Discouraging for a Nintendo fan...

[Geen]

How can anyone in their right mind still believe this?

Easily, aparently. :-P I think other companies are doing fantastic jobs as well, but there is just something fun that Nintendo seems to get right more often then not. Like I said, it doesn't happen nearly as often as it should, but it still happens with the majority of their titles.

[Giltch]

I've got mixed feelings about the Revolution. But for the most part I feel that if someone's going to completely change the gaming paradigm, it's not going to be Nintendo. We do need something new, something we've never seen before, but with PS3 and Xbox 2 on the way and from what I've heard about the two, Nintendo's gonna be left in the dust. Regardless of how much better these next-gen consoles will be, I seriously doubt, though, that they're going to "change the way people game". This is just another enhancement of graphics and other features, not a new paradigm, regardless of what we were told.

[gamevet]

It was the default color. Many people can't see past childish or vibrant dildo purple on their system, it sticks out of their entertainment unit like a sore thumb and looks like a toy. All the design in the world was ruined (off the bat) because of the colour choice.

It may have been the color used in all the promos, but in N. America the option of black was available day one. I bought a black GC, 2 weeks after it came to N. America.

[1CCOSA]

Yep, I reserved a black GC way back in the day. So glad they at least gave us the option.

[Hero]

Cool. I hope the continuining discouragement drives some of these people that claim to be lifelong fans over the edge to the point where they end themselves.

Or you could wish something a little more humane...like that they stop being Nintendo zealots and buy a PS2.

Truth be told, I just think Nintendo has a different idea of what they want to do with games and what constitutes as a game. For the past ten years (thanks stibs), games have made a move to being an entertainment medium and less the 'toy' they were seen as in gaming's heyday. I don't think this is a good thing or bad thing, just the way which things progressed.

Now according to common sense, Nintendo would either adapt and conform, or die. But they still see things as a matter of games being games and toys first. Not that this is a bad or good thing either...but a terrible assumption to make when the market screams at you to be like everyone else.

I think Nintendo will always sit well in my memory, and I'll always have a soft-spot for their games but these days I see games as entertainment too - just as much as those unwashed mainstream masses. So my vote goes with Sony and Microsoft in providing me with consoles where the games are at. Games of movie-like mentalities, all the production value in the world, and very little in substance (for the most part); while Nintendo will serve as that place of venerated mascots and half-assed 'innovations.'

[LOL]

Nintendo: A Decade of Destruction

[Drewbacca]

It may have been the color used in all the promos, but in N. America the option of black was available day one. I bought a black GC, 2 weeks after it came to N. America.

Moms going in to buy a Gamecube for their sons probably wouldn't've known about the colour change because it wasn't advertised in your face. Also, it's called branding a product. Things that are bright, vibrant purple as opposed to black isn't going to appeal to a wide audience.

I agree with shidoshi- I like the GC's design. Especially compared to a tank and a car stereo amp. But you are right, people didn't want to even consider a system that was purple. I just don't see how they were won over by Xbox's Xtreme Neon Mountain Dew Green at the same time.
Still I think gameplay has suffered more than enough 'innovation' in the last 10 years.

Because people saw it as an option, not as the standard brand. Also, I personally agree with shidoshi on the design of the system too (although the handle is weird), but what I was saying was that he colour is what ruined any attempts or feats the design had accomplished.

[AaronChance]

I think it's very cool that even in the disappointing DS library as of yet, there are new types of games emerging such as the "surgeon simulators".

Not a new type of game. There was actually a series of them released on PC a long time ago (they were in EGA even). There's also a game of this type released on PS2 in Japan by D3 before the DS games were announced.

I think Nintendo is putting the cart before the horse. They're pushing innovation in hardware and then saying to the devs 'okay, now use it.' What they really should be doing it approaching developers and saying 'what can't you do because of current hardware?' what features do you want and need to go past your current limitations for the next console generation?'

I honestly think that hardware innovation is for the most part over. All that it needs is better and more powerful, to allow the developers to take this enviroment and make something innovative out of it. Most don't, most seek the easy money... and usually fail, but some make the most of their new virtual sandbox, who probably won't be able to do that with the Revolution because it will be too unique, and will actually restrict them, the way the gamecube controller restricted developers.

[mollipen]

I think Nintendo is putting the cart before the horse. They're pushing innovation in hardware and then saying to the devs 'okay, now use it.' What they really should be doing it approaching developers and saying 'what can't you do because of current hardware?' what features do you want and need to go past your current limitations for the next console generation?'

The problem, though, is that not enough people understand what they want until it is forced upon them.

The Playstation, when it came out, was a system that was designed to give game developers what they wanted out of a system. But, you notice - it wasn't until the N64 came along, and Nintendo put an analog stick onto their controller, that people suddenly realized how good of an idea that would be. Sony was presenting game developers with 3D - something not seriously present in gaming before that - and developers still didn't have the brains to have one of their biggest requests be an analog stick. Obviously, Sony didn't either.

But then step back, and the 3D movement has to be credited to Sony. Sega, in making the Saturn, didn't give 3D a serious look when it came to the home market. If Sony hand't pushed the idea of 3D onto game developers, they may have been perfectly content to continue making 2D games.

Another example is Xbox Live. I think that a lot of games on the Xbox only have online functionality because if they didn't, the other Xbox games that do have it would make them look bad. MS pushed hard for online gaming, and that's the main reason most companies are even giving it a look. Some companies and developers honestly do want their games online and put a lot of effort into it. But how many Xbox Live games do you play where the online portion feels tacked on?

I think that if you ask developers what they need out of a new system, most will say, "More RAM, better graphics, faster processor." I think that most just don't have enough imagination to really look at what new things could be done. A company like EA is perfectly content to continue what they are doing and not try something new and innovative. They know what things that they have work, and sell, why should they put out the time and effort to have to think in new ways?

[negitoro]

I really think Nintendo's future as a hardware developer is increasingly dim.

I think they need to give serious thought to becoming a 3rd party developer.