). But this pattern of short-lived consoles reminds me far too much of Sega's last console days. Hurrying of software, and closing third parties. The Dreamcast's dwindling third-party lineup was definietely sharper and more obvious than Nintendo's, but still. The N64 lost virtually all third-party support by 1999 (much faster than GCN's slow drainage) and the GCN will probably follow suit.
So what does Nintendo do? Release an new system, and most likely the same problem will occur. But there is a very good chance that because of it's early launch it'll get a great head start on the competition. Let's all hope and, well, hope that Nintendo will not repeat it's patterns (as far as sales go, not quality and morals).
-Dustin O'Neal