Trip Hawkins Interview ..........

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What do you think about Nintendo's future? People have commented that they should focus only on portable systems in the future.
My magic eight ball says they will be acquired by Microsoft within five years.

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Trip Hawkins Interview

Trip Hawkins is the founder of the largest publisher, Electronic Arts. He even came up with the popular Madden series. He also found 3DO and released his own game console. Recently he made another new company, Digital-Chocolate. This time however, he will be making games for mobile phones. And for those wondering, he hasn't been with EA for some time now so don't say you don't like him because of EA.

Something that was on people's minds before, though not as talked about currently, is that the next-gen systems will bring an increase in game prices. Currently, we do see some premium titles but we mostly see the price at $49.99. Do you feel an overall price increase in games will come with the next-gen consoles?
I don’t think prices will go up, in part because gamers can always rent the games.

One change that we will be seeing with games is in regards to sports' licensing. EA now has the exclusive rights to the NFL and Midway has the exclusive rights to the MLB (with exception of 1'st party publishers). Being the creator of the top-selling Madden series, how do you think this exclusive licensing will affect the future of sports games?
There have always been a lot of exclusive licenses and sometimes the publisher cuts some corners or gets a bit lazy and the quality goes down. But there are plenty of examples where that doesn’t happen, so we should all hold out hope that quality is maintained.


With the next Xbox planned for release prior to Nintendo's and Sony's next systems, the cost of implementing a next-gen media format (HD-DVD or Blu-Ray) would be expensive. What do you think if Xbox 2 used the standard DVD format instead of high definition?
Personally, I don’t think this is an important distinction. But maybe some early adopters will care about this and at least initially sway market share. HD will only be relevant in the long run if applications like football use it effectively to enable you to see more of the field. But I think the players are already on information overload as it is.


While on the subject of console hardware, what do think about hard drives in consoles? On message boards, people have expressed that their reason for purchasing an Xbox was due to the hard drive and that the will only purchase Xbox 2 if it contains a hard drive. Could they be the future of consoles?
Historically, new consoles have launched at prices like $299 and $199. If the platform maker can afford a hard drive and hit those prices then they will become a standard feature. But I think it was pretty painful for Microsoft on the first Xbox and it is not unreasonable to treat it as an upgrade add-on.


We have seen a couple of game companies go under in just this generation of systems (including your own 3DO). Do you see it getting harder for companies to make it, as production costs increase?
Console game publishing has become more like theatrical release film-making and it is very hard if you are not one of the major publishers, and even for them it is hard unless they are working with major game brands. It is very unfortunate that it is now very hard to innovate because of the cost-structure.


EA has made its way to the top. Are there any publishers that you see rising up in the future and possibly taking over "the top spot?"
The candidates would be EA, Sony, Microsoft, and Konami. But any big change is more likely to result if there is a disruptive event such as new technologies or platforms that have a surprising effect on market share.


What do you think about Nintendo's future? People have commented that they should focus only on portable systems in the future.
My magic eight ball says they will be acquired by Microsoft within five years.


We have heard about at least two companies being sued for work conditions-EA and VU. Do you think this may improve or will we start hearing more about this in the future?
Yeah, we’ve all heard about EA Spouse! It’s a tough problem on both sides. Hollywood has some of the same issues and of course has been unionized for quite some time. Outsourcing is going to be another factor in this story. Lower labor costs and tax benefits have, for example, caused publishers like EA, UbiSoft, and others to move more production to Canada. Digital Chocolate has 60% of its developers in Finland where the sun never sets in the summer and there is nothing to do outside in the winter, so we are very productive! ;-)


Do you think online gaming will play a big part with the next-gen systems or will it still be in an "early phase?"
Online console gaming will continue to grow at a healthy pace. It makes a lot of sense, because hardcore gamers have the appetite to compete against each other.


Not that long ago, IGN posted an article regarding the lack of original titles. Thinking about games that are in development, the majority are sequels or licensed games based off of a movie or tv show. Do you think we will continue to see a decrease in original titles?
What original titles? Just kidding. This is a huge problem. As a result, we will continue to see more innovation on the Internet and on mobile phones than on consoles.


To close things up, have you ever had the interest in wanting to create another system?
Uh, let me think about it… I’ve decided. No! That is like asking me if I want to put my hand on a hot stove again. ;)


source: http://xbox2news.com/hawkins.php
 
What do you think about Nintendo's future? People have commented that they should focus only on portable systems in the future.
My magic eight ball says they will be acquired by Microsoft within five years.


:? :?
 
I hate that guy from the bottom of my heart. Arrogant, smug ... why are people still interviewing that phoney?
 
Everything that guy ever said was nothing but lies, and/or total bullshit. I'm not reading that pile of you-know-what. Nobody should ever interview him for any reason, even if he was the last person left on the planet. (Same goes for other PR marketroids of course.)
 
london-boy said:
What do you think about Nintendo's future? People have commented that they should focus only on portable systems in the future.
My magic eight ball says they will be acquired by Microsoft within five years.


:? :?

Depending on how Revolution is marketed and how it fairs to the PS3/X2, it could happen. As a Nintendo fan I have had to deal with a fairly slow gen (GCN) and a gen that puttered a little due to high cart prices (N64). I feel "flat" about Revolution right now based on Nintendo's comments. They downplay online/graphics too much for my taste because I think it alienates gamers and ignores the fact while graphics are getting less and less important they ARE relevant to sales and immersion (and I am a gameplay first type) and the fact if Nintendo makes Rev as revolutionary as they claim it may further hurt 3rd party support. We still have nothing firm, but based on *past* efforts (DD64? GBA connectivity? Virtual Boy?) I am not too sure their version of revolutionary.

