Why would nintendo release an underpowered console a year after the release of 360?

[Epik]

I have that feeling as well but Nintendo seems really good at sticking to thier price promises and the $200 or sub $200 price point has been mentioned so many times.
I also agree that the VPU will be more powerful than expected and they will save thier money on a less powerful and less sophisticated CPU. Nintendo probably looks at those very complicated triple and 8 core CPU's the same way it looks at High Definition, overkill at this point. For what the gamer and themselves will get back from adding in a very fast and sophisticated multcore CPU, they loose to much in terms of cost, heat and complication of development.
Quite honestly I would rather them charge a little more, I'm perfectly willing to pay more than $200 if it's a more complete if even a less powerful system than the competitors.

too bad nintendo hasn't released a price.

Both N64 and GC launched at $250.

 

[Epik]

Nintendo has already said they are competing with Sony and microsoft.


How can they compete with such garbage specs?

The Normal joe wouldn't give them the time of day.

 

[JasonLD]

too bad nintendo hasn't released a price.

Both N64 and GC launched at $250.

Didn't both N64 and GC launched at $199, if I remember correctly?

 

[µCOM-4]

Ultra64 was supposed to have launched at $250, but they lowered it to $200 at the last minute right before release.

 

[swaaye]

Nintendo has already said they are competing with Sony and microsoft.
How can they compete with such garbage specs?
The Normal joe wouldn't give them the time of day.

Please stop saying the same thing over and over.

The normal Joe has no idea about the specs of these machines. Nor does he care. He cares whether he/his kid wants the games on it, and whether it's "reasonably" priced. And guess what? "Reasonably" will be set according to the price of N's competition.

Ultra64 was supposed to have launched at $250, but they lowered it to $200 at the last minute right before release.

Yeah I followed N64's impending launch very closely for over a year. It's launch price was originally $250 and was lowered mid-Summer '96 to $200. I believe this was because they originally were going to pack-in SM64 which instead retailed for $59.99 separately. They lowered the price and by doing that boosted their profits by $10 on SM64 (although separate packing surely cost more), and let people choose which games to get instead of forcing one on them.

N64 was also specced to run a bit faster than it did. The CPU was originally going to run over 100MHz, but ended up at 93.75MHz. It was also originally to have a dedicated sound chip, or so the rumors said anyway. It didn't have a sound chip because it cut costs dramatically to eliminate another separate chip. N64's mobo is about as simple as Gamecube's. Perhaps simpler. The choice of RAMBUS was also a cost cutting measure since RAMBUS's big feature is simplicity of implementation. It needs few board layers with its narrow bus width. N64's unified memory architecture was cheap but also it's biggest weakness since memory latency was horrific and held back the GPU and CPU significantly. You can bet a big reason for the change to incredibly low-latency memory in Gamecube was a direct result of developers (all parties) complaining about N64.

BigN hyped that machine up so well. Thank God for them they had SM64 or they'd have been in deep trouble.... I mean Waverace was good and Pilotwings was passable, but they had so little software coming out over the next 8 months that it was amazing the machine sold at all. SM64 not only redefined platform and 3d gaming in general, it literally saved Nintendo IMO. Hell how many magazines, people, and websites proclaimed SM64 to be the "best game of all time!". LOL Too bad they can't revolutionize gaming with every console gen

 

[Reznor007]

Didn't both N64 and GC launched at $199, if I remember correctly?

Yes, I bought a Gamecube at midnight on launch day for $199.99 US, and back when N64 was released a friend of mine had his parents buy it for $199.99. Back when SNES was new it was $199.99 also. Not sure about the old NES though.

 

[thundermonkey]

GCN - $199
N64 - $199
SNES - $199
NES - $99

I'd love to see them release the Rev at the $99 price point. Launch the Rev at a $99 price point with Mario, SSB, and Metroid, and call it the NES5. Might end up being one of the more successful launches in gaming.

Alas, if they want it to be competitive in power it's not likely to happen.

