Originally posted by Ushgarak
Of course the HD thing is irrelevant to casual gamers. However, after six years since original release, I think 'new and improved' might have more resonance to potential casual buyers than you might think. So then it just has to be affordable.
That's true.
I'm only coming from personal experience but the reason why I thought the Wii did extremely well that it got mothers/fathers, grandparents and others that would never pick up a controller before. Would a new console have the same impact? I don't think it will. Those type of people don't even have their Wii hooked up anymore. I just don't see them buying another Nintendo console just because it has updated graphics.
The problem I see for Nintendo is that they have to create a console more powerful than the current HD consoles but that will increase the cost of it to a point where casual buyers might be disinterested.
Originally posted by Bardock42
I don't know, HD is already a well established marketing gimmick, could work here too 😛
Is HD important to the casual market?
HDTV are all the rage now, you got the "1080p" marketing thing all over the place and it helps sells... but then again most people buy a "really big TV" and then go home and watch dvds on them... not caring a bit about resolution and stuff.
The ipad controllers sound expensive... even the xbox is much more expensive than a wii... and this new one is supposed to be better than an xbox
Supossedly you can stream and entire game to the controller... that's got to be more expensive than a psp
If you have a HD TV and the console doesn't support HD resolution, its gonna look stretched and blurry, so it's not a 'hardcore gamer' gimmick, it's a common sense/necessary technology update.
Im hoping that the second analog stick will emulate the motion aiming input for Wii games instead of making the controller motion control again, because the last thing I want to do after a long day at work is wave my arms around at the tv to play a game sleepy
I'm sure at this point all the Big Three are well into the development of their next gen console, but don't think Nintendo would gain anything from being the one to force a next gen console "arms race". The Wii costs nothing to make and it mints money, and the likely hood of Nintendo's next console having anywhere near the same level of success is unlikely. If Nintendo announced a new console at E3, Microsoft and Sony would make official announcements right after, and it would only result in Nintendo losing ground to the other two in market share. I think Nintendo and Sony want this current gen to last as long as possible, Sony to recoup from selling at a loss early on, and Nintendo just to rack in as much money as possible before they get dethrone next gen. Microsoft is barely holding onto the second place seat (less than 3 mill ahead of Sony even with a years headstart), they could announce a next gen console later this year / next year when Sony passes them in consoles sold... but I think more likely they will announce a price cut instead. I don't think there is much chance we will hear anything about the next gen consoles this year at E3, maybe next year.
You can barely read text formatted for HD games on a standard def tv, I'm sure that the developers could easily address that... but since they choose not to, I would say an HDTV is pretty much essential for gaming.
Originally posted by Ushgarak
Microsoft and Sony have stated 10 year plans for their consoles, so Nintendo can easily steal a march.
The PS3 was released six years into the PS2's life cycle and the PS2 is still on the market now in it's eleventh year... hell it still gets new games from time to time. A 10 year console life span doesn't prohibit Sony form lunching a new console, it just means the PS3 will still be on the market as an alternative until 2016.
Sony and Microsoft wont allow Nintendo to start the nextgen without them.
No, they specifically said about it lasting ten years before launching a new one- and about how console lifecycles have changed. Microsoft have concurred since Kinect came out.
So... yes, they might have to allow it actually. They don't actually have the R&D budget to just get a new one out on demand like that. Prohibitive development costs were part of their given reasoning.
Originally posted by Ushgarak
No, they specifically said about it lasting ten years before launching a new one- and about how console lifecycles have changed. Microsoft have concurred since Kinect came out.So... yes, they might have to allow it actually. They don't actually have the R&D budget to just get a new one out on demand like that. Prohibitive development costs were part of their given reasoning.
I'd love to see a quote where it is specified that the "10 year life span," is referring to the time before the launch of another console and not just the total shelf life. Kotaku is my home page, and I frequent all the other major video game websites daily and I have never seen even a single quote that has even eluded to that. In the last couple of months we have seen a string of "don't expect a new console anytime soon," quotes from all three major companies (including Nintendo)... but a 2012/13 release date wouldn't exactly contradict that.
I'm not suggesting they would have to rush to market with something just to compete, I'm saying all three of them are ready to go at a moments notice when one of them forces the issue. Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony haven't been siting on their laurels for the last six years, the likely started R&D for their next consoles the moment the current gen consoles lunched. If anyone of the Big Three announced a new consoles, all three would release something new within a year of one another.
I think Microsoft could afford it if they wanted to, they are a rich, rich company, but it would just be burning money, they obviously decided they want to have the Kinect be their "next generation" and to abort that plan now would be ridiculous.
And it might not be a bad strategy at all, they sold what, like over 10 million of the Kinect in record time? If they get games out on it, and sell more of them, they might have a winning strategy. I don't think that the console market can only have one winner anyways, Microsoft has achieved a lot by launching XBox, for their other products as well. Sony, I don't know enough about.
Originally posted by Ushgarak
Not my fault that you missed them (that is, Microsoft and Sony, not Nintendo) talking about development costs as the reason for longer lifecycles.Anyway, you'll soon see how wrong you are.
No I've read the articles talking about the increased development costs (something I new about without having to read about thanks to common sense), but in none of them has it ever been stated that they (Sony and Microsoft) wont launch a new console before the 10 year life span is up.
If Nintendo doesn't make a announcement at E3 this year for a new console, I predict that we will get official announcements from all three at E3 2012 for 2013 release dates. If Nintendo does announce something this year, since their press conference is after Sony's (I'm not sure what day Microsoft's is on this year) I would except a PS4 announcement at Toyko Game show later this year. Not sure when/where Microsoft would announce if there E3 conference is after Nintendos, but they would want to do it State side, they might hold their own conference.
Originally posted by srankmissingnin
No I've read the articles talking about the increased development costs (something I new about without having to read about thanks to common sense), but in none of them has it ever been stated that they (Sony and Microsoft) wont launch a new console before the 10 year life span is up.If Nintendo doesn't make a announcement at E3 this year for a new console, I predict that we will get official announcements from all three at E3 2012 for 2013 release dates. If Nintendo does announce something this year, since their press conference is after Sony's (I'm not sure what day Microsoft's is on this year) I would except a PS4 announcement at Toyko Game show later this year. Not sure when/where Microsoft would announce if there E3 conference is after Nintendos, but they would want to do it State side, they might hold their own conference.
Bookmarking this to rub it in your face later (or to congratulate you, we'll see)
Originally posted by srankmissingnin
Heheh. If I'm wrong it will be my first step in becoming Michael Pachter's apprentice. 😎
You're on the right track then 😉
I was wondering, and pardon me for getting a bit out of topic, but, does anyone know anyone who owns a Kinect? I certainly don't. I know the internet isn't a place to hold a reliable poll, but still
I mean 10m sold... that's like 20% out of all 360 sold 😐
just wondering...