Topic: The stupidest editorial I ever read

[kirby_killer_dedede]

http://nintendojo.com/editorials/view_item.php?1091189542

It IS quite stupid, imo, but I cant help but wonder...is he right?

[KDR_11k]

Citing EBGames as a source for game releases... D'Oh. Can't this idiot see that EB knows just as much as everyone else and is just taking guesses (or, more exacly, hasn't taken a new guess after the release date of the DS was announced)?
The DS only plays GBA games, NOT all iterations of the GB. Besides, that support makes sense since the GBA still gets support and it would be infinitely annoying if you had to carry around two gaming devices just to play all of yoour newer games.
Also, the idiot doesn't use the announced prices of 180 and 35 but instead relies on retailers again.
He's harping on old data apparently on purpose so he can make a point.

Yes, I think the DS comes too early after the SP, but I think that was Sony's intention with the PSP: Bring Nintendo into a dilemma where they can either put out a new hadheld and oversaturate their market or don't react and see their customers wander off to the PSP. A delay would work in favour of the PSP, those three months and christmas will make a HUGE differencein title availability and userbase.

[kennyb27]

This is a horribly written, horribly researched piece of nonfiction...If you even could call it nonfiction; it seems much closer to fiction.  

Thankfully, KDR saved me, and others, from having to refute his points.

[Artimus]

YES. Thank goodness someone else noticed. Nintendojo should just stop the editorials, they never make ANY sense.

[Jale]

I am sick of people saying that the GBA and DS are the same line because the DS plays GBA games. Well the GC also plays GBA game if you have a GBA player! Does that make it the same as a GBA!!!?!?!?!

[Terranigma Freak]

What's this, a stupid editorial by Nintendojo!? NO WAY!? </sarcasm>

[couchmonkey]

I do believe that the DS is the successor to Gameboy - or at least the possible successor.  I think that if the DS is a big success, we can expect to see it become a sort of "standard" for Nintendo's handhelds, and Nintendo's plans for a more powerful Gameboy that would compete with PSP will probably be put off for a couple of years, or even scrapped in favour of a new DS. But for the time being Nintendo is playing it safe and trying to keep FD positioned as far away from the Gameboy as possible, because it doesn't want to risk killing the Gameboy's reputation if the DS Fails.  Not to mention sales of the still extremely popular GBA SP.

But I agree with most of the other arguments here: this guy didn't do his research.  Also, while I do think Nintendo will tick off some customers with the early release of the DS I think he's missing some points:
1. Assuming it's not a total flop in it's first year, there are still several more years in which to sell the DS.  It won't feel like a rip-off two years from now.
2. Parents may resist for now, bitter that Nintendo is always sucking up more money but the kids that want a DS aren't going to stop wanting it.  Parents that say "NO" this year will probably say yes next year or the year after.
3. It's not just parents buying these for kids.  Adults with money to burn and especially early-adapting, hardcore Nintendo fans like us will buy them this year, assuming the price is right and the launch lineup is good.

[Jale]

I don't think the DS is the heir of the GBA, it is more the Bastard Child. (this aint profanity, it means a child born out of wedlock)

Also, if you think that is a stupid editorial, try this one!

[Ian Sane]

Well that isn't the stupidest editorial I've ever read but it isn't that great either.  What sort of sane person would use EB's website as a source?

There is one thing I do agree with the writer though.  Nintendo may have difficulty getting people to buy the DS due to their past practice of cutting their portables' lives short.  The GB Pocket, Color, Advance, and now Advance SP have all had a shelf life of only a few years.  At some point if they keep that practice up it WILL bite them in the ass.  I'm a big Nintendo fan but after they screwed me by releasing the "real" GBA about a year after I bought one I'm not buying a DS at launch even though I want to just because I'm afraid they'll release a better version shortly after.  Now the DS is being released to combat the PSP so it's really not Nintendo's fault that they're cutting the GBA's life short.  But it IS their fault that all of the other Gameboy models' lives were cut short.  So now when they have to release a new model earlier than they should it's kind of a "boy who cried wolf" thing.  The last hundred times it was just to screw us over so it's going to be hard to convince someone who feels ripped off that THIS time there's a good reason to release a new portable.

