News 1/06/05: GC in the UK, MemoryStick Neon, The Sony iPSP

[ahoythematey]

Jesus I thought you died, Snow.

[Roac]

Metroid, Metroid 2, Super Metroid, Metroid Prime, Metroid Fusion. Zero Mission, Metroid Prime 2...

OK, that's 7...

The other two are what, magic Metroid games?

Smash Bros (N64)
Smash Bros Melee (GC)

They're counting similar "cameo" appearances for the Zelda and Mario games too.  Which, I guess to some extent is fair since having these characters is part of their selling point, but I dunno if I would call them a "Metroid" (or whatever) game.

[Disco Stu]

Reading comprehension is new to you, isn't it? Where did I question anyone's sexuality?

Panties.

[schild]

Reading comprehension is new to you, isn't it? Where did I question anyone's sexuality?

Panties.

You sir, are a total idiot.

[Snowspinner]

Jesus I thought you died, Snow.

No, I just lay dreaming.

[HaemishM]

... of having sex with Mario.

[Boogaleeboo]

The new Paper Mario for the Gamecube is one of the most fun games I've played in the last few years, and it pokes fun at the Mario series in a wide variety of ways. Self-aware humor about a character that is running on game two million, seven hundred and fifty thousand is always nice to see. Beyond that though, the gameplay is solid, the characters are interesting, and it never gets bogged down.

What I'm wondering is, why is this a bad thing?

Yeah, there are a lot of Zelda games.....so? 2 wasn't like 1, 3 wasn't like 2, the first gameboy one added some interesting elements to the stock gameplay of 3, the first N64 wasn't like the ones before, the next N64 one added a lot of new elements, the two other gameboy games added a bit to the stockgame of 3, and the GC one added a bit to the N64 gameplay.

As long as a series evolves and remains fun, why does it matter that they keep revisting the character and setting? Hell, they destroyed Hyrule in the last GC game. I'm glad they kept making games long enough for me to see that.

As for their staple, Mario......Mario Tennis is one of the best tennis games [yeah, not exactly a competitive field] made, the Kart games are good clean fun, Dr. Mario was a cool twist on the Tetris clone, Pinball was pretty fun when it came out, Mario RPG was one of the best games on the SNES, Mario Party games are amazing if you have friends, and about a billion other games large and small. It's not like they keep remaking the same platformer with the character, so what does it matter?

The random Nintendo hate I don't get.

I have to wonder why you moderate a nominally gaming related site schild when you so obvious hate games.

[schild]

You're accusing me of hating games? That's cute.

[Boogaleeboo]

I think it's a fair question:

Why do you hate fun?

[schild]

Never said I did. But my idea of fun isn't buying a new system every 5 years for what will amount to be less than 20 games. I have a total of 12 games for the GC (2 of which I don't even like). By contrast I have about 40 ps2 games and about 25-30 xbox games. That doesn't warrant a seperate box near my home theater.

Why do you hate logic?

[Disco Stu]

Never said I did. But my idea of fun isn't buying a new system every 5 years for what will amount to be less than 20 games. I have a total of 12 games for the GC (2 of which I don't even like). By contrast I have about 40 ps2 games and about 25-30 xbox games. That doesn't warrant a seperate box near my home theater.

Why do you hate logic?

Let me see 10 games you like. Lets say you bought the system for 200 dollars. That adds an extra 20 dollars on to each game which brings the price of an average game up to what 70 dollars? Your xbox games on the other hand cost you about 60 and your ps2 games about 57.50. Is it really that big a fucking deal?

Or are you bitching about something even more asinine like the amount of space that 6" cube is taking up?

[schild]

Let me see 10 games you like. Lets say you bought the system for 200 dollars. That adds an extra 20 dollars on to each game which brings the price of an average game up to what 70 dollars? Your xbox games on the other hand cost you about 60 and your ps2 games about 57.50. Is it really that big a fucking deal?

Or are you bitching about something even more asinine like the amount of space that 6" cube is taking up?

