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[guek]

The other things that's absolutely absurd is that you just know that if Wii U doesn't match the sales of the original Wii, the gaming media is going to pin it as an absolute failure. It doesn't matter if it sells 10 million or 80 million, anything short of 95-100 million lifetime will be labeled a disaster.

And I think that's completely ridiculous. My personal hope is that it'll do in 5 years what the 360 did in 7.

 

[AGITΩ]

1) Price?
$349-$399
I dont see this price as too high nor DOA. Almost Daily, even today I talked to customers, typically casual consumers to gauge their response to a $349-$399 Price tag, and reactions are actually positive. When informed about a Tablet-style controller, they do see the price as justifiable.

2) Release date?
Nintendo usually releases on a Sunday, but have released recently some products on Friday for Simultaneous WW releases.. Typically in November Period.
US:
(Likely) November 11th - If Activision IS coming out with Black Ops 2 for Wii U, then Nintendo would be kinda dumbfounded to release the System post launch, since most COD copies sell Day 1.
(Hopes for) October 28th - Just to Release it before Assassin's Creed 3, that IS if Nintendo tries to cater to Ubisoft as much as they Cater to Nintendo.
Euro/JPN:
November 9th.

3) Bullshit xbox360-based Multiplier Equivalent?
3x with Strong use of uPad.
5x without use or no screen support to uPad.

4) Nintendo conference surprise(s)?
All DLC if Bought at Retail is a Collectable NFC Figure (My Wallet will cry)

5) Predict Miyamoto's role/costume/appearance context in this year's show.
Dressed as Captain Olimar to show off Pikmin 3, and showing off new Pikmin that will be NFC Figures.

6) Any special MS or Sony predictions?
Microsoft - Announces a Windows 7/Xbox Certified Gaming tablet with compatibility to 360/future console. Will feature Kinectimals To Go. -Requires Internet connectivity and Xbox Live gold 2 year contract to function.
Sony - Announces Vita in Casa a striped down Vita that retails for $89.99. Similar to the Wii U in Functionality, just a Vita that only works through communication with the PS3. Though it cannot play physical media, but will allow Vita downloaded games to the PS3 to be played on the system while at home.

7) You know we're going to hear some, umm, interesting excuses from third parties. So.. what'll be your favorite?
"Our games simply wont sell on a Nintendo platform"/"The audience we pander to wont own the system"

8) Any special E3 plans/arrangements of your own? Taking off from work? Skipping a final exam?
Requested June 5th and 6th off. I always have had the same friends of mine come over to watch the conferences since 2006. Its now an annual tradition at my place.

9) Your favorite bullshit gaming media critique of Nintendo's performance at E3 this year?
"Ports ports and Nintendo games, sure you got a few exclusives, but the audience isn't there yet, I would love to see [Exclusive announced title] done with with the PS3/Vita combo."

10) Your own predicted complaint/peeve/angering issue regarding Nintendo's E3 performance this year?
They wont show enough games. Mii customizability wont be improved upon to be more personalized.

 

[TheExplodingHead]

The other things that's absolutely absurd is that you just know that if Wii U doesn't match the sales of the original Wii, the gaming media is going to pin it as an absolute failure. It doesn't matter if it sells 10 million or 80 million, anything short of 95-100 million lifetime will be labeled a disaster.

And I think that's completely ridiculous. My personal hope is that it'll do in 5 years what the 360 did in 7.

Early that will depend on the price, long term I strongly believe it will depend on market trending and software support, which is what crucified the Wii at the end.

 

[SolidSnakex]

I was watching Game Informer's Super Replay of Yoshi's Island and they started talking about how they're often asked why they don't have more Nintendo games on their covers. They mentioned that it was due to Nintendo not giving them the opportunity to have them. Does anyone think that stuff like that will change next generation? Not with GI only, but with gaming media in general and Nintendo? They're much more closed off in that area compared to Sony and MS. If Retro's game is unveiled at E3 it seems like it would be a perfect opportunity to give GI the first real scoop on the game. They have a huge reader base due to their link with Game Stop, so it would receive a lot of attention.

 

[Throwaway123456789]

1) Price?
$349

2) Release date?
Week starting October 21th. Worldwide

3) Bullshit xbox360-based Multiplier Equivalent?
2x

4) Nintendo conference surprise(s)?
Zelda playable. New game from Retro. Vitality Sensor resurfaces.

5) Predict Miyamoto's role/costume/appearance context in this year's show.
Will be on stage with Dr. Kawashima.

7) You know we're going to hear some, umm, interesting excuses from third parties. So.. what'll be your favorite?
"It's a kiddy/shitty/underpowered system where we have to compete against Nintendo"

8) Any special E3 plans/arrangements of your own? Taking off from work? Skipping a final exam?
I'm not going this year, so I'm covering E3 from work. Since it's at nighttime here, that means extra money! Hooray!

