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Nintendo Takes Aim at Apple as 'Enemy of the Future'
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People need to realize
People need to realize that game development has gotten so expensive in the past generation. Doesn't it strike you odd that your seeing an explosion in fps and continuation into sports games rather than new innovative games this past console generation? It's because its very hard to get funding that can range in the tens to millions of dollars thats needed for game development that can take years for a concept that wont sell well. I feel nintendo was seeing this trend and decided to go for the wide net approach with the wii. Make a system that's easy to develop for, cheap to purchase, and easy for the average joe to get into.
Apple has created a huge platform of millions of ipods and iphones and now ipad's in a short period of time. It also has made it quick to distribute games via the app store rather than the cumbersome and expensive route of retail. Couple with the fact that there is a low cost of investment to start developing, this creates a system that promotes rapid game development. YES MOST GAMES ON The APP STORE ARE CRAP! But you dont showcase or focus on them, you focus on the great games, like the flight control, the zombies vs plants, etc.
This brings us to the next point. More and more big name companies will take the time to port already existing games that are on the ds and the psp to the iphone. It is already been done with GTA and StreetFighter to name a few and it will continue.
This is going to lead to both companies focusing more or on game development. Apple is finally realizing how important there game market is with there online xbox live like game center coming online later this year. We live in exciting times. It wont be that long before you hook up your iphone to your tv and have hd graphics with live online gameplay to match that of consoles.
People need to realize that game development has gotten so expensive in the past generation. Doesn't it strike you odd that your seeing an explosion in fps and continuation into sports games rather than new innovative games this past console generation? It's because its very hard to get funding that can range in the tens to millions of dollars thats needed for game development that can take years for a concept that wont sell well. I feel nintendo was seeing this trend and decided to go for the wide net approach with the wii. Make a system that's easy to develop for, cheap to purchase, and easy for the average joe to get into.
Apple has created a huge platform of millions of ipods and iphones and now ipad's in a short period of time. It also has made it quick to distribute games via the app store rather than the cumbersome and expensive route of retail. Couple with the fact that there is a low cost of investment to start developing, this creates a system that promotes rapid game development. YES MOST GAMES ON The APP STORE ARE CRAP! But you dont showcase or focus on them, you focus on the great games, like the flight control, the zombies vs plants, etc.
This brings us to the next point. More and more big name companies will take the time to port already existing games that are on the ds and the psp to the iphone. It is already been done with GTA and StreetFighter to name a few and it will continue.
This is going to lead to both companies focusing more or on game development. Apple is finally realizing how important there game market is with there online xbox live like game center coming online later this year. We live in exciting times. It wont be that long before you hook up your iphone to your tv and have hd graphics with live online gameplay to match that of consoles.
Nintendo will see a whole different world come later this year, early next year.
Lets take out the DS versus iPxxx comparison for a moment and look at another perspective... Playstation Move! From what I have seen, this will totally rule in comparison to the WiiMote. Once there are some killer games that use the Move, Nintendo will start losing yet another field advantage.
What I would like to see is Nintendo do a Sega. Forfeit their lackluster hardware and push for making awesome games for others. Imagine what Mario or Zelda would look like if it was developed from the PS3! That would be awesome. Make Zelda 'DS' games for the iPxx's units again, better hardware!
I have been a Nintendo fan for years... well hell, ever since I bought my first NES system. I have purchased every Nintendo console and played most of the "Nintendo" produced games. They are great games but they lack due to crappy hardware.
Really how many people opt for a Nintendo version of a game that is also available for the PS3 or XBOX?
Nintendo! Loss the hardware!
Lets take out the DS versus iPxxx comparison for a moment and look at another perspective... Playstation Move! From what I have seen, this will totally rule in comparison to the WiiMote. Once there are some killer games that use the Move, Nintendo will start losing yet another field advantage.
What I would like to see is Nintendo do a Sega. Forfeit their lackluster hardware and push for making awesome games for others. Imagine what Mario or Zelda would look like if it was developed from the PS3! That would be awesome. Make Zelda 'DS' games for the iPxx's units again, better hardware!
