About.com dubs this the year of Nintendo on the home console scene. From the article: “If Nintendo manages to introduce their next-gen system several months before Sony, it could well put them on their way to becoming a significant player in the home console market again… I can’t help but think that Sony is continuing to drop the ball. It certainly suggests that this year’s upcoming E3 will increasingly belong to Nintendo and Nintendo alone.”
A Nintendo Home Console Back on Top
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vakerorokero
Sony’s main concern is the blue ray format since they can get $$$ for every license they sell to manufacturers & movie distribution studios. The second thing is a Itunes competitor for the media center part. The Games is the least important part for the whole Ps3, which is something that will surely sell and doesn’t need that big media coverage. Every Playstation 1 & 2 owner will at least try the new one and 90% will buy one.
peshue
Some time last year Nintendo said that they will release their system before the PS3. If they can get the Rev out there and have people buying a cheap system and having lots of fun with it could serioulsy disrupt the PS3 launch.
Tismatron
Yeah i agre with oeshue, if nintendo can get their console out world wide by september or august then people WILL SEE THE LIGHT, lol, they will be having so much fun playing that they will forget about the ps3… the price will matter too i think nintendo should aim for half the price of the ps3… but definietly under £200
Awol
Not to mention, Microsoft has plans to release Halo III for the 360 on the PS3 launch date.
No word on if they’re actually going to do it. I doubt they’ll have it even close to finished.
Remember all of the Halo II delays? I do.
GDC: 4 days and counting.
Anonymous
This is all getting a little bit ridiculous. Continuing to drop the ball? That’s a load of crap to be frank. I don’t see any particular reason why the majority of current PS2 gamers should want to switch to the 360 in the coming battle.
Live?: Piffle.
Release date?: Too early anyway.
Price?: The alternative’s also a bomb.
Cost?: Complete vertical integration Vs. a software company. Sony will win, eventually.
Games?: 5 times the disc storage breeds exclusivity. (Try taking 25 GB GTA and then sqeezing it down to 4.7 for 360)
Power?: Sony has the upper hand. Momentum?: MS dropped their own balls, and no 3rd party would bet against Sony.
Mindshare? Only Apple beats Sony.
Essentially Sony’s position has been so well entrenched that disrupting them at their own game is nigh on impossible: Nintendo learnt that lesson twice the hard way. Microsoft failed to learn that even spending (and losing) billions won’t beat it. Sony have not committed any major errors (by errors I mean things like forgoing disc media in the 32-bit era, not things like releasing 5 months late in 1 territory) that MS have not also committed.
And so here we are. Nintendo’s plan is essential and obvious: Differentiate! They said as much: “Innovate or Die”. There’s little hope Nintendo or anyone can unseat Sony from its own market, but new markets are ripe, and selling a different product (a cheap revolution alongside a PS3) to the same people is also as good as a new market. In my opinon the only forthcoming disaster is Xbox. How will they explain the $8 billion hole to shareholders? for a 20% share?
LSSLAVE
It is not how much of the market you hold, it is how well you do.
Take music
There are bands that do not have the highest selling album rates, but their concerts sell huge and they make tonnes of money from constantly selling out venues.
Bands with a cult following where people DEMAND their merchandise, and they see money from that.
20 percent marketshare isn’t what matters here, it is how successful you can be WITH that 20 percent.
Losing a few billion on the other hand IS a problem, but MS can hold that… albeit anyone who buys the DRM laden Windows Vista…
What I am wondering, mr anon… is in a post about how Nintendo has a chance why would you bring up an X360 vs PS3 argument? THe X360 is a piece of crap, but you dont know what the PS3 will be like. I personally am boycotting it since every sony console I have owned has needed replacement, so it isnt like Sony is on some glorious throne.
morningstarrising
“Try taking 25 GB GTA and then sqeezing it down to 4.7 for 360”
Wow….25 GB GTA….If that happens, then Sony can take over all of gaming.
And “Only Apple beats Sony.” is such bolock, that I won’t even bother with listing all the faults in that..
But getting back to the topic, if Nintendo can get enough consoles out in both the US and Japan and Sony keeps dropping the ball(March 2007 is looking more and more likely, Unless Sony truly is scared to being left behind by not launching this year even with less systems then the 360 launch) It’d could really be the year of Nintendo.
Specially if Mario 128 comes with the revolution…
Anonymous
He said Apple beats sony in mindshare, which is definitly different from meaning it in the literal sense. But I have to admit, within the past year Nintendo has made great strides in this department! Actually an amazing amount they’re marketing has been on overdrive, especially their viral campaigns set out to get the heart of the gamer. They got me 🙂
Frisby
Nintendo beats Sony in the handheld market…80% to 20% last i was informed. Reminiscent of Sega anyone?
Every Sony I had has been replaced at least once. Every Nintendo system I have bought, or even gotten second hand has never once broken and still plays good today.