9) Your favorite bullshit gaming media critique of Nintendo's performance at E3 this year?
"Wii U just can't compete with iPad"

10) Your own predicted complaint/peeve/angering issue regarding Nintendo's E3 performance this year?
- Not getting a good online system up and running at launch
- Not having a good enough launch line up
- Not redesigning the controller slightly (needs proper sticks, analog triggers). It's not comfortable enough as it is now, according to those I know that has used it

 

[HylianTom]

The other things that's absolutely absurd is that you just know that if Wii U doesn't match the sales of the original Wii, the gaming media is going to pin it as an absolute failure. It doesn't matter if it sells 10 million or 80 million, anything short of 95-100 million lifetime will be labeled a disaster.

And I think that's completely ridiculous. My personal hope is that it'll do in 5 years what the 360 did in 7.

My gut feeling? It's gonna be spun like this no matter what. Even if it outsells the others by a similar margin to his gen's margin, they'll say "it doesn't count because ___________."

The interesting (sad?) thing is, when attempting to win-over the dudebro audience, Nintendo also has to win-over the dudebro media as well. And I don't see that happening.

 

[TheGreatMightyPoo]

The only sales figures that matter are "sells enough to get more games".

 

[GameplayWhore]

My gut feeling? It's gonna be spun like this no matter what. Even if it outsells the others by a similar margin to his gen's margin, they'll say "it doesn't count because ___________."

The interesting (sad?) thing is, when attempting to win-over the dudebro audience, Nintendo also has to win-over the dudebro media as well. And I don't see that happening.

I think that if you manage to get the audience, the media sort of gradually shifts over out of necessity.

 

[Sadist]

I don't expect Nintendo to open up more towards magazines/websites. Nintendo being Nintendo I suppose.

 

[BD1]

I was watching Game Informer's Super Replay of Yoshi's Island and they started talking about how they're often asked why they don't have more Nintendo games on their covers. They mentioned that it was due to Nintendo not giving them the opportunity to have them. Does anyone think that stuff like that will change next generation? Not with GI only, but with gaming media in general and Nintendo? They're much more closed off in that area compared to Sony and MS. If Retro's game is unveiled at E3 it seems like it would be a perfect opportunity to give GI the first real scoop on the game. They have a huge reader base due to their link with Game Stop, so it would receive a lot of attention.

I doubt it, honestly. Nintendo has a long history of a corporate culture wrapped in secrecy. It's in their DNA, and that's hard to change.

 

[Father_Brain]

I was watching Game Informer's Super Replay of Yoshi's Island and they started talking about how they're often asked why they don't have more Nintendo games on their covers. They mentioned that it was due to Nintendo not giving them the opportunity to have them. Does anyone think that stuff like that will change next generation? Not with GI only, but with gaming media in general and Nintendo? They're much more closed off in that area compared to Sony and MS. If Retro's game is unveiled at E3 it seems like it would be a perfect opportunity to give GI the first real scoop on the game. They have a huge reader base due to their link with Game Stop, so it would receive a lot of attention.

Yeah, that's another drum I've been banging for a while.

I doubt it, sadly. Hopefully, Nintendo will do a better job of adapting to the realities of Western gaming culture in other respects.

 

[guek]

My gut feeling? It's gonna be spun like this no matter what. Even if it outsells the others by a similar margin to his gen's margin, they'll say "it doesn't count because ___________."

The interesting (sad?) thing is, when attempting to win-over the dudebro audience, Nintendo also has to win-over the dudebro media as well. And I don't see that happening.

You're so jaded, Tom

 

[Dreamwriter]

I don't think it was the starfox license that did that game in. Rare struggled to evolve their game design and by the time the gamecube rolled around, Rare was a crusty stale shell of their former self. By that point, all of their adventure games were just 3D collectathons. Nintendo chucked them at the perfect moment, when their market value was still incredibly high but after the magic had faded.

Don't forget that Starfox Adventures was NOT the game Rare intended it to be. The original design had two main characters that each had different abilities that you could switch between, and you had to use them working together to solve puzzles, and it had a deep story with main characters dying, relatives being threatened, and time travel. Had they been able to finish the game they had designed, rather than stuff the Starfox license into it, maybe it would have been a far greater game. Maybe they had to add all those collectibles to make up for the lost gameplay time by removing the second main character. Unfortunately, we'll probably never know.

I'm just saying, don't blame Rare for how Starfox Adventures turned out. It could very well be Nintendo's interference which made it such a bland collectathon.

 

[nintendors]

The other things that's absolutely absurd is that you just know that if Wii U doesn't match the sales of the original Wii, the gaming media is going to pin it as an absolute failure. It doesn't matter if it sells 10 million or 80 million, anything short of 95-100 million lifetime will be labeled a disaster.