I have been a Nintendo fan for years... well hell, ever since I bought my first NES system. I have purchased every Nintendo console and played most of the "Nintendo" produced games. They are great games but they lack due to crappy hardware.
Really how many people opt for a Nintendo version of a game that is also available for the PS3 or XBOX?
Nintendo! Loss the hardware!
That seems to be what quite a few people in this thread seems to think. And it's actually mostly correct. It's still mostly a gaming device, not even trying to be a phone, PDA or media player. But that's also the reason it's so much better suited for games. It was designed for one thing and one thing only, and do that one thing really, really well. The device has actual physical buttons in addition to the touchscreen, built-in stereo speakers (that are of surprisingly high quality) and no operating system overhead. But it also has some modern features like built in storage and SD card support, WLAN, an online store similar to the Appstore, a web browser and some other nice things - not to mention an installed base of more than 130 million units (expected to reach 160 million by the end of the fiscal year) and incredible developer support especially from Japanese devs.
But the DS is also six years old, with a successor to be revealed in June and expected to ship within the next few months. Very little is known about this device except for a tentative name and the fact that it'll have a high resolution autostereoscopic 3D display. Maybe this device will have some PDA or media features. It may even be a phone. Nobody knows, Nintendo mentioned that they're open to that idea. And it's never a good idea to underestimate Nintendo. This isn't some small back alley company. They are in business for more than 120 years, they pretty much single handedly saved the gaming market after the crash in 1983, and they created the mobile gaming space as we know it today. They were the first company in the business who dabbled in digital distribution, more than a decade before iTunes, let alone the Appstore.
The Playstation Move looks exactly like a dildo, and that will have a huge effect on the amount of people that will buy that. If I have people over my house, I wouldn't want them to mistake it for one, thinking that I have a dildo laying around, much less have my kids playing with something that looks like a dildo.
The playstaion move works exactly like a wiiremote with the motion plus attachment, that has been out for almost a year, so I don't think this move thing is going to be a problem for Nintendo, at all.
Also, there's a big difference between Sega and Nintendo. Nintendo is an insanely profitable company that has a lot of cash. They make money on every system they've sold, including the Gamecube. The idea that Nintendo could possibly make games for the PS3 is kind of out there, since Nintendo would have to lose billions of dollars before the life span of the PS3. And just because the PS3 is more powerful than the Wii doesn't mean the next Nintendo system won't be more powerful. In fact the PS3 is the 1st time that Sony has had a system more powerful than Nintendo. In fact the last time that the most powerful system won a generation it was with the Super Nintendo. The playstaion and playstation 2 won their generation, but like the Wii they were the weakest systems available.
One more thing. Nintendo has sold over 120 million DS and who knows how many Wii's, plus license fee for every game a 3rd party company sells. Do you really, really think Nintendo should give that up just so that they would develop games for Apple? Nintendo would have to be the biggest Apple fanboy in the world times 100.
Edit: Correction, I just remember that you want Nintendo to develop for the PS3, but the point is still valid.
They haven't. The DSi was their reaction to the iPod/iPhone. They added 2 cameras and downloadable game support. Recently we saw Sony's iPod/iPhone rival - the PSP Go.
Absolutely semi-incorrect. High end console games do cost more to produce and are taking longer to finish. However that is just one piece of a very, very large industry. There are so many games now that get raving reviews produced from a wide swatch of studio sizes, production costs.
You do understand that Nintendo is bigger than Sony (talking about market cap) and makes more money on software and hardware than Sony? Why should they stop creating their own hardware? It's also completely insane to compare Nintendo to Sega. They are much, much bigger than Sega ever was. They are by far the biggest fish in the pond.
And by the way: Move won't rule anything. It's not even noticeable more precise than Motion+. It has a few pros and cons - better Z axis recognition, no pointer. Other than that, the technology is mostly identical, and, and that's even more important, Move is just an option.
