Famitsu/Enterbrain Top 30: 20th - 26th December
- Thread starter cja
- Start date
Amir0x said:
this kind of console, in 2001 would have certainly been very expensive with a bad battery life
nintendo was supposed so sell it's new handheld to a large, broad, audience, not just to some technology fans
but i agree that the gba was not "powerfull" enough
close to snes, not even close to neogeo level :/ 2d saturn graphics would have been just perfect for this system
soundwave05
Member
This is Nintendo's progression with handhelds
1989 - Game Boy
1996- Game Boy Pocket
1998- Game Boy Color
2001- Game Boy Advance
2003- Game Boy Advance SP
2004- Nintendo DS
I think it really should have been a bit more like this ...
1999 - Game Boy Advance
2001- Game Boy Advance SP
2003- Nintendo DS
A year headstart for the DS over the PSP would look awfully good right about now, huh Nintendo?
1989 - Game Boy
1996- Game Boy Pocket
1998- Game Boy Color
2001- Game Boy Advance
2003- Game Boy Advance SP
2004- Nintendo DS
I think it really should have been a bit more like this ...
1999 - Game Boy Advance
2001- Game Boy Advance SP
2003- Nintendo DS
A year headstart for the DS over the PSP would look awfully good right about now, huh Nintendo?
GBA really could've used more RAM, and maybe allowing access to the GBC Z80 for sound. RAM pools really hindered overall performance, as did the lack of a decicated sound chip... if Nintendo would've stuffed say 2-4MB in there (and added Z80 audio support) GBA would probably be able to outperform NeoGeo easily. A higher resolution screen would've been better too and added RAM would've allowed much greater single cart download options.... all this probably could've been done with Nintendo still making a healthy profit at GBA's 2001 launch.
soundwave05
Member
Yeah I think of course Nintendo made a lot of money by cost cutting, but I think they also hurt their own portable market by not pushing the envelope a bit more. They could have really expanded their audience moreso and not given Sony an "inroads" with the PSP.
If the DS was already out, say last year or even before, it'd be over for the PSP even with that screen.
If the DS was already out, say last year or even before, it'd be over for the PSP even with that screen.
Duckhuntdog
Member
Wow, even when Nintendo does good, people get angry.
Deg said:
You could argue that the Xbox is not as efficient and it also comes at a higher price point, than the nintendo design. The PS2 can't live up to its promise the design has far too many bottlenecks.Both PS2 and Xbox prolly have more raw power the GC. But the GC is so efficient and well balanced in design, that its best games look just as good as Xbox games.
Which isnt too far removed from 16 bit days. The Genesis had a much more powerful processor. But the well designed PPU made SNES games look better.
soundwave05
Member
I think Nintendo may drop the DS price to $99 next spring or summer.
Probably not right away for the PSP launch which should be March 2005 though. Nintendo will probably sit back and see how the PSP launch goes in NA/Europe. If Sony continues to be plagued with supply problems and/or consumers don't really take to the unit, Nintendo will probably just sit tight at $150 until next fall.
Probably not right away for the PSP launch which should be March 2005 though. Nintendo will probably sit back and see how the PSP launch goes in NA/Europe. If Sony continues to be plagued with supply problems and/or consumers don't really take to the unit, Nintendo will probably just sit tight at $150 until next fall.
Nintendo's likely saving their DS network announcements (which might involve Square Enix) for March against PSP. The first price drop likely won't come until next fall, and then it might not even be to $99 (more likely $129). That is unless SCEI somehow manages to cook the books further and get PSP out at $149 USD, then you can expect an immediate drop to $99 for DS. 
krypt0nian
Banned
I love how a sales thread got turned into Joe vs the Volcano.
Anyway, those GBA sales are unreal!
Anyway, those GBA sales are unreal!
soundwave05
Member
I don't think there will be any formal network for the DS for a long time.
Probably just a few experiments here and there with Animal Crossing and Square-Enix porting some of their cell-phone content to the DS.
Probably just a few experiments here and there with Animal Crossing and Square-Enix porting some of their cell-phone content to the DS.
soundwave05
Member
Memles said:
Well I guess you're gonna be angry then. I'd say there's a very low chance that Nintendo will drop the price of the DS to $99 in just 3 months or so, which is when the PSP is scheduled to launch here.
I could see a drop say in May or June at the earliest.
soundwave05
Member
I would be surprised, I'll just say that. I think you will see some quasi-online features in Animal Crossing DS and some basic stuff in Square-Enix's games, but I'd be very, very surprised if there's full blown online networking within this year.
I certainly wouldn't complain though. I like the DS, but its a pain in the ass to find other people to play with.
I certainly wouldn't complain though. I like the DS, but its a pain in the ass to find other people to play with.
krypt0nian
Banned
soundwave05 said:
Totally agree. They really need to rethink that Wake Up feature via firmware.
soundwave05
Member
Also how is online play via the DS really any different from online play on the GCN?
Nintendo's been so frosty on the idea of any type of basic online play for their GCN software, I just don't see them rushing towards online with the DS. I'd love to be able to play Mario Kart DS in real-time against other people all over the continent, but I doubt its in the cards.
