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OPINIONS

The Nintendo Death Watch
By: Lee Stein
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  • Rating: 2 stars2 stars2 stars2 stars2 stars / 129
    2005-09-12

    Table of Contents:
  • The Nintendo Death Watch
  • The Competition Approaches
  • The Bigger They Are...
  • The Stupider They Fall
  • The New Systems

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    The Nintendo Death Watch - The Bigger They Are...


    (Page 3 of 5 )

    Premiering just 2 months after the VR Boy, the Sony Playstation arrived in America.  The Playstation used CD-ROM discs as opposed to game cartages.  This led to lower third party production costs and many third party developers totally abandoning Nintendo.  Also, Sony beat Nintendo to market by almost 2 years with the Playstation, locking in a base of gamers that had been raised by Nintendo but longed for more "adult" and sports themed games.

    When the Nintendo 64 premiered, it showed that they were officially the company of yesterday, not tomorrow.  While the system did have a faster processor and better load times, the N64 system relied on the old media cartages instead of the next-gen CD-ROMs.  The excuse was "copy protection," a mantra that Nintendo had been chanting since the NES days.  And while illegal copies and versions of games was an issue with the original Playstation, it never became a problem of the size and scope that Nintendo feared.  And as I previously stated, 3rd party support almost completely abandoned Nintendo, which led to the Playstation acquiring a much larger library.  Games that were available on Nintendo were available on the Playstation as well, with better graphics, sound, and CGI cut scenes.

    This was another issue that weakened Nintendo's market share. Game developers strongly moved towards CGI cut scenes in all their games (for good or ill depending on who you talk to), which is something the N64 could simply not do sans for Resident Evil 2 (which was a port of the Playstation version and came at the end of the N64's life cycle when it didn't matter). 

    Also Nintendo had designed a clunky and childlike controller for their system, a far cry from the sleek look of the Playstation controller.

    When faced with these problems, how did Nintendo respond?  Instead of becoming more advanced, their games became simpler and more childlike, geared directly towards children.  Super Smash Bothers, a very successful game among young teens and children, relied on the joy of pummeling Nintendo’s franchise characters in a style reminiscent of Looney Toons.  They embraced the "Pokémon" fad, releasing game after game of Pokémon filler.  They even released a "Special Edition" N64 with a giant Pikachu on the top, which lit up when the system was turned on.  The system only appealed to a limited market segment, narrowing the acceptance of the system.

    The failure of the Nintendo 64 is more apparent today, as a soon to be released port of a N64 game is generating waves of publicity and raves for the Microsoft X-Box.  "Conkers Bad Fur Day" was Nintendo's answer for those who said they didn't make games for older players.  It featured a cute looking but foul-mouthed squirrel, engaging in a series of violent and lewd acts.  For Nintendo, the game was commercial flop… at that point "adult" gamers had given up on the system.  Today, X-Box is re-releasing the game, with updated graphics but keeping the storyline in place.  It currently looks to be a huge hit for the X-Box.

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       · Thanks for reading my article. Please let me known if you have any questions or...
       · ... or in this case, 2 out of 5 stars. Obviously a lot of work went into writing...
       · I agree with the article. Nintendo is way back in 3rd place with no fast track to...
       · I kind of agree here. For one thig, what's wrong with Nintendo keeping their own...
       · The article was not bad, more of a history lesson than an opinion article. I will...
       · Isn't Nintendo one of the only companies to be actually making money? Last I heard...
       · Thank you for your feedback, but I think you were reading something else. At no...
       · It may be my own opinion, but a dying company selling 4/5 of the dominant company...
       · Let me quote, if I may, from your own article"Instead of DVDs, the Gamecube...
       · I'm going to agree here as well - the author did cover the right issues, but the...
       · The article is poorly researched.The DS has been outselling the PSP overall. ...
       · To copy in discussion from the forums: "as of August 21, 05 the Nintendo has sold a...
       · Perhaps I should have been a bit more clear. Nintendo is still making money… just...
       · You are 100% percent right about the load time issue. I haven't been able to get...
       · Keep in mind these numbers come from Japan. The PSP is outpacing the DC in new...
       · Right. I was copying from DarkKnight to show some of the forum discussion, but I'm...
       · Again, the DS outsells the PSP only in Japan, with the PSP making headway. And I...
       · Don't know what makes you think DS is failing. It has consistently outsold the PSP....
       · Wow, you are so far detatched from reality it's not funny.Mankind may never gain...
       · When the Super Nintendo came out, a few people said the technology was behind Sega...
       · This article goes a long way in proving that anyone can write an...
       · [i]>>However, technical flaws are much more serious. When I increase the font size...
       · Yes it is. I saw it myself.
       · >Wow, you are so far detached from reality it's not funny. I find it to be quite...
       · >This article goes a long way in proving that anyone can write an article....
       · I am indeed a big PA fan. On 9/2/05 Tycho wrote:I would never have called it,...
       · "Good Games Make a Good System."Amen. That is why Nintendo continues to see my...
       · You know what - this article is spot-on, at least as far as the US marketplace goes....
       · I'm not sure where you are getting your Japanese DS/PSP sales data from. If you...
       · You post pretty much sums up my view on the subject. Thanks for contributing.
       · Interesting article over at CNN about the launch of the micro:...
       · There are a number of factual errors in the article, as well as some opinions stated...
       · [i]There are a number of factual errors in the article, as well as some opinions...
       · I have read both of the above threads carefully and if one thing sticks out far more...
       · Sorry to say this Lee, but you haven't clue what your talking about and are...
       · I notice there is a point that hasn't been made here, specifically nintendo's appeal...
       · Of course. I'm willing to let minor spelling issues slide. If others want to...
       · I will agree with you 100% on your points. Nintendo is very smart to try and get...
       · The GBA sales outselling the PSP is for the month of August alone. While the GBA...
       · The reason the load times are shorter is because the graphics are absolute crap on...
     

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