1up.com - 4 page article on advice for Xbox Next
- Thread starter FatherJohn
- Start date
Teasy said:
Nintendo have as much money in the bank as Sony and are making profit every year. Yet this guy thinks they should drop out because the console business is too expensive for themIt never ceases to amaze me how many truly stupid people there are in this world..
Someone should write that guy an email telling him how stupid he is.
Johnny Awesome
Veteran
Except that Nintendo has probably lost money on Gamecube. GBA saved them.
Readykilowatt
Regular
What planet do you live on?
Look at this:.
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Strong sales of the GameCube video game console have helped Nintendo report a doubling in quarterly profits. The Japanese company, best known for game characters such as Super Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong, said that net profits had risen to 22.6 billion yen (£111 million) for the April to June period from 11.5 billon yen a year before.
Sales of software for the handheld GameBoy Advance games machines also remained firm despite the prospect of the launch of a rival product, the PlayStation Portable, by Sony.
At an operating level, profits surged to 17.47 billion yen for the quarter, up from 7.25 billion yen a year before and ahead of analysts' forecasts of a 12.2 billion yen figure. The results contrasted with a loss at Sony's game division, hurt by PlayStation price cuts.
Hiroshi Kamide, the KBC Securities analyst, said: "At the moment, there are no serious concerns for Nintendo’s business."
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8903-1194035,00.html
In an interview with French newspaper Les Echos, Nintendo communications director Yasuhiro Minagawa has struck out at critics. In response to questions about GameCube Sales figures. "Our consoles have never lost money," he pointed out, "unlike the Dreamcast and Genesis which never recorded a profit. People regularly predict our failure in this business, but we're still here meanwhile Bandai, Matsush*ta, NEC, and Sega have all gone."
http://members.aol.com/mips36/jun2k3old.htm
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Here are also some questions for you to ponder:
(1) How much money does Nintendo lose with every Gamecube sold?
(2) How much money does Nintendo make from the sale of a memory card?
(3) How much money does Nintendo make from the sale of one of their own games?
(4) How much money does Nintendo make from the sale of one third party game?
The Gamecube cannot play CDs or DVDs and it doesn't have a built in hard drive, so there is almost a guarantee that when someone purchases a Gamecube for the first time, they will buy at least one memory card and one game.
Readykilowatt:
Word of advice. Ignore Johnny Awesome. The guy is clueless and should have been banned for his continuous trolling a long time ago.
cybamerc, you are no stranger to trolling either. Half of your posts are claiming other people are trolling the boards when you are trolling. This is your second and final warning.
Word of advice. Ignore Johnny Awesome. The guy is clueless and should have been banned for his continuous trolling a long time ago.
cybamerc, you are no stranger to trolling either. Half of your posts are claiming other people are trolling the boards when you are trolling. This is your second and final warning.
Johnny Awesome
Veteran
In any case, the fact that Gamecube made money for Nintendo in one or two quarters does not mean they actually made money on the Cube as a whole endeavor. They stated a few years back that they wanted 60 million Cubes sold by March 2005. Well, they'll probably only reach about 20 million by then. That drastic shortfall is the reason the Cube has been a losing proposition for Nintendo. When you factor in all the hidden costs, including marketing, the Cube is probably only just now bringing money into Nintendo's coffers.
If memory serves me right, and don't quote me on this, Nintendo had about $6 billion in cash at the beginning of this generation and now they have roughly $4 billion in cash. Does anyone here know where the money went? Did they buy back some stock or something?
I didn't say what I said to cut down Nintendo fans. I'm just stating my actual opinion - that Cube has not been a money maker for Nintendo and even less so for third parties. I own a Cube and about 6 games for it and enjoy it as a second console, but I think it is having serious difficulties in the marketplace outside of Japan.
If memory serves me right, and don't quote me on this, Nintendo had about $6 billion in cash at the beginning of this generation and now they have roughly $4 billion in cash. Does anyone here know where the money went? Did they buy back some stock or something?
I didn't say what I said to cut down Nintendo fans. I'm just stating my actual opinion - that Cube has not been a money maker for Nintendo and even less so for third parties. I own a Cube and about 6 games for it and enjoy it as a second console, but I think it is having serious difficulties in the marketplace outside of Japan.
Doing well in only one market is enough for XBox to be claimed a success, why not GC? They both have apparent 'serious difficulties' anywhere outside their respective homelands.Johnny Awesome said:
Personally I find it more amusing that Sony's Korean shipments alone are almost matching XBox shipments for entire Asia&Pacific region. And PS2 is not actually considered a success around here... yet.
Fafalada said:Doing well in only one market is enough for XBox to be claimed a success, why not GC? They both have apparent 'serious difficulties' anywhere outside their respective homelands.Johnny Awesome said:
Personally I find it more amusing that Sony's Korean shipments alone are almost matching XBox shipments for entire Asia&Pacific region. And PS2 is not actually considered a success around here... yet.
Fafalada your striking me as quite the sony fan lately .
Johnny
You are correct that at the start of this generation Nintendo had $6 billion in cash and cash equivalents. But your way off on what they have now (where did you hear $4 billion?). They actually now have $7 billion in cash and cash equivalents:
2000:
http://www.nintendo.com/corp/annual2k/pdf/consol_state_cashflow.pdf
2004:
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n10/news/040728e.pdf
http://www.nintendo.com/corp/report/fiscal2004.pdf
You are correct that at the start of this generation Nintendo had $6 billion in cash and cash equivalents. But your way off on what they have now (where did you hear $4 billion?). They actually now have $7 billion in cash and cash equivalents:
2000:
http://www.nintendo.com/corp/annual2k/pdf/consol_state_cashflow.pdf
2004:
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n10/news/040728e.pdf
http://www.nintendo.com/corp/report/fiscal2004.pdf
Fafalada said:Personally I find it more amusing that Sony's Korean shipments alone are almost matching XBox shipments for entire Asia&Pacific region. And PS2 is not actually considered a success around here... yet.
