Topic: my ideas on what the Gamecube's successor needs to be succesfull

[Dark Helmet]

Alright I already wrote this once but well something went wrong and I lost everything. Anyways I was thinking the other day what has gone wrong for the gamecube and well what the next nintendo system could do to improve what had happened to the gamecube. So I will point some of these things and try to start a contructive discussio. Anyone's opinions are welcomed even opposing ones. So please try to think about this.

Note: For one I do not believe that the gamecube was a failure it just didn't do as well as anyone had hoped. It did make money and the most recent price drop has increased the sales of the gamecube to such stateus that it has passed up both the xbox and playstation 2 in the past week. Hopefully it can continue through the rest of the gamecube's life.

First off Hardware. The gamecube was desinged very well however when talking about the gamecube with my friends they always bring up the lack of the dvd player. Now in my opiniion I like to have a sepperate dvd player from my video game system for quality reason, but it seems that most people want a dvd player in their system so go ahead and add it. This way while a consumer is choosing which system to get it isn't based on how one of them has a dvd player and the other one doesn't. The next is online play. This would infact be cheap for nintendo all they would have to do is have gamespy make the software, which would be built into the system or the game, that would allow the user to host their own games. That way nintendo doesn't have to spend money on the servers. Now if a company wanted to do a MMORPG or some game like that the company that was releaseing the game would be responible for setting up servers and also the pay plans that took place. Other than that the hardware would basically have to meet or exceed the specs of all of its compition. One more thing the gamecube cannot be indigo. That color help feed the whole "g@y"cube and kiddy image. I think that platinum would work best.

Now for software.
The List all must be exclusives and released as a launch title or atleast a few months after the the system was released :
   -A major RPG from a major company    (a game like Final Fantasy VII sequal, Dragon Warrior, or any FInal Fantasy that is in the number system)
   -A major FPS       (This has to be from the same magnitude as Halo was to the xbox or Goldeneye was to the N64)
   -An orriginal Game from Silicoln Knights        (Too Human would be great but so would any other title from this company)
   -Camelot RPG        (Perferably a Golden Sun game, but maybe if they took us into a whole new world that would be great too)
   -Game Zero           (That's if it wasn't released for gamecube already. If that's the case a new release from zoonami)
   -Metal Gear             (This means remake of the orrginal games or MGS 4)
   -Grand Theft Auto 4    (These games I actually don't like to much but they are very popular so if they were exclusive it would bring in a lot of sales)
   -New Resident Evil       (Come on these games have now been associated with nintendo must continue that association)
   -Any other major 3rd party title

All right that's all that my mind can think of at this moment. So there it is go ahead and speak up on what you think.
thanks,
-WENUS-  

[KDR_11k]

1. This stuff belongs into "Fast Forward".
2. Your list of launch games is too long. Noone will buy that many games, that way the games will kill each other's sales.
3. How would you get all those companies to work for you? I'm sure if the N5 sold fast, Square would make a game for it before the PS3 launches, but Rockstar have a contract with Sony.
4. Your list has zero Nintendo games. How can you launch a Nintendo console without Nintendo games? That defeats the whole purpose!
5. DVD capabilities cost. Not just the additional hardware but also the license fees.
6. Hosting won't really work with consoles. The games are written to fully utilize the system, there's no spare power for hosting. Means you'd need a dedicated server. They should allow hosting with an x86.

[Yuji Miyamoto]

as of november Rockstar will no longer have an exclusive contract w/ sony. (w/ the exception of a brief period of exclusivity for GTA4 aka "GTA.L.A.")

i believe that square has a lot up their sleeves, and that we will see many suprises on current and future Nintendo systems.  (FFCC is after, the best looking FF game to date.  quite a first showing on Nin's new system)

seriously though, as much fun as it is to speculate about this stuff, not one of the big three companies could give a flying leap what any of us think.  reguardless of what the marketing slick promotions say.  they are after, just corporations.  

[Qbric]

I hate the DVD argument. GCN doesn't need it becasue:

A)My Ps2 already has one!
B)Size counts!
C)So does cost! DVD lisences aren't free.

