Nintendo's new philosophy.. blessing or curse?

[hey69]

IGN :


Nintendo Plans GCN Peripherals
Updated: Nintendo of America comments.

February 09, 2004 - Today, IGNcube learned from the Nikkei Index that Nintendo will develop a series of peripheral add-ons to extend the life of its current system, GameCube.

Nintendo has decided that it will diversify its game library and sell new peripherals for GameCube to make the current hardware more appealing to consumers instead of competing directly with Microsoft or Sony.
Nintendo's current plan is to begin releasing these new peripherals in early 2005. There have been no further details on what these peripherals may be.

Company president Satoru Iwata stated that the reasoning behind this philosophy is that "customers are fully satisfied with the performance of the current model."

The Nikkei report also indicated that Nintendo might not release the successor to GameCube for "two or three years" and that it would instead concentrate on peripherals for the console.

IGN contacted Nintendo of America for clarification and the subsidiary flatly denied the report.

"First -- much of the Nikkei article is speculation. Mr. Iwata's comments are from a prior interview and not in direct response to the subjects raised in the article," said Nintendo of America's director of public relations Beth Llewlyn. "Second -- We are staying in the hardware business. We're working on our next generation console system and will launch it at the same time as our competitors."

Asked if Nintendo would pull out of the console race, Llewlyn stated: "We're in this business for the long term. We're not getting out of the hardware business."

On the subject of GameCube peripherals, Llewelyn was quiet, but did offer: "Specific details about accessories and their functions haven't been made public yet. It's far too early to make predictions about how well an accessory will do in the marketplace, but we're confident our products will be compelling."

"Our focus remains entertainment and game play versus chasing after technology that doesn't truly enhance the game play experience. We'll incorporate new technology -- whether its hardware, software or accessories -- if it improves the game play experience."

 

[Deadmeat]

The Nikkei report also indicated that Nintendo might not release the successor to GameCube for "two or three years" and that it would instead concentrate on peripherals for the console.

The question is, why is Nintendo doing this? The article says to counter PSX3 and Xbox Next launch.

From this we can learn make following speculations.

1. Nintendo's running late again.
2. Nintendo's buying time until 2007.
3. Nintendo will then decide if they wish to stay in hardware race or drop out of race altogther.

 

[Teasy]

Seeing PSP on the horizon and PS3 and Xbox2 gaing more solidity while Nintendo talks only about new concepts being "being satisfied" with their current devices tends to put the fan on edge and the general consumer in the dark.

Lets look at this with some perspective. That article has a single sentence taken completely out of its context, that's the entire article. Its hardly the sum total of what Nintendo has been saying:

George Harrison - IGN

"GameCube will sell well until the next system's launch and I think historically the preceding consoles continue to sell for, say, a year after the following system," he said. "We believe now that the next systems won't launch until the end of 2005 or into 2006. That's based on our commitment that we will be at the market at the same time at our competitor's launch and our reading of the marketplace and whether they will be ready by the end of 2005 or not."

George Harrison - EGM

"We haven't fixed a date yet, but we've said that we understand the importance of not being late next time, so we'll be ready with our competitors. Following the press, it looks increasingly like Sony will have difficulty making the fall of 2005. We're working to meet them in the market, but we'll see when we get there. It's important for us to have great software -- we know that launching without it won't work, but we also realize that we can't be a year late again, as we were with the GameCube."

EDIT after seeing hey69's post. There you have it, the article is nonesense as I said.

 

[Deadmeat]

...

Well, N5 is dead for certainty for following reasons.

1. The earliest date N5 can launch now is 2007.
2. There is no way N5 can take marketshare from PSX3 or XBox Next which would be two years old and have solid developer support.
3. Therefore Nintendo will cancel N5 and sign up with SCEI(I don't believe Nintendo will sign up with MS).

 

[Deadmeat]

...

 

[GHost]

Re: ...

1. The earliest date N5 can launch now is 2007.

Where did you get that from? I mean, IGN just reported that NOA flat out denied the hypothetical N5 delay (read hey69's post above).

 

[Teasy]

Oh dear, Deameat has turned his furstrations towards Nintendo now.. the end of this thread is nigh.

