Not sure I like the sound of Nintendo trying to recapture the hardcore market. But I suppose my complaints would depend on how one defines a hardcore gamer.
I just don't want to see Nintendo trying to make some FPS games like Call of Duty.
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If Nintendo release a new high power console six years after the Wii that can genuinely rival the PS3 and 360 on power- the rumour says it can beat them, but we'll see- and at a reasonable price, I do think it makes the ten year plans of those consoles look silly. The Wii already made more than both of them probably ever will; if Nintendo can steal a march on them twice it is just nuts.
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I agree, I was always wondering whether Nintendo is just going to play along with the 10 year plan. It seemed pointless for them as they played a much different strategy from the start (like, not losing money with their console, and stuff).
And it seems to me like it should be no problem now to beat the 5 year old rival consoles at the high end at a reasonable price. It's obvious that casual gamers don't care about speed and specs, but if Nintendo can continue to offer them what they want and also compete at the high end market that could be potentially great for them. I feel like they've had an amazing strategy this generation and they could surely build on that. (I also think the 3DS is a great device, which is more in a market where they are starting to compete with a company that's also been driving an amazing strategy, Apple)
I do miss the days of the N64 and NGC, when Nintendo was on par (arguably) with the PS1/Dreamcast and PS2. We just seemed to get a lot better Nintendo games when the playing field was that even.
It'll be an interesting dichotomy if this is true, and the new system is backwards-compatible with the Wii. Though I think that could also be a good plan, honestly; if you've got the power under the hood for games to compete with the "hardcore" trends while keeping the legacy and library of simpler casual games, you're uniquely positioned to capture both sides of the market.
On the other hand, this could be a misstep as, if GDC '11 is anything to go by, the industry is very interested in a console-free gaming future.
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I don't think the console will flourish like the Wii did. The people who bought the console that would never buy a 360/PS3 will suddenly replace the Wii with a higher powered console, I just don't see the casual audience doing that.
Also, Nintendo would need to prove to hardcore gamers that they can provide excellent 3rd party support that is able to compete with Sony/MS. They might but given their track record since the GameCube, I wouldn't bet on it.
In the end, I'm interested in what Nintendo can do with their first party software (HD Zelda would be awesome) but can you see a casual buyer, buy another $300 console in the near future. I'm not sure.
Last edited by Smasandian on Apr 15th, 2011 at 03:27 AM
They don't need to... but having the same PS3/360 COD on their platform, and not a dumb down version, should be interesting
so the controller would be some kind of tablet?
I find tablets uncomfortable... but at least it'll have some buttons on it
My thoughts exactly. I might be proven wrong, but I don't think they can have the same success with casual gamers, besides the wimote gimmick, they offered simplicity... the Ipad-like controller could be intimidating
The 3DS, as good as it's doing, it's not selling as expected... it's even outsold by the PSP in Japan ... it doesn't help it's got almost nothing to play on it
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I think pricing will be very important. I'll be fine with it being no great advance on 360 or PS3 if it's cheap. In fact, I think that will work very well for them- they'll be much more likely to pick up the causal Wii adopters again that way.
If it is expensive then I'm sceptical even if it is significantly better than the existing consoles.
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I think the sheer amount of casual games for the Nintendo platforms makes people either forget or fail to realise that there are actually an abundance of games on both platforms geared to the more commited gamer as well. The DS and Wii have, by far, the biggest and best library of serious adventure games and RPGs and they're pretty competitive as far as action/adventure and non shooter action games are concerned as well. In many respects the PS3/PSP and 360 have a pretty pathetic gaming library to the more commited gamer.
I'm not sure casual gamers really give a shit about the console being in HD. Even at $200 bucks, I don't know if it will entice casual gamers to replace their Wii's, which I would suspect they don't play very much.
In my opinion, having an HD Nintendo console would be designed to go after the gamer market but the console will have the noticeably better than current generations, have top notch content and lastly, have a comparable user friendly online system.
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.
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Apr 14th, 2011 08:45 PM
... it doesn't help it's got almost nothing to play on it
