Topic: What Nintendo should do when launching GC2

[Gamebasher]

To all you fine GameCube soldiers:

So much talk about the lauch of GameCube 2, so I want to give my thoughts as to what I think Nintendo should do to succeed. There are a lot of people who have been dissapointed by Nintendo recently, by firstly the late launch of the GameCube, then the abscence of a Mario game a launch, and next a cell-shaded Zelda which isn´t what people were expecting following the showing of the Spaceworld 2000 demo of Link and Gannon in the famed sword fight. Not saying Nintendo isn´t doing something to satisfy it´s gamers, but they have to really get in gear and move f-a-s-t if they want to have any chance whatsoever of taking a lead in the Game Industry, they of all developer companies have the most creative potential even though they don´t have so much money as Sony or Microsoft (it´s the content in games that ultimately counts, so that why I say aforementioned as Nintendo is an expert in creating cutting-edge content in games), but thing move fast in the game industry right now with the X-BOX beginning to show some quite nice titles that you DON´T find the likes of over at GameCube even with the first-party titles included (did any one mention Pirates of the Carribean?!!).

So here is what they should do to appease their core gamers, and at the same time satisfy the mainstream ones:

1) Launch with a portfolio of awesome first-party Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong and Metroid games, and possibly a F-Zero II incarnation as well and have a neat number of 3. party titles ready spanning categories of sports, racing and shooters, totaly amounting to 30 cutting edge launch titles in all. In this way they will firstly satisfy their coregamers who were dissapointed with first-party titles previously and secondly attract any X-BOX owner or PS2 owner, looking to buy a 2. console more powerfull than what they already have will pay attention then and probably try out the games and buy a GC2 if they like the games! There has to be an incentive for a non-Nintendo gamer to try out ol´Ninty for a change and that could be it. Many more of SEGA, EA games this time will do very nice along Ninty´s own titles, and many of the owners of other machines will already know what the SEGA games are like for instance as they have already been released on their consoles by then a number of times.

2) Advertise beforehand, months in advance without showing sensitive parts of any of the core games, or third-party games but simply showing awesome stuff in little sequences that are enough to draw the attention of previously sceptic or cynical gamers and have them wonder if Nintendo has indeed changed. For that is what they must do. Which they know. As EDGE magazine say it, Nintendo have to decide if they want to keep on catering mostly to the needs of the children that is their core market and forget the rest of the world, or to finally decide to make games that everyone wants (which the coveted "everyone" demographic don´t want - not yet at least).

3) Give the gamers at launch day a really good value-for-money package, so that they hook them right then and there! Here I mean in particular the non-Nintendo gamers.

All this entails more work for Nintendo, more advertising, more third-party deals, less old-style Nintendo, more new-style Nintendo which will be so convincing that everyone will indeed see the power of the Mighty Mario once again!

So, Nintendo, get to work!

We know you can do it, because you want to be number one! Tough climb to the top...hmm...but you´ve got what it takes!

Gamebasher.

[Grey Ninja]

*sigh*  Why must we see all these threads?  That's what I really want to know.

Nintendo will do what Nintendo does without consulting us.  That's what they have been doing for all my life, and that's a large part of the reason I love them so much.  They do things unexpectedly, and they always have a surprise for us.  If they gave us what we asked for with every game, then it would get stale really quick wouldn't it?  We would have Mario killing hookers, and we would have Link bleeding all over the ground.  Personally, that's something that I don't want to see.  If Nintendo became like everyone else, then the Nintendo we all love will be gone.

Nintendo is making lots of money, and they are doing just fine.  Why not let them make the business decisions?

I don't really mind if people have a short list of games that they REALLY want to see at launch, but going gung-ho and telling everyone that they have the "one true plan to RULE THEM ALL" is a little presumptuous I think.  It's my opinion that Nintendo knows what's best.

[Hostile Creation]

Why does everyone think they alone know what's best for Nintendo?  I don't understand that.

Personally, I don't care.  I'll buy the next Nintendo console, and chances are I'll have a wonderful time playing it.

And what's so great about that Pirates of the Carribean game?  It's a game based off of a movie (I assume) based off of a theme park ride.  Sounds great, I say sarcastically.

[Zeth]

Quote
They do things unexpectedly, and they always have a surprise for us.

yeah, like announcing a bunch of dumb connectivity games at E3! What a fun surprise.  

[Grey Ninja]

Or like announcing Geist, Mario Kart, Pokemon Colloseum, Metal Gear Solid, and having playable demos of Star Fox and Final Fantasy.  That was pretty dumb too eh?

