Topic: Rev Predictions

[jasonditz]

I think we can count on Sega to give us at least one really strange game within the first year.  

[Zach]

Sega will definately make a Super Monkey Ball game for the rev, If I didnt know any better I would think that SMB was designed to be played with the revmote.

[Magik]

Quote
Originally posted by: JonLeung
I agree, the first year is a big one.

I got my GameCube on launch day, and only with Rogue Leader.  I got SSBM shortly after it came out, but for a few months that was it.  I rent games often, but my own library was just two games.  I bought Resident Evil as an impulse purchase (which turned me into a late RE fan, actually).  For the first year the must-have games were way too few, I could see how many people moved on when they had two other console alternatives and the PC to go to.

While I don't see confirmed games like the next SSB, the next Mario game, and Metroid Prime 3 coming out all at once, especially on the very launch day of the Revolution, I think it's important for them to all come within the first year.  Ideally, with enough solid third-party games for the months in between.

The first year will be absolutely important for the REV because I believe it will make or break the system.  If Nintendo can't sell the idea to the consumer, than it's going to be even harder to sell once both the 360 and PS3 really get into gear with their major titles such as Halo 3 and UT07.  

Having the big franchise titles spread out keeps releases consistent and at least keeps a solid momentum with the system for a longer period of time rather than having 3 big titles at once and the momentum dying down.

[Magik]

Quote
Originally posted by: jasonditz
Actually the Gamecube sold quite well at launch... I didn't get it until a couple of months later and it was sold out virtually everywhere then... I had to wait at Circuit City one afternoon for a shipment to come in.

The problem wasn't launch... the problem was:

Multi-quarter gaps without a decent title coming out
Multi-month gaps without a single title coming out
No decent original RPGs until several years into the system's life
Coming into holiday seasons without a "must buy" title
Sticking your best titles in the worst months for retail sales

It definitely sold very well at launch, but Nintendo didn't capitlize on it for various reasons.  You came out with some good points.  Here's one more:

Missing crucial genres in the first year such as FPS and RPGs - Nintendo had NO answer at all to Halo 1 or any FPS on the PS2 for a very long time.  FPS' were becoming the big genre with a large fanbase and Nintendo missed out on that completely.  The only solid FPS I can think of on the GC was the Timpsplitter series but that was multi-console.

Missing RPGs was just as bad.  The RPG fanbase was a very big loss.  By the time the GC got any RPGs, such as Tales of Symphonia or Baiten Kaitos, they were ignored or forgotten because they barely got any promotion at all.  By the time I found out about Tales or Baiten, it was already released.

The REV must have every genre covered in the first year.  It is so important that they have to because the GC suffered greatly because of it.  I just hope Nintendo realizes this.

[Ceric]

Plus Tales and Baten were later in the GCN lifetime.  Not to mention everytime someone would announce an RPG of some sort of the GCN it was ALWAYS a card based system.  Baten did it right and I can easily say that everyone else did it wrong.  Lets face it the only thing I can think of for the Cube off the top of my head that could lousely be termed an RPG that didn't use cards was Paper Mario (Not nearly as good as Mario RPG ever), Crystal Chronicles (That was a let down. I was expecting an actual RPG but it could have been bettter and even good if they would have just incremented those little stories at the start of the level each time you had to redo one.  That was probably it's biggest failing, oh and a non-compelling very real world like plot.),  Tales of Symphonia (I liked the game, there should have been more sidequests throughout the game towards the beginning and no teasing me with places I can't go, that door in the mines), and thats about it.  The rest was ruined by the evil card.  Or in the case of Crystal Chronicles and many other franchises it was, "Yay were getting this much needed style of play!  Oh Wait, you telling me you are going to do what... with what..."  and it would come out nothing like the franchise that spawned it when that was what was so desparetly needed.  And Wind Waker.... Yeah... That game could have been great if it wasn't for that stupid ocean.  "Here let's give you a great battle system... Oh but we're never going to give you a chance to use it and make you sail around a boring Ocean instead."  I even like the visual style.  Just hated the lack of enemy and that Ocean.  Liked everything else about it.