However I think the DS will still do fine but a lot of that is because Sony doesn't appear to know that they're doing with the PSP.  Nintendo's experience in the portable market will keep them on top but they have to stop killing all of their portable models every two years or they will f*ck everything up down the road.

[Deguello]

"I'm a big Nintendo fan but after they screwed me by releasing the "real" GBA about a year after I bought one I'm not buying a DS at launch even though I want to just because I'm afraid they'll release a better version shortly after."

I fail to see where Nintendo screwed you.

Edit:  HOLD UP.  Wait a second, lemme get this straight.  So you have hindsighted harsh words for the original GBA, to the point you don't consider it "real," and THEN you besmirch Nintendo for releasing another that fixed the "mistakes" people bitched about endlessly, and THEN fault them for listening to the response by saying they release too many models of handhelds?  Jeez, there is no way they can win, can they?

[animex]

Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
Well that isn't the stupidest editorial I've ever read but it isn't that great either.  What sort of sane person would use EB's website as a source?

There is one thing I do agree with the writer though.  Nintendo may have difficulty getting people to buy the DS due to their past practice of cutting their portables' lives short.  The GB Pocket, Color, Advance, and now Advance SP have all had a shelf life of only a few years..............

This is good for a collector like me.  

[Ian Sane]

"I fail to see where Nintendo screwed you."

I bought a GBA.  It had a screen that I couldn't see worth sh!t.  A year later they released a new better GBA model with a light.  They should have release the SP from the get-go instead of releasing the GBA with a huge FLAW in it, letting everyone buy one, and then releasing the "real" GBA a year later.  Hell my brother got a GBA for Christmas and then a month or two later they announced the SP.  If that's not a royal screwjob I don't know what is.  They knew the GBA was flawed and they had a better model on the way but they sold us the original design anyway.

Edit:  Oh and my complaint is not that they released the SP so quickly but that they released the original design at all.  It should have been the SP from the beginning.

[Deguello]

"I bought a GBA. It had a screen that I couldn't see worth sh!t."

I dunno I could see it just fine.  Whatever.

"A year later they released a new better GBA model with a light."

Actually, the GBA was released in 2001 and the SP in 2003.  Yeah you may have gotten it in 2002, BUT that's not Nintendo's fault.

"They should have release the SP from the get-go instead of releasing the GBA with a huge FLAW in it, letting everyone buy one, and then releasing the "real" GBA a year later."

You have no way in hell of knowing that the SP was the original design of the GBA, which I bet it wasn't.

"It should have been the SP from the beginning."

If I ever build a time machine, I'm sure I'll inform Nintendo.

"They knew the GBA was flawed and they had a better model on the way but they sold us the original design anyway."

Yeah, damn them!  And DAMN SONY, I bought a Playstation from them in 1999, and they KNEW IT WAS FLAWED and that a better version was on the way BUT THEY SOLD IT TO US ANYWAY.  WHAT SCOUNDRELS!

"Hell my brother got a GBA for Christmas and then a month or two later they announced the SP. If that's not a royal screwjob I don't know what is."

Explain the "screwjob" rationale of your brother RECEIVING a GBA for Christmas that he either wanted such a hindsightedly "flawed" system so bad that he asked for it or at least he paid no money for, and then Nintendo announcing another product in February.

[Ian Sane]

I thought the GBA SP was released in 2002.  Okay that changes things a bit.  Still I felt I got a raw deal out of the situation and I'm not buying a DS at launch because of that experience.  So the point of Nintendo potentially hurting themselves in the long run by cutting their portable's lives short still makes sense.  And by Christmas 2002 they did for sure know they would release the SP and letting people buy a regular GBA that Christmas was a screwjob.

And the Playstation comparison makes no sense.  There wasn't anything wrong with the Playstation models of 1999 (well none that the PS One fixed).  The GBA's screen was a flaw.  If you have super sight good for you but they shouldn't have released it with that level of visibility.

[Blackknight131]

I can understand the frustration factor of purchasing a GBA only to have the SP announced next month, but really the original GBA wasn't that bad. In light of the portable joy that is the SP, it has really made the original look worse than it was percieved to be when it was released. We all knew its screen could get hard to see out of direct lighting from day one of its release (and actually before), but it did not stop many people from being excited about it, purchasing it, and enjoying its games.
Models like the SP and Pocket are options that were developed by R&D well after the fact (the development cycle of the original hardware must be finalized well before release afterall, and for release in Japan no less). In the case of the SP frankly I believe it was a direct response from consumer criticism (some of whom began to show it with their dollars by buying Afterburners - that got Nintendo's attention in a hurry I think. Someone else make money off their system! Hah!).