And I think that's completely ridiculous. My personal hope is that it'll do in 5 years what the 360 did in 7.

Early that will depend on the price, long term I strongly believe it will depend on market trending and software support, which is what crucified the Wii at the end.

My gut feeling? It's gonna be spun like this no matter what. Even if it outsells the others by a similar margin to his gen's margin, they'll say "it doesn't count because ___________."

The interesting (sad?) thing is, when attempting to win-over the dudebro audience, Nintendo also has to win-over the dudebro media as well. And I don't see that happening.

I think that if you manage to get the audience, the media sort of gradually shifts over out of necessity.

I think Nintendo needs to show efforts for the core fans, but the real deal are gonna be the casuals ,,,if the WiiU turned out like the first 2 years of the Wii then Nintendo can do the same strategy with their current software releases for the 3DS (especially in Japan) where they release continuous software for the Core fans to keep the momentum going. And let the casuals momentum keep going by the Wii Sport clone.

this is going to be real hard for Nintendo to keep, its like they have to split into twin Nintendo where one is full force fore core gamers and one is in full force for Soccer moms lol


EDIT: and I've just realized after reading what I've just wrote that I TOTALLY expect 3rd parties to fail Nintendo and its all gonna be on Nintendo's shoulder AGAIN to carry the system

 

[Vinci]

I doubt it, honestly. Nintendo has a long history of a corporate culture wrapped in secrecy. It's in their DNA, and that's hard to change.

Given how often their ideas are... adapted by others, it's not tremendously surprising. Especially after this generation, they'll likely be even more cautious.

 

[AzaK]

This is setting up to be a primarily boring E3 press conference run.

<snort>Wha....whoo.. Sorry I was sleeping.

Nope. The "hardcore gamer" Nintendo is referring to is exactly that group. Nintendo already has people like us so there's no "real" reason to go after us.

And that group of gamer is not going to be willing to buy into the concepts of certain Nintendo IPs. Star Fox, Pikmin, Donkey Kong, and even Mario all fall under that. That group isn't the one having the meltdowns over Metroid Prime. We are. Star Fox is what it is and expecting it to go beyond that will just set you up for disappointment and losses for Nintendo by spending more than necessary to take it in that direction.

The thing I am wondering is can Nintendo really get any significant numbers of this "hardcore" audience to go Wii U? I don't really have any insight into the mainstream-hardcore (them) as opposed to the obsessed-hardcore (us), but people who are invested in a platform seem pretty unlikely to switch to another platform.

Are really any of the 360 fans all of a sudden going to switch to Wii U, especially with all the negativity that you can shine on the Wii U wrt aesthetics, "kiddy Nintendo", that stupid controller blah blah and probably biggest of all - tech specs.

I just don't know who Nintendo is really going to try and (re)capture this generation and if they can actually do it.

The other things that's absolutely absurd is that you just know that if Wii U doesn't match the sales of the original Wii, the gaming media is going to pin it as an absolute failure. It doesn't matter if it sells 10 million or 80 million, anything short of 95-100 million lifetime will be labeled a disaster.

And I think that's completely ridiculous. My personal hope is that it'll do in 5 years what the 360 did in 7.

I doubt it matters what it sell, even if it's 200 million. Apart from the odd pariah out there the media has given up on Nintendo. I feel the Wii really cemented the opinions that have been growing the previous 10 years. And from what they've seen about the Wii U so far (controller not looking like the 360 one, "not next gen specs", "nfc is a gimmick") that they've already played their cards as to how they are going to treat it and Nintendo in the next generation. It will be interesting to see what unfolds.

 

[Mpl90]

For reference, Star Fox 64 3D is ~300k in the US alone.

Edit: I'd like Nintendo to pick up Gaijin Games.

Where does it come from?

 

[HylianTom]

You're so jaded, Tom

Yes. Yes I am. Low expectations and all that jazz.

They (media) may shift, but if focusing on an MS/Sony/PC combo is still viable, they'll keep on keepin' on.

 

[Dreamwriter]

The other things that's absolutely absurd is that you just know that if Wii U doesn't match the sales of the original Wii, the gaming media is going to pin it as an absolute failure. It doesn't matter if it sells 10 million or 80 million, anything short of 95-100 million lifetime will be labeled a disaster.

And I think that's completely ridiculous. My personal hope is that it'll do in 5 years what the 360 did in 7.

It's just like how the PSP was branded a failure because it didn't outsell the DS. "Oh no, it only sold 70 million units! What a complete failure!"

 

[GameplayWhore]

Are really any of the 360 fans all of a sudden going to switch to Wii U, especially with all the negativity that you can shine on the Wii U wrt aesthetics, "kiddy Nintendo", that stupid controller blah blah and probably biggest of all - tech specs.