I don't own more than one toaster or coffee maker, I don't need 2 DVD players, and I esp. don't need to buy it twice. Nintendo made the right deciscion, why can't people see this?

EDIT

Should N5 have DVD? I'm going out on a limb and I'm going to stand against it for the reasons above. Besides, my Dreamcast plays CDs and Mp3s just fine. V-CD too.

[Mario]

It needs to be really good.

[Infernal Monkey]

It also needs to have control pads. Those are pretty vital.
*Nods head*

[PIAC]

i was thinking a power supply you know... perhaps one from one of those enormous valve computers that had like 2 bites of ram and took up an entire room, now there is a way to grab attention...

[Infernal Monkey]

Yeah, that'd be awesome! It could come with a pack-in broom for when it starts acting up, too!
C'mon Betsy! *hits with broom*

[Mario]

Did someone say, Flying Broom with rumble?

Oooooooh yeah. *lays back in chair*

[kennyb27]

I've learned to stay away from the Fast Forward threads because I don't care to hear people guessing at the future of any company.  So please, keep this where it belongs (ie, not here).

[CaseyRyback]

just make a few online games like a Smash Bros. online

[Dark Helmet]

All right. First off I am sorry about posting this at the Gamecube section I didn't know about the Fast Forward section at the time and I thank the moderators for moving it and am terribly sorry for the inconvience

second This list of software is not just for launch it is for up to like a year after launch. So I also made it so that it would attrack different people. They aren't all one type of game they're all different types of games that different people are attrackted to and therefore it allows the buyer to choose what they want but KDR I do understand where your coming from with to many titles it would cause to much of a spread meaning all software sales wouldn't be very high. So thanks for bringing that up.

thirdly if I believe correctly the Rockstar contract with sony will expire pretty soon. Like what Yuji was saying.

About the nintendo game part of it. That I actually had in my first list that I somehow messed up and it slipped my mind while writing it over. I do believe that there should be a Mario game and atleast one completely orriginal game from nintendo.

i totally agree that the dvd part of it is rediculous but however the average consumer doesn't see it the way that we do. They see that hey they can watch a dvd in this, but if nintendo decides not too they might make thier decision solely on that. I personally own a denon dvd so I wouldn't use the feature and would in fact be conserned about the quality of the playback. Another thing to thin about is that with incorporating the dvd part for one it would cost more for nintendo and for two make it easiear for pirating. There is one thing that I totally think that nintendo should do and stay away from dvd platform for thier games.

For the hosting part I see that you are correct, but that makes a problem with online play becuase personally I don't like to spend money to play online when I've already bought the game. Another question is how is the LAN setting for the gamecube any different they are supporting thier own LAN without taking to much power.

Just my thoughts on the whole deal and all of your arguments are legit and I understand where you are coming from.
-WENUS-

[The Omen]

Forget the DVD player.  Most people who want one, have one.  Just launch with these:
RE 4 or 5
MGS:whatever
Mario 2d
Timesplitters 3
Madden 2005 or 6
Rogue squadron : Lukes dead or something
Too human -or other silicon knights game, unless they are doing MGS
Super smash bros

Wavebirds as standard controllers
Harddrive
Short load times

Perfection!

[Rich]

Yeah I'm with omen on the games and the Wavebirds being standard but I think there should be a DVD player in the N5, not because people need one, but because they see better value if the DVD player is there.

[bmfrosty]

If the N5 uses 5 inch media, yes, dvd compatibilty as a plug in device like the Xbox.  If a n5 user needs dvd compatibility, they can spend the $25 on software+licence sold as a remote.

3rd memory card slot, but make it a usb port ad make it capable of dealing with USB mass storage devices.  Sure it will give the nintendo licencing structure issue, but it will also make having a built in hard drive a moot point as they'll be easy to buy from any vendor.  Nintendo maybe gets to sell a seal of approval to vendors for a buck a pop.  This will require an overhaul of the memory card filesystem.

V-Chip.  Password set by vendor at point of purchase.  Nintendo doesn't want uber-questionable games on their system like GTA3/GTA Vice City, but they need them for image reasons.  A V-Chip would require parents to authorize M rated games before the first play, and then disable them later if need be.  This forces the responsibilty in the parents laps where it should be and leaves Nintendo free to pimp the system to companies like rockstar without feeling guilty.

