After all the buzz and speculation surrounding Nintendo's next-generation system, I have realized something:
It will almost positively mark a big, possibly permanent change for Nintendo. It's been said before, and previously shrugged off, but I think the statement has more merit than it used to. It could very well change the situation, for one of two reasons:
On the one hand, the Revolution may be the massively innovative system Iwata-san and others have hinted at–-something that focuses on delivering a completely new gaming experience.
Looking at this realistically, I'm skeptical. When Nintendo spouts things like "the idea of a player tethered to a console tethered to a television is old technology," I get the feeling that Nintendo may be doing what I've feared for some time now, which is bowing out of directly competing with Sony and Microsoft, by trying to create something new and different enough as to attract new players; players different from the market that the competition is doing their best to get a firm grip on. It could mean becoming a niche marketer (which isn't an inherently bad idea for the company, but has potential to fail in execution), or it could mean that they are trying to turn the tables on the industry and shape it to the way they want. In effect, they may be trying to change the way we play video games (it's up to you to decide whether that's good or bad).
I say this because much of the stuff I've heard implies that the Revolution may not be a home console in the traditional sense of the word–-maybe something so radically different that developers won't even be able to port games to it from other systems. I'm fairly skeptical about this, as well. When I hear "Revolution," I start to think of the Virtual Boy–-an exciting concept that spooks all third-party developers and never fully materializes. The potential exists for Nintendo to screw things up–-in trying to change the industry, they may fall on their faces, and thus be perceived as merely failing at doing something Sony and Microsoft seem to be doing better, giving them an even greater advantage over Nintendo.
So, from the standpoint of a cynic, the Revolution could mark a turning point for Nintendo in a bad way. It may not work out, further hurting Nintendo's relationship with third-party developers, and forcing a significant strategy re-adjustment. Nintendo may be further branded as not being the company that has appeal with casual gamers, and may never achieve the mainstream success that Sony has and Microsoft is working on.
But on the other hand, the Revolution could have the potential to change Nintendo for the better–-it's a looming possibility, and it's an exciting prospect that has merit as well. This year's E3 proved two things to that effect:
First, that Nintendo, albeit slowly, is listening to gamers, and watching the climate. They're trying to shed the kids-only image that never quite went away. Games like Star Fox 2, Resident Evil 4, and most notably the new Zelda all show that Nintendo is going after the 18-34 demographic it's been previously missing out on with the GCN. They know how to change to suit the gamers to some extent–-they just didn't think it was the best thing to do before that. If they did, connectivity and, frankly, Wind Waker, would have never existed. It proves that the company is perfectly aware of the demands of the western gamer, and is rising to the challenge to recognise them. (Whether or not they can is a different story.)
Second, that they aren't going to continue being online-phobic. With the DS, Nintendo showed that they weren't afraid to go online, which bodes well for out-of-the-box online functionality with the Revolution. If they're going to openly embrace online gaming with the DS, there is no currently existing reason they won't do the same with the Revolution. At the very least, the Revolution definitely won't suffer from the complete irrelevance people saw with the GCN in its early days. They won't go against the tide of online with another connectivity-esque gimmick.
This means that, if Nintendo wanted to, they could do a bang-up job of being competitive. They are fully capable of going online, and pulling out the big guns when need be.
Unless they really want to make a system that's remarkably different, (which I doubt, since anything remarkably different won't achieve the normal success of a system–-it will take a lot of time and money for consumers to get used to your product, and whatever features it offers, and most likely isn't worth the risk), it seems likely that they'll take the safe route, and develop a system that has games that appeal to the casual gamer (a sign of this course is apparent with the "new" Nintendo we saw at E3; a Nintendo that was doing its best to kick ass and take names), online functionality (a sign of which would be the DS–if a glorified Game Boy can do it successfully, it won't be significantly harder to do with a home console), and is welcoming to other developers.
(This can't be backed up by much, except the rumor that the specs for the XBOX 2 and Revolution are similar–unless the Revolution has some new control mechanism or user interface we don't know about, this sounds encouraging for third-party games.)
So, to wrap this up, I am nervous because Nintendo is strange enough to make a system that the majority of consumers don't want or didn't ask for, something bizarre and non-competitive, but I am simultaneously excited because their recent behavior indicates that they are gearing up to make a damn fine system. A system that can go head-to-head with Sony and Microsoft, and won't necessarily become a system used just to play Nintendo games. They've been changing lately, and unless we see signs to the contrary, it's very likely that they won't go against the tide too much more, at least not anytime soon.
With that in mind, what do you think the Revolution will be like? Will this all turn out to be hype, and turn out to be a normal, competitive next-gen console, just like the next XBOX and PlayStation? Or will Nintendo try to do something completely different, as they've been hinting? Or do you think Nintendo could find a safe middle ground–a competitive system with innovative features slightly taking the back seat? Send e-mail, as always, to Aristotlekh@gmail.com.
My final word is that there is certainly defense to both possibilities. Nintendo's actions make me think they'll go the safe route, but Nintendo's words suggest exactly the opposite. Only time will tell, here. But for now, I can say for sure that E3 2005 is going to tell a lot about the future of Nintendo, for better or for worse.
And until then, there isn't much more to say about Nintendo's next console. Beside what I have mentioned here, there is very little that Nintendo is telling us. Only come E3 '05 will we be able to make any more significant judgements on the matter.
