DrGAKMAN said:
Sony won't mention NDS at all...they're focus at E3 will be to try to take focus off of the next X-BOX. And don't think that with X-BOX 360 & PSP being the newest/hottest things out this Christmas won't draw comparison's between the two in some way...why...'cos they'll both be competiting for the "adult gamer" dollar & don't think Sony won't say "wait for PS3, don't buy X-BOX 360 buy a PSP to tide you over instead"!
Their focus will be PSP, PS2, and a enough information (and perhaps media) about the PS3. They won't be dedicated to taking the focus off of X360, as that's the least of their worries right now. They've got to take care of the stuff out there and I highly doubt that they'd ever tout the PSP as something to get instead of X360..they've got to do some real damage in the space that system lives and breathes in...the handheld space. If anything, they'll likely focus on PS2 as the main bit against the X360 for now with the promise of a superior console in PS3 down the road.
Wait...so not only will X-BOX continue to outsell GCN even though it likely won't be supported (with software *and* hardware, mind you) much past X-BOX 360 launch...but GCN is already so dead it can't be sold as a budget console??? Zelda, the new PokeMon & whatever else is left in the pipes for 2006 will help the GCN sell beyond this year despite the new X-BOX. Yeah, it won't be on spectacular levels...but to the super-budget gamer (like the $50 PSone before it) it will have SOME selling power there...especially with a pricedrop (and/or less likely re-design) and a few fun peripherals, budget games released up until Revolution. Nintendo isn't just gonna sit back and not capitalize on a market that even Sony *still* makes money off of. Nothing show-stopping, nothing ground-breaking or earth-shattering...but *definatly* something to keep it goin past when MS stops making the original X-BOX, launches the new one, on into 2006 and maybe even after the Revolution launches.
You're assuming that the current XBOX will simply be killed off dramatically by MS with the advent of the X360. They've already stated their intentions to support the system for another year or so...I'll take them at their word, since they did make the effort to make the statement anyway. XBOX might not be supported with MS' own titles, but outside of the Halos, the system has always thrived due to third party support in general...something that cannot be said of the GC...which lives and dies by Nintendo's own software support.
I agree that an aggressive drop to the $49 level makes GC a much, much more attractive proposition, but if you cannot sell a console very competitively at the $99 level against others who are 50% or more higher in their price, you've got problems that don't have anything to do with the console's price. And that problem is the general lack of third party support that the average gamer gives a shit about.
We all get your point, X-BOX is "cooler" than GCN...doesn't mean Nintendo still can't make money off the cube. By how you word it you make it seem like Nintendo should just give up now and not even freakin' release Zelda. Third parties may not be with GCN, and no BIG game beyond Zelda, but that doesn't mean it's completly dead...there's still budget gamer bottom feeders Nintendo can make money on...something MS can't do with X-BOX 'cos X-BOX 360 will already be out by then and the first X-BOX isn't likely to be made for much longer past that let alone it won't reach a budget price or get a redesign. Just 'cos MS can't do it, doesn't mean Nintendo won't do it. I think they will just to spite X-BOX & outsell it in the end (and not just worldwide).
I never said that Nintendo would not make money on the system, but that it would trail off in sales after their last hurrah, the new LOZ, was released. The whole cool bit might sound superficial, but really, that's what has always made people buy consoles. NES, SNES, Genesis, PS1, PS2, N64, the Game Boy line...all cool. Certainly cool enough to sell and sell and sell because the games on the systems made them cool. XBOX isn't just gonna disappear from retail shelves this fall, and if there's one console's retail real estate which will suffer a hefty loss of space due to low demand, it's the GC.
Anecdotal evidence: XBOX already dominates over the GC's space on average in the stores I visit...and it's been like this for well over a year. Once the X360 hits the retail channels, XBOX will still exist in its place and suffer a loss of space, while GC will give up much more of its own to the X360, IMO. I don't see GC surpassing XBOX in its lifetime...nope. Just not enough software support from third parties and not enough software sales to justify a sustained level of console sales to do so unless XBOX
is actually pulled from production and killed-off so quickly.
Of course, this is all my opinion. Feel free to rip on it all ya like. ;P