Topic: FEATURE: E3 2009 Reflections

[TJ Spyke]

I think Nintendo only created Wii Speak because third parties wanted it, not because they wanted to really use it.

[Ian Sane]

I wonder if accessories has become a key part of Nintendo's marketing strategy.  Bundling these things with games makes those games stand out.  It also gives the impression that these are great deals ("Wii Play comes with a controller?  What a bargain!")  It may also fit into that whole theory that non-gamers find traditional controllers intimidating.  So racing games come with a wheel and a shooting game comes with a gun shell.  So someone that was all freaked out by the normal controller (I still think Nintendo is greatly overestimating the helplessness of their customers) wouldn't try Mario Kart before but now that is has the simple wheel that's so similar to his car (which ironically is a complicated machine with all sorts of buttons and doodads everywhere) he's interested.

It's entirely possible that the vitality sensor is Nintendo taking this accessory stuff to a further level where they're coming up with accessories before they even think of a way to use them.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Many people go thru Driver's Training so they can drive and do whatever with life.  Holding a wheel has familiarity cuz it's experienced in life outside of games anyway.

There is no Dual Analog Video Gamer's Training for the uninitiated.

The Wii Wheel is also small, inexpensive, and doesn't have to be anchored anywhere to be useful.  In the end it provides a better emotional connection to the game rather than spamming Left/Right on a stick.

[Crimm]

NSFW: Not Safe For Work.  It's an internet term that means a site or link should not be viewed at work or anywhere that looking at adult material could get you in trouble.

In my application here, I was making a pornography joke about the lack of a Nintendo World Report DVD.

Someone asked about Kentia, this year there were no exhibits in Kentia hall.  All the booths were in West and South Halls.  There was a part around the back edge of South Hall that housed the stuff one would normally expect in Kentia.  More than once, someone on staff referred to it as "Little Kentia."  However, there was little of note in that area; it was mostly video game distributors.

[NWR_pap64]

I think one clear indication that the Wii is trying to recreate the NES era is in the accesories.

The NES had a ton of accessories, such as the Power Pad, the Power Glove, ROB, the Sensor, the Zapper, the list goes on. The Wii is going through the same period, many of the current accessories mirror those of the NES era, like the balance board and the Zapper.

They may not be useful for gamers but its obvious people are buying them in droves. Its an odd trend since the SNES, N64 and GC didn't have this many peripheral released.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Because those systems lost sight of customers.

[TJ Spyke]

If the Wii really wants to be like the NES they need to release a device that stops kids from playing until they finish their homework (there really was something like that for the NES), but I guess parents can already do that with the built in parental locks.

[Plugabugz]

If the Wii really wants to be like the NES they need to release a device that stops kids from playing until they finish their homework (there really was something like that for the NES), but I guess parents can already do that with the built in parental locks.

Take the power adapter and use it as a belt. This works for any device with a removable power cable, it stops the device being used and its very fashionable.

I think one clear indication that the Wii is trying to recreate the NES era is in the accesories.

The NES had a ton of accessories, such as the Power Pad, the Power Glove, ROB, the Sensor, the Zapper, the list goes on. The Wii is going through the same period, many of the current accessories mirror those of the NES era, like the balance board and the Zapper.

They may not be useful for gamers but its obvious people are buying them in droves. Its an odd trend since the SNES, N64 and GC didn't have this many peripheral released.

What i mean is, besides from (possibly) the balance board and WM+ what else will be used next generation?

[Crimm]

I'll be used next gen... hotly.

[NWR_Lindy]

James Jones, next generation male escort.  You heard it here first.

Lindy, you're wrong about this being the first time 3 consoles are surviving; if what Sony is doing now constitutes surviving then what Nintendo did last generation did as well.

Sony's losing money hand over fist, but they have an install base of about 22 million worldwide that isn't going anywhere.  They're still relevant, which is more than what you could say with, say, NEC with the TurboGrafx-16 or Sega with the Saturn.