Also did anybody realize it took a while for an actual honest to god suppose to be cards game to come out.  I mean it took Yu-Gi-Oh most of the systems life to get on honest to god version on the Gamecube and that is a franchise that could have actually benefitted from the GBA to GCN link.

And no Pokemon doesn't count either because well... They should have just made it a different game because it wasn't actually Pokemon like on the Gameboy.  They dropped the ball big time on that one.

P.S.-  Also Sky of Arcadia and PSO.  I love PSO but it's not really an RPG and eventually went to cards too and well Sky of Arcadia... Yeah that was just bad... and a port.  Sorry about the rantage I just had to get it out.

P.S.S- After re-reading this I realized that the new IP, there probably should be 2, should be a FPS and a "Traditional" RPG franchise.  Some will argue that Zelda is an RPG.  Lets face it deep down it's an action title.  It's a beast of it's own and shares in a way more with Metroid than a traditional RPG.  What it does it does well and uniquely.  Both of these need to be unique and not use any of Nintendo's characters except maybe for a cameo.  It should also try to stay away from the style that is deemed Nintendo artisticly, except for maybe a homage level (Like the 8-bit one in Baten Kaitos).

P.S.S.S-  So I'm not totally off topic I also predict that the Rev will use the same digital hookup for the Progressive scan cables as the Gamecube therefore meaning I won't have to buy a new set of cables.

[Spak-Spang]

Here are my predictions.

1)Revolution will be out world wide by November 2006.  
2)PS3 will be out world wide by Novevember 2006, however quanitities will be limited.
3)Price Point $200-249.  This is a hard one to pin down, I am hoping for the 200 but my gut tells me $249.
4)Launch lineup includes:  Mario, Smash Brothers, and Metroid Prime 3
5)Only Smash Brothers and Metroid will be online enabled for Nintendo Launch games.
6)Xbox 360 will finally be garnering support and decent hardware numbers when the PS3 and Revolution are launched and these launches will completely destory the lead and energy Microsoft had from the early launch.

The System wars will go down as such.

Japan:
PS3
Nintendo Revolution
Xbox 360 far below.

US
Xbox 360
Nintendo Revolution
PS3  

(Actually the Revolution and PS3 will be so closely tied in units sold that it will be hard to determine winner.  However the media will preceive Sony as the winner.)

World Wide Numbers will not support the claim but the Media and Microsoft will claim they won the overall worldwide console battle for the coming generation.

[Ian Sane]

Some of this is more what I want to happen then what I actually think will.  But it's all realistic.

I predict the Rev will launch in September.  November is too late.  Nintendo needs to have as smooth as a transition from Cube-to-Rev as possible.  The transition from N64-to-Cube was poor and Nintendo paid for it.  It won't be perfect but a few months can make a big difference.  Nintendo has launched in September before and it's still close enough to the end of the year to be a big Christmas item.  And unlike something like May or June it gives ample time to get the launch lineup ready.

The Rev will probably come with all the required accessories like the shell and probably the nunchuk.  I think there's still a question about whether every controller will come with those accessories but I think the console will.  Nintendo set precedence for including everything with the DS.  They've made a big deal about having everything "out of the box".

The success of the console itself is based largely on the launch lineup.  Nintendo has to make a fantastic first impression.  Nintendo has too negative of an image to make only an okay first impression and get away with it.  They've got to blow everyone away.

To do so they need a killer app that really sells the system to everybody.  And I mean everybody.  Both non-gamers and existing gamers alike.  They can't have the two groups be seperated because they'll never be able to successfully please both groups.  They'll either neglect one or give each a half-assed effort.  They have to combine the two groups together.  And to do that they need the ultimate killer app that appeals to both groups and makes both groups like the same thing.  It should successfully demonstrate the controller too and really sell the concept.

That's going to be hard to do this non-gamer stuff is Nintendo's big plan and they should never have gone with it if they don't have a chance of pulling it off.  I think this killer app has to be something new.  I like Mario and he's an important franchise to have and his games will always sell well.  But he's not a killer app anymore.  If he was, if ANY of Nintendo's franchises were, then the Cube wouldn't have underperformed like it did.  Mario is too old.  Newer gamers don't identify with him because they've been raised on the Playstation.  They need their own games to identify with.  It's ironic thought that their old franchises were going to sell Cubes when the Xbox grew from nothing and was beating Nintendo about a year in based on the success of a brand new franchise.  That right there was proof that new franchises are needed.