[Gup]

I disagree with the major launch line-up from Nintendo because then 3rd party games will just collect dust on the shelves with some exceptions. . . maybe. A Mario platformer and something new or not as big would do.

[NWR_Lindy]

I've been thinking about this lately and I figure that getting Nintendo back on top isn't really brain surgery.  It's pretty obvious where they're weak.  My thoughts:

1)  Have a hard-drive, broadband capability and DVD playback built-in to GC2

It doesn't matter if Nintendo does anything with them, just have them there for developers to take advantage of.

Who cares if it raises the price point?  Consumer demographics have shifted to where you have a lot of young adults with disposable income that are willing to drop $299 on a console if they think they're getting their money's worth.  And I'm fully convinced that parents will buy any console under $400 if their kids want it bad enough as a Christmas gift.

Also, having the HD/Broadband/DVD playback prevents the GC2 from looking bad vis-a-vis the X-Box2 and PS3.  Non-Nintendophiles won't care, they'll buy the X-Box2 or PS3 just to be "cutting-edge" if the GC2 lacks these features.

2)  Give us world-class first person shooter

Get a first-party or second-party to create a HALO 2-killer with Online play.  That's what sells consoles these days, plain and simple.  And there's nothing wrong with that.  Mainstream gamers love first-person shooters so make them happy.  And make it good enough that the hardcore will have no choice but to love it.

A legendary first-person shooter like HALO could do for the GC2 what Street Fighter 2 did for the SNES.  I mean, I don't even have an X-Box but I sometimes consider getting one just to play HALO.  That's how good that game is, and how influential it is to consumers as a whole.  I'm sure there are people out there with X-Boxes that own HALO and nothing else.  The GC2 needs a game like that, that one title that becomes a phenomenon.  Mario and Zelda are no longer that phenomenon.

3)  Pokemon online

My god this would be a cash cow.

4)  Create something to answer the Grand Theft Auto franchise

I think the "mafia game" is officially a genre now, so why not exploit it?  In fact, take it to the next level and have it online.  Create a game called "Criminal" in which you picked a criminal organization (mafia, street gang, drug cartel, whatever) and tried to take over the country block-by-block.  This could definitely push the envelope for edginess, but if executed correctly it could literally revolutionize the industry the same way GTA3 did.  I know I'd buy it, and I'd probably play it online (and I don't play anything online).

They don't necessarily need a new idea here, Nintendo just needs to take the existing idea and make it BETTER.

Some food for thought.

silks

[screamatorium]

Why shouldn't fans discuss what they think Nintendo should do?  Theres nothing wrong with actually having an opinion and not buying whatever nintendo shovels your way.  Just because you think Nintendo is perfect, doesnt mean everyone else should.

Mario killing hookers?  Right, like the ps2's mario equivalent, jak and daxter, is going around killing hookers.  Who wants mario to kill hookers?  Its like saying if GTA3 was put on the GC, you'd be driving around in dinosaurs that you bonk on the head and eating mushrooms.   It doesnt make any sense.  

AS for changes I'd like to see.  A memory card that actually has a decent amount of space.   Per kb its one of the more expensive memory cards around.  I also hope Nintendo stops creating proprietary media formats.  It would also be nice if the next console doesnt crash as often, and has more durable controllers.  Better yet it should just pack in a variation of the fantastic wave bird.  Actually I think it would be cool if the thing didnt even have control ports... just frequencies.  TV's and vcrs have been wireless for decades... why not game consoles?  Its going to eventually happen, Nintendo might as well be first.  Think about it.  You just show up at your friends house with your wavebird, set it at a unique frequency and your ready to go.  With ten frequencies, you could have ten players.  And no wire clutter!

I also hope that Nintendo doesnt come up with another lame brain gba/gc connectivity idea.  It wastes valuable resources that could be spent making sure there are good launch games.  They were hyping the damn thing so much at the last two e3's, that I actually thought they had something cool comming up.  I was hoping for wave bird... what I got was virtua boy. Also some sort of online play would be nice.  I know some of you guys are saying that the gc to gc connectivity is enough... but thats old news.  Its been around since the ps1 for god sakes!  And the same problems apply.  You need two tvs.   At this rate, my wristwatch will be online before nintendo.    Net play is the future, Nintendo needs to get off its rear and stop waiting for sony and MS to blaze the trail first.  

