Nintendo plans new game product

[zurich]

As someone said, if there was a Game Cube Portable system (which is unlikely next gen, IMO), it wouldn't use the same media format, as there would be no incentive to buy new software, thus negating the purpose of the hardware.

I still think it'll likely be N64 w/carts, so Nintendo can enjoy the manufacturing premiums (again).

 

[Tagrineth]

where do you put all these buttons/sticks ?
(you could imagine something like a GC controller w/ a screen in its middle, but it would be BIG especially if it has to support CD).

Not really... it could have the disc drive right behind the screen. The screen would be a little bulky but it wouldn't be too bad.

GC games weren't designed to play on a little LCD screen, it could be a problem.

Most single player GC games should look fine if the LCD supports 480i. If it supports 480p, then they'll look great.

 

[Megadrive1988]

If Nintendo goes with a Nintendo64 level Gameboy, I will say forget it and stick with PSP. No reason why Nintendo couldn't have a GCP by 2005. this is one of ATI's greatest strengths, low power consumption GPUs. Flipper is far less powerful than RV350, ATI can can reduce the power it sucks up by orders of magnitude compared to when Flipper was new (2000-2001)

 

[MfA]

ATI has not a single 3D product for the hand held class of devices, how can it be their strength? 1T-SRAM is more power hungry than "real" eDRAM BTW.

 

[Fox5]

BTW, just a note about the current gamecube hardware, those nifty portable interact batteries can power it and a mid quality LCD screen(better than GBA I think, worse than 480i) for about 1-2.5 hours.

Also, sega nomad was released at quite a few stores, it just didn't last long in any of them except toys r us.

 

[Clashman]

As someone said, if there was a Game Cube Portable system (which is unlikely next gen, IMO), it wouldn't use the same media format, as there would be no incentive to buy new software, thus negating the purpose of the hardware.

If it was the case that everyone and their Grandma already had a GC and 10 games, I'd think you might have a point. There are currently around 10 million GC's worldwide. I don't think I'm exaggerating all that much when I say that I think the potential market for a GCP is several times that. There would likely be millions of GCP owners out there that didn't already have GC, (and if it happens I'll likely be one of them).

But even if there were 10's of millions of GC's in people's homes, however, I think the logic behind your reasoning is flawed. Why would there be no incentive to buy new software? You can get an XBox or a PS2 now and there are already hundreds of games out for them. Does that mean you have no incentive to buy new software? As long as new and interesting games are coming out for a system, (and there is not something much bigger and better looming on the horizon), people will line up to buy them. Yes, there is a saturation point, but you can still play GBC games on GBA If Sega had marketed the Nomad properly and sold 15 to 20 million units in a couple years, there would likely still be people making Genesis games, because there would be millions of people using the Nomad as their handheld of choice.

About screen size: I thought about this too, but then I noticed THIS, and if people are willing to use something like that with a normal GC, then playing a 3 inch screen at arm's length shouldn't be any worse.

About the controller/size/GC disc drive: some people seem concerned that a portable GC with its controller wouldn't be able to fit in your pocket like a GBA. Frankly, I personally think the GBA is too damn small, which is why up till now I have had no interest in it. Something the size of the original GB or slightly smaller than a Gamegear would suit me just fine. As for how to get the discs in to the system, Apple for a couple years now has fitted some of their powerbook/ibook systems with nice, slot loading dvd drives, such as one here that fit's in a notebook less than 1 inch thick. If not that, you could do the reverse of what most portable CD players do, and have it open up on the back to place the disc. Perhaps something like this:

Mind you this is a VERY rough sketch, but I really don't think this is as impossible as many seem to think.

 

[zurich]

If it was the case that everyone and their Grandma already had a GC and 10 games, I'd think you might have a point. There are currently around 10 million GC's worldwide. I don't think I'm exaggerating all that much when I say that I think the potential market for a GCP is several times that. There would likely be millions of GCP owners out there that didn't already have GC, (and if it happens I'll likely be one of them).