The followup to the killer app is imporant as well.  There has to be, well, games.  None of this six month drought stuff.

[Avinash_Tyagi]

My prediction

$200-250

1 Console
2 controllers
2 shells
2 nun-chuck attachments
1 preloaded nes game (SMB 1 or 3)
1 bundled game (mario 128)
1 controller dock for recharging

[Kairon]

Yeah, this early drought stuff has to get solved.

Problem is that it is because of a dearth of 3rd parties that it takes place. Nintendo is a big company, but they can only make so many games! lol.

Hopefully stronger efforts by Nintendo to sign on third parties as well as the inherent interest in the revolutions capabilities, PLUS the hopefully all it's cracked up to be zero-learning-curve and shorter, cheaper dev times, plus some unexpected sparkling innovationy games that have huge replay value (Music games, like Samba de Amigo, or lifestyle games like Mario Paint)... hopefully these factors can combine to give Nintendo the ability to get more games in less time in the crucial and vulnerable early months of the console launch.

So basically, this drought thing has to go, and we need third parties to kill it for us.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[Ian Sane]

"Problem is that it is because of a dearth of 3rd parties that it takes place. Nintendo is a big company, but they can only make so many games!"

On the Cube though Nintendo didn't seem to notice it was a problem, or at least they didn't while the drought was going on.  The flagship title was short and had minimal replay value.  They also didn't make much of an effort to get third parties dev kits in time for the Cube launch and as a result a lot of of the early Cube third party games were really crappy PS2 ports.  They even had the gall to release a press release right in the middle of the drought bragging about how many games they had available.  It was like propaganda out of 1984 (the book not the year).  I recall that press release raising the hairs on the neck of pretty much everyone on the forum.

These days Nintendo is a little more on the ball.  At the very least they have since acknowledged that that was a goof up.  And even though they don't seem to quite "get" the third party concept at least now they know it's somewhat important.  In early 2002 it was like Nintendo didn't think third party support was even remotely worth putting any effort into.  With the Cube Nintendo was totally clueless.  Their attitude was like "it's Nintendo so everyone will love it!"  With the Rev they at least know the issues.  Now their method of fixing these issues might be completely insane but at the very least they know something needs to be fixed.  Nintendo WILL make an effort to avoid a drought, they just might suck at it.

[kirby_killer_dedede]

The best way to create a killer app that appeals to both hardcore gamers and non-gamers is to create a hardcore-esque game, such as Zelda, that takes advantage of the controller and makes the once hardcore-only game appeal to non-gamers as well.  But you have to be careful there - you can't over simplify and leave the hardcore gamers out in the cold, because I know when I play Zelda, it's not all about running around swinging a sword.

[Magik]

Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
Nintendo WILL make an effort to avoid a drought, they just might suck at it.

All the Mario spinoffs could be an indication.

[SaimDusan.I]

You know what I think the Rev should have? Nintendogs 2. Think about it, it'll really boost the Revolutions sales.

[BigJim]

I believe the Rev's second year will be just as important as it's first year.

They're designing it to be an industry shaker. "Shakers" don't usually realize their success (or potential success) in the early adoption days. The ipod is one obvious example of this. They didn't really take off until Christmas '04, and it was out for well over a year by that point.

The first year will be all about the early adopters and building awareness for the newbies. It probably won't see sales much different than GameCube at that point. The second year will be the year of momentum and will be more telling of the system's long term success, I think. This is true for most new products, but should be especially true with Rev considering Nintendo's goals for it. It'll live or die on year 2, IMHO.  

[Magik]

Quote
Originally posted by: SaimDusan.I
You know what I think the Rev should have? Nintendogs 2. Think about it, it'll really boost the Revolutions sales.

Nintendogs won't boost REV sales like it did with the DS.  Two totally different markets.

Quote
I believe the Rev's second year will be just as important as it's first year.