But on the reverse they are changing little by little. Mature Link was a good move... too bad that did not launch as Wind Waker though. Balls in their court, but if they cannot build excitement among their fans (like myself) I am not sure they will have many choices. Stock holders want to see profits, and with a shrinking share in consoles and stiff competition in the portable area Nintendo needs to get aggressive and act like an underdog and stop pretending to be the market leader they once were.

I just wish I had my E3 crystal ball so I could put some positive spin on the above ;)
 
Imo, he's out of touch with current reality. Nintendo isn't going anywhere (take that as you will ;) )
 
Ty said:
Imo, he's out of touch with current reality. Nintendo isn't going anywhere (take that as you will ;) )

Trip has always been tripping ;) He was out of touch with reality in '95, and he is out of touch now.

As for Nintendo, I would agree they are not going anywhere. But Nintendo is a profits driven company. They has always been pretty important to their stock holders. But they are getting squeezed from a lot of directions, and momentum is a hard thing to regain when lost. There is no denying their market share has been on the decline. At some point that may catch up with them if PSP takes cuts at the portable market.

And I am still at a loss why they cannot have a traditional console and still be innovative. Consoles are more about the software. Hardware can only carry you so long. So unless they plan to dump TVs (which would mean they are no longer a console!) there will always be certain limitations. I just how whatever Revolution is, that what makes it unique is better, not just different. Gyroscopes and touch pads are different, but they are not better.
 
I've thought this - that Nintendo would be better off pulling a Sega. They're known primarly for their software, and as such bringing their software to the substantially larger PS base would make them much more money, plus they can create whatever peripherals they like.

I don't know what advantage they have producing their own hardware, save a higher percentage profit. If they wrote for PS2 they'd have to give Sony a cut, but that percentage loss would be insubstantial to the huge gains in market size.

Is there any other reason than pride for Nintendo to battle on if Revolution bombs?
 
pride? it's al about the benjamins I tell you

why would nintendo pull a sega when they make mass profit like it is now?
 
Shifty Geezer said:
'Coz they'd make 5x more with a 5x larger user base!

Not necessarily. People wanting to play Nintendo games usually buys Nintendo consoles. Obviously in case Nintendo went third party, they would make more in revenue, but i'm not sure that just because they open to a 5x larger userbase, they'll sell their games to all the customers in that userbase.
More, yes, but how many more?
Maybe the people who buys non-Nintendo consoles are just... *surprise!*... not interested in Nintendo material?
Therefore opening up to them would only give them a marginally larger userbase, taking in the "curious" gamers, the ones that bought a PS2 but would like to play Celda. I think, whoever wanted to play Celda, bought a very cheap GC at this point.
And i wouldn't want them to do a Sega and become mighty crappy as they go third party.
 
Shifty Geezer said:
'Coz they'd make 5x more with a 5x larger user base!

so would microsoft ? according to your reasoning they should go software-only too..

you make much more profit for each game you sell on your own plateform than you would do if sold on another one + you perceive royalties on every software sold on your plateform..

and having you plateform gives some strategic advantages like deciding which software is available on the plateform so you can choose not to accept some titles on it in order to secure sales of your own software...

on playstation there are some very good plateformers, with franchises which have somewhat lost their momentum, i'm not sure nintendo plateformers sales would increase that much..
 
Shifty Geezer said:
'Coz they'd make 5x more with a 5x larger user base!
The fact that Nintendo still have the highest royalty fees on the market, and the number of games sold on the GC, disagree with your reasoning.

Also a bigger market equals not only to a bigger user base, but also to a bigger competition.

When Sega went third party, a lot of people thought that Sega was going to be a major player in the "console war", by according exclusivities to certain of their games to x or y console manufacturer.
But when we take a look at the situation right now, Sega, sadly, became almost irrellevant to home videogaming industry...

Nintendo, if they know what's good for them, and I'm certain they know, should stay in the hardware buisiness as long as they're profitable.
 
Acert93 said:
So unless they plan to dump TVs (which would mean they are no longer a console!) there will always be certain limitations. I just how whatever Revolution is, that what makes it unique is better, not just different. Gyroscopes and touch pads are different, but they are not better.

It gets plugged directly into your brain and uses it instead of RAM. The Revolution is that YOU become the game machine.
 
Ty said:
Acert93 said:
So unless they plan to dump TVs (which would mean they are no longer a console!) there will always be certain limitations. I just how whatever Revolution is, that what makes it unique is better, not just different. Gyroscopes and touch pads are different, but they are not better.

It gets plugged directly into your brain and uses it instead of RAM. The Revolution is that YOU become the game machine.

It features upgrades, but then they have to chop off one of your arms.
 
I wouldn't put any stock in anything Trip says. He's an idiot. 3DO was a good machine and in many ways ahead of its time and would have taken off had it not been so EXPENSIVE. Also the concept was great. Trip now is just a bitter has been.

Also, Nintendo would never merge with an American company. If they had half a brain they would have merged with SEGA 2 years ago. Pride will always be Nintendos achiles heal. Nintendo and MS merger makes too much sense for it to happen.

Nintendo just needs to stop playing the nostalgia card and start developing new franchises rather than re-releasing old games with updated graphics. Metroid is a step in the right direction. So is the new Zelda. Nintendo still is the best system for the younger crowd. Its just the younger crowd isn't the big demographic anymore for vid-games the 21-35 yr old crowd has all the money. If I had kids I'd buy them a Nintendo system in a heartbeat. (and Id play it too) but me thinks alot of kids would rather be killing prosistutes in GTA though (heh, so would I)

The markets changed Nintendo hasn't.
 
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