 

[Shogmaster]

GCN - $199
N64 - $199
SNES - $199
NES - $99

NES launched at $99? Are you sure about that? And I could have sworn N64 launched at $249.....

 

[thundermonkey]

NES launched at $99? Are you sure about that? And I could have sworn N64 launched at $249.....

As sure as a monkey with altzheimers can be.

I know for certain the N64 launched at $199. Had one on day one. (I'm a spoiled monkey)

The NES it's kind of a gray area. I wasn't too old when it launched, but everything I've read has lead me to believe that the NES launched at $99. Methinks me read it in Game Over by Steven Kent.

 

[Shogmaster]

As sure as a monkey with altzheimers can be.

I know for certain the N64 launched at $199. Had one on day one. (I'm a spoiled monkey)

The NES it's kind of a gray area. I wasn't too old when it launched, but everything I've read has lead me to believe that the NES launched at $99. Methinks me read it in Game Over by Steven Kent.

I'll take your word for it on N64 price, but that NES price don't make much sense to me....

edit: You're one for two (which is pretty damn good in baseball). NES launch at $199.

 

[thundermonkey]

Nevermind it's the Altzheimers on the NES.

It too launched at $199 with SMB.

So it pretty much goes without saying that the Rev will launch at $199, if only to keep up with such classy history.

edit: Beat me too my own defeat. You're a cruel and unusual person Shog. I can't believe my terriers carrying your love child.

 

[thundermonkey]

I'll take your word for it on N64 price, but that NES price don't make much sense to me....

You're one for two (which is pretty damn good in baseball). NES launch at $199.

*pokes Shog*

Ooooo, pretty words.

Hmm, sorry yeah. Me wrong on NES.

Would have sounded better on my parents 1985 wallets if it had though.

I could edit my posts from up above, but what the hey.

It's not like I can get any dumber.

edit: *reads editted post above*

Guess I can.

 

[Ty]

Why would nintendo release an underpowered console a year after the release of 360?

Egads, using the word "underpowered"...

What exactly do you mean by that word? Does weaker in overall performance equate to being "underpowered"?

Nintendo has already said they are competing with Sony and microsoft.


How can they compete with such garbage specs?

Perhaps you're guilty of being drawn into the hype of specs & numbers?

The Normal joe wouldn't give them the time of day.

Perhaps you need to challenge your own assumptions as to "the normal joe"? Maybe the "normal joe" isn't interested in a $299+ console? Maybe a $199 but slightly less powerful console (compared to the PS3 & X360) is more attractive to "the normal joe"?

 

[Epik]

Egads, using the word "underpowered"...

What exactly do you mean by that word? Does weaker in overall performance equate to being "underpowered"?




Perhaps you're guilty of being drawn into the hype of specs &
numbers?



Perhaps you need to challenge your own assumptions as to "the normal joe"? Maybe the "normal joe" isn't interested in a $299+ console? Maybe a $199 but slightly less powerful console (compared to the PS3 & X360) is more attractive to "the normal joe"?

1)65nm was demoed in 1Q 2005.

http://www.anandtech.com/tradeshows/showdoc.aspx?i=2362
http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/tex/tex604.html
http://www.nsti.org/news/breaking.html?id=3

2)65nm will surpass 90nm in 3Q 2006 says intel. Now thats just overtaking 90nm. 65nm should be available in 1Q 2006.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/06/intel_65nm_ramp/

3)Oh look the the mac mini is smaller than Revolution by a bit its using 90nm but it has....