I just don't know who Nintendo is really going to try and (re)capture this generation and if they can actually do it.

A giant, giant, giant, giant, giant contingent of enthusiast gamers who chose the 360 this generation did so because that's where the games that were advertised all over the place were, just as was the case with the PS2, just as was the case with the PSX. This group doesn't particularly have an umbilical connection to any console maker -- they just want to play what they see presented on television and so forth.

This is not a trivial portion of the 360 audience. It is probably larger, in fact, than the people who are solidly and defiantly insistive of staying with the same vendor out of a sense of consumer loyalty.

 

[Deguello]

Don't forget that Starfox Adventures was NOT the game Rare intended it to be. The original design had two main characters that each had different abilities that you could switch between, and you had to use them working together to solve puzzles, and it had a deep story with main characters dying, relatives being threatened, and time travel. Had they been able to finish the game they had designed, rather than stuff the Starfox license into it, maybe it would have been a far greater game. Maybe they had to add all those collectibles to make up for the lost gameplay time by removing the second main character. Unfortunately, we'll probably never know.

I'm just saying, don't blame Rare for how Starfox Adventures turned out. It could very well be Nintendo's interference which made it such a bland collectathon.

I might buy this if Rare didn't already have a reputation for making bland collectathons. For all the maybes and whyfors, I doubt Dinosaur Planet would have been a much different game. It's not like they redesigned the levels to fit in with Starfox.

But it is a good thing Rare got out from under Nintendo's oppressive yoke and were never interfered with by their owner/publisher again.

 

[SaintMadeOfPlaster]

Yeah, that's another drum I've been banging for a while.

I doubt it, sadly. Hopefully, Nintendo will do a better job of adapting to the realities of Western gaming culture in other respects.

Nintendo has no need to get cover stories for magazines. Nobody gets their information mostly from magazines anymore. The only people who still have subscriptions to gaming magazines are the die-hard gaming fans who want all the news they can get their hands on.

 

[HylianTom]

It's just like how the PSP was branded a failure because it didn't outsell the DS. "Oh no, it only sold 70 million units! What a complete failure!"

Yup! The PSP did quite well for itself, but some folks like to discredit its performance. It ain't my cup of tea, but I'd be loony to deny that it did quite impressively.

 

[Father_Brain]

The problem is that both games you mentioned are too big franchises for being eShop games and too small franchises for being full retail games - I see them in Nintendo Limbo :lol

They're only too big for eShop because Nintendo is narrow-minded in its own approach to DD. There have been a fair number of XBLA/PSN titles of comparable scope to a new entry in either franchise.

 

[Vinci]

A giant, giant, giant, giant, giant contingent of enthusiast gamers who chose the 360 this generation did so because that's where the games that were advertised all over the place were, just as was the case with the PS2, just as was the case with the PSX. This group doesn't particularly have an umbilical connection to any console maker -- they just want to play what they see presented on television and so forth.

This is not a trivial portion of the 360 audience. It is probably larger, in fact, than the people who are solidly and defiantly insistive of staying with the same vendor out of a sense of consumer loyalty.

The Live community likely has a handle on more of these people than you think, making transitioning from one platform to another harder... but... I agree that there is potential. MySpace used to have a pretty huge community too. Didn't stop Facebook from kicking its ass.

 

[TheExplodingHead]

You're so jaded, Tom

Regardless of how the Wii U is received by media and dudebro (I hate that term) audiences. Nintendo needs to focus the laser on compelling existing IP which are revamped, possibly new IP's that are marketed and directed towards a more enthusiast market. That was the Wii's biggest failing, really. They sold gangbusters of casual IP's, to "new audiences". The issue was that those IP's were unsustainable not just because of the core concepts in the games, but that audiences' tendency to forget about the Wii once the new "cool thing" hits (like FB games and iOS games).

If Nintendo creates new IP, as well as gears existing IP to the enthusiast demographics through full features and software hooks. The Wii U will do fine, but with that said, it's probably a good idea to drop the Wii name anyway in that situation. So clearly Nintendo still is very interested in these smash grab casual games that die quickly due to audience, but rake in tons of cash. But hopefully the major focus, will be on the enthusiast market.

 

[Kjellson]

Whoops! Wrong thread.

 

[GameplayWhore]

Whoops! Wrong thread.

This is never the wrong thread.

 

[Terrell]

I might buy this if Rare didn't already have a reputation for making bland collectathons. For all the maybes and whyfors, I doubt Dinosaur Planet would have been a much different game. It's not like they redesigned the levels to fit in with Starfox.

But it is a good thing Rare got out from under Nintendo's oppressive yoke and were never interfered with by their owner/publisher again.