How this relates to the DS is in your comment that you fear their will be a better DS released shortly after. I think you dont have to fear there....if there is a better DS, in can only be in the case that our current DS is massively popular AND turns out to maybe have ergonomics or battery life issues, AND it would have to be at least a couple years later. Nintendo cant pump out a second DS only one year after this first one, not with a real competitor in the PSP ready to fight (starting March 2005). This means two things: one, Nintendo likely cannot afford for the DS to have serious design flaws...that may end up sending their customers to Sony....or maybe even their own SP, which they clearly are starting to phase out. And two, there would be no point in a second DS unless the first was well recieved enough to justify releasing a redesign, and that means strong market prescence...I really dont think you can do that successfully if your position in the market is tenuous.
If their market is strong enough by that point, it would mean the DS has proved to be successful hardware...as I think it will be. Nintendo has gone on record as stating they are putting their all into this system...that its failure would be devastating to the company.
Ian Sane, I think you can trust Nintendo on this particular piece of hardware, and especially in light of the changes they have made to it already in direct response to E3 feedback.
I totally understand however, if its hard to coax the old wallet to open on this initially....$150-200 is not an easy to part with for most people, by any means.

[Deguello]

"There wasn't anything wrong with the Playstation models of 1999 (well none that the PS One fixed)."

Yeah there was.  They didn't stand up straight and they didn't play DVDs.  In my opinion, they should have released that model to begin with.

And the PSX actually did have several different models.  Some people have three different PSX's with different model numbers.

Model 1:  Designed to break.  Alright, I kid.  Designed to wear down until after the warranty expires to break.  (THAT would be a screwjob)
Model 2: Functional Model. but wears down to the point that you have turn it upside down for it to function.
Model 3: Another Functional Model.  No need to alter its position.
Model 4: Smaller model with optional attachable screen.  Those scoundrels, they released this knowing full well that Model 5 was going to be released soon.
Model 5:  Stands up straight and plays DVDs.  Marketed as the PS2.

"And by Christmas 2002 they did for sure know they would release the SP and letting people buy a regular GBA that Christmas was a screwjob."

You must really hate Auto-Makers, they release a new model every year.  Those bastards.  But I'm not sure you fully grasp exactly what a screwjob IS.  Did your GBA break as soon as the SP was announced in February 2003?  Was this new version of the GBA merely a revision to make it functional, like the PSX ones?  Did they release the SP as soon as they announced it?  No. It was released in April in Japan I believe, and in June or thereabouts in the US, a good sixth months after Holiday Season 2002.  Obviously something kept them from releasing it, possibly screen or battery prices/issues.  I agree that the SP is SO superior to the original model that the screen may seem flawed in retrospect, but in 2001, that was the best they could afford to have to offer the GBA at an affordable cost.  They could have done the whole backlit-3D-giant-diamond-amethyst screen thing but that would have driven the price way up, and then people would accuse them abusing their monopoly by way of price gouging, which they surpisingly do anyway.  Accuse them of abusing the monopoly, that is.  The GBA's screen is not any different visually from the GBC, and nobody complained much then.  I believe it wasn't until popular websites started making ivory tower quips that people started getting onto the GBA for not having a backlit screen.

But really, this editorial nonsense shouldn't really apply to the DS, since it is a third pillar (blol), and it seems that they are gonna get it right the first time.  We really shouldn't let certain websites drag us back to the forum arguments of early 2002 with their attention-seeking editorial antics, hm?    

[Ian Sane]

"Model 5: Stands up straight and plays DVDs. Marketed as the PS2."

What?  The PS2 is a completely different system that plays completely different games.

[Jale]

Except, being sony, the games are just the same with minor adjustments and more pixels/fps. The two systems are barels different. The controllers are almost exactly the same. The name is the same. The games are al playable on the PS2. It's just a very exxagerated GB-GBC scenario.

[Blackknight131]

Quote
But really, this editorial nonsense shouldn't really apply to the DS, since it is a third pillar (blol), and it seems that they are gonna get it right the first time.

