Topic: CNN.com artcile on GC w/ N strategies

[BrianSLA]

http://money.cnn.com/2003/04/16/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/index.htm

Basically an article on Nintendo & how it knows it is in third place and falling and that they must do SOMETHING to get back in the game.

[Michael8983]

The article makes some good points but I have a problem with a few bits.
Saying Metroid Prime sold "only 800,000" copies is idiotic. Selling 800,000 copies is amazing. Especially for a "mature" game on a supposably "kiddy" console that's part of franchise that all but the most hardcore of gamers had completely forgotten about. It may not have sold as well as it could/should have but throwing the "only" in there makes it sound like it sold poorly which couldn't be further from the truth.
Super Mario Sunshine didn't get "lukewarm reviews" either. It was one of the best reviewed games of last year. It may not have gotten the kind of perfect scores across the board that so many previous Mario games have gotten (though it did have its share of perfect scores) but the reviews were far from lukewarm.
The article also over-complicates the situation. Nintendo has fallen behind for one reason. It didn't match MS's bundle deal. If Nintendo had followed in MS's steps and included two free games (let's say Waverace and Rogue Leader) with the console over the holiday season it would have beaten the XBox in holiday sales and might even be number two in the US right now.
Instead, Nintendo decided to be stingy and put the Gamecube with NO FREE GAMES up against the console with TWO FREE GAMES and it doesn't take a genius to figure out why it didn't fare that well. People can blame advertising and image all they want and I don't doubt they play some role in things but it really all came down to the undeniable fact that "consumers like free stuff". If Nintendo takes that to heart come the next holiday season, I'm sure it can take back the number two spot with relative ease. Especially with Mario Kart (which has a huge following among casual gamers) likely to be the big holiday title.

[WesDawg]

I agree with the comments on Metroid and Mario. Any other company would kill for sales like that for a platformer. Because its Mario and Metroid though, they're held to a higher standard. Strangely, its a standard the games meet, but it seems like people just aren't interested anymore. It's really strange to me, Nintendo can consistantly make the greatest games available, and still not garner huge sales. I think that part of its due to an increase in the quality of 3rd party titles, but a lot of it almost has to be coming from their image. Not that I think people think badly when they think of Nintendo, they just don't think the GC is really a competitor. I think public interviews like this are good. They let people know that GC is not just a filler until BigN's next console, and that Nintendo is serious. They just need to get word out that the Cube is every bit as good, if not better than the other consoles out there. Whether thats true or not we can debate forever, but people want to see it written somewhere that their machine is the best, most popular, most powerful thing out there. We're just that insecure and stupid.  

[Michael8983]

I agree that the games are (and should be) held to higher standards and I'd be fine with it if the article said Metroid sold well, just not as well as it should have and that Mario Sunshine got great reviews, just not as great as people expected. But, instead, it implies Metroid sold poorly and says Mario got lukewarm reviews. It's just irresponsible journalism. It gives less informed people who may read the article the wrong impression of things.

[KrazyJ1098]

you guys have to remember that cnn is practically useless nowadays. beleive it or not msnbc is much better than them.

[Icons by Size]

the news never lies

[VideoGamerX]

I'm sure this will get locked in favor of the talkback thread, but anyway...

The biggest point of key interest is that Nintendo thinks Super Mario Sunshine's biggest set back was it being too difficult. *shakes head in disbelief* Now, take a look at the Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Does anyone else notice what a huge turn that game took in terms of difficulty?

Yeah, I thought so. Get ready for the rest of Nintendo's games to be of the same difficulty setting. *cries*

Gaming as I once knew it, the big beautiful challenging make-believe world, is once and for all, now, utterly non-existent *watches it be destroyed*... thanks mainstream... *continues crying*

I think I'm witnessing the death of my kind of games.

[NeedleLies]

What kind of crack did these people smoke to say that SMS was difficult???

