Why Nintendo is not hyping the Revolution.....

cuinneas

cuinneas

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After reading this article I say... "makes sense." And i can be pretty senseless.

A pretty decent article from IGN. I even inserted a link for more info.


{"The Nintendo Minute: Vol. 21
Is the Big N doing anything to dissuade gamers from buying an Xbox 360? The company responds.
by Matt Casamassina

December 9, 2005 - Welcome to IGNcube's Nintendo Minute. Every Friday, an executive from Nintendo of America will answer a single question of ours. Depending on the week, the interviewee will be different, but the answers will always come from one of the following three company bigwigs: VP of sales and marketing Reginald Fils-Aime, VP of corporate affairs Perrin Kaplan or VP of marketing and corporate communications George Harrison.

Readers can make their voice heard by sending us an e-mail and submitting a question for Nintendo of America's elite to answer. If we agree that the question is an important one, we'll pass it along and try to get it answered.


This week's question: We recently wrote an article, "360 is Not a Revolution," in which we listed 10 reasons to wait for Nintendo's next console. Why isn't Nintendo trying to actively dissuade gamers from picking up a 360 at launch with campaigns or new Revolution information?

George Harrison, senior vice president, marketing and corporate communications, Nintendo of America: With so many new products being released each month, Nintendo must always be very strategic in deciding when to stir up buzz for a particular game or system. During this year's busy holiday season, it wouldn't make sense for us to get gamers excited about a console that they won't be able to play until 2006.

Our focus right now is in generating excitement for our current heavy-hitting holiday line-up that includes Nintendo's first-ever online gaming network in the U.S. with Mario Kart DS and Animal Crossing DS. This is huge for Nintendo and, as you know, the response has been outstanding, with nearly half of all Mario Kart DS owners already playing online. These online titles hit stores in time for the holidays, so it makes sense Nintendo is concentrating on them now while the market for them is hot.

However, once the holiday rush subsides, I think it's safe to say that you can expect Nintendo's attention to gradually shift toward its 2006 priorities. Revolution is clearly one of these priorities, and we expect to see gamers become even more excited for Nintendo's next console in what they learn in the coming months.

So though competitive noise may be high right now, rest easy knowing that Revolution will soon have its day in the sun, and all eyes will shift toward it. "}


http://revolution.ign.com/articles/674/674721p1.html
 
Oh yeah... The part that actually is the topic happens about half way down. I should have cut and pasted more gooder.
 
tsk tsk. You mean "more goodly-like".

As much as I'm whimpering quietly in a corner for Nintendo hype, I'm glad they're not touching it 'til the New Year. The more hype earlier, the longer the wait seems, and the hype could be in danger of running out of steam before the product launch. I don't really think Revo is a direct competitor to PS3 or 360. Most gamers have two systems from what I've seen anyway. And the revo is so different that if it's inexpensive enough I think a lot of people who've bought one or the other of the other two consoles will likely pick up a Revo out of curiosity's sake.
 
Yeah, Basil's right. Nintendo is trying to put out a console so cheap that they won't really need to make the Rev the "one to rule them all." Look back to the NES. They offered it cheaply, so it was pretty much an impulse buy. People would play a Zelda or Mario, and everyone said "$80 bucks? Time to buy this one." Now Nintendo is hoping everyone will be like "$150 (or whatever it will cost)? Time to buy this one."
 
My one concern about the low price-tag (if there is one, which I hope), is that the controller, the thing that sets the console apart, will be looked at as a cheap, gimmicky doo-dad. They HAVE to launch with a few really great games that use the controller well.
 
spudlyff8fan said:
Yeah, Basil's right. Nintendo is trying to put out a console so cheap that they won't really need to make the Rev the "one to rule them all." Look back to the NES. They offered it cheaply, so it was pretty much an impulse buy. People would play a Zelda or Mario, and everyone said "$80 bucks? Time to buy this one." Now Nintendo is hoping everyone will be like "$150 (or whatever it will cost)? Time to buy this one."
Click to expand...

I couldn't quite follow you here but it sounded like you were saying the NES retailed for $80? It actually launched for $250, but that included two games R.O.B. and the Zapper. of course, $250 in 1985 bought you a lot more than $250 today, so that price is actually closer to $500 or so. It's difficult to compare Nintendo's situation now to their situation when the NES was released, because back then home gaming was dying. It was right after the fall of Atari and people were skeptical of the concept; at that point, it was "just another fad". Today, gaming is huge, and Nintendo has two direct competitors in the console market.

