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Originally posted by: mouse_clicker
Never say never- you should know that. I realize competition is very important for innovation- I didn't said it wasn't, so don't put words in my mouth. I was pointing out the fact that the NES had a plethora of incredibly good games despite it's lack of competition and today good games are pretty rare, despite having 3 major consoles. Competition shouldn't have to be between consoles- it should be between developers. On the NES Nintendo's games were so good 3rd-parties had to work that much harder to get their games noticed, and it really showed. Nowadays, everybody's slacked off and a game will sell on marketing rather than actual quality. Competition certainly isn't helping THOSE games, is it?
Competion for the best games did, and still does work between developers. Now we have an extra wrinkle in that there is competition between console makers to get those developers on board, something we didn't have back in the days of Nintendo's strong arm tactics.
However, the point I made was that even though there were many good games on the NES, were it not for Sega's Genesis really taking off, Nintendo would have stuck with the NES for another three years. They were in no hurry to come up with something better. ALso, there are the finacial benefits of competition that you cannot ignore.
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"You are wrong to suggest that Gameboy has never had any competition, and that Gameboy has been the only system you needed for handheld games. GameGear may not have outlasted the Gameboy, but it certainly wasn't a failure."
Try reading my extra posts before replying- I've already responded to this very comment. Yes, the Game Gear presented competition, but it was crushed by the GameBoy very quickly. I realize it had some great games, but if you look at THE handheld to own since they were invented, to say anything other than the GameBoy shows you're missing a few vital brain cells. THAT'S my point.
And obviously all those other features you mention about the GameGear didn't help it out too much.
You may have responded to that very comment. But you responded rather ignorantly. The Game Gear had a good long run of five+ years. It was hardly crushed "very quickly". IN fact, it may have gone on for another few years after that were it not for the fact that Sega had by that time begun running itself into a hole with endless ad-ons, like the CD, and the 32X, that no one wanted to buy. Also, if you really knew anything about the topic at all, you would know that the Gameboy was as good as dead at about the same time the Game Gear was as good as dead. Nintendo tired everything to revive sales, such as the super Gameboy, the play it loud series, and nothing worked until a game called pokemon came along. It was just lucky for Nintendo that that game also happened to come at a time when there was no competition.
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"NES had not competition? Well I guess you were just to young to realize that the master system was major competition for the NES, not so much in NA, but in Europe."
You really enjoy pissing me off, don't you? I know very well about the Master System- a few of my friends own one, but to consider it anything but a little dog nipping at the NES's heels is ludicrous. It wasn't competition, period.
Don't be so ignorant. Really. I don't think you know anything about the master system at all. Yes, in the US it was a little dog. But in Europe, it was HUGE. The video game market it bigger than the United states, you know.
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"Gameboy was the only system you needed for handhelds games in the face of Wonderswan, and Neo Geo pocket. Well I guess you don't care about those very cool Final Fantasyremakes, or the great SNK games on the NGPC. But I sure did, and I was very sorry not to see the WS released in north America."
And obviously neither did most of the world, since both the WonderSwan and NGPC are dead no (as was SNK for a while). Those Final Fantasy Remakes may have been cool, but the GameBoy was still the console to own. I understand you enjoy dropping a fat load of cash on an import system to play a few games, but mainstream culture disagrees.
Yes, but like i say, the reason for those systems failure, is that both were made by fairly small companies with limited marketing capital. SNK was on it's last legs to begin with, and could ill afford to release the NGPC in NA, but it did anyway, with little fanfare. I like most of the population had no idea it even exsited until it was gone. That is the reason for it's failure. Likewise, Bandai could not afford to release the Wonderswan here without having another company(mattel) market it for them. Since that never happened, the Wonderswan never happened in norht america. EVen so, in Japanthe unit carved out a very respectable 10% of the market, and would have likely continued to maintain that market share even in the face of the GBA has Square not mended relations with Nintendo.
To say that the Gameboy has steamrolled the compeititon all along is innacurate. It is only within the past few years that that has been the case. The secret to the Gameboys longevity has been Nintendo's system of reinventing it ever few years. From the old greay brick, the the opay it loud series, the the gameboy pocket, to the gameboy light, to the gameboy colour, and then the GBA, and now the GBA SP, Nintendo has masterfully maintained mindshare by always making the gameboy appear as something new, even though in reality it has chnaged very little.
Now, with Sony, we have a very different story. Now some threatens to actually shake up the market and do something different, rather than imitate the gameboy. Whatever the result, be it a new split in the handheld market, or a new and powerful Nintendo handheld rising up to drive the PSP down, it can only be good for us gamers.