They're designing it to be an industry shaker. "Shakers" don't usually realize their success (or potential success) in the early adoption days. The ipod is one obvious example of this. They didn't really take off until Christmas '04, and it was out for well over a year by that point.

The first year will be all about the early adopters and building awareness for the newbies. It probably won't see sales much different than GameCube at that point. The second year will be the year of momentum and will be more telling of the system's long term success, I think. This is true for most new products, but should be especially true with Rev considering Nintendo's goals for it. It'll live or die on year 2, IMHO.

I can agree with that.  

I still believe it'll be the first year because if the message can't get across to the consumers than, I don't think it'll ever considering how jaded a lot of people are towards Nintendo.

[denjet78]

Well, I predict:

1. That the Revolution will come out when it comes out.
2. That it will have great games that I will have a lot of fun playing.
3. That 3rd parties as well as Sony and MS can bite me and that while everyone else is trying to look and act cool by running over hookers in hi-def I'll just be having the greatest time of my life waving around a funny looking remote.

Other than that everything else here is speculative garbage. First year doesn't matter. Remember the Playstation's first year? Launch doesn't matter. Again PS2 anyone, and I don't CARE about the lack of competition because we ALL know it still would have sold like that on hype alone. Argue with me if you like but come on! There are people who still think it's the most powerful console of this generation. Now that's some good brainwashing!

As for 3rd parties, there's nothing Nintendo can do about them anyway. They all think they're all too high and mighty while at the same time releasing titles that they say are perfect for the Gamecube on the XBox and PS2. Can you say hypocrate? Sure, I knew you could.

People say "throw money at it!", but how much and for how long? Besides, it's not just money changing hands here. Sony and MS are also cutting deals in ways that Nintendo never can. Do you really think Square originally jumped ship because of the money that Sony was offering them, or do you think the movie deal, something that Square had been wainting to do for a long time, had anything to do with it? Face it, Sony and MS have resources that completely outstrip Nintendo's any day. They tried to play to their strengths this generation, by letting 3rd parties develop internal franchises in hopes of garnering support, but all anyone could do was complain about how they wanted new or 3rd party franchises. Well, that's what Nintendo was TRYING to give you! Build up ties by working together on games.

In the end, Nintendo should just be swallowed up by some larger entity so that all of you will SHUT THE HELL UP for a while and just enjoy playing games. And when that entity achieves its goal of getting a set-top-box or a controlled internet network or whatever else the hell they're really after instead of video games into peoples livingrooms and dismatle Nintendo and the rest of their video games division because it's no longer needed, you can rest assured that you got a few more good years of gaming out of Nintendo at the cost of quite possibly a lifetime.

[Magik]

Quote
Originally posted by: denjet78
Well, I predict:

1. That the Revolution will come out when it comes out.
2. That it will have great games that I will have a lot of fun playing.
3. That 3rd parties as well as Sony and MS can bite me and that while everyone else is trying to look and act cool by running over hookers in hi-def I'll just be having the greatest time of my life waving around a funny looking remote.

Other than that everything else here is speculative garbage. First year doesn't matter. Remember the Playstation's first year? Launch doesn't matter. Again PS2 anyone, and I don't CARE about the lack of competition because we ALL know it still would have sold like that on hype alone. Argue with me if you like but come on! There are people who still think it's the most powerful console of this generation. Now that's some good brainwashing!

As for 3rd parties, there's nothing Nintendo can do about them anyway. They all think they're all too high and mighty while at the same time releasing titles that they say are perfect for the Gamecube on the XBox and PS2. Can you say hypocrate? Sure, I knew you could.

People say "throw money at it!", but how much and for how long? Besides, it's not just money changing hands here. Sony and MS are also cutting deals in ways that Nintendo never can. Do you really think Square originally jumped ship because of the money that Sony was offering them, or do you think the movie deal, something that Square had been wainting to do for a long time, had anything to do with it? Face it, Sony and MS have resources that completely outstrip Nintendo's any day. They tried to play to their strengths this generation, by letting 3rd parties develop internal franchises in hopes of garnering support, but all anyone could do was complain about how they wanted new or 3rd party franchises. Well, that's what Nintendo was TRYING to give you! Build up ties by working together on games.