Seriously Deadmeat, how do you do it? How do you manage to completely ignore anything that doesn't support your opinion, no matter how glaring it is? We see Nintendo deny and discredit an already dodgy article and straight afterwards your still talking about it as if the article is 100% fact.

 

[Paul]

Seriously Deadmeat, how do you do it? How do you manage to completely ignore anything that doesn't support your opinion, no matter how glaring it is? We see Nintendo deny and discredit an already dodgy article and straight afterwards your still talking about it as if the article is 100% fact.

Now you know what me, Vince, Pana, and whoever, have been dealing with for the last 6 months.

 

[Teasy]

GHost

Where did you get that from? I mean, IGN just reported that NOA flat out denied the hypothetical N5 delay (read hey69's post above).

The funniest thing is that even the article Deadmeat is basing this off says 2-3 years (2006-2007). But Deadmeat can just ignore the 2 and choose the 3 as fact, its a special power of his.

 

[Teasy]

Now you know what me, Vince, Pana, and whoever, have been dealing with for the last 6 months.

Yeah I do, I even defended Sony in one of those threads, and it takes a lot for me to step in and actively defend Sony! (not that I dislike them that much, I just usually let Sony fans do that themselves).

 

[Deadmeat]

...

We see Nintendo deny and discredit an already dodgy article and straight afterwards your still talking about it as if the article is 100% fact.

Nintendo of America(The people who are never told about top executive decisions in the first place), not Iwata himself.

The present event is identical to events prior to Sega's console market pull-out back in 2001...

 

[pcostabel]

Re: ...

Well, N5 is dead for certainty for following reasons.

1. The earliest date N5 can launch now is 2007.
2. There is no way N5 can take marketshare from PSX3 or XBox Next which would be two years old and have solid developer support.
3. Therefore Nintendo will cancel N5 and sign up with SCEI(I don't believe Nintendo will sign up with MS).

If that happens, MS is dead.

 

[Tagrineth]

Re: ...

The present event is identical to events prior to Sega's console market pull-out back in 2001...

Not by a long shot, hun.

 

[Teasy]

Hmm who should I believe? Nintendo of America or some article speculation based off one completely out of context sentence. Yeah I'm betting its NOA that doesn't know what they're talking about

No matter what sort of nonesense you want to come up with about NOA not knowing the current plans, that doesn't change what they do know and what they stated in that denial. That the NOJ quote in that article was taken from an old interview and wasn't even in reply to a question about N5. In other words its completely and utterly out of context and the pinacle of bad journalism.

The present event is identical to events prior to Sega's console market pull-out back in 2001...

Would you like to give us a comparison situation for situation then? I could do a very quick on for you.

Sega were almost bankrupt - Nintendo 7 billion in the black and making profit yearly.

Well I have to admit... the similarities are absolutely amazing

 

[Deadmeat]

...

Nintendo 7 billion in the black and making profit yearly

That's the reason why Nintendo must pull-out now. To protect its cash reserve.

Nintendo's resources are limited compared to the other two and Nintendo cannot afford to wage simultanous wars at two fronts(handheld and console). Since handheld now accounts for most of Nintendo's profits anyway, it would be wise for Iwata to put all the money into GBA2 and defend the market where it still dominates, instead of dumping money into a bottomless pit called N5.

When you cannot save two people drifting away in water, you have to make a hard choice, which one will it be??? Hint. N5 is on hold, while GB successor is on progress.

 

[Vince]

Re: ...

3. Therefore Nintendo will cancel N5 and sign up with SCEI(I don't believe Nintendo will sign up with MS).

You'd think someone from Nintendo would read Beyond3D's Forums and already be enlightened as to the futility of working on PlayStation3. Infact, I bet after doing their effeciency calculations they found that the current GC will, in fact, be faster than the PS3. Atleast that's word on the street.

 

[Ooh-videogames]

I don't think Deadmeat, wants to continue being a member of this board. I'm shocked he hasn't been banned, locked thread after locked thread is not a good sign.

