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TalkBack / RE: <b>Zelda Delayed to 2006</b>
« on: August 17, 2005, 11:09:47 AM »
Okay kids . . . the bottom line is that Nintendo had to do this. We all know they certainly didn't want to (their holiday season sales will suck and their fiscal year profit forecasts are never going to be met), but I'm sure they discussed it and decided that it had to be done. Now, this means there's nothing on the Cube to counter the X360 launch. Quite frankly I don't think that Zelda would have made a significant difference anyway. People who have the cash and desire to get X360 this year were going to get it regardless of one Zelda title (albeit a very bitchin Zelda title).
At this point, it would be foolish and time consuming to port TP to the Rev . . . it will come out on the Cube even if the Cube is all but dead. This opens up the possibility of TP being released to counter the PS3 launch, which would probably be a smarter choice anyway (Nintendo has said on many occassions that they consider Sony to be their main rival, and the release of the PSP only strenghtned that feeling).
Now, assuming TP and Rev are released around the same time, the backwards compatibility of the Rev could still be used to sell both the hardware and software in huge numbers. The Zelda Oracle games proved this. The Oracle games were for the GBC, and were delayed until basically the GBA launch. Everyone thought that they should have been switched to the GBA because no one figured that they would sell when they were outdated like that. Surprisingly, the games sold pretty well because a lot of people (myself included) bought a GBA and an "outdated" Zelda Oracle game to play on it. Nintendo could certainly try this kind of strategy with the Rev and TP, and use it to advertise and highlight the system's backwards compatibility.
So overall, this is certainly not a good situation for Nintendo to be in, but if they plan the next year or so properly, it could still work out very well. Oh, and in terms of keeping Nintendo fans happy over this holiday season, I think packaging Zelda TP demos with hit Cube games is a great, easily accomplished, and cost-effective idea. Oh, and Nintendo needs to release some major Rev info before the end of the year if they want to keep up exctiement and convince anyone to pass on X360 and PS3 . . . especially since it looks like Rev (despite those constant Nintendo claims from a couple years back) will debut significantly after even the PS3.
At this point, it would be foolish and time consuming to port TP to the Rev . . . it will come out on the Cube even if the Cube is all but dead. This opens up the possibility of TP being released to counter the PS3 launch, which would probably be a smarter choice anyway (Nintendo has said on many occassions that they consider Sony to be their main rival, and the release of the PSP only strenghtned that feeling).
Now, assuming TP and Rev are released around the same time, the backwards compatibility of the Rev could still be used to sell both the hardware and software in huge numbers. The Zelda Oracle games proved this. The Oracle games were for the GBC, and were delayed until basically the GBA launch. Everyone thought that they should have been switched to the GBA because no one figured that they would sell when they were outdated like that. Surprisingly, the games sold pretty well because a lot of people (myself included) bought a GBA and an "outdated" Zelda Oracle game to play on it. Nintendo could certainly try this kind of strategy with the Rev and TP, and use it to advertise and highlight the system's backwards compatibility.
So overall, this is certainly not a good situation for Nintendo to be in, but if they plan the next year or so properly, it could still work out very well. Oh, and in terms of keeping Nintendo fans happy over this holiday season, I think packaging Zelda TP demos with hit Cube games is a great, easily accomplished, and cost-effective idea. Oh, and Nintendo needs to release some major Rev info before the end of the year if they want to keep up exctiement and convince anyone to pass on X360 and PS3 . . . especially since it looks like Rev (despite those constant Nintendo claims from a couple years back) will debut significantly after even the PS3.