I nominate this as the best joke of the thread.

And yeah, SFA being the way it was is Rare's doing. Anything we heard about Dinosaur Planet prior was probably in the same vein as the things we heard about Fable from Peter Molyneux: what they wanted to do but couldn't materialize.

 

[HylianTom]

The thing I am wondering is can Nintendo really get any significant numbers of this "hardcore" audience to go Wii U? I don't really have any insight into the mainstream-hardcore (them) as opposed to the obsessed-hardcore (us), but people who are invested in a platform seem pretty unlikely to switch to another platform.

Are really any of the 360 fans all of a sudden going to switch to Wii U, especially with all the negativity that you can shine on the Wii U wrt aesthetics, "kiddy Nintendo", that stupid controller blah blah and probably biggest of all - tech specs.

I just don't know who Nintendo is really going to try and (re)capture this generation and if they can actually do it.

This is possibly a huge element of my skepticism.

I don't see these middle-school & high-school & college-aged boys who have had "Nintendo = {*insert one of many epithets here*}" sung to them by our media choir and their peers for near a decade now suddenly changing their viewpoints en masse because of a new IP or three and a really cool controller.

At best, I see Nintendo recovering lapsed Nintendo fans and marginal numbers of the aforementioned crowd of young gamers. Either that, or Sony and/or Microsoft would have to screw-up immensely to drive some portions of their audiences into Nintendo's waiting arms.

I'd love to be 110% wrong though.

(edit: and I admit to being jaded, but I still try to stay generally cheerful. Watching it all unfold and enjoying some games along the way is still soooogood.gif.)

 

[AzaK]

This is possibly a huge element of my skepticism.

I don't see these middle-school & high-school & college-aged boys who have had "Nintendo = {*insert one of many epithets here*}" sung to them by our media choir and their peers for near a decade now suddenly changing their viewpoints en masse because of a new IP or three and a really cool controller.

At best, I see Nintendo recovering lapsed Nintendo fans and marginal numbers of this crowd of young gamers. Either that, or Sony and/or Microsoft would have to screw-up immensely to drive some portions of their audiences into Nintendo's waiting arms.

I'd love to be 110% wrong though.

I hope we are 110% wrong too. I guess there will a new breed of people growing up and wanting to move into more "mature" gaming who they might get if they haven't been brainwashed already

In my circles itself the disdain for Nintendo is palpable, and this is coming from people who have actual never played Nintendo systems. I'm one of a very few people in my work/social circles who have been gaming for 30+ years so they don't have the understanding of the whole range of gaming experiences. They see iPhones and XBox "photorealistic" graphics, then see people waving Wii Remotes around and BAM, their mind is made up as to what those companies do.

 

[Terrell]

This is possibly a huge element of my skepticism.

I don't see these middle-school & high-school & college-aged boys who have had "Nintendo = {*insert one of many epithets here*}" sung to them by our media choir and their peers for near a decade now suddenly changing their viewpoints en masse because of a new IP or three and a really cool controller.

At best, I see Nintendo recovering lapsed Nintendo fans and marginal numbers of this crowd of young gamers. Either that, or Sony and/or Microsoft would have to screw-up immensely to drive some portions of their audiences into Nintendo's waiting arms.

I'd love to be 110% wrong though.

You're not. Not entirely.

There are a lot of 360 owners that never bought the lines that they've been fed about Nintendo. Not really, anyways. As long as developers bring the content, there will be a migration of some of the 360 user base.

The big loser in this is Sony. Of the 2 hardware makers, a good chunk of Sony's fan base feels a bit jilted about the change in tone from PS2 to PS3 and the floundering of Japan's console offerings. If they get any indication that Japan is back to form on any console next gen, they'll flee to whatever offers that to them.

 

[ColdBlooder]

Everyone with half a brain needs to realise that the Wii was a phenomena that Nintendo may not be able to recreate. I think the reason why the Wii took off was the motion controls.

Wii came in 2006. This was BEFORE there were motion sensors in handys/tablets or other devices. It really came at the best possible time. Motion controls were brand spanking new.

With the WiiU they have a machine with amazing potential thanks to its controller and the possible focus on an social online structure. But it has nothing so brand spanking new like motion controls.

I belive that the WiiU will be a financial success for Nintendo but it will not repeat the same incredible sales figures as the Wii did.

If Microsoft and possibly Sony focus on delivering the "Do it all living room"machine, Nintendo could market the WiiU like this: "We still focus on GAMES. WiiU the only true GAME console." (Someone could come up with something a little smarter as a marketing slogan, i suppose )

 

[fabricated backlash]

Yup! The PSP did quite well for itself, but some folks like to discredit its performance. It ain't my cup of tea, but I'd be loony to deny that it did quite impressively.