In the end, Nintendo should just be swallowed up by some larger entity so that all of you will SHUT THE HELL UP for a while and just enjoy playing games. And when that entity achieves its goal of getting a set-top-box or a controlled internet network or whatever else the hell they're really after instead of video games into peoples livingrooms and dismatle Nintendo and the rest of their video games division because it's no longer needed, you can rest assured that you got a few more good years of gaming out of Nintendo at the cost of quite possibly a lifetime.

The first year does matter.  Look at the GC.  It did terribly in its first year and look how it turned out.  Barely selling 20 million consoles, that's a drop of about 20 million from the 40 million N64's.  The Playstation and the REV are different.  The Playstation was still following the traditional console where as the REV is a completely different console because of the controller.  As I said before, if they can't sell the concept to the consumer early on, they probably will not care for it later on.

3rd parties thinking they're high and mighty?  You can say the same thing with Nintendo and their belief that they can survive on 1st/2nd party games alone and 3rd parties are useless.

Square joined Sony because the Playstation offered them things they wanted such as using CD's instead of cartridges.  They also, like most developers got sick and tired of Nintendo's money grabbing policies with their ridiculous licensing fees.

If Nintendo wanted to shut us up, all they needed to do was stop being so damn stubborn and stop making stupid decisions.

[Ceric]

Wow.  You know on the subject of people thinking the PS2 is the strongest this gen.  Most people think the Gamecube is the weakest.  It doesn't get to me as much when it someone I consider uninformed in the area of Hardware.  But when it's one my Computer/Electrical Engineering friends that sort of bothers me.  I correct them and go on.  The funny part is I keep seeing games that were originally GCN titles showing up on the 360 and hearing rumors the reason is that the original Xbox was just not powerful enough to do the game how it was planned on the GCN.  Everyone will admit that the Xbox was the handsdown raw power house this generation.  Nintendo just makes smart choices on there hardware in comparison.  Know what to dedicate to hardware and what not too is very important.  I have Karoake Revolution Party for my GCN (That was a hard find, ironically enough I finally found Cubivore on the same day.  The three year search is now over, so far that game rocks.  Someone needs to go over and Kick Atlus around because this isn't the only game of there's I want and they limitted the release.), from the screens I've seen of the PS2 version it looks a lot better on the GCN and the sound is just great and they didn't sack any songs.  Go Ogg Vorbis.

ok Prediction:

$250  Full Package
No Rev game included
Tutorial built into snazzy new interface
2 "Downloads" from a set list
Unfortunately it will come with RCA hookups like every other Nintendo console except the VB, maybe even the same connector but rumor has it this will be wireless.
May be able to get the USB Wi-Fi adapter for the cheap with the purchase of a new System
Rev will actually be smaller then it is now
That whole outer case will be able to be replaced for skinning
The system will have a mysterious "Exp" port that will never be used outside of Japan

[denjet78]

Quote
Originally posted by: Magik
The first year does matter.  Look at the GC.  It did terribly in its first year and look how it turned out.  Barely selling 20 million consoles, that's a drop of about 20 million from the 40 million N64's.  The Playstation and the REV are different.  The Playstation was still following the traditional console where as the REV is a completely different console because of the controller.  As I said before, if they can't sell the concept to the consumer early on, they probably will not care for it later on.

3rd parties thinking they're high and mighty?  You can say the same thing with Nintendo and their belief that they can survive on 1st/2nd party games alone and 3rd parties are useless.

Square joined Sony because the Playstation offered them things they wanted such as using CD's instead of cartridges.  They also, like most developers got sick and tired of Nintendo's money grabbing policies with their ridiculous licensing fees.

If Nintendo wanted to shut us up, all they needed to do was stop being so damn stubborn and stop making stupid decisions.

I point out to you again, look at the Playstation. No one thought that it was going to be any real kind of competition once the N64 came out, which was more than a year after it was released... I think. I can't remember exactly right now. But for sure it wasn't supposed to be the industry leader that it is today. The XBox had a MUCH bigger push and a much bigger first year than the PSX did. Nintendo sold MORE N64s on the consoles launch DAY than Sony did in the PSXs first year. Care to tell me again how the first year is so important? Or is that only related to Nintendo and everyone else is exempt? Obviously Sony proved that a consoles first year means nothing. And by the way, no one cared about the fact that the N64 was cartrage based at first. NO ONE. Because it was assumed that it was going to be the market leader. Sony had to PAY developers to make games for their console. Tell me again how great CD is.