Every MS OS or program I have run has been bogged down with hackers attacking poor programing while every mac I have used is flawless.
Basically I only buy Apple and Nintendo products now. I may use the other products out of necessity of programs or exclusive games, but I would never be very proud to say I have a PC or I have an Xbox 360/PS3.
I’ll just say this…
I have a Mac, and I have a Nintendo.
No need to bullshit myself anymore.
—
FRiSBY
Anonymous
FRiSBY, I have a Mac and a Nintendo as well and I have to say that life is good.
LSSLAVE
Frisby you suck! I want a MAC because of how bad PCs run.. >.< (I wasnt meaning you suck in a bad way, just jealousy) But yeah, after replacing my PS2 I said no PSP and no PS3… and Microsoft sucks so screw Xbox 360 ^-^
vakerorokero
Sony systems breaking down? bollocks!!
Doughboy74
I second, and third that “I have a Mac, and I have a Nintendo.” quote… I love them both. I have had even a Sony PC, with a Microsoft OS. In the end, neither was that great… Still awaiting my Revolution…
Anonymous
I suppose I have to defend a few of my statements.
Apple Vs Sony:
Yes it’s true that Nintendo’s mindshare, particularly in Japan is growing at a rapid rate, thanks to some innovative devices and designs and some unbelievable underground marketing (don’t market your treasures and your fans will do it for you by guessing). However, I’m talking about the slightly larger consumer electronics context here. Think of every other tech magazine cover, every movie with someone that listens to music, every news story reference to the music industry, and somewhere in there you’ll see a reference to the ipod alone. In the last few months, sales not widthstanding, we’ve seen the exact same thing with the PSP, and not with the DS or any other Nintendo product. Have you seen the DS on the cover of any Non-Video game magazine?
I heard a poll once that found something like 80% of people would pay more for a SONY product than a rival’s who when asked “Why?”, couldn’t give an answer. The mere announcement that there was actually gonna BE a PS2 killed the Dreamcast almost overnight, and this was a phenomenon amongst serious gamers. What do you think laid back gamers, the same ones who have bought the PS1 and the PS2 will do when there’s a PS3.
LSSLAVE: I bring up the 360 basically to show that in my opinion playing Sony’s own game will fail. It failed when MS had a superior product, now it will fail when MS has an inferior one. Nintendo has finally realised this and created an Alternative product. Of course it’s easy to say this, but the industry has become so stuck in its ways that it actually took a stroke of genious to do something different. I sort of liken it to how Nintendo practically invented the concept of Jumping in Mario, and so many games incorperated it that it took real vision to ‘uninvent’ it with Zelda tOOT.
And yes, you’re right. Sensible companies aren’t about market shares, they’re about profits, which is the basic reason Nintendo’s not going away from consoles any time soon, despite what EA and other morons think. But I also know that for companies who can manufacture their own parts (that only leaves Sony), massive sales will eventually turn into massive profits.
It actually doesn’t matter what the PS3 will be like, in the exact same way it didn’t matter what the PS2 was like. The power of encombancy, mystical Sony mindshare powers, track record and 3rd party support is all they need. Being better than the direct competition is a bonus. PS3 is the first playstation that actually IS tempting me (as a relatively cheap do it all system). I predict PS3 will sell well, very well. And it will eventually be profitable, very profitable. And the idea that MS or Nintendo could displace them at this point is almost silly. Nintendo have now got that. MS haven’t. And the money doesn’t seem to help. Nintendo seeks to sell to different people and to the same people alongside PS3’s. I predict they will sell well. And they will be very profitable.
Morningstarrinsing: They’re 5 months late in Japan. That and PSP are the sum of their PS troubles. No, March isn’t looking more and more liekly. 360 went from announcement to launch in 6 months. Sony should have exactly the breathing space they need. With a 25 GB GTA they actually can take over all of gaming, because they did already. Check out the sales of that series, factor in the money spent by competitors on clones and you realise how potent it is. But GTA was just an example. Almost every game will be portable from 360 to PS3, but many will not port the other way. As for Mario 128: Mario 64 was also revolutionary, and PS1 still beat N64 to a sales pulp. Nintendo may steal initial sales from Sony as the hardcore eat up the first shipments, but in the long run they are now (not) competing for different markets. You don’t want just one “Year of Nintendo”.
In conclusion, 6 year sales predictions out of the Arse-o-metre:
PS3: 90 million systems – $3 billion profit
360: 35 million systems – $3 billion loss
Rev: 50 million systems – $2 billion profit
PS Any references to Sony’s wider financial woes, are in a large part Apple’s fault. They out cooled them, and maybe in the future, Nintendo can do it too. But not yet. Sorry for the long long post.
iMoron
I have Linux!!! And I run it on an Athlon 64… 😛
I want my Revolution!!!
-iMoron