Configurations 1.25GHz Mac mini 1.42GHz Mac mini SuperDrive Mac mini
Model M9686LL/B M9687LL/B M9971LL/B
Processor 1.25GHz PowerPC G4 1.42GHz PowerPC G4
Memory 512MB of PC2700 (333MHz) DDR SDRAM, supports up to 1GB
Graphics ATI Radeon 9200 with 32MB of DDR SDRAM with AGP 4X support
Hard drive1 40GB Ultra ATA1 80GB Ultra ATA1
Optical drive Slot-loading Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) Slot-loading SuperDrive
(DVD±R/CD-RW)
Ports One FireWire 400 port; two USB 2.0 ports; DVI output; VGA output (adapter included)
Networking Built-in 10/100BASE-T Ethernet and 56K V.92 modem2 Built-in 10/100BASE-T Ethernet (56K V.92 modem available as build-to-order option)
Wireless Airport Extreme and Bluetooth available as build-to-order option Built-in AirPort Extreme (based on 802.11g specification; IEEE 802.11b Wi-Fi certified)3; internal Bluetooth
Audio Headphone/audio line out
System software Mac OS X version 10.4 Tiger
Software iLife ’05 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, GarageBand), Mail, Dashboard, Spotlight, iChat, Safari, Sherlock, QuickTime, iSync, iCal, DVD Player, Address Book, AppleWorks, iWork (30-day trial), Classic environment, Quicken 2005 for Macintosh, Nanosaur 2, Marble Blast Gold, Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Test Drive, Zinio Reader, XCode Developer Tools and Apple Hardware Test
Limited warranty and service Your Mac mini comes with 90 days of free telephone support and a one-year limited warranty. Purchase the AppleCare Protection Plan to extend your service and support to three full years. Only the AppleCare Protection Plan provides you with direct telephone support from Apple technical experts and the assurance that repairs will be handled by Apple-certified technicians using genuine Apple parts.

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/7630/indexweight200501112ad.gif
http://img288.imageshack.us/img288/3978/designinsides200501116mi.jpg
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/7956/minimac1ic.jpg

http://www.apple.com/macmini/design.html

3)Xbox360's chip is small imagine something similarly powered at 65nm see take a look...

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/6268/mobo1mh5fz.jpg

4)ATI uses new liquid metal cooling on its GFX chips..and yes it DOES have a fan.

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/7992/liquidmetalsetupdiagram4oq.gif

5) Even this rabbit is hyped about Nintendo Revolution..

http://img281.imageshack.us/img281/7746/rab24dg.jpg

 

[ninzel]

Apple has really limited the Mac Mini due to styling reason for ventilation. Just those tiny little slots on the bottom. The Rev will not be so restricted.

 

[Shogmaster]

Apple has really limited the Mac Mini due to styling reason for ventilation. Just those tiny little slots on the bottom. The Rev will not be so restricted.

Funny thing is, the Rev prototype was missing any kind of vents altogether.

I fully suspect that the final box will have plenty of vents though.

 

[randycat99]

Limited? It may not have the fanciest gear in it, but it never was intended to for the "everything + the kitchen sink" market. It's got everything (and then some) a basic user needs to do basic computing chores. It's essentially an iBook G4 wrapped into a different form factor. It has "tiny" vents because that is all it needs, for the stuff that's inside it.

 

[Shogmaster]

Limited? It may not have the fanciest gear in it, but it never was intended to for the "everything + the kitchen sink" market. It's got everything (and then some) a basic user needs to do basic computing chores. It's essentially an iBook G4 wrapped into a different form factor. It has "tiny" vents because that is all it needs, for the stuff that's inside it.

Uh uh.... I think we upset a Mac fan....

 

[ninzel]

Limited? It may not have the fanciest gear in it, but it never was intended to for the "everything + the kitchen sink" market. It's got everything (and then some) a basic user needs to do basic computing chores. It's essentially an iBook G4 wrapped into a different form factor. It has "tiny" vents because that is all it needs, for the stuff that's inside it.

You're misinterpretting me, the Mac Mini is a great little machine. I have one and as soon as my old PC goes it's all Mac for our household.
I meant it was limited in terms of ventilation due to styling considerations. It only has
those tiny little slats in the bottom. The Rev final design will very likely have much more, so heat while still alway's an issue it will be less so than a Mac Mini despite their similar size and desgn.

 

[randycat99]

Unless it is frequently overheating on you, then it really isn't a matter of whether the ventilation is "limited" or not. More likely, it was all the ventilation that was needed, given the nature of the components inside.