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Nintendo DS - RIP in Europe

C

COCKLES

being watched
(sound of toiling bells)

PSP hype is in overkill. Steller POS material. Nice display pods (perfectly matching the PSP ideal - because you can only look at them in a glass case... :lol )

I'm afraid it's GAME OVER for DS in Europe now.

Now before you leap on me, I've got a DS. I love it. But that's basically because of the wonders of import gaming. Nintendo's game list in the UK is **PITIFUL**. With PSP about to hit, what's the latest big name NOE give us? Fucking Animanics.

No Meteos.
No Kirby Air Ride.
No Castlevania (delayed two weeks DOH!!!)
No Nanostray.
No Advancewars.
No Nintendogs.

Nintendo...this shabby treatment just isn't going to cut it anymore. Sony practically handed you a gift on a plate of a sizable portable launch window in Europe and you've blown it. It's the equivlent of Microsoft holding back PG3, Gears of War ect until after the PS3 has launched. Madness.
 
Doesn't the DS get a pricecut mid september? (€99,-)

But I think PSP's launch lineup consists of more games than the whole DS euro library...

NOE is dissapointing me (again)
 
Hmm in the city where I live (~300k population) there is nearly no hype about the psp. Sure in the big malls there is psp stuff but its nothing special compared to other system launches so far.
Maybe sony is concentrating on the uk, I dont know.. maybe I'm only living in the wrong city, but no sony hype here.
 
I agree that Nintendo have blown a golden opportunity courtesy of Sony, but I think they've intentionally saved Meteos, Advance Wars and Castlevania for September here.

I expect it will sell out its first shipment with ease - especially in the UK. 150k will fly off shelves like nobodies business, its not all that much really. But after its launch window and the boost generated, if any, when GTA releases, I can't see them being particularly easy-for-people-to-impulse-buy...

I see them making their real killing at Christmas, but then we've got to factor in impending console price drops and Xbox 360. There'll be a DS price drop, and I imagine come November Mario Kart and online DS gaming is going to get the full thrust of Nintendo's holiday marketing push. If people are looking at PSP for media functions, might Apple have a spanner to throw in the works at their event? There've been rumors in a few mags lately that PS2 is taking a price dive soon, and it'd be interesting if that was tantamount to shooting themselves in the handheld foot.

I think they're gonna have a great launch, and its no doubt one of the best (software wise) that I've ever seen, but I don't think it's going to be as easy for them as you and Phil Harrison might imagine. Just my feelings on it... I'm willing to accept a surprise to the contrary.


EDIT: A note on Sony's marketing:

I really love the PSP subway/billboard ads with the little girl crying. Last week she was just standing there with a plant pot, this week the ground next to her has sprouted into a small tree with the game/movie/music/etc icons hanging off the branches with the text "PSP is here".

It may have been too subtle for its own good though. I've heard absolutely no one mention it. If people mention PSP its because of the dedicated in store space thats suddenly appeared everywhere and advertised deals that basically say "if you didn't pre-order, ha ha!"
 
AniHawk said:
Fully expected. NoE is run by monkeys. Retarded monkeys.
Click to expand...

It's a damm shame they are retarded since the monkeys at NOA have finally figured out that the DS needs games to be fun. Seriously, what does NOE expect you guys to do besides draw in pictochat.
 
Timen said:
Doesn't the DS get a pricecut mid september? (€99,-)

But I think PSP's launch lineup consists of more games than the whole DS euro library...

NOE is dissapointing me (again)
Click to expand...

The DS section in any HMV, Game ect is truly a pitiful site to behold. I really hope for Nintendo's sake that all those PSP dummy boxes arn't games avaliable on day-one, because if it is, it's going to even swifter extermination then I expect.

Why the likes of Meteos ect haven't been released here yet is just frankly, bonkers. Infact looking at the release dates on GAME:-

Meteos - 23rd Sept - TOO LATE!
Advance Wars DS - 30th Sept - TOO LATE!
Nintendogs - 07th Oct - TOO LATE!
 