And Nintendo can survive on 1st party software alone. They've done it for 2 generations if you haven't noticed. Could Sony do that? Could MS do that? Could ANYONE else in this industry almost single handedly support a console and still make more profit than anyone else in the industry? Sick and tired of Nintendo's money grubbing policies? Well how about Sony and MS subsidizing hardware that developers then have to eat the cost of developing games for? You heard that right, when Sony and MS sell their consoles at a loss they're forcing the developers to eat the cost of developing for said hardware while at the same time maintaining a software pricing structure that gamers will still accept. Why haven't game prices gone up? Because consoles prices haven't gone up. I don't know about you but who's going to pay $100 for a game when the console only costs $300? Yet that's what Sony and MS have been FORCING 3rd parties to do. They have to keep their games prices down because the hardware is so cheap. Basically they're forcing advancements without a care in the world as to how it affects anyone else. Besides, it sounds like you want Nintendo to put their own games on the back burner and push 3rd party software. WHY? They're in this industry to make money, not friends. They are a SOFTWARE MAKER, that's their whole business! And because of that they're always going to be at odds with 3rd parties. You can't say the same thing about Sony and MS.

Then you counter Square with the CD issue. And you actually think that's the WHOLE reason they jumped ship? I'm not even going to go into all the nuances of what really happened because you already seem to think that you know. I mean, because without CD it just wasn't possible to make any good games at all. Games like Super Mario 64 or OOT or MM. CD was absolutely and completely necessary, wasn't it.

You know what, Nintendo might be money grubbing, just like every other company out there by the way, but at least they do it with one thing in mind: GAMES. If they screw up with the games, they're dead. They don't have any other industry to fall back on. You can't say that about Sony or MS and the way they treat games, you can see it.

---

Anyway, I'm annoyed right now and I need to take my medication because I'm twitching. I'm sorry if I sound angry but it's really annoying when Nintendo get's all the flack and everyone else can get away with murder just because they do it under the guise of pushing gaming forward when in actuallity it's done nothing but fall backwards.

[Magik]

Quote
Originally posted by: denjet78


I point out to you again, look at the Playstation. No one thought that it was going to be any real kind of competition once the N64 came out, which was more than a year after it was released... I think. I can't remember exactly right now. But for sure it wasn't supposed to be the industry leader that it is today. The XBox had a MUCH bigger push and a much bigger first year than the PSX did. Nintendo sold MORE N64s on the consoles launch DAY than Sony did in the PSXs first year. Care to tell me again how the first year is so important? Or is that only related to Nintendo and everyone else is exempt? Obviously Sony proved that a consoles first year means nothing. And by the way, no one cared about the fact that the N64 was cartrage based at first. NO ONE. Because it was assumed that it was going to be the market leader. Sony had to PAY developers to make games for their console. Tell me again how great CD is.

And Nintendo can survive on 1st party software alone. They've done it for 2 generations if you haven't noticed. Could Sony do that? Could MS do that? Could ANYONE else in this industry almost single handedly support a console and still make more profit than anyone else in the industry? Sick and tired of Nintendo's money grubbing policies? Well how about Sony and MS subsidizing hardware that developers then have to eat the cost of developing games for? You heard that right, when Sony and MS sell their consoles at a loss they're forcing the developers to eat the cost of developing for said hardware while at the same time maintaining a software pricing structure that gamers will still accept. Why haven't game prices gone up? Because consoles prices haven't gone up. I don't know about you but who's going to pay $100 for a game when the console only costs $300? Yet that's what Sony and MS have been FORCING 3rd parties to do. They have to keep their games prices down because the hardware is so cheap. Basically they're forcing advancements without a care in the world as to how it affects anyone else. Besides, it sounds like you want Nintendo to put their own games on the back burner and push 3rd party software. WHY? They're in this industry to make money, not friends. They are a SOFTWARE MAKER, that's their whole business! And because of that they're always going to be at odds with 3rd parties. You can't say the same thing about Sony and MS.