But even if there were 10's of millions of GC's in people's homes, however, I think the logic behind your reasoning is flawed. Why would there be no incentive to buy new software? You can get an XBox or a PS2 now and there are already hundreds of games out for them. Does that mean you have no incentive to buy new software? As long as new and interesting games are coming out for a system, (and there is not something much bigger and better looming on the horizon), people will line up to buy them. Yes, there is a saturation point, but you can still play GBC games on GBA If Sega had marketed the Nomad properly and sold 15 to 20 million units in a couple years, there would likely still be people making Genesis games, because there would be millions of people using the Nomad as their handheld of choice.

I disagree, and will leave it at that.

 

[Fox5]

If might actually work out better if nintendo made the GCP, as they(and other developers) could continue selling the same software they already were, just change the packaging and not a line of code. Why bother porting games to PSP why you can just rerelease fully ported games? There is a market for old games, or nintendo wouldn't be remaking snes games. And while there will be people who wouldn't buy a GCP because they had a gamecube, I doubt nintendo would care about that as long as the people are still buying games. Though I think a handheld that was backwards compatible with the old gameboys and the gamecube, as well as having new games would be the best choice, but I think I'd rather have a pocket sized handheld like gameboy sp, gameboy advance normal at largest. What's the point of a handheld if you have to lug it around in a suitcase? I may as well just bring a full sized console, when people want small cellphones that do everything, they're not going to bring along anything else that can't fit in their pockets. It's not like tvs and computers aren't available nearly everywhere, and if you're using a tv just go for a full sized console, and just bring a cd rom to play on a computer. I think the market for a handheld that requires you to sitdown with a good place for it is limited, gameboys can be played at almost any time and easily taken out and put away, and you don't even look especially dorky with a sp.

 

[Megadrive1988]

I really wouldn't mind having a GameCube Portable that is larger than the pocket sized GBA/GBA SP or Gameboy Pocket. It could and should be more like the size of the original 1989 Gameboy, or like the original 1989 Atari Lynx.

Would not want something the size of the PC-Engine LT

but would be fine with something the size of the
PC-Engine GT / TurboExpress

 

[Clashman]

I disagree, and will leave it at that.

I'm not trying to pick a fight, I'm just trying to understand why you think it won't work. To me, it seems that if people buy a GBA that plays GBC and GB games but still continue to pick up GBA games, then they should have no problem picking up new GC games for a portable GC. If you could flesh out your reasoning in a little more detail that might help.

Re Size: yeah, I see your point regarding portability. However, I think consideration should also be thrown in for ergonomics, at least somewhat. If I'm going to spend any amount of time with a handheld, it needs to have enough size to it that my hands don't cramp up, which has been a problem for me ever since the Game Boy Pocket. The most common use of handhelds I've noticed is on car/bus/plane rides, and in those cases if it can fit in the front pouch of a backpack you are generally fine.

 

[zurich]

I disagree, and will leave it at that.

I'm not trying to pick a fight, I'm just trying to understand why you think it won't work. To me, it seems that if people buy a GBA that plays GBC and GB games but still continue to pick up GBA games, then they should have no problem picking up new GC games for a portable GC. If you could flesh out your reasoning in a little more detail that might help.

Re Size: yeah, I see your point regarding portability. However, I think consideration should also be thrown in for ergonomics, at least somewhat. If I'm going to spend any amount of time with a handheld, it needs to have enough size to it that my hands don't cramp up, which has been a problem for me ever since the Game Boy Pocket. The most common use of handhelds I've noticed is on car/bus/plane rides, and in those cases if it can fit in the front pouch of a backpack you are generally fine.

It's just simply the economics of the it. Nintendo would pretty much have to dig up ancient SKUs and repress them all, otherwise have used software cannabilize all their sales (which would happen). And they couldn't repress them, as they're only allocated limited shelfspace, and EB/GameStop/etc wouldn't give them a (sizeable) Gameboy section, a (sizeable) Gamecube section, AND a (sizeable) GC2 section (assuming this GCP comes out in 2k5). Only reason you still see N64 games at EB is because they make a killing on the preowned sales.. not a single "new" cart though.

However it the system was N64-based, they could stick with the carts (and retain manufacturing control over them [read: big bucks], retain backwards compatibility with the GB/GBC/GBA, and keep their dedicated 'portable' shelf space and slowly transition those products from GBA to GB64 or whatnot. Nintendo also hasn't exercised their right to recycle N64 software yet, it wouldn't make sense to skip it entirely and move to a GCP platform. GCP comes after GB64