An expert troller is you. Listen up jackass, I don't feel Nintendo has a reason to force people to buy another system for 10, MAYBE 15, games through the course of an entire generation. I'm sorry common sense isn't your greatest trait, but please, spare me your juvenile economic rationalizations.

[Boogaleeboo]

But my idea of fun isn't buying a new system every 5 years for what will amount to be less than 20 games.

Yeah, that 200 dollars every 5 years is a real hassle.

That's the stupidest fucking reason not to like something I've ever heard. Aren't you some sort of movie buff? You go to see 12 movies a year you are paying as much as the price of a new system. The crippling price of a new system every half a decade is really breaking you for the tiny offering of a dozen games.

I ask again: Why do you hate fun?

[schild]

$200 as an entry fee to "fun" is what I'm complaining about. Why do you find it to grasp that it's a good reason? In fact, it's the best reason to knock the Gamecube.

The crippling price of a new system every half a decade is really breaking you for the tiny offering of a dozen games.

You can devalue the complaint however you want, but it's not $200 every half decade. It's $600-$800 because all new systems are released in a 6 month period. On top of that, I know when dealing with the fuckers at Nintendo that I'll get LESS FUN out of their system than the others.

I'll ask again, why do you hate logic?

[Disco Stu]

An expert troller is you. Listen up jackass, I don't feel Nintendo has a reason to force people to buy another system for 10, MAYBE 15, games through the course of an entire generation. I'm sorry common sense isn't your greatest trait, but please, spare me your juvenile economic rationalizations.

Sorry I forgot you were an idoit. THEY MAKE MONEY ON THEIR CONSOLES YOU TOOL. They force people to buy them because they can. They sell them cheep enough that anyone who likes their games will buy one.

[Shockeye]

An expert troller is you. Listen up jackass, I don't feel Nintendo has a reason to force people to buy another system for 10, MAYBE 15, games through the course of an entire generation. I'm sorry common sense isn't your greatest trait, but please, spare me your juvenile economic rationalizations.

Sorry I forgot you were an idoit. THEY MAKE MONEY ON THEIR CONSOLES YOU TOOL. They force people to buy them because they can. They sell them cheep enough that anyone who likes their games will buy one.

Idiot. Cheap.

Fucknut.

[schild]

Sorry I forgot you were an idoit. THEY MAKE MONEY ON THEIR CONSOLES YOU TOOL. They force people to buy them because they can. They sell them cheep enough that anyone who likes their games will buy one.

Here, I'll talk slowly so you can understand.

Both the XBox and the PS2 have a larger installed base of gamers. And we're not talking like 10-20 people more per hundred. We're talking millions more across the nation. Hardware takes a lot of money to research, develop, and produce. Cutting out that whole division and dropping them into portable development would be a huge move for them and they'd still sell all their games and many more copies on the other console systems.

I know, this is hard to grasp. I also know that you're incapable of original thought, so I'll sum up this entire post in one word.

Moron.

[Disco Stu]

Idiot. Cheap.

Fucknut.

Wow way to go you douche bag. You do know that not a single thing you put a period after was a sentence.

[Disco Stu]

Sorry I forgot you were an idoit. THEY MAKE MONEY ON THEIR CONSOLES YOU TOOL. They force people to buy them because they can. They sell them cheep enough that anyone who likes their games will buy one.

Here, I'll talk slowly so you can understand.

Both the XBox and the PS2 have a larger installed base of gamers. And we're not talking like 10-20 people more per hundred. We're talking millions more across the nation. Hardware takes a lot of money to research, develop, and produce. Cutting out that whole division and dropping them into portable development would be a huge move for them and they'd still sell all their games and many more copies on the other console systems.

I know, this is hard to grasp. I also know that you're incapable of original thought, so I'll sum up this entire post in one word.

Moron.

You are such a fucking moron it hurts. I'm not sure what you didn't understand about my post. I'm going to break it down for you.

They make money on their hardware. Do you understand that? The gamecube made money for them. They have more money in their bank account now then they would have if they hadn't made it.

They wouldn't sell signficantly more games if they put them on the PS2 or XBox. No where near enough to make up for the lack of profits from selling their console and the amount of money they would have to pay microsoft and sony.

