What Does Nintendo Need to Do?

[cx1(dcfan)]

Ok well im gonna lay out the question of this topic in the beginning so that you can either just respond or read my banter and then respond.

What does nintendo have to do to regain a significant market share in the next "consoles war" and possibly come out on top?

Can they come out on top with such an entrenched sony and surprisingly microsoft market?

______________________________

Well im an old school sega fanboy and turned into a sony fanboy in the playstation era (I was fairly young and in my fanboy years at the time). Needless to say nintendo was the enemy and I felt a certain satisfaction to see them fail.

However with the ps2 I started to dislike the way sony was going with its console, it strived to be a media hub rather than a total gaming system. For instance every genre of game on the psx I enjoyed more than that same genre on ps2. with few exceptions.

Now the ps3 looks like its taking this philosphy further, which has discouraged me even more. The xbox is the same way only to a slightly lesser degree.

So that has got me thinking about what nintendo can do to succeed with its latest system since its focused on just gaming. Here are some things i've thought of.

First is it has to launch with innovative games from its first party that shows off the system's capabilities... like with the DS the first party is gonna have to lead the way and show some of the 3rd party how to use the innovation that is in the revolution.

With a strong first party showing it can capture good launch numbers and convince 3rd party that in order to be successful they cannot ignore the rev.

To be specific, I would like them to launch with a few mario games (a platformer like mario64/a party game that utilizes its online capabilities or wifi capabilities/luigi game and some other game like mario soccer/tennis that will utilize the uniqueness of the system).

I think a ssbm at launch that has some sort of wifi/online multiplayer would go over amazingly well along with a mario kart online game that would be able to connect or be like the upcoming mario kart ds.

a Zelda game would be good but since work on the TP is still going on its gonna be hard... I think it would be an interesting thought if they released Zelda TP on the rev's launch day since its backwards compatable... I think it might sell a few more systems.

I think its important to get as many units sold at launch as possible because if they can get a large installment base it would force 3rd party to develope for them... I think that's their biggest issue not only with getting that 3rd party support but for making them understand the rev's "innovations" a new controller may make it difficult to straight port games. Hopfully they can get enough of a base to warrent 3rd party developing exclusive software.

Lastly Price, I think they need to price this under 300 dollers (they have confirmed price is an issue for nintendo so it is likely this will happen). I am hoping for a price of 250 myself.

Some good things I see for nintendo is:

backwards compatability.
price (if they stick to what they say)
focus on just games.
free online (if they stick to what they say)
innovation
size/styling

The bad:

No port for people who dont have wifi routers? issue with the DS... hopfully not with the rev
no HDD (I think even a small 10gb hdd would make the rev much better... even if its not used to save games, being able to save all those old snes/64 games onto the system would be good along with having custom sountracks, something that would be completely awesome)
Launch date? if its not out before the ps3 or near it, it could be bad for nintendo
3rd party support (big ?)
online system (again ?)
continuing to be recognised as "kiddy" or not adult
hardware (will it be disappointing compared to 360/ps3?)

The not sure:
controller... we simply dont know, nintendo has revolutionized the controller a few times (anolog/rumbling)... I look at its record and have hope but it is still up in the air.


On a final note I think it is important that they try and shed their image of being for a younger crowd... the nes/snes didnt come off that way and they both had zelda/mario/yoshi games. They need to accomplish this by not making offensive software (like what they tried to do with Conker:bad fur day on the N64) but instead just make games for a more mature audience. games like crono trigger and the final fantasy's that were on the snes and others of that nature.

Discuss.

[The Chocobo Kid]

I have to say that everything in your post is is a good Idea for nintendo to start with. But nintendo should of try that with the gamecube when the N64 was not winning gamers. But nintendo did make a profit then sony of M$ did in a way.
Not saying they made more money they both company but more profit on there sells.

[gate01]

N need to be more real i mean stop living in the 20thc they need better consoles with a lot of power to compete with sony and MS

[luxurys]

I have talked with Kieran about this and we need someone to step up to the plate and take on this heavy duty challenge. We need someone with a bit of a technical know how and can put this in a non-bias way for readers to evaluate and discuss.

The Idea: A Xbox 360 vs PS3 specs look

Outline: I was thinking something like this:

Intro....Xbox 360 vs PS3

Technical specs behind Xbox 360 and then in laymans terms what each technical spec means. Floating points, verticies, shaders, RAM, ect.

Technical specs of PS3...same

Overall, using tech specs only for:
Graphics: Xbox 360 Wins and why
AI: PS3 Wins and why
Framerate: PS3 wins and why
Ect....
....
...

Ending....



What do you guys think?

Ill start it, but if more people want to join it would better

[Godzero]

Ill start it, but if more people want to join it would better

you mean like a round table chat on the tech in both? If we are going to do this we need Jordon here badly.. he is the best tech guy we have (or had...).

Yea we could do a round table or a debate

[Godzero]

Lets include the Wii in this.

[luxurys]

ok...

Lets include the Wii in this.

Let's not since there's absolutely no point in that whatsoever because the Wii isn't even remotely in the same class as the 360 and PS3.

[BustenRhymes7790]

If you are comparing tech. specs, don't include the Wii - but if you choose just to compare the systems as a whole, you probably should include the Wii.

[Godzero]

If you are comparing tech. specs, don't include the Wii - but if you choose just to compare the systems as a whole, you probably should include the Wii.

We if we are considering making this a round table discussion then it would be better if we do include our thoughts of the Wii specs and all.

[ps3 Wanna be]

I think specs is a dodgy area because very few of us are qualified to make any judgements/comparisons - most of what we say will come out fanboyish.

I reckon a general comparison would be better.

So as a roundtable, discuss what you think are the advantages/disadvantages of each, then the next person can agree/disagree and put in their own thoughts etc

[Godzero]

I think specs is a dodgy area because very few of us are qualified to make any judgements/comparisons - most of what we say will come out fanboyish.

I reckon a general comparison would be better.

So as a roundtable, discuss what you think are the advantages/disadvantages of each, then the next person can agree/disagree and put in their own thoughts etc

Thats why I want Jordon as one of the round table discussion he has the biggest tech mind.

Some of us are qualified enough to talk about hardware advantages, but it really doesn't prove anything anyway, particuilarly when both platforms are very powerful in their own right, each capable of different numbers in different applications. They represent different approaches to solving the same problem and in the end, which one is best will come down to what the developers put out for each platform.

I suppose we could talk about the target markets, the gaming space and the potential of the platform itself; it's not like we can say one is better or worse than the other truthfully after all.