I wasn't talking about NEC or Sega, I was talking about last generation. The PS2, Xbox and GameCube all survived.

In retrospect, "survival" is the wrong term for what I was trying to say...like I originally responded, "relevance" is more of what I'm getting at.  The GameCube was pretty irrelevant to anybody but big Nintendo fans pretty quickly.  Not even two years into its existence you were seeing articles like this from major news outlets:

http://news.cnet.com/Software-support-wanes-for-GameCube/2100-1043_3-1003661.html

Meanwhile, the PS3 has been around about 2 1/2 years and has its best year of software ahead of it, a likely price drop to go along with that, and Sony is actually predicting that sales of the console will increase in 2009-2010.  From a financial standpoint Sony is getting killed ($610m loss for the games division in FY 2008...OUCHIES), but people haven't forgotten about them.  The GameCube became a forgotten console as time went on and games like Halo became bigger and bigger.  The end of the GameCube was freaking sad, with people saying that Nintendo should become a third party (absurd).  In this generation, Sony eventually overtaking Microsoft is not entirely out of the realm of possibility.  In a nutshell, I feel that the PS3 still has upside despite its struggles, whereas the GameCube had early struggles, never really recovered, and eventually had no more upside whatsoever (beyond Nintendo's steady stream of quality games).

But to be clear, Nintendo has always thrived from a financial standpoint.  That said, they took a big hit in terms of mindshare with the GameCube.  People were writing them off as has-beens and basically saying that the industry had passed them by.  I don't feel that same sentiment exists with Sony right now.  There's intense love and intense hatred, but no apathy.  The general gaming public was completely apathetic about Nintendo and the GameCube after last generation.

I was wondering about those condom ads too.  I'll see if they can be eliminated.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I think a sizable base of the PS3 owners are Sony fans to be honest. Also I'm not sure I'd take Sony's estimates as anything but that. We'll see, but I don't see them pulling it out.

[that Baby guy]

I'll be used next gen... hotly.

What's the entry level price for that piece of hardware?

[TJ Spyke]

Game publishers are publicly and loudly blasting Sony, and just today Activision Blizzard has said they are seriously considering ending their support for the PS3 and PSP if the install base continues to be so low. If Sony loses the biggest third party in the world, you can be sure that others will follow in dropping support. I would say that the likelihood of the PlayStation 3 overtaking the Xbox 360 is extremely low (the Xbox 360 continues to increase its lead every month). Outside of a couple of titles, the PS3 has very few exclusives worth buying coming out. It's hard to convince the average person to buy a PS3 if most of the titles they want are on a much cheaper system. I can't think of any PS3-exclusive games coming out that I want, not to mention that I think the Xbox 360 controller is much better (and I know many people agree with me) and is what will get me to get the Xbox 360 version of any multiplatform games. I don't see Sony being relevant at all this gen and think they will finish in distant third.

For anybody not wanting the ads, just get a adblocker. Firefox has a built in one. The only time I ever see banner ads now is when I check out the site at school.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Game publishers are publicly and loudly blasting Sony, and just today Activision Blizzard has said they are seriously considering ending their support for the PS3 and PSP if the install base continues to be so low. If Sony loses the biggest third party in the world, you can be sure that others will follow in dropping support. I would say that the likelihood of the PlayStation 3 overtaking the Xbox 360 is extremely low (the Xbox 360 continues to increase its lead every month). Outside of a couple of titles, the PS3 has very few exclusives worth buying coming out. It's hard to convince the average person to buy a PS3 if most of the titles they want are on a much cheaper system. I can't think of any PS3-exclusive games coming out that I want, not to mention that I think the Xbox 360 controller is much better (and I know many people agree with me) and is what will get me to get the Xbox 360 version of any multiplatform games. I don't see Sony being relevant at all this gen and think they will finish in distant third.