A hard drive would be nice, but not crucial.  Its nice not needing to worry about mem card space.  All that stuff about speeding up loading time is crap though.  Xbox games still take longer to load.  New, japanese, nintendo franchises would be nice.  AS much as I like the sequels, something new would be nice.  And a more diversified library would be great too.  Niche gamers need love too.  

[WhoDey]

"3) Pokemon online

My god this would be a cash cow."

I really don't know if that's true or not. Who plays Pokemon for the most part? Kids. Kids that do not have the ability to pay for on-line services without bugging their parents. And I guarantee most parents would not pay a monthly fee for their kids to play some Nintendo game. Having to pay $50 for it is bad enough. But why they have never released a full-fledged Pokemon rpg for their consoles is beyond me.

For Nintendo's launch they only need one big Nintendo title like every other console has had except GC. Preferrably a true Mario title. Have a couple filler titles like Waverace or whatever. Then they need to have some awesome 3rd party titles for the genres that Nintendo is not good at like sports and 1st person shooters. People that don't buy Nintendo don't care about Mario and Zelda. They care about sports and realistic games. This is where Nintendo will have major trouble because Sony will easily outclass them here. Also, they need to release alteast a week or two ahead of Sony and Microsoft.

Hopefully they can gain back some ground they have lost this generation but I'd say it's extremely unlikely they have any chance of getting the lead back.

[mjbd]

Let me just say this one thing, if you are already thinking about the next peice of hardware, your in for a long 3 years.  I remember starting up discussion about Cube before we had any info.  And we were just hoping that it could come close to PS2's awsome perfromance.  Everyday, gotta search the net for new info.  It took away from some of the N64 experience.  IMO, there is too much software to look forward to right now to be thinking about new hardware.  I will say this though, if Nintendo does release its new hardware head to head with PS3, it had include bring backwards compatability( (it should have it regardless).  Short cycling a systems lifespan is no good, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

[Radical]

>*sigh* Why must we see all these threads? That's what I really want to know.

>Nintendo will do what Nintendo does without consulting us. That's what they have been doing for all my life,
>and that's a large part of the reason I love them so much. They do things unexpectedly, and they always have a surprise for us. If they gave us what we >asked for with every game, then it would get stale really quick wouldn't it? We would have Mario killing hookers, and we would have Link bleeding all >over the ground. Personally, that's something that I don't want to see. If Nintendo became like everyone else, then the Nintendo we all love will be gone.

This is true, but what you dont get is that these ppl including me know noone is listening.  its more of an open ended question about why they have come so low.  Look:

>Nintendo is making lots of money, and they are doing just fine. Why not let them make the business decisions?

This is where you are wrong.  Nintendo used to be synomonous (sp) with videogames.  Now they ARE NOT.  they used to own 90-99 % of market share.   Now sony is the market leader.  THEY HAVE LOST THEIR POWER.  IT IS SLIPPING.

THEY ARE *NOT* DOING FINE.  IN THE BUISNESS WORLD, YOU PLAY TO WIN.  THIS MEANS SHUTTING OUT YOUR COMPETITORS.  THE ps2 should have less than 20 % of the market share, and the same with xbox.  THEY DONT.  THIS IS A SERIOUS ERROR BY NINTENDO.

THEY WILL CONTINUE TO LOSE MARKET SHARE UNTIL THEIR COMPANY NO LONGER BECOMES PROFITABLE, IN WHICH TIME THEY WILL FOLD.

We do not and cannot make decisions for them;  what these are, are simply rants; observations, if you will about where nintendo went wrong and what they should be doing.


>I don't really mind if people have a short list of games that they REALLY want to see at launch, but going gung-ho and telling everyone that they have >the "one true plan to RULE THEM ALL" is a little presumptuous I think. It's my opinion that Nintendo knows what's best.

While I agree with you on many points (as i feel alot of these people that you talk about ARE stupid, because they claim that  (insert games they like) will sell.), I do not agree with your stance that "nintendo is ok".  Thats the problem; they are JUST THAT.  THEY SHOULD BE THE #1 LEADER by double or more.

THEY SHOULD BE THE BEST.

Now here are my suggestions:

1) Nintendo has to give the consumer absoloutely no reason not to get a gcn; not from controllers, games, nintendo "image", etc; it must satisfy all these things- and it definetly has to make sure each franchise is replayable, and is very very good.

thats it.

[dafunkk12]

Quote
Who plays Pokemon for the most part? Kids.