I cannot argue the bad design of the Move but I think that will be a short term weakness. The games will take it from there. Sure the WiiMote has been out longer but longevity does not equal anything in this franchise. I guess I will have to wait until Nintendo becomes "less profitable" to see their games on another console. Sega Genesis was a good console at the time and see where they are today.
Great game!
Awesome, thanks for this tip.
I love these solid gems in the sea of crap that is the App Store.
Wish there were some way of socially sharing your recommended apps.
My last big find was Sword & Poker (all my family loved that one)... still waiting for the sequel to that.
Awesome, thanks for this tip.
I love these solid gems in the sea of crap that is the App Store.
Wish there were some way of socially sharing your recommended apps.
My last big find was Sword & Poker (all my family loved that one)... still waiting for the sequel to that.
And Xbox360, PS3 and other consoles, need to go back to 8-bit technology so they are more fun right?
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight...
Nintendo will continue to do quite well. The DS/DSi Family will no longer be the primary handheld this fall with the new Handheld coming out that offers Glasses free 3D gaming etc. Its expected to have a Gamecube level CPU and GPU.
Most importantly it will feature something Apple can never have no matter how hard they try. Solid Franchises that Casual and Hardcore alike go crazy over.
In the end Nintendo will simply adapt somethings to counter Apple trying to squeeze in on the casual space. Frankly i find the article to be unreliable anyways. Satoru Iwata has never spoken in such ways about anyone and the industry loves to make up stories about whats going on at Nintendo.
Most importantly it will feature something Apple can never have no matter how hard they try. Solid Franchises that Casual and Hardcore alike go crazy over.
In the end Nintendo will simply adapt somethings to counter Apple trying to squeeze in on the casual space. Frankly i find the article to be unreliable anyways. Satoru Iwata has never spoken in such ways about anyone and the industry loves to make up stories about whats going on at Nintendo.
Sega was never, ever as big as Nintendo.
Consoles have a lifespan which is running out, the move work pretty much just like wii motion plus. It's not a superior technology, or an innovating technology, so longevity is not on Sony's side.
Going back to the comment you made earlier, that you would like to see Nintendo games on a PS3 device. You have to understand that the PS3 and Xbox 360 are already very dated devices. Modern GPUs can run their games multiple times at the same time, circles around them. Just letting you know because it kind of seems like you think that the PS3 is advance technology. Nintendo should focus more on future technology.
Probably bad Japanese translation.
Also, I thought the next DS was going to use Tegra 2. Are you sure it will be as powerful as a gamecube?
Nobody knows for sure. It's probably not Tegra 2, though, as Nintendo likes using designs they have control over.
Horrible move, Nintendo. Whenever the leader in a given market reacts to a smaller player, it sends the signal that there's reason to be afraid and it rouses curiosity in consumers. Microsoft's "I'm a PC" ads didn't seem to stop people switching to Macs (not based on Apple's latest Mac sales figures) and Coke switching to a more Pepsi-like formula... well, we all know how that played out.
Nintendo is light-years ahead of Apple in gaming and they're really damn good at it. I've always thought of them as the Apple of the gaming market. They should just keep doing what they do and not worry about Apple. I seriously doubt Apple could ever be a significant threat to them so I'm curious what they're afraid of and what they hope to gain with such a direct response? It will just make them look desperate.
Nintendo is light-years ahead of Apple in gaming and they're really damn good at it. I've always thought of them as the Apple of the gaming market. They should just keep doing what they do and not worry about Apple. I seriously doubt Apple could ever be a significant threat to them so I'm curious what they're afraid of and what they hope to gain with such a direct response? It will just make them look desperate.
Not really. They usually go for something that's powerful but doesn't cost too much to produce, like the Gamecube and the Nintendo 64. Arm base CPUs. Tegra 2 seems like a good choice.
On another point, this is why Apple shouldn't design their own CPU. Take Sony, rather than shopping around for the best CPU to use in their system, they were only stuck with one choice, the cell processor. A processor which is hard to develop for. Apple wouldn't have that choice if they developed their own.
Technically, no. They were making Playing Cards for 86yrs, then in 1973, they started Laser Clay Shooting System, using the same light gun technology used in Nintendo's Kousenjuu series of toys.