For anybody not wanting the ads, just get a adblocker. Firefox has a built in one. The only time I ever see banner ads now is when I check out the site at school.

You have a point, also there is an interesting paraell with Gamecube, what are the exclusives for PS3? Mostly 1st party games! Who usually buys those games? Well the Sony fanbase for the most part, just like Nintendo, but unlike Nintendo that alone cannot keep them afloat. People may say this next year is looking good, but what games are going to pull in new people? The Ico Team's games have never been huge except for a pretty niche fan base, God of War 3 is big but that is only one game and GT, not sure. MAG will probably do ok at best, like Resistance 1 and 2 did. I don't really see any games there that are system sellers (well FF13 will be but once again that is one game). Compared to 360 (and Wii to a lesser extent) the PS3 exclusive lineup is pretty weak.

[TJ Spyke]

Don't forget that Final Fantasy XIII is on Xbox 360 too (except for Japan, where the game will remain PS3-exclusive).

[NWR_insanolord]

James Jones, next generation male escort.  You heard it here first.

Lindy, you're wrong about this being the first time 3 consoles are surviving; if what Sony is doing now constitutes surviving then what Nintendo did last generation did as well.

Sony's losing money hand over fist, but they have an install base of about 22 million worldwide that isn't going anywhere.  They're still relevant, which is more than what you could say with, say, NEC with the TurboGrafx-16 or Sega with the Saturn.

I wasn't talking about NEC or Sega, I was talking about last generation. The PS2, Xbox and GameCube all survived.

In retrospect, "survival" is the wrong term for what I was trying to say...like I originally responded, "relevance" is more of what I'm getting at.  The GameCube was pretty irrelevant to anybody but big Nintendo fans pretty quickly.  Not even two years into its existence you were seeing articles like this from major news outlets:

http://news.cnet.com/Software-support-wanes-for-GameCube/2100-1043_3-1003661.html

Meanwhile, the PS3 has been around about 2 1/2 years and has its best year of software ahead of it, a likely price drop to go along with that, and Sony is actually predicting that sales of the console will increase in 2009-2010.  From a financial standpoint Sony is getting killed ($610m loss for the games division in FY 2008...OUCHIES), but people haven't forgotten about them.  The GameCube became a forgotten console as time went on and games like Halo became bigger and bigger.  The end of the GameCube was freaking sad, with people saying that Nintendo should become a third party (absurd).  In this generation, Sony eventually overtaking Microsoft is not entirely out of the realm of possibility.  In a nutshell, I feel that the PS3 still has upside despite its struggles, whereas the GameCube had early struggles, never really recovered, and eventually had no more upside whatsoever (beyond Nintendo's steady stream of quality games).

But to be clear, Nintendo has always thrived from a financial standpoint.  That said, they took a big hit in terms of mindshare with the GameCube.  People were writing them off as has-beens and basically saying that the industry had passed them by.  I don't feel that same sentiment exists with Sony right now.  There's intense love and intense hatred, but no apathy.  The general gaming public was completely apathetic about Nintendo and the GameCube after last generation.

I was wondering about those condom ads too.  I'll see if they can be eliminated.

Okay, if you selectively draw the line of relevance just below where the PS3 is then that works, but there isn't nearly as much of a difference between where the PS3 is now and where the GC was at this point as you seem to think. A nearly entirely first-party lineup of exclusives, being supported mostly by those loyal to the brand, third place by far and slipping. The GameCube passing the Xbox wasn't out of the realm of possibility either, if everything went Nintendo's way from that point onward, just like Sony needs things to turn around right now and for 80% of 360s to RROD tomorrow.

[GoldenPhoenix]

James Jones, next generation male escort.  You heard it here first.

Lindy, you're wrong about this being the first time 3 consoles are surviving; if what Sony is doing now constitutes surviving then what Nintendo did last generation did as well.

