rising up out of the back seat-nuh 0 Report post Posted August 15, 2003 Haven't seen this anywhere else: The Japanese company Nintendo has temporarily halted production of its GameCube consoles until the autumn. The struggling games maker says it needs to clear its warehouses of unsold machines before it makes any more of them. Nintendo's president, Satoru Iwata, has also said he wants to move away from increasingly sophisticated and time consuming games, which dominate the games industry at the moment. The games market shrunk dramatically last year, Mr Iwata said, because players were getting frustrated with the ever more sophisticated games. Some games can take months to finish and the result is players are buying fewer of them. "This trend is clear to everyone, and the trend continues this year," Mr Iwata said. So in a bid to recapture sales, Nintendo has said it will move back toproducts that anyone can play and enjoy. Nintendo now hopes to drive sales this year with new games, including a version of the 1980s favourite Donkey Kong, and has promised a product for next spring "that will deliver fresh surprises" and be fun even for novices. Tough market But moving away from complicated games seems like a risky strategy to some. "Despite the fact that people are perhaps getting a bit tired of [the complicated games], if Nintendo were to go down that route of more immediate, simpler, shorter games... it could alienate them further from the mass market," Joao Diniz Sanches, editor of the industry magazine Edge, told the BBC's World Business Report. Nintendo faces tough competition from the leading games consoles on the market, Sony's Playstation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox. The company concedes that it had made mistakes with the GameCube by not ensuring a consistent flow of attractive new games for the console http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/busi...ess/3134651.stm Discuss... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ripper 0 Report post Posted August 15, 2003 LESS complicated games...oh...dear...lord. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mecha Mummy 0 Report post Posted August 15, 2003 Nintendo? Less complicated games? This can't end well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
razazteca 0 Report post Posted August 15, 2003 Yay more kiddie games for all! Is it safe to say that GameCube will not have any RPGs now? Are they going to stop making Res Evil games now? Can't wait for Mario Pong. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Insane Bump Machine 0 Report post Posted August 15, 2003 Where are you all getting that 'more kiddy games' message from? It doesn't say anything like that in the article. Resident Evil is a sophisticated and time consuming game? Huh? I think you're missing Iwata's point. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lightning Flik 0 Report post Posted August 15, 2003 Only RPGs that I know of that will be on GC are Final Fantasy Crystal Cronicles and supposedly a Golden Sun game. ...now I'm not certain they won't have any other RPGs. Damn them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
razazteca 0 Report post Posted August 15, 2003 Where are you all getting that 'more kiddy games' message from? It doesn't say anything like that in the article. Resident Evil is a sophisticated and time consuming game? Huh? I think you're missing Iwata's point. The point was games were too hard and comsumers stop buying as many games as before. I'm thinking more Mario Party games will be in production and probably every possible sport game will feature Mario and other regulars. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CanadianChris 0 Report post Posted August 16, 2003 Wow...who would've thought ten years ago (heck, even five years ago) that we'd see "Nintendo" and "struggling games maker" in the same sentence? How the mighty have fallen... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Ghost of bps21 0 Report post Posted August 16, 2003 More good news...not http://cube.ign.com/articles/433/433753p1.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sandman9000 0 Report post Posted August 16, 2003 How do you say "tapping teh fuck out" in Japanese? What's the odds of Nintendo going the way of Sega and simply producing games, or dumping the games and working mainly on systems and licencing the characters in three years? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MarvinisaLunatic 0 Report post Posted August 16, 2003 Blah blah blah. I'm pretty much convinced that Nintendo will be the first company to launch their new console in 2005. The thing is gonna make a surprise appearance at next years E3 and blow the pants off of everyone. The Mature Zelda game supposedly for the Gamecube (before they did the cel shaded Wind Waker) will be the launch game for it. There were hints about the this about a week ago in a similar report although I can't find it at this moment. Im personally not worried at all about Nintendo. Theres still plenty of games coming out for the rest of this year that are awesome and except for SC2, they are all exclusives. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
razazteca 0 Report post Posted August 16, 2003 Maybe Nintendo should only focus on the real money maker.......GBA. And quit making useless accessories like the E-Reader. Focus more on software and not so much on hardware toys. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Baron 0 Report post Posted August 16, 2003 i read this too about a week earlier. What is really bad is that games 10-15 years ago were much tougher than games currently today. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Ghost of bps21 0 Report post Posted August 16, 2003 Blah blah blah. I'm pretty much convinced that Nintendo will be the first company to launch their new console in 2005. The thing is gonna make a surprise appearance at next years E3 and blow the pants off of everyone. The Mature Zelda game supposedly for the Gamecube (before they did the cel shaded Wind Waker) will be the launch game for it. There were hints about the this about a week ago in a similar report although I can't find it at this moment. Im personally not worried at all about Nintendo. Theres still plenty of games coming out for the rest of this year that are awesome and except for SC2, they are all exclusives. Without a hardrive and online plan... it won't blow my pants off. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Use Your Illusion 0 Report post Posted August 16, 2003 i read this too about a week earlier. What is really bad is that games 10-15 years ago were much tougher than games currently today. Well said. Donkey Kong 64 - The original arcade game is harder to complete, and about 50 times more fun, than DK64. I must have played the arcade version hundres of times to get that bloody Nintendo coin to finish the rest of the game. Blasted monkeys. UYI Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest mike mayhem Report post Posted August 16, 2003 i read this too about a week earlier. What is really bad is that games 10-15 years ago were much tougher than games currently today. I used to own a SNES, The games I found hard were Donkey Kong Country & Mario Allstars, I kinda agree that games were harder 10 - 15 years ago. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yuna_Firerose 0 Report post Posted August 16, 2003 i read this too about a week earlier. What is really bad is that games 10-15 years ago were much tougher than games currently today. I used to own a SNES, The games I found hard were Donkey Kong Country & Mario Allstars, I kinda agree that games were harder 10 - 15 years ago. I agree with the All-Stars point. My mom went on a nostalgia kick and bought an SNES along with Super Mario World, and All-Stars. She also bought Cool Spot, but from eBay. My one friend has been playing 'The Lost Levels' on All-Stars and daaaamn does that game look hard. The games market shrunk dramatically last year, Mr Iwata said, because players were getting frustrated with the ever more sophisticated games. Because everyone knows that the world needs more kiddy games. Thank Goddess I'm a PS2 owner. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lightning Flik 0 Report post Posted August 16, 2003 The games market shrunk dramatically last year, Mr Iwata said, because players were getting frustrated with the ever more sophisticated games. Because everyone knows that the world needs more kiddy games. Thank Goddess I'm a PS2 owner. No kidding Yuna. Holy fuck, what is Iwata thinking? Players are getting frustrated with more "sophisticated games" is bullshit. It's that we are sick and tired of the lack of intelligence that goes into games lately. Meaning the games have just sucked flat out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest wildpegasus Report post Posted August 16, 2003 I play both PS2 and Gamecube. I enjoy both but I must say that the Gamecube is much more enjoyable to play for the simple reason you don't have to wait 10 minutes for the system to load up every time you reset or turn the power on. They also have Resident Evil and the Gamecube player. (Metroid Fusion rules!!!!) Nintendo may have stopped production temporarly on the Gamecube but isn't the GBA system selling the best out there? As long as NIntendo has that I don't think we have to worry too much about them going under or anything. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest JacK Report post Posted August 16, 2003 Well, since I don't have a Gamecube, I have to say, 'Ha Ha! You lose!' Okay, in all seriousness, that is quite crud, sure, people want sophisticated games, not impossibly difficult games that require them to become an occupation, or incredibly CRAP games. And whats wrong with kiddy games? Croc's a kiddy game and I love it! What's wrong with Sesame Street? It's a sophisticated show with high-quality entertainment values once you get past the stuff aimed at kids which never appealled to me as a kid . . . ok I've lost the plot here. Well, I can say one positive, it will help me in my bid to get myself off video games and onto something more productive if games become dodgier and shonkier. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lil' Bitch 0 Report post Posted August 18, 2003 I'm betting NGC will be the first one to die off! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
razazteca 0 Report post Posted August 18, 2003 The Gamecube will live on forever but will have very few games to speak of just like the N64. I saw a killer bundle at Walmart today, it was the Gamecube + Gameboy Player + Zelda + Demo disc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
claydude14 0 Report post Posted August 20, 2003 For being such "smart marks" when it comes to wrestling, a lot of you are a bunch of video game marks. "OMFG NINTENDO IS SO KIDDY LOL." If you don't have a Cube, what are you waiting for. Without a doubt Wind Waker will be Game of the Year and you can get it for free when you buy a Cube. That's like a $100 system. I'm not being a fanboy, but Jesus, appreciate good gaming! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
razazteca 0 Report post Posted August 21, 2003 The only reason I would buy a Gamecube is to play GBA games on tv. Castlevania Aria of Sorrow is the TRUE game of the year. Nintendo will always have the kiddie stigma. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndrewTS 0 Report post Posted August 21, 2003 I own a GC and I love it. I don't think the GC is too "kiddy" but the public perception is that it is. Public perception is more important than reality from a business standpoint. When the N64 came out, the 3rd parties didn't support it much, and hence the "edgier" games weren't found on the system, and flushed the hard work put into marketing the SNES during the "Play It Loud" campaign. So the stigma returned with the only exceptional titles on N64 usually being first-party, family-friendly fare. Personally, I'll take Metroid, Zelda, and Mario over GTA any day of the week, but GTA is a mainstream darling and considered cool and edgy...so the PS2 does exceptionally well partly because of it and the success of the original PS. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Askewniverse Report post Posted August 21, 2003 With all this talk about game systems, I'm surprised that there hasn't been a "post your game collection" thread yet. I don't really see why people consider Gamecube to be "kiddy." I think that the "kiddy" thing is just something for fanboys to use when arguing about which system is better. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndrewTS 0 Report post Posted August 21, 2003 With all this talk about game systems, I'm surprised that there hasn't been a "post your game collection" thread yet. I don't really see why people consider Gamecube to be "kiddy." I think that the "kiddy" thing is just something for fanboys to use when arguing about which system is better. It is, mainly. On the other hand, it's ironic that most games slapped with the "Mature" label are anything but. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jobber of the Week 0 Report post Posted August 21, 2003 I'm predicting they'll go to a Sega plan after the GameCube's cycle ends. They'll keep Game Boy going of course. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndrewTS 0 Report post Posted August 21, 2003 I'm predicting they'll go to a Sega plan after the GameCube's cycle ends. They'll keep Game Boy going of course. Unless N-Gage or PSP smokes it. I loathe them already for aspiring to kill 2D gaming on the portable front. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
razazteca 0 Report post Posted August 21, 2003 The Neo Geo Pocket relaunch will be more successful than the N-Gauge, but the PSP is something to worry about. Nintendo should go the Sega route, make software only for consoles. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