Thats basically what I was trying to say in my last post....damned if I know why it took like 5 more paragraphs.

To consider the DS using what we know: the screens are lit, and in a superior fashion to the SP (they were described as bright and vivid); the control pad and buttons have all been re-sized and reconfigured following E3; the battery life is stated (quotable) to be GBA-esque; the form factor is roughly a little bigger and longer than the OG GBA; Nintendo R&D pledged to reinforce their already hardy touch screen following E3 observations (specifically Sonic DS); the machine aesthetics are (generally agreed) fairly attractive; the price will be between $150-200.

The only real issues that could warrant a wave of criticism towards the hardware itself at this juncture is if somehow the hardware is ill-constructed or fragile (That is not very likely), the ergonomics and balance of the unit are horrendous (subjective, but it looks nice enough to hold and R&D likely worked very hard on balancing issues), the battery life is terrible (which would go against STATED estimates, not like Nintendo), the price is too high (quite possible)  and finally if the whole DS concept itself just goes over the head of consumers. That is possible.

Actually, one more issue, the most important: games. I think just about all of us here are pretty excited about it however, particularly now that games are starting to make themselves known...apparently many japanese developers believe in the unit and soon we will know if American and European developers are sold as well.
I swear tho, a Madden that is optimized with all the features could be a system seller in the States...the PSP and GBA would simply not be able to pull off those features.

[Deguello]

Quote
"Model 5: Stands up straight and plays DVDs. Marketed as the PS2."

What? The PS2 is a completely different system that plays completely different games.

That's just me being facetious, but it is an extreme case of a GB-GBC situation.

Anyway you say you are gonna wait until later to see if Nintendo fixes any errors or flaws in the DS in the release of the "DS SP" or whatever?  You are already getting the "DS SP".  The model shown at E3 that I have seen with my own eyes looked worlds apart from new redesigned model.  If there were going to be any flaws, they would have been the weird shoulder buttons, the lack of a stylus slot, a boxy, clunky look (subjective of course),  and the fact that is doesn't play DVDs or MP3s, like the PSP does (which became a flaw of the PSP too.)  All that has been worked on and/or added into the new model, except the DVD/MP3 stuff.  Now the presence of any flaws in the DS rests solely on how much of a vindictive bitch the game journalism crowd wants to be.  Like what they said one of the "flaws" of the GBA is that it only has 2 face buttons and 2 shoulder buttons.  Huh?  Why is that a flaw?  Isn't 4 buttons more than enough for any handheld game in 2001?  Isn't it 2 more than the original GB?  What's wrong with that?  Oh yeah, because it disallows proper SNES ports, of course.  But this same crowd also likes to call the GBA a "port mahcine."  You know why?  SNES ports.  They seem to want it both ways.

[Stimutacs Addict]

i want some other colors at launch, damnit

i neeed to coordinate my DS with my outfits

[couchmonkey]

Personally I will probably hold off on a DS purchase in hopes of a price drop (and possibly different colours) but I don't think I'll be able to wait very long, and I don't think Nintendo will come up with a must-have improved version of the system.  Although I can think of one thing that Nintendo could add - analog controls.  I don't see this as being something the company will likely do, because I'm sure they already considered analog controls, but if we see a lot of simpering in the press about the lack of analog control, I would not be surprised to see a new analog version of the system.

[NWR_Lindy]

Nintendo truly cannot win.  For the first time since 1985, they're actually going to release a system earlier than their competition (when direct competition actually existed), and people still complain.

Introducing the DS three or four months before the PSP is a brilliant move, especially when Sony is the incumbent.   There's no way the DS will be delayed; Nintendo learned too much from the way the GameCube's late launch hurt them to let that happen.

silks

[kurst_chao3030]

Quote
Originally posted by: Jale
I don't think the DS is the heir of the GBA, it is more the Bastard Child. (this aint profanity, it means a child born out of wedlock)

Also, if you think that is a stupid editorial, try this one!

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTF!!!! Bonzi buddy, comet cursor, and flash...hacking programs! Quake is a place where hackers like to meet and talk with each other...lol. Oh well i guess nobody's perfect.

[Jale]

At last a comment on my link! That site is so funny sometimes with the crap it spews out. Enlightened parent my ass!