And I really am very sorry I'm not original enough for you. Of course seeing as how you are the biggest fucking tool on these boards I'm not going to lose much sleep over it. I mean fuck man. You have a quote from seinfield in your sig.

[schild]

Stu, there's no need to go into the multitude of reasons that you're wrong. But your days of trolling are over.

[Boogaleeboo]

In fact, it's the best reason to knock the Gamecube.

Only now it's down to 100 dollars. And there are still a few more great titles to be released for it. Hell Paper Mario and RE4 just came out. RE4 being very, very little like any other RE.

That's the best reason to knock a Gamecube? Shit, that must make it the best system of all time.

Stu, there's no need to go into the multitude of reasons that you're wrong.

Because you can't, being as he's right. Nintendo makes money off it's hardware. It makes money off it's games. Why would it stop doing this? To make more money? People that buy Nintendo games buy Nintendo systems. People that don't buy Nintendo systems refer to Nintendo games as "Fag elf" and "I stopped playing Mario in the '80s, lol, X-Box is a man's system!" and don't want to play Nintendo games anyway.

Why would they change their entire business strategy? It works for them. They aren't another Sega, they make quite a lot of money doing what they do. Shit, until very recently over the entire world the Gamecube was outselling the Xbox system. I can't say for sure if it's true today, but it was true for a very, very long time. Their Gameboy line has run without a series challenge for what, 15 years now? The PSP isn't going to change that either. Costs too much, and the l33t0 electronics crowd just isn't that big. The Gameboy sells to people who like to give their kid something to play with mostly, and people that like having a handheld. You can get a Gameboy DS and a few games for the expected price of the PSP. Fuck sort of parent is shelling out for the PSP?

It's not like the thing plays DVDs, you aren't throwing your movies on their to watch them. Transfer them from something else? Your pool of customers just got even lower. People tech savy enough to do all that are a vast minority in the consumer world.

So Nintendo has a profitable console department, and a very popular handheld department. It has rabidly popular first party games their base eats up, and it has no serious threat to it's position now [it's not like Sony can knock them down from number 1 twice]. They adapted. They found their market and they stick to it.

Why should they become a development only house when they make so much more money on hardware? They make about a billion in profit a year.  They made more last year than they did the year before. They sold more DS units than they expected to. They are not doing badly by any stretch of the imagination.

And your "logic" behind them dropping their console is....."they could make more money".

Prove it or shut the fuck up.

Yeah, they are going to collapse any day now.

[schild]

Read this.

Do you honestly believe Echoes couldn't have sold 2 million copies the first month had it been PS2/Xbox instead of Gamecube?

That $200 I spent on the system when it was released, would have been $200 on games. You're barking up the wrong tree if you think they make more off the console than they do games.

[Boogaleeboo]

Do you honestly believe Echoes couldn't have sold 2 million copies the first month had it been PS2/Xbox instead of Gamecube?

Yep.

And here is that logic thing again, are you ready?

You're barking up the wrong tree if you think they make more off the console than they do games.

You just admit you payed for it and games.

So they should stop making the console so you just buy their games?

[schild]

Like I said, I probably would have bought more games from them. Besides RE4 and Baten Kaitos, I waited for the price to drop on every other Gamecube game. I don't like supporting my redheaded stepchild.

[Boogaleeboo]

And yet you still do. You talk about how you might have done it "more", but you still do it in the end. Nintendo hasn't shown a desire to lose it's identity in the search for a little more money. Nintendo makes fun video games and video game systems. Nintendo is not someone's bitch. Nintendo really, really doesn't like Sony and Microsoft. Nintendo makes money, Nintendo won't change.

[schild]

And yet you still do. You talk about how you might have done it "more", but you still do it in the end.

Then where did you get the idea I don't like "fun?"

Nintendo won't change.

I've a strong feeling you'll eat those words sometime in the next three years. May be this summer, may be 2007. But you'll eat them.

[Boogaleeboo]

Then where did you get the idea I don't like "fun?"

The manner in which you do it and the way in which you talk about it.