Then you counter Square with the CD issue. And you actually think that's the WHOLE reason they jumped ship? I'm not even going to go into all the nuances of what really happened because you already seem to think that you know. I mean, because without CD it just wasn't possible to make any good games at all. Games like Super Mario 64 or OOT or MM. CD was absolutely and completely necessary, wasn't it.

You know what, Nintendo might be money grubbing, just like every other company out there by the way, but at least they do it with one thing in mind: GAMES. If they screw up with the games, they're dead. They don't have any other industry to fall back on. You can't say that about Sony or MS and the way they treat games, you can see it.

---

Anyway, I'm annoyed right now and I need to take my medication because I'm twitching. I'm sorry if I sound angry but it's really annoying when Nintendo get's all the flack and everyone else can get away with murder just because they do it under the guise of pushing gaming forward when in actuallity it's done nothing but fall backwards.

The REV's first year is important because the system is completely different from the rest of the competition, which makes it a harder sell since it goes against what has been the norm for the last 20 odd years.  People are not going to switch from the way they have been playing consoles for the last 20 years to something new in an instant.  And let's not forget how distorted Nintendo's image is right now.  The media doesn't take them seriously anymore and the stigma of being a 'tiku tiku tiku! ' system, which is not entirely true, has become associated with Nintendo.  Coupled with the fact that they do not really have the age group of 16-25 on their side and casuals/non-gamers thinking it's Sony or MS that is the top consoles will make it even harder for people to buy the REV.

By the time the first year is done, the PS3 will have launched, and the 360 will have had a whole year with more games and more shipments.  They hype for the PS3 will be huge and the 360 will still be strong and it's quite possible that they will overshadow the REV if it can't make any breakthroughs.

As for the CD, it obviously gave a lot more space for developers to use, which was one of the main reasons why Square jumped ship, and it was a lot cheaper to manufactur.  Who said anything about requiring CD's to make great games?  CD's gave developers more freedom and it was the next evolution for console media.  CD's with FF7 was the catalyst that allowed the Playstation to become the leader.

Sure, Nintendo has survived the last two generations on 1st/2nd party games, but can they do it again when their userbase is getting cut in half each generation and their image is in the gutter and popularity on the decline?  

When did I say I wanted Nintendo to but their 1st party games on the backburner?  I would like to see a balance between 1st/2nd and 3rd party games to be honest.  

[JonLeung]

But simply because of the download service, I'm sure 20-30-year-olds who remember the NES (or even those slightly younger who remember the Super NES), if Nintendo can get the word out about it, people will buy it JUST for those old games.  At first.

Once they have a Revolution, even if it was meant for the classics, they have the ability to play Revolution games, and will actually take the time to look at the Revolution section in the game/electronics stores.

If someone was satisfied with their Xbox or PS2, they wouldn't need to look at the GameCube section.  Sure, it has a lot of exclusive games, not like, say, the Xboxes which nearly all are also available for the PC, but if casual gamers don't feel like they're missing anything, and don't have the ability to play GCN games anyway, why would they look at the GCN section, especially if they're not hearing about it as much?

This retro library is one of the Aces in Nintendo's hand.  It's a service that the competition doesn't have.  Sure, the others have backwards compatibility but not on this level, and not as convenient.  It should sound even better than when DVDs were new and people were buying a PS2 for its DVD-playing ability.  Well, ideally, anyway.

So the download service will get it into more homes because of this feature alone, including quite a lot in the hands of older gamers.

I predict that Nintendo will make a big deal about the "virtual console" and heavily at launch - very heavily, perhaps, and they really should.  It will be a big point whenever people make comparisons between the three consoles and Nintendo will remind us again and again, especially between major Revolution game releases.  They will hold off on releasing some games to maintain interest by putting them out over time.  I don't foresee all of their games at once, and even if they do for some nutso reason, perhaps some third-party developers had been sitting on the fence and if it does become successful (which I predict it will) then they'll want a piece of the action, so games might come later anyway.

[Magik]

Quote
Originally posted by: JonLeung
But simply because of the download service, I'm sure 20-30-year-olds who remember the NES (or even those slightly younger who remember the Super NES), if Nintendo can get the word out about it, people will buy it JUST for those old games.  At first.

