Topic: Nintendo Plays for Keeps (article piece)

[WuTangTurtle]

TheStreet.com has a nice article released 3/7/07 about Nintendo and the rest of the gaming industry, most of it some of you may already know about but its still a nice read through i think.  Oh and fair warning it is 5 pages long, contains sales data stuff (in case that stuff bores u), and occasionally uses big words, lol.

[Smash_Brother]

"What do consumers do when they are not being bombarded with massive marketing blitzes and major new titles? Apparently, they gravitate toward Nintendo's consoles -- despite or perhaps because of the absence of appealing new games. Word of mouth from the game and console launches of 2006 is now percolating from household to household, and the result seems to be highly favorable for Nintendo."

Damn, me and the boys at Meda should just quit our jobs and be analysts.

We were saying this back in early December when we acknowledged that the casual appeal of Wii Sports was what gave the Wii its massive second wind, after the initial round of Wii owners took their Wiis home and showed them off, everyone who saw it probably wanted one, went looking to buy one, rinse, repeat.

[NWR_pap64]

Quote
Originally posted by: Smash_Brother
"What do consumers do when they are not being bombarded with massive marketing blitzes and major new titles? Apparently, they gravitate toward Nintendo's consoles -- despite or perhaps because of the absence of appealing new games. Word of mouth from the game and console launches of 2006 is now percolating from household to household, and the result seems to be highly favorable for Nintendo."

Damn, me and the boys at Meda should just quit our jobs and be analysts.

We were saying this back in early December when we acknowledged that the casual appeal of Wii Sports was what gave the Wii its massive second wind, after the initial round of Wii owners took their Wiis home and showed them off, everyone who saw it probably wanted one, went looking to buy one, rinse, repeat.

And I was saying that Wii Sports could do great things for the Wii since SEPTEMBER.

[Smash_Brother]

I was including you in the "boys from Meda" comment, foo'!

[couchmonkey]

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Microsoft doesn't seem able to move beyond the tentacles-and-testosterone-themed splatter, which now is clearly limiting the appeal of the Xbox 360.

Somebody was watching Hentai while he wrote this.

I also like this quote, it sums up my biased opinion on Sony and MS games nicely:

Quote
Adventurous game design is a luxury most Xbox 360 and PS3 developers can't afford. That's why these home console titans will depend on high-resolution, detailed dragon-hacking and Nazi-bashing throughout 2007 and 2008.

He has a pretty realistic take on Microsoft, pointing out that the system has yet to do anything the first one did not.  I see Microsoft as a potential threat to Nintendo because it isn't as weighed down by baggage as Sony.  Sony has both its internal corporate problems and its long-term Playstation plans keeping it from competing with Nintendo the way it should, Microsoft is still kind of new, and has never been the top dog.

But that brings up why I don't worry about MS too much...it really only knows how to buy position in the market, and that doesn't get you first place.  Look at the huge marketing for Viva Pinata, look at all the exclusive Japanese games Microsoft is funding, and look at how Xbox 360 still fails to outsell the first Xbox.  If Microsoft wants to be really successful, it needs to have a strategy that goes beyond funding products that mimic what the competition already has.

[Smash_Brother]

I'd prefer if Sony caught a 2nd wind and started competing with the 360 for marketshare.

As much as I dislike Sony, I'll take them in 1st over MS any day of the month.

[Amodaus1]

Quote
Originally posted by: Smash_Brother
I'd prefer if Sony caught a 2nd wind and started competing with the 360 for marketshare.

As much as I dislike Sony, I'll take them in 1st over MS any day of the month.

I couldn't agree more. MS reminds me of EA, and comparing anything to EA is never good.

[Smash_Brother]

Yeah, the idea of gaming becoming "standardized" horrifies me.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

It already was.

1)  Games revolving around lawlessness
2)  Shooters
3)  RPGs
4)  and Big Budget Gaming backed by Big Budget Marketing schemes

^ Ruled the industry.

But it's ok as long as the losers of the industry don't give up and jump ship. and still lose  

[Dryden]

Yes, the article favours Nintendo, and we're all fanboy....ish here, so we like it.

But all in all, I think it's an incredibly even-handed analysis of the market as it stands.  I don't think he missed out on one element of the industry.  He also avoids looking into the 2010 crystal ball that keeps coming up in other articles, where they say that the PS3 will dominate in three years time.

But everything, from analyzing Microsoft's failing strategy, to the costs of risk to high production cost games, to the DS to Wii transistions for successful titles... everything is in place.

If I were Sony or Microsoft, the one thing I'd walk away with from that article is the importance of the low-buget gaming industry.  It's the testing ground for franchises which *then* you can decide to spend millions on for a home console version.  We learned it from Pokemon, Trauma Centre, Cooking Mama, Wario Wares, Batallion Wars, and the list goes on.  We wouldn't have half of the franchises we do today if designing a game for GBA or DS cost more than the half million dollar pricetag they run around.