SantaCruZer said:
like NoA(perrin kaplan lol) is any better. The only one that got a clue is NCL.
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Seeing as NOA and NOE are controlled by NCL, that statment makes no sense.

NCL should cut NOA and NOE loose. I am sure they both can do a better job without some without a foreign puppeteer.
 
Some of those games have barely been out in the US for a few weeks. Stop whining. I'm sure if Europeans didn't speak a dozen different languages you'd get the games 'on time.'
 
"Sony practically handed you a gift on a plate of a sizable portable launch window in Europe and you've blown it"
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yup x 1000000

I don't get it - you'd think Nintendo would sit down and say "ok, so how are managing to tank the PSP in Japan? Oh, that's right, hot game after hot game on an almost weekly basis since April!... so , lets do the same in the US/EU!...." but that would be tooooooooo eassssssssssy
 
ME0000539882_2.jpg


Pheonix Wright to the rescue!
 
Noone can seriously believe that NoE is to blame? It's not like they sit there and decide to release games late. Ok, so I don';t know anything about how games are distributed, but isn't the reason for delayed releases in Europe, comapred to US and Japan (depsite the official line being regional translation) about manufacturing? Unless Europe wants 10 copies of Nintendogs for launch, surely they have to wait until inventory has been made.

It's interesting, because I don't think any game in New Zealand, any-console has ever been unavailable on launch due to the demand being too high (for high profile games). I have never found a preorder to be necessary.
 
DCharlie said:
yup x 1000000

I don't get it - you'd think Nintendo would sit down and say "ok, so how are managing to tank the PSP in Japan? Oh, that's right, hot game after hot game on an almost weekly basis since April!... so , lets do the same in the US/EU!...." but that would be tooooooooo eassssssssssy
Click to expand...


Yup. NoA and NoE blew it all right. But to be fair money of those 'heavy hitters' are tailored towards the Japan gaming audience and won't fly as well out west. Although I bet Brain Training would do very well for the DS in NA. Not sure about Europe. Brain Training should have been out in NA already. Also, with the anime/manga explosion over the last couple years you would think Nintendo is doing everything they can to get Jump Superstars over to NA fully intact in a timely matter. I think Jump Superstars could be potentially a bigger seller in NA than in Japan.
 
Sadly I have to agree. The EU DS lineup is pathetic. Woop, we got Animaniacs and Another Code before anyone else. Like that will help. Sure I feed my DS with plenty of games (17! Okay, some are non-games :) ), but they're all imports! I don't have a single EU game except for Another Code.

Meanwhile the PSP's launch titles is ginormous, with all the good stuff out at once. Sure, the rest of the year is extremely sparse, but with so many launch games available at start, most consumers will spread their purchases of those evenly for the rest of the year.

I love my DS and PSP, but I hate NoE for poor marketing and SCEE for their arrogance and anti-import stance.
 
Nintendo should really cut down the price of the DS right about now in Europe.
I mean sure if they had the hot games flying out like they are in Japan there wouldn't be much of a problem but as things currently stand NoE can't afford to just sit and pray.
 
Aurora said:
Nintendo should really cut down the price of the DS right about now in Europe.
I mean sure if they had the hot games flying out like they are in Japan there wouldn't be much of a problem but as things currently stand NoE can't afford to just sit and pray.
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The price of the DS isn't the problem. It's the lack of quality games. You can only replay the minigames in WarioWare and Project Rub (Feel the Magic) so often until you start having seizures.

That said there is still hope for NoE. The games WILL be coming, albeit quite late, so people who already have a DS will be happy. And the high price of the PSP is still prohibitive to a lot of people. But then again the iPod was comparatively expensive, but people ate it up anyway.
 
mrkgoo said:
Noone can seriously believe that NoE is to blame? It's not like they sit there and decide to release games late. Ok, so I don';t know anything about how games are distributed, but isn't the reason for delayed releases in Europe, comapred to US and Japan (depsite the official line being regional translation) about manufacturing?
Click to expand...