The reason people rightfully claim the failure of the PSP is due to the enormous Piracy Rate and low software sales everywhere except Japan.

The DS was even worse with piracy, but still managed to sell software by sheer market dominance alone.

The 70 Million PSPs are a worthless indicator of its success

The Live community likely has a handle on more of these people than you think, making transitioning from one platform to another harder... but... I agree that there is potential. MySpace used to have a pretty huge community too. Didn't stop Facebook from kicking its ass.

XBL is not the magnet it used to be. Many of my personal friends eventually left and bought a PS3 to avoid the Live Gold fee. I've seen a lot of migration from XBL to PSN, and frankly I'm not surprised. A huge number of people wants to play online, and gives a rats ass about Microsofts perceived value in XBL Gold. Especially in Austria here, we get nothing. We don't have Youtube, we have no access to radio stations or any other feature that was introduced in other territories.

If Nintendo manages to get the big name publishers to release fully featured online games on WiiU, to have them their flagship titles on their service, and if they can get that service right, you will see quite a few migrate.

 

[bgassassin]

lol ,,,u know I'm one of the people that think if Nintendo did launch the thing with an amazing software and then kept the momentum, there would be no need for the price cut.

To an extent I agree. Though $199 from the get go may have allowed them to avoid a price drop to a lower price altogether. But hindsight is 20/20.

Yeah. I think I might just skip the whole first day altogether and actually go to work.

E3 coincides with my light work week so I wouldn't be able to fill in anything. I'll just have to "suffer" through it.


Also guys, LinkedIn gave me a free 30-day trial that I just activated. In just some random searches I found that Killer Freaks uses the same physics engine as Ghost Recon: Future Soldier/Online. And while the LinkedIn profile had the name private, a search unexpectedly led me to find out that the profile belonged to Mickaël Godard. According to his LinkedIn profile he's with Rare now. (Also confirmed on Rare's profile.)

http://www.mickael-godard.com/fichiers/Resume_Mickael_Godard.pdf

 

[Dreamwriter]

I nominate this as the best joke of the thread.

And yeah, SFA being the way it was is Rare's doing. Anything we heard about Dinosaur Planet prior was probably in the same vein as the things we heard about Fable from Peter Molyneux: what they wanted to do but couldn't materialize.

I was talking about things that were seen in the playable E3 demo of Dinosaur Planet, and the voice-acting files that were found on the Starfox Adventures disc. These weren't just theoretical dreams, they were completed features that weren't ported over to the Gamecube. The original game definitely had a far deeper storyline, and removing a main character definitely altered the game quite a bit, because part of the reason for big things like time travel was one of the two main characters was killed and Dinosaur Planet destroyed, so the remaining character had to go back in time to prevent that from happening. Something you can't really do if there's only one main character.

And don't forget that Dinosaur Planet for N64 was just about complete when it got cancelled and they were told to remake the game for Gamecube. It wasn't just a game in the planning stages.

 

[guek]

I think you guys are seriously underestimating the stupidity of children.

Xbox is the new hotness now, that's true...but that can change so quickly. Nintendo has a fantastic foundation as a gaming company. Yes it's tarnished with a kiddy reputation, but there is always a new and upcoming generation of gamers out there. And ultimately, I really believe that if nintendo can secure the casual audience while still providing access to the bigger mainstream franchises out there, they can do very well for themselves. I think changing media perceptions is going to much more difficult, but I think they're in a much better market position than Sony is next gen. Nintendo just needs to make the right investments to make it all come together.

MS is on top right now, but I'm starting to worry they're going to horribly botch next gen. I'm thinking they might put out a $300-400 console with a 2 year $15-20 monthly subscription contract, ban used games, show up a year after PS4, and have no meaningful exclusive outside of Halo, and its going to bite them in the ass.

 

[HylianTom]

You're not. Not entirely.

There are a lot of 360 owners that never bought the lines that they've been fed about Nintendo. Not really, anyways. As long as you bring the content, there will be a migration of some of the 360 user base.

The big loser in this is Sony. Of the 2 hardware makers, a good chunk of Sony's fan base feels a bit jilted about the change in tone from PS2 to PS3 and the floundering of Japan's console offerings. If they get any indication that Japan is back to form on any console next gen, they'll flee to whatever offers that to them.

Haha.. Japan's probably my main hope for attracting a core gaming audience. Actually, it kinda seems to be like a zero-sum game between Nintendo & Sony for this crowd of games ("like" -but not equivalent). If Sony falters, Nintendo benefits the most, and vice-versa. Microsoft has the west locked-up while these two fight for the east.

