Nintendo: Ready to Start a Revolution - A Market Apart from Microsft and Sony
(Page 4 of 4 )
Nintendo is being smart this time around and staying out of the high-end console battle. There are a few problems with the market for performance consoles. One is that the cost is prohibitive for casual gamers. Microsoft and Sony may lose money selling the machines in hopes to make money on expensive games, but they are still priced much higher than game systems were 10 years ago. Consoles used to be sold next to toys for the price of a few good walkie-talkies and are now fan-cooled computers (priced accordingly). Meanwhile, the cross platform titles have been ported onto PCs. There's nothing compelling a person to buy what is basically a second computer system to play similar (or even the same) games that are available for the real PC.
Also, a $500 Xbox 360 with three 3.2 GHz PowerPC processors is better for gaming than any $500 computer, but in 5 years it’s still going to be an Xbox 360. In a year or two, computer gamers will have PCs that make a 360 look like a Dreamcast. I’m not saying Xbox and Playstation are wrong for chasing customers who can buy their games on computers too. There is a huge market for it, and people want eye candy consoles.
I’m saying that graphics alone are not a compelling reason for many people to put up their hard earned money for a new console. Only so many systems can survive by offering the same thing to the same people. It takes more than a sticker that says “Newer and faster” and smoothing the graphics on a generic WWII shooter to get some people to even pick up a controller. There don’t need to be three game systems and the PC platform competing to attract high-end gamers. Nintendo has completely revised their console by offering gameplay you cannot get anywhere else and reducing the cost to the level at which consoles sold a decade ago.
The Revolution should be something new and different; it gives me a reason to look outside of the PC games section. While Microsoft and Sony fight out whose multiprocessor system will have higher Giga-plops, Nintendo is going after the customers who may not even care about that side of the platform. Nintendo says they will give us “new experiences” in gaming, rather than making the existing gameplay glow with HDR and 16x AA. It’s those new experiences which made the original Nintendo and Super Nintendo systems so interesting, not playing the my-console-is-bigger-than-yours game.
Going this route, Nintendo is aiming at a demographic of potential gamers who have been forgotten in the console wars. The Revolution is ideally a system for nearly everyone, like the simple older systems used to be. Computer gamers who forego consoles because they're so similar to PCs anymore have a compelling reason to go out and try a Rev. Old gamers who loved the NES, Genesis, and Super Nintendo but don’t play anymore will also see a reason to try it out; they can download their old favorite games and play some new ones too. Those who never really considered gaming will also see this as a more approachable, friendly, and intuitive system. Hardcore gamers might like using the Revolution too since the gameplay is so different, but they probably won’t be buying it for the visuals. It should be cheap enough for casual gamers to justify buying and hardcore gamers to consider as an affordable second (or third) system.
Nintendo just needs a few great must-play games that take advantage of its uniqueness. The system is due out before Thanksgiving, and we'll probably start seeing details about the games soon. If the Revolution keeps looking this good, it may be the first game console I buy since my Super Nintendo, 13 years ago. The Playstation 3 will be coming out at about the same time, but I doubt that will hurt the Rev. I’ll probably feel a little better joining the Revolution than buying a system that reminds me of annoying PSP commercials and nasty rootkits.
| DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by Developer Shed, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware. |
/ 30 
