Thursday, May 20, 2004
Slashdot | Nintendo's Iwata - Innovate or Die"CNN/Money has interviewed Satoru Iwata, where the president of Nintendo Ltd. says the gaming industry is in the midst of a crisis of innovation, which could lead to its demise. The idea, of course, is to justify the existence of the upcoming Nintendo DS, but Iwata does point out that the gaming market in Japan has been shrinking in the past few years - and the U.S. and Europe may do so soon."
Nintendo seems to continue to point the way progresswise. Without them middleware vendor Microsoft and Colour TV / walkman seller Sony would be pretty lost for new ideas. It's funny, though, while Microsoft's and sony's home entertainment divisions lose money hand over fist sunk into ambitious attempts to squeeze more polygons onto a standard resolution television screen, Nintendo are the only ones who actually have to make a profit at this business. They can't just request more money from the parent co. and continue on doing the obvious solution, they actually have to innovate now and then. And, not surprisingly, they're still making huge profits while the big-budget battle that could take sony down (in conjunction with the massive losses and braindead management of their movie / music arm, which I've blogged about previously) and be at least a slight embarrassment to Microsoft (they have enough money that they could literally build a titanic and shrug the sinking off as a business lesson) may just leave Nintendo unscathed.
As for the playstation portable, Sony seems to be falling into the WinCE trap, trying to pack too many bullet point features into a portable device. My prediction for the portable market: The smallest and lightest device will win out. Just like the iPod and the Palm Pilot, it's not the device with the most bullet-point features on the box, it's the device that actually delivers the best experience in a portable context.
By al -
10:36 p.m. |
A little bit of my background so you know where I'm coming from. I own all 3 current platforms. I've been a gamer since wood grain was fashionable. I've eschewed company loyalty ever since I've had enough disposable income to support my habit.
So let me weigh in won't you? :) I love Nintendo. I love their 1st party titles. They have gameplay down to a science. That being said, I'm not happy with their current trend of pointless "innovative" hardware. I see them following SEGA's lead - not a good thing.
The GBA SP was built to address the deficiencies of the original Gameboy Advance - a legitimate successor to the Gameboy. The promised connectivity between the Gamecube and GBA has failed to innovate the industry. Same goes for the GBA card reader. The Gameboy Player is just another SuperGameboy adapter so you can play on your TV. If they truly wanted to innovate, a backlit screen and TV out would have been available from the get go. It took 3rd party companies who modded GBAs to finally get Nintendo to listen to their consumers.
I'm pretty cynical with regards to the DS. They had some great 1st party tech demos, but 3rd party was few and far between. Meanwhile Sony has everyone and their dog signed up to develop; including the king makers EA and SquareEnix.
The gameplay with the stylus on Metroid Prime Hunters was hokey at best. Nintendo may innovate til the cows come home but if they don't get enough 3rd party support and if those non-Nintendo games use the 2nd screen as little more than an in-game map, the DS will go the way of the Virtual Boy.
This isn't to say Sony's off the hook. The pricetag will make or break this system. It will either totally own the adult demographic or be relegated to absurdly expensive plaything, like the PSX. Personally, I think Sony has a winner on their hands. They are the undisputed masters of marketing. How else can you have inferior hardware and gobs of shitty 3rd party games and still be king? They'll sell the PSP at a loss of course, but in time they'll probably make that money back.
Lost for new ideas? Sony beat Nintendo with the EyeToy, a surprise hit. The result? Nintendo sunk more dollars into R&D. Their president admitted they dropped the ball on that one. They've pretty much looked down upon online gaming. Which from a company that touts connectivity, cooperative and party style gameplay - is downright stupid.
Actually all 3 companies have to make a profit to warrant their continued existence. The PlayStation Brand is a huge chunk of Sony's business. And if the next XBOX fails to capture enough market share, it too will vanish.
Nintendo is profitable for a few reasons. They are currently unchallenged with the GBA. GBA sales trump all 3 consoles. They charge somewhat higher licensing fees. As for the titanic remark, sure they could - once - but I pray they don't have monkeys on their board. Failure is not something to be proud of, lest you get bought by a pachinko parlour.
I've said it many many times before *sigh* and I'll say it again. Hardware means dick compared to software. And if you can't get the developers to make the must have software for your machine - you are fucked.
The Xbox bashing is uncalled for. Microsoft is a very welcome addition to console gaming. I was a skeptic, a naysayer, but all that has changed because that PC-in-a-box delivers just as compelling gaming as the other two. It didn't turn out to be a PC ported software machine nor was it a PC. It's a console through and through. No installing, no patching (other than online titles), none of the PC gaming bullshit. I commend MS and MS Studios for that.
Competition is good. Who knew the industry could support THREE consoles? And we as gamers get to reap the benefits? Fucking awesome. 2 new portables on the way in addition to the next generation from the big 3? Bring it on. Innovate or die? If you think the gaming industry is in for another Atari style collapse, I got a bridge to sell ya.
And that's my long meandering rant on gamers who don't game. A little less Slashdot, a little more IGN and Gamesindustry.biz. I'm just sayin...
And for God's sake pick up that controller.