Officially they began producing video games and consoles since 1977, when they began producing its own Color TV Game home video game consoles.
So that is 33yrs only making videogames, which is a lot... but not 120yrs in the business... maybe -in- business, but not in the video games business.
This is inaccurate as well...
In 1977 Mattel’s LED-based Handhelds - were the first mobile gaming "handhelds", followed by Milton Bradley Microvision in 1979...
Followed by the Nintendo’s Game & Watch Series in 1980. If you google this, you will see where the Nintendo DS "physical appearance" comes from.
Then...
In 1989 Nintendo started with the Gameboy...
But in 2003 - 2004 Nokia N-Gage / N-Gage QD - Was the first handheld to offer "wifi/adhoc", developers never took advantage of it...
It is ironic that it took them 25yrs to release the Nintendo DS (the DS was released in 2004 in Japan and 2005 in the US) (that has an exact appearance to the Nintendo Game & Watch Series).
Don't get me wrong, I like Nintendo, and some of their games, but they need to create something trully amazing, because if you take the age of the Nintendo DS Series (including Lite, DSi, etc). It's almost 5 yrs, since they created something portable, that is worth the expense and if they don't pick up their act Apple is going to have them for lunch them in 2-5yrs more.
What nintendo needs to do is build a reliable online store and make their handhelds able to download those games. The reason why the iphone/ipad/ipod touch are so successful is because there is iTunes and the Appstore.
Kildjean
There has been talk for a few years that Nintendo was working with IBM on shrinking down the tech even further and Iwata confirmed they actually designed the Gamecube with 3D Capability but never actually proceeded with it beyond a closed door demonstration at E3 one year.
From what has been said by the LCD screen providers it seems likely it will have a 480x854 screen resolution which is a huge step up from the DS/DSi family at 256x192.
In the end from whats been speculated and confirmed by anonymous sources the 3DS will be on very solid footing as far as capabilities. Whats to be seen is what bells and whistles are there. They introduced the App store and Music Player with the DSi as well as the Cameras.
The DSi functionality is confirmed to be in the 3DS so its just a matter of waiting to see how it evolves in their new system
It did increase the userbase, but it would be impossible for the whole world to drop the Windows dominance over night.
How are they light years ahead? Last I checked I can only play games on my nintendo ds, using either a stupid PEN or a d-pad. Nintendo's DS Flips screen is more than 25yrs old. (considering one of ther first consoles (http://www.engadget.com/media/2006/02/gamewatch2.jpg) was made in 1980 and looks exactly the same as the Nintendo DS...
Can you even mention me a NDS game that plays like an MMO? Kind of like Pocket Legends? http://www.spacetimestudios.com/content.php?11 (which plays awesome over 3g or wifi).
Nintendo has been sitting on their laurels, until now. Fighting an old EGO war with Sony... The reason why they jumped is because in wasting time with Sony, Apple has become their new neighbor. If Apple had already a "Console" they would be ******** in their pants right now.
Will be unveiled June 15th in the morning. No one was supposed to even know about it until then but the LCD providers had big events debuting new screens for a gaming system so nintendo in the middle of the night stealth released a press release before the events saying new handheld shown at E3.
Oh, I agree, there's a lot of crap games out there and a lot of simple ones that are great time wasters (I'll use their free with ads version but wouldn't pay for them).
But, there are a few more that I could think of than your just one. They put the full version of Myst on the iphone (never got into Myst until that). There's also Need for Speed (two different ones, I've only played shift and I'm really addicted already). There is Sim City (and Sims 3 but Sims 3 is so watered down it gets old pretty quick). And apparently an RPG game from Square. I'm actually impressed with some of the stuff you see on iphone.
But maybe I'm just excited cause I just learned Squaresoft has made an RPG for the iphone (and I just got Need for Speed and it is totally reminding me that I love racing games).
I'm just wondering with the new iphone coming out, will it have enough storage space they could put a full version of Riven on it *Grin* (after playing Myst I was wishing they could put Riven on the iphone).