Nintendo's been so frosty on the idea of any type of basic online play for their GCN software, I just don't see them rushing towards online with the DS. I'd love to be able to play Mario Kart DS in real-time against other people all over the continent, but I doubt its in the cards.
Spiritreaver
Member
Indeed, does anyone have GBA sales from last year to serve as a comparison?krypt0nian said:
soundwave05
Member
Someone posted a comparision in a thread a few days ago.
GBA sales in Japan are down a bit from last year but still quite high.
However with the DS combined, Nintendo is selling more portable hardware than ever. According to these numbers, you're looking at almost 400,000 GBA SP + DS units combined in just one week of sales, which is unreal.
It's no wonder they're on track to make a monsterous $800+ million profit by the end of the current business year.
Another interesting trend, looks like Wario Ware Touched on the DS will end up outselling Wario Ware Turn on the GBA.
GBA sales in Japan are down a bit from last year but still quite high.
However with the DS combined, Nintendo is selling more portable hardware than ever. According to these numbers, you're looking at almost 400,000 GBA SP + DS units combined in just one week of sales, which is unreal.
It's no wonder they're on track to make a monsterous $800+ million profit by the end of the current business year.
Another interesting trend, looks like Wario Ware Touched on the DS will end up outselling Wario Ware Turn on the GBA.
FitzOfRage
Member
soundwave05 said:
Well they did originally plan on launching the GBA sooner, but that's because they didn't take into account how successful the GBC would be. It was supposed to be another marginal upgrade along the lines of the GBP, and they seemed to expect it to do about as well (a minor blip in sales, but ultimately nothing too dramatic).
They ended up selling like 35 million in the first 2 years and it was still growing at that point. I don't know of any hardware maker that would kill a platform under those circumstances (maybe Sega at one point).
And I can already tell you that if the DS becomes a massive success and blows away the most optimistic projections, regardless of what Nitnendo has said, they're going to delay the launch of their next handheld as well.
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
WOAAA!! GBA screen was pure crap for it's time - there's no question about it. WinCE devices available back then (Like Casio E100, E105, etc) had screen that was on-par with the better screens available today, with backlighting and all. Those screens were up to 4" big, very bright, great quality (I still have one Casio with that screen even today so this is not nostalgia talking). GBA screen was just as laughably bad back then as it is today.
Actually, the whole GBA hardware was weaker than PDA devices of that time (although cheaper). PDAs back then could run pixel perfect ports of DOOM 1 and 2 without hitch, at 30FPS, and those were garage ports mind you, with no real developer effort behind them.
Sure, I'm comparing GBA with devices a lot more expensive, but those same devices today compare quite unfavourably to PSP, which is a lot cheaper than them too.
soundwave05
Member
I think the GBA screen is the worst screen I've ever seen on a portable game machine, period.
The Game Boy Color was even better, and the Neo Geo Pocket and WonderSwan (released two years prior) were far more usable in various lighting conditions. At least give the option to turn the contrast up or down. Castlevania was practically unplayable.
The Sega Nomad released five years prior was also better.
I mean that screen was inexcusably bad. My friend she still has one of those old model GBAs, its terrible trying to play the thing indoors without proper overhead lighting.
The Game Boy Color was even better, and the Neo Geo Pocket and WonderSwan (released two years prior) were far more usable in various lighting conditions. At least give the option to turn the contrast up or down. Castlevania was practically unplayable.
The Sega Nomad released five years prior was also better.
I mean that screen was inexcusably bad. My friend she still has one of those old model GBAs, its terrible trying to play the thing indoors without proper overhead lighting.
Sony shrunk the PS1 down to an IO chip in the PS2 pretty much. I think the GS was used for some things, but I could be wrong. Either, way, it was not expensive to do such a thing. Matter of fact, the rave used to be how cheap a Hitachi SH4 was for the DC. Didn't it cost like $30 a pop? Nintendo could have made something much more competitive than they did, but they're lazy with hardware. PEACE.Kseutron said:
jorge13130
Banned
If the Sangoku Musou and the Ridge Racers of PSP and DS were to be released the same day, the DS sales would be better by far
The first 3rd party game to sell more than 100,000 on DS can be Prince of Tennis, but it will be difficult, games that will make the milestone easily will be Megaman EXE, Jump Superstars, Final Fantasy, Egg Monster, Gundam, Goemon and of course a load of Nintendo games
The first 3rd party game to sell more than 100,000 on DS can be Prince of Tennis, but it will be difficult, games that will make the milestone easily will be Megaman EXE, Jump Superstars, Final Fantasy, Egg Monster, Gundam, Goemon and of course a load of Nintendo games
JoshuaJSlone
Member
Considering the DS screens combined are about the same size as PSP's and about 30% behind in resolution, it would surprise me if a single-screen GBMA doesn't match the PSP in that regard.Amir0x said:
Were the simple but great improvements of the SP screen not feasible in 2001? Not that any competitors did it either, but still.Deg said:
jorge13130
Banned
AniHawk said:
I think the biggest week was this one, last years have been like this, but this year it could be this and the next week, because of sunday being the 26, so we have an entire week before new year