 

[Penguin]

I was watching Game Informer's Super Replay of Yoshi's Island and they started talking about how they're often asked why they don't have more Nintendo games on their covers. They mentioned that it was due to Nintendo not giving them the opportunity to have them. Does anyone think that stuff like that will change next generation? Not with GI only, but with gaming media in general and Nintendo? They're much more closed off in that area compared to Sony and MS. If Retro's game is unveiled at E3 it seems like it would be a perfect opportunity to give GI the first real scoop on the game. They have a huge reader base due to their link with Game Stop, so it would receive a lot of attention.

I feel if anything, we may see Nintendo become more closed off...
Since they started the Nintendo Direct thing, they've found a way to get their message straight to their fans.. show game play.. and still get coverage on all the major sites.
They get to control the time and duration.. so lessens the chance of leaks as well.

 

[Terrell]

I was talking about things that were seen in the playable E3 demo of Dinosaur Planet, and the voice-acting files that were found on the Starfox Adventures disc. The original game definitely had a far deeper storyline, and removing a main character definitely altered the game quite a bit, because part of the reason for big things like time travel was one of the two main characters was killed and Dinosaur Planet destroyed, so the remaining character had to go back in time to prevent that from happening. Something you can't really do if there's only one main character.

And don't forget that Dinosaur Planet for N64 was just about complete when it got cancelled and they were told to remake the game for Gamecube. It wasn't just a game in the planning stages.

Nintendo didn't hold a gun to their head to make the changes other than the change in platform due to N64 being EOL. A whole story re-write would have been on the decision of the team making the game. And the change in story doesn't indicate a change in the game's mechanics, which have always been the biggest complaint with it: being a collectathon. All you're saying is that it might have been a collectathon with a better story. Big deal.

Also, this is the last known beta of the game before the move to GameCube.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ7nyNf2a1M
Doesn't look much different to me except a character and fidelity change.

 

[GameplayWhore]

Everyone with half a brain needs to realise that the Wii was a phenomena that Nintendo may not be able to recreate. I think the reason why the Wii took off was the motion controls.

Wii came in 2006. This was BEFORE there were motion sensors in handys/tablets or other devices. It really came at the best possible time. Motion controls were brand spanking new.

While I agree that there was a certain newness to the Wii, the actual technology of motion controls was packaged in a new way but not actually inherently new.

Before the Wii, we had motion controlled mice, motion controlled joysticks (from one of the Big Three, no less), camera tracking games (a la PS2 EyeToy). The Power Glove used motion control, the U-Force, also for the NES, used motion control, Sega's horrible hexagonal thing that you do karate chops inside was motion control&#8230; Nintendo took an existing technology and applied it in a way that felt fresh and new.

So it is certainly possible that they can take an existing technology (video streaming) and apply it in a way that feels fresh and new.

I belive that the WiiU will be a financial success for Nintendo but it will not repeat the same incredible sales figures as the Wii did.

That's my prediction, too, though. Applying existing technologies in a way that makes them feel fresh and new is hard to do on a consistent basis.

 

[Kjellson]

This is never the wrong thread.

That's true. My post could fit in this thread as well as the other one.

(Retro thread btw)

 

[AGITΩ]

Everyone with half a brain needs to realise that the Wii was a phenomena that Nintendo may not be able to recreate. I think the reason why the Wii took off was the motion controls.

Wii came in 2006. This was BEFORE there were motion sensors in handys/tablets or other devices. It really came at the best possible time. Motion controls were brand spanking new.

With the WiiU they have a machine with amazing potential thanks to its controller and the possible focus on an social online structure. But it has nothing so brand spanking new like motion controls.

I belive that the WiiU will be a financial success for Nintendo but it will not repeat the same incredible sales figures as the Wii did.

If Microsoft and possibly Sony focus on delivering the "Do it all living room"machine, Nintendo could market the WiiU like this: "We still focus on GAMES. WiiU the only true GAME console." (Someone could come up with something a little smarter as a marketing slogan, i suppose )

It likely wont do gangbusters similar to the Wii. The Wii did bring motion tech to the mass market, but at the same time, they advertised it well. The Wii launch commercials was the best marketing campaign Nintendo has ever done and has yet to replicate again.
Incase you forgot: http://youtu.be/UP-THj03Zk4
It was an infectious commercial and literally aired all the time. That generated not just the core obvious early adopters but did attract non-gamers to be early adopters. Once you got that, word of mouth continued to cement it's presence for years.

If Nintendo is trying to Appeal to the Gamers and the Tablet folks, then they will need to pull off another Wii launch level advertising campaign. Whoever did the 3DS launch Advertisement campaigns needs to stay away from this one, because those were terrible, and what added to the confusion of the system. 3DS is doing better with consumers now, not just because of price point (most dont even know that the 3DS was originally 250) but because now its gotten in enough peoples hands that word of mouth is spreading about functionality.