I beg to differ.  Perhaps you haven't noticed, but now that the initial hype has disappeared, kids are pretty much through with Pokemon.  Unfortunately, they've instead moved onto less polished products ::cough::  Yu-Gi-Oh  ::cough::.  You know who's now playing Pokemon?  Older teens and adults.  Last year (my Senior year) in high school, I got a decent amount (I'd say ten or so) of new people to play the Pokemon card game, plus rekindled interest in older players.  Some of them became far more obsessed than me (sure, I used to be a Gym Leader at my local League, but admittedly, I didn't really care about collecting, just playing) and just kept buying packs and packs of cards.  And of course most of them bought Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire.  We saw the movie, and just recently, we lived off of Wendy's trying to collect the toys.

Sure, it may not be a universal sentiment among older teens, but I honestly find that there's more interest among us and adults than with kids/<16 yr olds.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

To answer the question:

Nintendo should advertise it like a mother @$&^*%#^%^#@!^^#@

[Hemmorrhoid]

All Nintendo really needs to do is release Too Human for the GC2 launch, hype it like mad, and have a couple other awesome 3rd party offerings and maybe Pilotwings 2.

I also think they should renew the RE contract with Capcom.

[Mario]

They should make sure thier fans dont talk about GC3.

[BrianSLA]

>> And what's so great about that Pirates of the Carribean game? It's a game based off of a movie (I assume) based off of a theme park ride. Sounds great, I say sarcastically. <<

Well actually Pirates of the Caribbean is actually SeaDogs 2. Disney paid off Bethesda ( creators of the AWESOME Elder Scrolls Morrowind ) to make it a tie in game / cross promotion. It isn't based on a theme park ride but it might have some passing resemblence to the movie ( slightly ) which if you didn't know is getting good reviews. Anyway...... " In Pirates of the Caribbean, players will assume the role of a pirate captain and explore towns, deal with the game's six national factions, and undertake a variety of quests. The game will let players improve their ship, hire experienced crew, and engage in highly detailed 3D sea battles, among other things " ( Gamespot quote ).

Link:
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/piratesofthecaribbean/news_6030881.html

Oh it is also out this week.  

[CHEN]

Hmmm...this belongs in the Fast Forward, so this is going to be closed. Aw well...

As for me, games games games. The more the merrier.

[Hostile Creation]

I didn't say the movie was bad.  But I would never buy the video game (since I don't like games like Morrowind anyway).  And it is based on a theme park (the movie is, anyway) in one of the Universal Studios parks.

[KnowsNothing]

okay, the little quote button isn't working, but remember way back when some nimrod said that the connectivity games were dumb?  you do? good.

I happen to think this year's E3 was great.  So no surprises, oh well.  Does the element of surprise make the game any better when it comes out? No.  Connectivity is a great idea if used properly, and as i think that Nintendo isn't quite there yet, they're well on there way with games like FF:CC (which is the #1 game i'm looking forward to right now), pac-man, and fourswords.  Plus, using it to unlock hidden games ala Metroid Prime/Fusion could work out too.

Connectivity is a great unique thing only Nintendo can do at the time, which can boost sales.  If you don't have a gameboy (which, like everyone does) than don't get the games.  it's as simple as that.  if you (and friends) do have GBs, shell out a simple ten bucks for a link and enjoy a good game.  if you have both already, i don't see the problem.

Having DK, Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Star Fox, etc.(all quality first party titles) at launch would be stupid.  Sure, at the beginning people would buy, and that's what Nintendo wants, but then what?  Then, there'd be a huge gap of no quality first party titles, and then all we'd get is "version 2" of everything.  I'm not saying sequals are bad or anything, I just think that spreading out the releases at a constant pace would keep sales steady.  

If these have already been addressed earlier then forgive me, I didn't feel like reading the whole thread.  But remember, you can post what you want to happen millions of times, but Nintendo's still going to do what they want.
 

[A-A-R-O-N]

I agree with Grey Ninja, people just need to shutup and stop thinking that they know what is best for Nintendo. Nintendo is a very hush hush company to begin with, and they never talk much about any of their products right away, and yes Nintendo always has a suprise or two in store for us as well. Nintendo is making money plan and simple. Another thing, how many of these GameCube 2 threads are there anyway? Hmmm to many to count, give it a rest people! Nintendo is going to show off the GameCube2 (tentitive title) at next year's E3 show so we just have to wait until then. The bottom line is this, let Nintendo be Nintendo and run the company as they see fit. I understand that Nintendo fans want Nintendo to do well but these GameCube2 threads are geting annoying and repetitive.