Oh that's horrible! When I went to their version of E3 I was totally unprepared for the near total lack of console presence. (I was in town for a meeting with the Garriott brothers & T.Kim - show was going on at the time so I stopped by to check it out).
Overall the booth babes were pretty fine though (in case anyone was wondering).
JVD - and you're coming across another anti-Sony fan boy especially since the PS2 has NOT sold well in Korea (as far as I understand anyhow). So when you read Faf's statement as a Sony triumph you prove your bias against Sony. And if you're joking, which is a distinct possibility, then I retract the above statement
. But fyi, no current console has done well in Korea.Johnny Awesome
Veteran
Measuring success in the marketplace is an interesting topic.
I would suggest that the Gamecube is a borderline failure in the marketplace because Nintendo:
a) Lost marketshare.
b) Missed their sales targets by about 60% (20 million vs. 60 million).
c) Failed to rebrand themselves as a company for the mass market.
d) Probably (IMO) lost money on the Gamecube. Something that has never happened to Nintendo before.
I would also suggest that Xbox was a slight success because MS:
a) Gained marketshare from Sony and beat Nintendo in western markets.
b) Established the Xbox brand.
c) Is behind projections by about 33% (20 million by June 2004 as opposed to 30 million).
d) Has begun winning the run-rate battle with Sony in the US.
e) Established an online gaming service that 1 million people pay to play.
f) Gained traction with 3rd parties (including EA, Ubisoft, etc...).
g) Did far worse in Japan than expected.
h) Lost $2.5 billion so far as opposed to the expected $1-2 billion.
MS and Nintendo had different goals. MS achieved more of their goals than Nintendo did.
I would suggest that the Gamecube is a borderline failure in the marketplace because Nintendo:
a) Lost marketshare.
b) Missed their sales targets by about 60% (20 million vs. 60 million).
c) Failed to rebrand themselves as a company for the mass market.
d) Probably (IMO) lost money on the Gamecube. Something that has never happened to Nintendo before.
I would also suggest that Xbox was a slight success because MS:
a) Gained marketshare from Sony and beat Nintendo in western markets.
b) Established the Xbox brand.
c) Is behind projections by about 33% (20 million by June 2004 as opposed to 30 million).
d) Has begun winning the run-rate battle with Sony in the US.
e) Established an online gaming service that 1 million people pay to play.
f) Gained traction with 3rd parties (including EA, Ubisoft, etc...).
g) Did far worse in Japan than expected.
h) Lost $2.5 billion so far as opposed to the expected $1-2 billion.
MS and Nintendo had different goals. MS achieved more of their goals than Nintendo did.
Evil_Cloud
Veteran
Johnny Awesome said:
But Nintendo's not the one losing tons of money on their little venture...
Look guys. You can interpret (twist) the situation to prove whatever you fancy.
You'll never reach a conclusion unless you all agree on criteria.
You'll never reach a conclusion unless you all agree on criteria.
Readykilowatt
Regular
function
You don't understand? You can't be serious?!
Yes, the N64 was a disappointment from a "total units sold" point of view relative to its predecessor, but even though the N64 had less third party support and sold less units than the SNES, the N64 still made a huge amount of money for Nintendo (IIRC they made more money from the N64 than they did from the SNES). Profits are extremely important in the survival of any business.
Here is also a part of the "full picture":
When Nintendo entered the console business with the NES they not only dominated it, they profited from it. When Nintendo entered the portable console business with the Gameboy they not only dominated it, they profited from it. When Sony entered the console business with the Playstation they not only dominated it, they profited from it. When Microsoft entered the console business with the Xbox they didn't dominate it and they didn't profit from it....
You don't understand? You can't be serious?!
Yes, the N64 was a disappointment from a "total units sold" point of view relative to its predecessor, but even though the N64 had less third party support and sold less units than the SNES, the N64 still made a huge amount of money for Nintendo (IIRC they made more money from the N64 than they did from the SNES). Profits are extremely important in the survival of any business.
Here is also a part of the "full picture":
When Nintendo entered the console business with the NES they not only dominated it, they profited from it. When Nintendo entered the portable console business with the Gameboy they not only dominated it, they profited from it. When Sony entered the console business with the Playstation they not only dominated it, they profited from it. When Microsoft entered the console business with the Xbox they didn't dominate it and they didn't profit from it....
It takes a willingness and the ability to invest in this industry for many years in order to succeed. The only one of the three manufacturers in financial difficulty is Sony. Despite a bad quarter or two a while back, Nintendo is still one of the most financially stable institutions around, and Microsoft will continue to be their invincible selves for the foreseeable future.
We can twist and spin about finances as much as we want, but at the end of day, MS entrance into console fray is much welcomed. They have done a great job outside of Japan, and gamers greatly benefitted from hi-pressured offerings from the big 3.
Yes MS may lost much, but considering the high entry barrier and risk, not many company, will have such resources and expertises, to single handedly enter the market and compete on. Any reasonable consumers will want more choices, not less, and thats the bottem line.
As for Nintendo falling mindshare, how many of you will buy GC as your immediate first choice?
Yes MS may lost much, but considering the high entry barrier and risk, not many company, will have such resources and expertises, to single handedly enter the market and compete on. Any reasonable consumers will want more choices, not less, and thats the bottem line.
As for Nintendo falling mindshare, how many of you will buy GC as your immediate first choice?