To stay on topic, I knew it was bull when I first read it. Any news like that would have came in a press release from Nintendo themselves NCL/NOA. As for periherals being release to keep the GC afloat, I don't see a problem with it all. Nintendo has a section, just for developing new ways of gameplay through hardware. The peripherals won't have an affect on game development. Unless the game is designed to use the peripheral.

 

[Sonic]

I am sorry Deadmeat but I now fully believe you have a have zero knowledge of what you speak about. You base your assumptions off of one news report with no evidence to back you up. You need to look at things a little more clearly and not so onesided.

Now it's my turn to rant. This might come as a shock for a mod to do this but I need to revert into a raving maniac for once.

Deadmeat: What is your problem? Seriously, why so much angst against Sony and Nintendo? Do you stop to think about the things you right or do you flat out accept everything you right as fact and not opinion? You state things like they are fact and it makes you come off as a person with little intelligence in what they say. Assumptions are all fine and dandy in the world of speculation, but don't be blind to these assumptions. Your charade of putting down things left and right is tiresome and is agitating the entirety of the console forum. You contribute to many good threads but a lot of threads are wasted by your bickering and arguing. I want to know why you constantly bash, bash, bash things people discuss here. Someone says something positive about something and you turn it into something it isn't. It's getting redundant seeing all your posts being negative and contributing nothing good to this forum. Please leave if you want to continue this act of ruining and starting threads just to prove a single point that a company can do no right. Just stop it!

End rant.

I said what I had to say and accept whatever actions are taken against me for it.

As for N5, it will come and it won't be in 2007 but earlier. At least that's what the Big N is telling devs.

 

[Deadmeat]

...

You base your assumptions off of one news report with no evidence to back you up.

Well, that news report "had to" have certain sources, especially the one coming from Nikkei. What they say affects the stock market directly and should not be taken lightly. Nikkei basically outlined the future business plan of Nintendo to inform stock investors. The implication of Nintendo's business plan is upto individual invester/reader to interpret.

I would actually recommand buying Nintendo stock since Iwata seems fully aware of the fact that Nintendo can no longer compete in the console market and is planning a withdrawl to focus on its dominant handheld market. So Nintendo is pulling the plug on N5, is this supposed to be a bad thing?

Seriously, why so much angst against Sony and Nintendo?

I have nothing against Nintendo. I am simply stating my observation.

Do you stop to think about the things you right or do you flat out accept everything you right as fact and not opinion?

If everything written has to be factual then no one would be writing. Of course it's 1% fact and 99% your opinion/interpretation.

Your charade of putting down things left and right is tiresome and is agitating the entirety of the console forum.

Quite a number of people seem to agree with what I had to say. It really depends on your systems preference and loyalty. For example, jvd has little to complain since he appears to be anti-Sony in his preference, while Sonic seems quite pro-Sony and cracks down on those anti-Sony posters quite hard.

I want to know why you constantly bash, bash, bash things people discuss here.

Because certain people sing praise of something I don't think too highly of? Likewise they don't think too highly of something that I think is beautiful. It's called the difference of opinions.

I said what I had to say and accept whatever actions are taken against me for it.

What do you fear? You are the mod and you have all the power, I don't.

PS. Quite a number of Sony fans irritate me, but do you see me complain? I don't. Unless this forum is titled "Sony Talk", people of all preferences are invited to discuss and share their opinions.

 

[cthellis42]

Lets look at this with some perspective. That article has a single sentence taken completely out of its context, that's the entire article.

I wasn't really basing much off this article, though--just using it as a springboard to their other announcements and general trends of late which have indeed been confusing. (And irritating for those of us who wait on details of next-generation tech with baited breath. ) Deadmeat's off on his usual tirade through Deadmeat-land, but for myself I'm just... curious. I don't know why Nintendo has been making the announcements they have been, and cautiously stepping around any questions of the expected follow-ups. It's being needlessly light-footed and causing much of the confusion out there. Lead comments from one into another, build excitement from current products INTO future products, and heck... at the very least, fully announce one's design partners! With no word on that, and a rapidly shrinking time scale, people are just left to wonder how much planning is going into N5 or just when its launch would be.