Comes with ethernet port, supports optional dial-up modem via serial port (usb? or make it compatible with GC modem?).  Have to agree on gamespy.  Games should have online capabilities where it makes sense.  Mario Party/Mario Kart/Smash Bros/Golf.  Pimp the system to MMORPG makers.  

More USB Ports.  Support of HID mice and keyboards.  Require makers of games to focus first on controller, but most FPS just work better with Keyboard/Mouse combo.  Also makes buying a keyboard for mmorpgs cheaper.

Games are required to support both progressive scan and 16x9 aspect.  720p and 1080i are optional resolutions, and supported, but not required.  Note - once progressive scan is there, interlaced is inherited.  Just show only half the lines at a time.  Games can also support interlaced modes directly and in some cases enjoy a better framerate.

Backwards compatibilty would be good.  Will be easily attainable if nintendo increases clock speed, but keeps backwards compatible cpu/ram/gpu, otherwise cpu/gpu/spu/ram in a reduced number of chips is probabally not far away.  Does anyone know how many revisions of gamecube hardware there are yet?

-bmfrosty (more to come)

[Dark Helmet]

I love the idea about the wavebird. That way there is no need for controller ports and behind the plastic or whatnot there could be four different controller recievers at different frequencies so that all the user has to do is on the wavebird switch which frequency he is using.

I also like the idea for the usb port for connection to hard drives and would also like a firewire port since that's the one external hard drive that I own. I could always get an different encloser to put the hard drive in however. Another thing that I liked was the V-Chip idea. This keeps the "violent video games causes aggression" people off of the back of the video game industry.

Like the omen said there has to be short load times that is one thing that nintendo is always been known for.

Also the game disks could be double layered so that it could double the size on one disk. They also have to find a way to fit more information onto a small disk. Since that's the way I think that they should continue doing. Another thing is that backwards compatibility would be great, even though I will always keep my gamecube, but if it causes any problems I say that they should just throw it out and not worry about it.
-WENUS-

[Geno]

Right here goes: I want guns, triggers on controllers, cartridges, stuff DVD.

[Jayman450]

Backwards compatibilty please please please.  Helped the PS2 I think.  It's a nice transition when you buy a new console to be able to play all your old cool games.

DVD would be good for Travel.

HDD would eliminate Mem Card problem.

The D-Pad for game cube realy does suck.  It's about the size of the GBA.

I hope they think about Media Size this time.  PS2 is 2yrs older and Develpers are having to cut back things because they can't fit there game on 1.5 GB.

USB 2.0 Ports would be usefull.

More 3rd party games.


No Idea how do-able this stuff is.  Just what I think.

[Jayman450]

Backwards compatibilty please please please.  Helped the PS2 I think.  It's a nice transition when you buy a new console to be able to play all your old cool games.

DVD would be good for Travel.

HDD would eliminate Mem Card problem.

The D-Pad for game cube realy does suck.  It's about the size of the GBA.

I hope they think about Media Size this time.  PS2 is 2yrs older and Develpers are having to cut back things because they can't fit there game on 1.5 GB.

USB 2.0 Ports would be usefull.

More 3rd party games.


No Idea how do-able this stuff is.  Just what I think.

[vudu]

"The D-Pad for game cube realy does suck. It's about the size of the GBA."

actually, nintendo used the exact same d-pad for the gamecube controller as they did for the original gba.  something about cutting productions costs.  a moot point, when they started making the gba-sp.

[Bill Aurion]

Ai yai yai!  *shakes head in disgust*

[ib2kool4u912]

It definitely needs a built in waffle iron. It would really make the system stand out among other ones.

Person 1: My PS3 can play 3 DVDs at once while i use it to check my e-mail.
Person 2: Well my Nintendo can make waffles while i play games.
Person 1: Really? I might have to check that out.

As you can see through my amazing example it could change people's minds about Nintendo. Nintendo wouldn't be "kiddy" anymore, it would be "kiddy with a side of waffles".