What About the Next Game Boy?
It seems to me that everyone has forgotten a very important statement by Nintendo. The DS is NOT the next Game Boy. This would lead me to believe they are working on something else, something to go more head to head with the PSP, and something we will see sooner than we might think. Info? Thoughts?
(I know this e-mail should be on the GBA or DS site... sorry)
Matt responds: I think you're right. Nintendo has said on several occasions that the DS is the third pillar to GameCube and Game Boy. There's no doubt in my mind that a true successor to Game Boy is therefore in development. Probably well into development, even. And that makes the DS a bigger enigma.
I just got off the phone with Craig Harris, who runs our DS channel. I asked Craig if Nintendo has slowed development on Game Boy Advance now that DS had arrived, and he said yes, absolutely, that only a handful of GBA games were underway by the company through the end of the year. He added that its DS lineup is far larger. He also noted that many of the developers previously hot on DS have now cut back on games for the platform in favor of working on PSP, but that's another mailbag entirely.
I get the feeling that what Nintendo says and what the company actually does are two different things. It said that the DS was the third pillar, a machine that would complement the GBA. And then it pulls back support on GBA and focuses on DS.
So what happens to DS when the successor to Game Boy finally arrives? My guess is exactly the same thing: in other words, reduced support for the DS in favor of making games for the new Game Boy. DS owners get the shaft. This is not a good strategy. It dilutes Nintendo's market and confuses consumers. And I really think Sony is going to capitalize on it.
The successor to Game Boy could be the best thing ever. But it's not here yet. The DS is. That being the case, I think your point is moot for now, though it may be valid soon enough. Nintendo can take out a full-page ad in USA Today and proclaim in bold lettering that "DS is not competing with PSP." Nobody's going to believe that. Of course it is! They're both portables and they're both likely to sell in the same price range. How are they not competing? Nintendo said the same thing about GameCube, PS2 and Xbox, if you'll recall. Please note that GameCube is today lumped into the same category as the other consoles. It is not its own market. The simple truth is that no matter what Nintendo says on the topic, consumers are going to view DS and PSP as competitors and many of these consumers will likely choose one or the other, not both. As a consumer, I believe that right now PSP is the better machine. If Nintendo hopes to keep its market, it needs to convince buyers like me otherwise. And since the successor to Game Boy Advance is nowhere to be found, at least not yet, that's really not an option.
Nintendo is betting that consumers want innovation over technology. That concept is at the root of DS, although whether or not the device is truly innovative is, as I stated in last week's mailbag, entirely debatable. I'm not buying it. I believe that in a decade where consumers will pay $400 for an iPod, undemonstrated "innovation" takes a backseat to technology that gets the job done correctly. So unless Nintendo shows me why DS is truly innovative, or releases the Game Boy Next, not only do I believe Sony will with PSP be the handheld market leader in four years, but I'll also wager that the portable will redefine the handheld demographic, effectively aging it up and attracting a wider audience. If this turns out to be true, Sony will have done exactly what Nintendo set out to do and grab gamers normally uninterested in videogames. But it will have done it by transforming an existing market and not catering to an unproven new one.
It seems to me that everyone has forgotten a very important statement by Nintendo. The DS is NOT the next Game Boy. This would lead me to believe they are working on something else, something to go more head to head with the PSP, and something we will see sooner than we might think. Info? Thoughts?
(I know this e-mail should be on the GBA or DS site... sorry)
Matt responds: I think you're right. Nintendo has said on several occasions that the DS is the third pillar to GameCube and Game Boy. There's no doubt in my mind that a true successor to Game Boy is therefore in development. Probably well into development, even. And that makes the DS a bigger enigma.
I just got off the phone with Craig Harris, who runs our DS channel. I asked Craig if Nintendo has slowed development on Game Boy Advance now that DS had arrived, and he said yes, absolutely, that only a handful of GBA games were underway by the company through the end of the year. He added that its DS lineup is far larger. He also noted that many of the developers previously hot on DS have now cut back on games for the platform in favor of working on PSP, but that's another mailbag entirely.
I get the feeling that what Nintendo says and what the company actually does are two different things. It said that the DS was the third pillar, a machine that would complement the GBA. And then it pulls back support on GBA and focuses on DS.
So what happens to DS when the successor to Game Boy finally arrives? My guess is exactly the same thing: in other words, reduced support for the DS in favor of making games for the new Game Boy. DS owners get the shaft. This is not a good strategy. It dilutes Nintendo's market and confuses consumers. And I really think Sony is going to capitalize on it.
The successor to Game Boy could be the best thing ever. But it's not here yet. The DS is. That being the case, I think your point is moot for now, though it may be valid soon enough. Nintendo can take out a full-page ad in USA Today and proclaim in bold lettering that "DS is not competing with PSP." Nobody's going to believe that. Of course it is! They're both portables and they're both likely to sell in the same price range. How are they not competing? Nintendo said the same thing about GameCube, PS2 and Xbox, if you'll recall. Please note that GameCube is today lumped into the same category as the other consoles. It is not its own market. The simple truth is that no matter what Nintendo says on the topic, consumers are going to view DS and PSP as competitors and many of these consumers will likely choose one or the other, not both. As a consumer, I believe that right now PSP is the better machine. If Nintendo hopes to keep its market, it needs to convince buyers like me otherwise. And since the successor to Game Boy Advance is nowhere to be found, at least not yet, that's really not an option.
Nintendo is betting that consumers want innovation over technology. That concept is at the root of DS, although whether or not the device is truly innovative is, as I stated in last week's mailbag, entirely debatable. I'm not buying it. I believe that in a decade where consumers will pay $400 for an iPod, undemonstrated "innovation" takes a backseat to technology that gets the job done correctly. So unless Nintendo shows me why DS is truly innovative, or releases the Game Boy Next, not only do I believe Sony will with PSP be the handheld market leader in four years, but I'll also wager that the portable will redefine the handheld demographic, effectively aging it up and attracting a wider audience. If this turns out to be true, Sony will have done exactly what Nintendo set out to do and grab gamers normally uninterested in videogames. But it will have done it by transforming an existing market and not catering to an unproven new one.