I've a strong feeling you'll eat those words sometime in the next three years.

People said the exact same thing when the PS and the PS2 launched.

Still waiting.

[schild]

I remember the gaming rags saying that about the ps1 and ps2, but then, who trusts them anyway?

I switched straight over to the ps1 with the announcement of FFVII. It was a no brainer. I didn't need Another Mario.

You know, the way you talk and the manner in which you do it, people would assume you don't like living. I for one won't miss you.

[daveNYC]

I looked at their financial report for the first half of 2005 (they have a March 31 financial year) and their numbers do seem a little strange.  Their sales are down 11% from the same time last year, but their operating income is up 39%.  Some of that seems to be from the exchange rate, and they have also decreased their inventory by 30%, which could also have had an effect.

Right now their hardware sales are 4:1 handheld to console, with software running 2:1 handheld to console.

They don't break out their R&D costs in their statement of cash flows, so I can't tell you what their up to, but their 2004 report made no mention of anything other than the GC and DS.

Given how much Nintendo is dependent on their handheld, the PSP is a very serious threat.  Their choices are: come out with a new console in order to lessen their dependence on handheld revenue, come out with a pile of new games for the DS to keep the PSP from stealing customers, or  call it quits and get out of the hardware biz.

The do need to do something, and do it soon.  Pricing at a premium hasn't hurt the iPod that much, and I wouldn't hold out much hope that it will stop the PSP.  Sure the DS will have the price advantage, but given Nintendo's dependence on the handheld revenue, I'm not sure they can afford give up much market share to Sony.  Unless they hope Pokemon takes off again.

[HaemishM]

Shit, until very recently over the entire world the Gamecube was outselling the Xbox system. I can't say for sure if it's true today, but it was true for a very, very long time.

It isn't true today. From this page:

Worldwide Hardware Sales (End of 2004)
PlayStation 2 - 81.39 million
Xbox - 19.9 million
GameCube - 18.03 million
Game Boy Advance - 65.74 million
Nintendo DS - 2.84 million
Sony PSP - 0.51 million
N-Gage - 1.3 million
PSone - 101.73 million

It currently trails X-Box worldwide by over a million units. Regional breakdowns are:

North America
PlayStation 2 - 32.86 million
Xbox - 13.2 million
GameCube - 10.11 million

Japan / Asia
PlayStation 2 - 19.47 million
Xbox - 1.7 million
GameCube - 3.78 million

Europe / PAL
PlayStation 2 - 29.06 million
Xbox - 5.0 million
GameCube - 4.13 million

Worldwide
PlayStation 2 - 81.39 million
Xbox - 19.9 million
GameCube - 18.03 million

The only place it outsells the X-Box is in Japan, which considering the nationalistic ferver, hatred for American companies, and overall Japan-centric focus of most of Nintendo's software development, that's understandable. I assume they make more money off a unit sold in Japan as well.

I'm sure the GC and whatever next-gen console Nintendo comes along with in 2006 will sit in about the same position indefinitely. But I would tend to agree with schild, in that I don't think it's a good use of their resources. But this is from the company who doesn't believe online gaming is worth bothering about, so being happy with third place probably shouldn't be surprising either.

[Sky]

I said to him, "Say man, who got the key?"
He looked at me and says "key? What key?"
He said "Gus got the key"
I say "Gus....Gus who?"
He say "Don't you know? Gus Johnson got the key."

[ahoythematey]

I switched straight over to the ps1 with the announcement of FFVII. It was a no brainer. I didn't need Another Mario.

I bought a psx quite some time before I bought a 64, so obviously I too was excited about FFVII, but at the time that "Another Mario" was going to be Mario 64, and I find it hard to believe, from the gamer perspective, that anybody was of the idea that they didn't need that game.

[HaemishM]

I hate Mario in just about all its forms, so you can count 1 gamer who did not need Mario 64. I do like Mario Kart, but only because my wife loves it and we can play together.

[ahoythematey]

Not saying that nobody was uninterested with the game, just saying I find it particularly hard to believe.  Subjectivity and all that.