It will almost positively mark a big, possibly permanent change for Nintendo. It's been said before, and previously shrugged off, but I think the statement has more merit than it used to. It could very well change the situation, for one of two reasons:
On the one hand, the Revolution may be the massively innovative system Iwata-san and others have hinted at–-something that focuses on delivering a completely new gaming experience.
Looking at this realistically, I'm skeptical. When Nintendo spouts things like "the idea of a player tethered to a console tethered to a television is old technology," I get the feeling that Nintendo may be doing what I've feared for some time now, which is bowing out of directly competing with Sony and Microsoft, by trying to create something new and different enough as to attract new players; players different from the market that the competition is doing their best to get a firm grip on. It could mean becoming a niche marketer (which isn't an inherently bad idea for the company, but has potential to fail in execution), or it could mean that they are trying to turn the tables on the industry and shape it to the way they want. In effect, they may be trying to change the way we play video games (it's up to you to decide whether that's good or bad).
I say this because much of the stuff I've heard implies that the Revolution may not be a home console in the traditional sense of the word–-maybe something so radically different that developers won't even be able to port games to it from other systems. I'm fairly skeptical about this, as well. When I hear "Revolution," I start to think of the Virtual Boy–-an exciting concept that spooks all third-party developers and never fully materializes. The potential exists for Nintendo to screw things up–-in trying to change the industry, they may fall on their faces, and thus be perceived as merely failing at doing something Sony and Microsoft seem to be doing better, giving them an even greater advantage over Nintendo.
So, from the standpoint of a cynic, the Revolution could mark a turning point for Nintendo in a bad way. It may not work out, further hurting Nintendo's relationship with third-party developers, and forcing a significant strategy re-adjustment. Nintendo may be further branded as not being the company that has appeal with casual gamers, and may never achieve the mainstream success that Sony has and Microsoft is working on.
But on the other hand, the Revolution could have the potential to change Nintendo for the better–-it's a looming possibility, and it's an exciting prospect that has merit as well. This year's E3 proved two things to that effect:
First, that Nintendo, albeit slowly, is listening to gamers, and watching the climate. They're trying to shed the kids-only image that never quite went away. Games like Star Fox 2, Resident Evil 4, and most notably the new Zelda all show that Nintendo is going after the 18-34 demographic it's been previously missing out on with the GCN. They know how to change to suit the gamers to some extent–-they just didn't think it was the best thing to do before that. If they did, connectivity and, frankly, Wind Waker, would have never existed. It proves that the company is perfectly aware of the demands of the western gamer, and is rising to the challenge to recognise them. (Whether or not they can is a different story.)
Second, that they aren't going to continue being online-phobic. With the DS, Nintendo showed that they weren't afraid to go online, which bodes well for out-of-the-box online functionality with the Revolution. If they're going to openly embrace online gaming with the DS, there is no currently existing reason they won't do the same with the Revolution. At the very least, the Revolution definitely won't suffer from the complete irrelevance people saw with the GCN in its early days. They won't go against the tide of online with another connectivity-esque gimmick.
This means that, if Nintendo wanted to, they could do a bang-up job of being competitive. They are fully capable of going online, and pulling out the big guns when need be.
Unless they really want to make a system that's remarkably different, (which I doubt, since anything remarkably different won't achieve the normal success of a system–-it will take a lot of time and money for consumers to get used to your product, and whatever features it offers, and most likely isn't worth the risk), it seems likely that they'll take the safe route, and develop a system that has games that appeal to the casual gamer (a sign of this course is apparent with the "new" Nintendo we saw at E3; a Nintendo that was doing its best to kick ass and take names), online functionality (a sign of which would be the DS–if a glorified Game Boy can do it successfully, it won't be significantly harder to do with a home console), and is welcoming to other developers.
(This can't be backed up by much, except the rumor that the specs for the XBOX 2 and Revolution are similar–unless the Revolution has some new control mechanism or user interface we don't know about, this sounds encouraging for third-party games.)
So, to wrap this up, I am nervous because Nintendo is strange enough to make a system that the majority of consumers don't want or didn't ask for, something bizarre and non-competitive, but I am simultaneously excited because their recent behavior indicates that they are gearing up to make a damn fine system. A system that can go head-to-head with Sony and Microsoft, and won't necessarily become a system used just to play Nintendo games. They've been changing lately, and unless we see signs to the contrary, it's very likely that they won't go against the tide too much more, at least not anytime soon.
With that in mind, what do you think the Revolution will be like? Will this all turn out to be hype, and turn out to be a normal, competitive next-gen console, just like the next XBOX and PlayStation? Or will Nintendo try to do something completely different, as they've been hinting? Or do you think Nintendo could find a safe middle ground–a competitive system with innovative features slightly taking the back seat? Send e-mail, as always, to Aristotlekh@gmail.com.
My final word is that there is certainly defense to both possibilities. Nintendo's actions make me think they'll go the safe route, but Nintendo's words suggest exactly the opposite. Only time will tell, here. But for now, I can say for sure that E3 2005 is going to tell a lot about the future of Nintendo, for better or for worse.
And until then, there isn't much more to say about Nintendo's next console. Beside what I have mentioned here, there is very little that Nintendo is telling us. Only come E3 '05 will we be able to make any more significant judgements on the matter.
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