I don't think manufacturing games take months though, and there are other factors at play as well. Business strategy for example...you don't rush all your games out in one month, you spread them out deliberately.
 
Kiriku said:
Because you posted a big fuckin', tempting pic, like a true industry insider would! Now spill the beans, suckah! >:(
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It was more in hope of someone else posting a date im affraid :-/
 
The biggest hurdle is most likely localisation.

There is no way the UK should have to wait for the French, German, Spanish, Italian, Belgian, Dutch/Frisian conversions.

All they gotta do is change color to colour, and I don't give a damn if they forget about that. They have been good with some games though:

Another Code, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes etc.

All available BEFORE or within a week of US release.
 
Ghost said:
It was more in hope of someone else posting a date im affraid :-/
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:(
Well, at least it's being released in the US, GOD BLESS AMERICA

...but that doesn't help the DS in Europe much, though...:/
 
radioheadrule83 said:
The biggest hurdle is most likely localisation.

There is no way the UK should have to wait for the French, German, Spanish, Italian, Belgian, Dutch/Frisian conversions.

All they gotta do is change color to colour, and I don't give a damn if they forget about that.
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:lol A Belgian conversion?

And Nintendo doesn't translate games in Holland either unless you're just talking about the manual. and definitely not for one small part of Holland, Friesland, where everyone speaks Dutch as well... :D Surprised you even heard about that language.
 
Why do you guys always think short term? Nintendo does what it wants (as much as I hate it) because it knows it will do well despite it. Of course they could do better but the point is, at the end of the DS life - it will probably have exceeded the GBA SP sales which will mean it has been a massive success. Nintendo has a few years yet to get there, what it does in the next few months in EU mean nothing to the people who run Nintendo it seems.

It emphasises that the DS and PSP really do not affect each other all that much, seperate demographics, seperate crowds and so on. DS is capable of sellling 50 million worldwide whether the PSP sells 10 million or 200 million. Games like wifi Pokemon guarantee this, Nintendo know they will reach their target total sales regardless of PSP performance in any territory at any time.
 
Dragona Akehi said:
Kiriku: Phoenix Wright's JPN release has a full english script. You know that right?
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:O I had no idea...thank you kindly, Dragona.
But it's not out yet, right? It says September 15 on Playasia.
 
even the Sega Master System crushed the NES in UK and Europe..... Nintendo doesnt care about Europe that much.
 
Ponn01 said:
argon said:
NOA used to be pretty good when Lincoln, Arakawa and Main were in charge.
Click to expand...
I used to love the Howard and Nestor comics.
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Howard of the "Howard and Nester" comics was based off Howard Phillips, one of NOA's original three game-testers, not Howard Lincoln.

To quote Game Over...
The most important evaluator for the company in the early days was Howard Phillips, who played more often and better than anyone else on Nintendo's staff. Phillips now wore pastel bow ties and white oxford shirts. Since shaving off the Manson beard, he had begun to look even more like Howdy Doody. He never seemed to age. Arakawa called him one day to say that he had decided to upgrade his title in the organization: henceforth, Phillips would be NOA's Game Master, the Jedi of the video-game world.
Click to expand...
 
I know how you feel man, the same feels like it's about to happen over here (in Australia), the PSP advertising has been overkill, and we don't have any of the titles you have mentioned above in your first post either.

Although NoA were smart enough to launch Nintendogs at $49.95 when it comes out later next month, but still..
 
PSP hype is in overkill.
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Where I live nobody - besides me - does even know that PSP exists. I haven't seen a single PSP advertisement here. Not in TV, not in games magazines, not in cinema...

---> The PSP hype seems to be such an overkill that it suddenly killed itself :lol
 
Pretty much the same in Australia, except Sony hasn't even felt the need to really advertise the PSP here. Virtually no TV adverts, no in-store demo units, just some crap posters. The simple fact that it's a new PlayStation is good enough, word of mouth hype is massive.

The last game released here on DS was Space Invaders Revolution back in mid-July. :lol
 
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