Word of mouth is already spreading about the WiiU but a lot of misconceptions, this is from a massmarket casual perspective. The Wii U wont pull Wii full on success numbers but if Nintendo makes a massive appeal advertising campaign, they will come damn close.

 

[test_account]

The reason people rightfully claim the failure of the PSP is due to the enormous Piracy Rate and low software sales everywhere except Japan.

The DS was even worse with piracy, but still managed to sell software by sheer market dominance alone.

The 70 Million PSPs are a worthless indicator of its success

I wouldnt say that it is a worthless indicator. The hardware sale alone shows that a lot of people were interested in buying the hardware.

 

[Terrell]

Haha.. Japan's probably my main hope for attracting a core gaming audience. Actually, it kinda seems to be like a zero-sum game between Nintendo & Sony for this crowd of games ("like" -but not equivalent). If Sony falters, Nintendo benefits the most, and vice-versa. Microsoft has the west locked-up while these two fight for the east.

I don't think MS has the west locked up as tight as you think they do. They have a contingent who are loyal to their platform, yes, but they also have people who begrudgingly still own the console after things like the RRoD fiasco because that's simply where the content is. And some people who own it just because of the content. If there's an alternative, some of them will probably bite.

 

[AzaK]

MS is on top right now, but I'm starting to worry they're going to horribly botch next gen. I'm thinking they might put out a $300-400 console with a 2 year $15-20 monthly subscription contract, ban used games, show up a year after PS4, and have no meaningful exclusive outside of Halo, and its going to bite them in the ass.

If they do this, it will be VERY interesting to see how it pans out. If they can offer TV services rivaling cable along with it, it might not be a big leap for people to switch. They can get their TV content, controller-less control, high end gaming and online services.

 

[fabricated backlash]

I wouldnt say that it is a worthless indicator. The hardware sale alone shows that a lot of people were interested in buying the hardware.

But sadly, not in buying software for it. Unless you consider it a success that hardware is being bought with no intention of supporting it's software. Because I definetly wouldn't.

 

[ColdBlooder]

While I agree that there was a certain newness to the Wii, the actual technology of motion controls was packaged in a new way but not actually inherently new.

Before the Wii, we had motion controlled mice, motion controlled joysticks (from one of the Big Three, no less), camera tracking games (a la PS2 EyeToy). The Power Glove used motion control, the U-Force, also for the NES, used motion control, Sega's horrible hexagonal thing that you do karate chops inside was motion control… Nintendo took an existing technology and applied it in a way that felt fresh and new.

By that logic the Wiimote was the spiritual successor to the powerglove I know that motion control has been done before, but with the Wii it just worked very well out of the box. There has been tons of barely functioning motion control systems before!

 

[Linkhero1]

I've decided to work on Monday, deciding to save my vacation time for gaming stuff later in the year. It won't be worth the day off, I think.

And Microsoft being that tone-deaf to its core audience would be quite a shock.
I wonder if gaming media would back MS in their shift to a non-gaming focus, or would they join gamers in complaining; they've been quite, umm.., "charitable" toward Microsoft through these past two generations, I think.

First day seems to be packed with a ton of content; however, a lot of that content might not be something we would be interested in.

MS has not really pleased me at all this generation. I did enjoy Gears of War, Crackdown, and a few XBLA titles, but the majority of games I enjoyed on my 360 were all third party titles. Skate, Fallout, Tales of Vesperia, and Saints Row were my favorite third party games on the 360. If the Wii U will be getting all these franchises I will have no problem sticking with one console next gen. MS's shift towards non-gaming content has sort of soured my decision to buy the next Xbox because I'm not seeing the same push towards first party games like I'm seeing with Sony and Nintendo.

E3 coincides with my light work week so I wouldn't be able to fill in anything. I'll just have to "suffer" through it.


Also guys, LinkedIn gave me a free 30-day trial that I just activated. In just some random searches I found that Killer Freaks uses the same physics engine as Ghost Recon: Future Soldier/Online. And while the LinkedIn profile had the name private, a search unexpectedly led me to find out that the profile belonged to Mickaël Godard. According to his LinkedIn profile he's with Rare now. (Also confirmed on Rare's profile.)

http://www.mickael-godard.com/fichiers/Resume_Mickael_Godard.pdf

It's ok. I know that feel

I can search through LinkedIn with my account, but what's this 30-day trial for anyways? Sorry to be a bit off-topic.

 

[test_account]

But sadly, not in buying software for it. Unless you consider it a success that hardware is being bought with no intention of supporting it's software. Because I definetly wouldn't.

The total PSP software sold is around 300 million. It really isnt that bad concidering the limited software support in the later years (except for in Japan), and divided on around ~70 million units, that is an attach rate of about 4.2.

But what i dont agree with is to completely ignore the fact about the hardware sales. That shows that people are interested in it, and that is a success on its own in my opinion.