Sony's losing money hand over fist, but they have an install base of about 22 million worldwide that isn't going anywhere.  They're still relevant, which is more than what you could say with, say, NEC with the TurboGrafx-16 or Sega with the Saturn.

I wasn't talking about NEC or Sega, I was talking about last generation. The PS2, Xbox and GameCube all survived.

In retrospect, "survival" is the wrong term for what I was trying to say...like I originally responded, "relevance" is more of what I'm getting at.  The GameCube was pretty irrelevant to anybody but big Nintendo fans pretty quickly.  Not even two years into its existence you were seeing articles like this from major news outlets:

http://news.cnet.com/Software-support-wanes-for-GameCube/2100-1043_3-1003661.html

Meanwhile, the PS3 has been around about 2 1/2 years and has its best year of software ahead of it, a likely price drop to go along with that, and Sony is actually predicting that sales of the console will increase in 2009-2010.  From a financial standpoint Sony is getting killed ($610m loss for the games division in FY 2008...OUCHIES), but people haven't forgotten about them.  The GameCube became a forgotten console as time went on and games like Halo became bigger and bigger.  The end of the GameCube was freaking sad, with people saying that Nintendo should become a third party (absurd).  In this generation, Sony eventually overtaking Microsoft is not entirely out of the realm of possibility.  In a nutshell, I feel that the PS3 still has upside despite its struggles, whereas the GameCube had early struggles, never really recovered, and eventually had no more upside whatsoever (beyond Nintendo's steady stream of quality games).

But to be clear, Nintendo has always thrived from a financial standpoint.  That said, they took a big hit in terms of mindshare with the GameCube.  People were writing them off as has-beens and basically saying that the industry had passed them by.  I don't feel that same sentiment exists with Sony right now.  There's intense love and intense hatred, but no apathy.  The general gaming public was completely apathetic about Nintendo and the GameCube after last generation.

I was wondering about those condom ads too.  I'll see if they can be eliminated.

Okay, if you selectively draw the line of relevance just below where the PS3 is then that works, but there isn't nearly as much of a difference between where the PS3 is now and where the GC was at this point as you seem to think. A nearly entirely first-party lineup of exclusives, being supported mostly by those loyal to the brand, third place by far and slipping. The GameCube passing the Xbox wasn't out of the realm of possibility either, if everything went Nintendo's way from that point onward, just like Sony needs things to turn around right now and for 80% of 360s to RROD tomorrow.

That is a good point, GC was always right behind the Xbox until Nintendo pretty much packed it in in regards trying to push system sales.

[NWR_Lindy]

As for Activision, Kotick is bullying Sony because he can.  Obviously he benefits from Sony selling more consoles and is pushing his agenda to that end.  I could see them perhaps releasing less SKUs on PS3, but they would never drop the platform entirely.  They've sold over 4m copies of CoD4 on PS3 worldwide.  Why would they turn their back on that?  So the PS3 only gets CoD and Guitar Hero.  Beyond Tony Hawk, who cares about anything else Activision releases?  Kotick is just mad that he can't make his money back on the PS3 versions of Kung Fu Panda, Monsters vs. Aliens, and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.

There are certainly parallels between the PS3 and GameCube, no doubt.  But I think that there's a worldwide late adopter audience out there for the PS3 that's still on the fence due to price and price alone.  Microsoft had better keep selling in the U.S. because that's really all they have.

[TJ Spyke]

The Xbox 360 pretty much is crushing the PS3 in the UK (not so much in the rest of Europe though).

[KDR_11k]

The Xbox 360 pretty much is crushing the PS3 in the UK (not so much in the rest of Europe though).

The PS3 has larger shelves than the 360 here, no idea if that's related to sales though. The 360 is massively gimped b the lack of some key titles in this country.

[TJ Spyke]

I don't know what shelf space looks like in the UK, I can only go by sales numbers and the Xbox 360 (and its games) usually do outsell the PS3 over there.

[BlackNMild2k1]

you got hardware sales figures for EUR?