The NES was the ruling console of the time, and it was a long time. It's taken Nintendo many years to become accustomed to the fall from #1, but if they're changing their marketing strategy to take that into account, I think they're at least heading in the right direction.
 
Yes, I think Nintendo has learned to stop expecting to be the industry leader and are now accepting that in terms of their market strategy, but I think their long-term goals are to be somewhat ubiquitous along-side the other consoles. I'll bet there will be a whole mess of games for the Revo that simply aren't playable on the other consoles.

They keep the focus on fun and family and really good, innovative games like Pikmin (I don't like it, but it was a really good game), and they'll do just fine.
 
Well, your example strikes me because it's something I've been thinking about. I played Pikmin and Pikmin 2 (the second is far better), and while I agree they are interesting, somewhat innovative games, I didn't really like them all that much either.

I have a problem with that.

I'm all for innovation. I'm all for trying new concepts and breaking the mold. But when innovation takes the shape of something like Shadow of the Colossus -- riding around a barren landscape on a shorse for hours -- I'm not impressed. Innovation is great, but it doesn't necessarily make good games. Games need ot be fun. They're freakin games after all, they're supposed to be entertainment! If you can entertain while innovating, more power to you. But if you're innovating just for the sake of innovation, I don't want to see it. That's for art galleries, not video games.

On the other hand, I can recognize when a game is good even if I don't like it. I really, really didn't like Clossus but I can recognize it's good points. I didn't like Need for Speed Most Wanted but I cna recognize how other people might. There are many shades of grey here. But I don't think we should reward developers who produce an innovative concept without making it fun. And if that's what the Revolution becomes, I hope it goes down in a flaming, violent ball of failure.
 
I know what you mean. Innovation, to me, implies that whatever is new and creative is also good, or at least interesting. I think we'll see a lot of interesting games come out for the Revo, and also several good ones. I think it will take a little longer for the developers to truly take advantage of the new control system, but that doesn't mean that everything will be donkey's twaddle in the beginning. Nintendo itself will release a couple of good-'uns for the launch, I'm sure.

I think Pikmin was fun, it just got very frustrating and difficult very quickly. I hear in 2 that you don't have a limited number of days. That would help a lot.
 
Yeah, that's the main difference that makes 2 much better. You have time to mess around and explore as much as you want. Unfortunately, this almost makes it too easy, as it's entirely possible to go through the game without losing a single Pikmin.

And of course, it's the Pikmin who are behind the Xbox 360 shortage, so there's that.
 
damn pikmin and their shenanigans

anyway, without innovation there is no progress. Innovation wasn't a huge factor in this generation as it was in the previous ones. That's why sequels ruled supreme. with the revolution there is no other choice, it's time for the Big N to put up or shut up. If they fail at this it seems like they are going to have to take segas route and go games only. So if innovation is the key, it seems like The N is driving the Ferrari. Seriously, what's expected with the other 2? Better graphics, lots of sequels. Don't believe me, what was the 360s launch, ports and sequels. Sure the technology is there to innovate, but who's going to take the risk, and who's going to take the safe road.

If Nintendo does this right, they might catch a nice #2 spot, hell maybe even take #1, if not, well I don't have to mention the virtual boy do I?
 
I'm not so sure that Revo's failure would drive N to a games only market. They've led in portables since the beginning, and that's only improving (I don't think very many people consider the PSP to be a serious GAMING device -- It's a media player, and a lousy one: you have to buy dedicated discs for movies). If Revo fails, they'll fall back on their portables and the console may or may not re-emerge in several years.
 
I think Nintendo also recognizes that there is no way they should start talking it up about their system while 360 buzz is still in the air and PS3 is ramping up for a major marketing blitz. Also, people will naturally compare it to the new systems on the same level. That is not what they want. As stated before, they are taking the budget road. If they want to be looked at differently, they will need to wait until people take a long at the price of the PS3. Sure the PS3 will sell (gamers, after all, are gamers), but they will take advantage of that shock and say "Hey, over here! We've got a spiffy new system for 1/3 of the price!"

The innovation part will come into play as showing that they have changed, implicating that they have improved too. If people take to the new controller like they have the new 360 one, it will bring good attention. If they think it's even worse than the much-ridiculed "boomerang" of the PS3, then the innovation will hurt it. I do agree with Kurruption. It's time for the Big N to put up or shut up. Or else by 2010, they will be making Mario games for the other platforms.
 
But if he does Luigi will be right there behind him. Pimpin' out Mario to every genre... until that is Maio gets crows feet and gets caught up in Le addiction.
 
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