Once they have a Revolution, even if it was meant for the classics, they have the ability to play Revolution games, and will actually take the time to look at the Revolution section in the game/electronics stores.

If someone was satisfied with their Xbox or PS2, they wouldn't need to look at the GameCube section.  Sure, it has a lot of exclusive games, not like, say, the Xboxes which nearly all are also available for the PC, but if casual gamers don't feel like they're missing anything, and don't have the ability to play GCN games anyway, why would they look at the GCN section, especially if they're not hearing about it as much?

This retro library is one of the Aces in Nintendo's hand.  It's a service that the competition doesn't have.  Sure, the others have backwards compatibility but not on this level, and not as convenient.  It should sound even better than when DVDs were new and people were buying a PS2 for its DVD-playing ability.  Well, ideally, anyway.

So the download service will get it into more homes because of this feature alone, including quite a lot in the hands of older gamers.

I predict that Nintendo will make a big deal about the "virtual console" and heavily at launch - very heavily, perhaps, and they really should.  It will be a big point whenever people make comparisons between the three consoles and Nintendo will remind us again and again, especially between major Revolution game releases.  They will hold off on releasing some games to maintain interest by putting them out over time.  I don't foresee all of their games at once, and even if they do for some nutso reason, perhaps some third-party developers had been sitting on the fence and if it does become successful (which I predict it will) then they'll want a piece of the action, so games might come later anyway.

I think they will make a very big deal about the 'virtual console' especially if they can get SEGA on board.  I just hope they don't make it so big that it overshadows everything else about the REV.

There are definitely a lot of people would be interested in the 'virtual console', but I think there are more people interested in new games than old games.

[Avinash_Tyagi]

Quote
ok Prediction:

$250 Full Package
No Rev game included
Tutorial built into snazzy new interface
2 "Downloads" from a set list
Unfortunately it will come with RCA hookups like every other Nintendo console except the VB, maybe even the same connector but rumor has it this will be wireless.
May be able to get the USB Wi-Fi adapter for the cheap with the purchase of a new System
Rev will actually be smaller then it is now
That whole outer case will be able to be replaced for skinning
The system will have a mysterious "Exp" port that will never be used outside of Japan

Too weak an offering to be believable.

I really think Ninty is going to try and copy the NES with their release of the REV and therefore include pretty much everything that is needed for immediate family fun with the system which means at least one game and two controllers with all the attachments.

[Ian Sane]

I think the virtual console is a good selling point but there's a careful balance in regard to promoting it.  Should they promote it as a selling point?  Absolutely.  But they also have to emphasize the new games.  One problem with Nintendo's image is that they are often accused of rehashing.  Now we may know that Nintendo usually varies their sequels and spinoffs a fair bit but non-fans don't know that.  They see six Mario games next to each other on the shelf and assume Nintendo is a one trick pony milking the same stuff again and again.  Nintendo's greatest hurdle will be convincing people that have written Nintendo off that the Rev is something new and isn't just the same sequels again and again.  Too much emphasis on the virtual console can hurt that.  It may look too much like Nintendo is just rehashing yet again.  It doesn't help that they've gone to the classic games well a few times already with the e-Reader games and the NES Classics on the GBA.

The virtual console is an important selling point but can't be focused on in such a way that a Nintendo detractor is going to think the Rev is just another excuse for Nintendo to re-release Super Mario Bros.

[JonLeung]

Quote
There are definitely a lot of people would be interested in the 'virtual console', but I think there are more people interested in new games than old games.

Hmmm, true.  But it would still definitely be a selling point to gamers in a demographic Nintendo needs, and will get back those gamers with any sense of nostalgia who may have become disenfranchised with them lately.  If it has a much lower price point than the competition it would definitely be worth considering as a second console.

And as I said, once it's in the homes already, people will look at the Nintendo section of the game store and consider the new games since they now have the means to play them.  The classics are doing "Trojan horse penetration".

It'll work for that demographic, anyway.  They'll hopefully have other marketing strategies and solid new games for those less interested in the past, I definitely agree with you there.