Aaron

[Don'tHate742]

Guys........guuuuuyys......GUYS! Stop speculating! You guys are going to speculate yourselves to death! There are already like 15 threads that say the same thing! Stop worring about NINTENDO"S WELL BEING and go outside and be a damn human being and have fuN!N!N!N!NN!NN!

Why are you worring about Nintendo anyways? It's not going anywhere!

Look, you don't need to think about Nintendo, Nintendo can think about and for themselves, all you need to do is stop worring, play games, and have a good time. Everyone one thinks they "know" exactly what Nintendo needs to do.......Nintendo's not stupid, they know exactly what they need to do, but they are stubborn, but not stupid. They like to be different. SO please............pleasesesesesse leave your "I think Nintendo should do this to succeed" comments to yourselves, or at least until right before the next consoles luanch, not 2 years from then..............damn.


Also to the creator of the thread....

"To all you fine GameCube soldiers" ------ what the heck?

[nitsu niflheim]

package a god damn game in with the system like with the NES, SNES and Gameboy did way back when.  But don't let anyone know until like the last minute before announcing a game will be packed in, (preferribly a Mario game that is truely revolutionary), so Sony and Microsoft don't follow suit and make it pointless.  It think it was really cheap to not put a game in with the N64 and not even a damn demo disk with the GCN until recently.

[Big_Pimp]

Quote
Originally posted by: nitsujdark
package a god damn game in with the system like with the NES, SNES and Gameboy did way back when.  But don't let anyone know until like the last minute before announcing a game will be packed in, (preferribly a Mario game that is truely revolutionary), so Sony and Microsoft don't follow suit and make it pointless.  It think it was really cheap to not put a game in with the N64 and not even a damn demo disk with the GCN until recently.

I totally agree with you, and that Mario game should be a remake of Super Mario Bros. 3 in 3D, best Mario game EVER!!!

[Idiot Savant]

No, No No! No Mario game. What Nintendo should do is create a game based on Peach and have it as a pack on. Instead of Mario rescueing Peach, Peach should rescue Mario! They could based the game similar to Tomb Raider and market it as a mature game.

As an example, Peach will have to venture into a swampy area. At the end of the level, if the player achieved 100%, a fmv of Peach taking a shower will play. Or at the end of a city stage, a fmv of Peach changing her clothes to suit the next level.

Even better, if the player should achieve 100% at the end of the game, the player will be rewaded with a fmv of Peach making out with Mario! The content of the fmvs should not be explicit but controversial, along the lines of DOA: Xtreme Beach Volleyball.

Just imagine, Nintendo will never need to spend much on advertising and could claim that "GC2 is not your little brother system".
The media will hype this game and the Nintendo brand until the end of time!

I also propose that the current Nintendo franchises should not be the primary focus in the next system. Instead from now 'til the next system, Nintendo should prohibit all "cartoon looking" games on its system. Even Pokemon.  

[NWR_Lindy]

Quote
Originally posted by: WhoDey
"3) Pokemon online

But why they have never released a full-fledged Pokemon rpg for their consoles is beyond me.

<snip, snip>

People that don't buy Nintendo don't care about Mario and Zelda. They care about sports and realistic games.

I agree on both points.  If not Pokemon Online, then a huge Pokemon RPG for GC2.  Nintendo has RPG gold sitting in front of its nose but it has chosen not to take advantage...I can't figure out why either.

And, while Pokemon appeals mainly to children, that doesn't mean it ALWAYS has to.  The Pokemon design is so brilliant that with a few tweaks (new character designs, make some of the monsters a little more bad-ass) you could make it appeal to practically any age group.  Building up your creatures and then walking around kicking people's butts with them...what's not to love about that?  Having an online Pokemon world championship tournament would be a really cool idea too.

Also, you're right - Mario and Zelda are becoming niche titles.  As in, if you're buying a Nintendo console you're buying it because you want to play Mario and Zelda.  I think it's generally accepted nowadays that if you want a broad range of genres you buy PS2, and if you want Nintendo franchises you obviously buy a Nintendo console.  Nintendo really needs to break out of this in the future - they can't afford to rely on Mario and Zelda as their biggest games because they don't have the mainstream appeal they used to.  They're still major releases but they're not the blockbusters they were at one time.

One more thing - don't make the console look like a lunchbox or anything that could be construed as juvenile.  I don't know how many times I've said this, but make it look right at home in the same rack as a home theater system.

silks