[rpglover]

from the article: "Nintendo's chief gaming architect Shigeru Miyamoto agreed with criticism that the Mario game was too hard. And, in a decision that might anger the hardcore crowd, the word has since come from up high to make games less challenging."

does that mean that it will happen? i dont know
i hope it doesnt- now i didnt think that mario sunshine was that hard- but it was difficult
those parts without the water pack were pretty hard, as were some of the other levels
i personally like a challenge in a game once in a while
i love zelda ww and eventhough it may be easy, it is still so much fun to play (at least to me)
some people may not like zelda and thats fine- but when a game is still fun, to me it doesnt matter if it is easy

[Tride15]

What I didn't like most is where Harrison said that Nintendo's E3 will be focused more on third-party games rather than their own. Can't we have the same amount of both!? Why must they detract from Nintendo's own brilliant games?

[nonjagged]

You know what CNN's propaganda neglected to leave out?

That Metroid Prime was game of the year 2002 and it won an all-time record 10 industry awards.

Something tells me that some other American company paid CNN to do some damage on Nintendo's focus on quality award-winning software instead of Nintendo's focusing on doing cheap but desperately-aggressive bundle deals of Software that didnt sell well *cough* Sega GT and Jet Set Radio *cough*. Im suprised M$ didnt throw in Shenmue in that bundle deal as that sold abismally on the Xbox and not a single person even made whimper of a comment about it. Being that that franchise has had millions possibly billions of money put into it, instead CNN would rather focus on Metroid Prime's record-breaking award-winning achievement. LOL trolls.

Yet CNN is not concerned about quality software that Nintendo focuses on that literally smashed the sales of any Sega freebies that dont sell on another console. Infact Metroid most likely sold more than all 3 Sega games combined together but hey CNN know the gaming industry inside out dont they. They know how to focus on insignificant hype.
They (CNN) publicity-work in favour of another American company M$ so surely CNN must know better than us gamers. We are feable cavemen or is CNN appealing to the fears of mainstreamers? Mainstreamers who outnumber loyal hardcore fanbases.

CNN must have a lot of time on their hands because it looks to me they sure arent playing console games but instead keeping up the mind games for some other American company

As long as the GCN keeps delivering more award-winning software I couldnt care less if GCN userbase was billions behind the competition.
Games do all the talking and userbases do all the trolling.

CNN is just keeping in line with the "troll journalism" that is paid to have biased opinions.


2003 = The Year of the Fund Q & Triforce.

[WesDawg]

Yeah, I guess I agree with the difficulty quote. I remember hearing how hard SMS was, but when I beat it one week later I had to laugh. Getting all the shines would be time consuming I'll admit, but not difficult. Anyways, I think that that statment of Shiggy's was a reference to that interview where he said he was surprised that people that SMS was to hard. I don't recall him saying he was trying to make games easier. Neither, do I think that he would respond real well to a demand from people above him that he make games easier. I figure/hope that's a little creative license from CNN.

I think you had to expect WW wouldn't be to difficult. OOT seemed easy to me too.  SMB takes the cake in difficulty this generation though. What a great game.

[VideoGamerX]

If they continue to make Wind Waker type games, I'm going to find it very easy to buy third party games. Is that what their overall goal is in this? To drive their userbase to buying nothing but third party games? I don't need a Nintendo Gamecube to do that!

I maybe over reacting a bit, but what's wrong with the current difficulty in most Nintendo games? There has NEVER been a problem with Nintendo games being too challenging. That's like saying Super Mario Brothers for the NES is too challenging. If we gave it the difficulty level of Wind Waker, Mario would bounce back out of the holes in the ground every time he fell off a cliff. He'd bounce out of the lava and go "He he he..." Bowser would back into the rope holding up his suspension bridge and cause himself to fall into the lava as you run toward him.

Argg.......

I'm going to go jump off of a cliff in Wind Waker to pass time.  

[BrianSLA]

>> CNN is useless....... MSNBC is better <<

Nope. CNN is considered the standard in news. Fox News ( in reality... Faux News as the inside joke goes ) is a right wing wacko channel. MSNBC used to be better but is trying to emmulate Faux News and go right wing for ratings. Joe Scarborough and that ' Wall of Courage ' crap shows MSNBC's losing its integrity. The news should never take a position on a subject, it should just report the news.