Man. There is so much hype around Nintendo’s Revolution. The way some media outlets talk about the system, you’d think Nintendo discovered perpetual motion. Which leads me to ask: Has hype about a game console ever been this big? While this is great for Nintendo, will they disappoint if they don’t “discover perpetual motion” in a gaming sense?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but Nintendo’s Dolphin (as the GameCube was then called) didn’t even come close to the same level of generated publicity. Nor anything else except maybe Super Mario Bros. 3 (remember The Wizard?). The catalyst has to be blogs like this one and the thousand others for the increased amount of hype. Or maybe just the internet in general.
Either way, the publicity and spin has worked it’s magic on me. I simply cannot wait to see what the Revolution will be like. And I’m interested to see if the system will affect the masses instead of solely the gaming industry. The same way perpetual motion would if it were discovered by the scientific community.
Unicron
The downside to all this hype is that expectations get unrealistic. Honestly, if *all* the Revo controller has is a motion sensor — will you be disappointed?
As a Mac user, I am all too aware of unreal expectations based on rumor sites (Video iPod tomorrow! G5 Powerbook next week! iPhone!)
Keep in mind that Nintendo ALWAYS looks at the bottom line. They aren’t going to have $100 technology in a $40 controller.
I would not expect to see a power hungry LCD touchscreen due to battery life and bandwidth limitations of inexpensive wireless RF technology.
(Also keep in mind that even now the Gamecube controller can replicate all previous Nintendo controllers back to the original NES — so the rumor of some interchangable, morphing controller seems unlikely)
Nicholas Roussos
Yea, but hype is never bad, as long as you have a decent product.
Nintendo always has good products, so the hype is a good thing.
Right now, I don’t think the hype has really reached the masses, but it will once Nintendo reveals all.
Matt
Clearly you never played with the Virtual Boy.
Jack
Is it just me or is this next-gen console war really starting to play out like a war? I see this as Nintendo’s D-Day, with this latest news from Spong (should it pan out to be true) being the date when the beach landing officially takes place.
I’ve been playing video games since 1986, when the Xmas that year saw me getting the Entertainment Pack NES, and never before have I seen this much hype from the Big Three.
I skipped the GC due to disinterest and what I perceived as a fading into Atari land Nintendo. However, after picking up DS in May, I am back on board and in up to my eyeballs with all this hype.
The pessimist in me says that this controller might not be the second coming its cracked up to be, but the optimist in me sees what the DS has done (and has the potential to do) and is on the edge-of-my-seat excited.
I’m a real believer in this “something different” approach from Nintendo — have you seen the game lineups for 360? They’re all games that are out now, but with better graphics! This same phenomena is dooming the PSP right now as well; no one is playing the systems they snatched up on opening day because the content blows. The entire system’s hopes rest with one game — GTA — which has been out on console systems for years now; where’s the innovation?!
It’s risky, being the one company that goes against the grain (that being mind numbingly bad games that simply get a rehash on an annual cycle), but as Nintendogs, rumble packs and the DS as a unit have started to prove, its one that has worked. I see that trend continuing as gamers begin to tire of the DOOM 6’s, Madden 2010’s, and “generic FPS with better graphics.”
bryan_3089
Cougar you are absolutely right. A perfect analysis! Seriously!
Nicholas Roussos
Who said that the Virtual Boy was a bad product? Everyone I’ve ever known who has owned one really liked it.
Of course, it didn’t sell well. I think that’s because of a lack of hype more than over hype.
Hype is good (as long as the product actually exists).
Anonymous
Ya VB rocked but it was a bad product because it was not practical… The exact same thing (Red and all), the size of glasses (ok maybe a bit bigger) would have been extremely successful for sure. It’s too bad though that people don’t understand that and assume stupid things like VR is not a viable product… ect…
Sturek
Yeah nice analysis! Great work Infendo and Cougar….
I am actually pretty unsure to what degree hype affects me personally…
I was all hyped about Far Cry and haven’t actually played it longer than 2 hours….but I loved the hype…more than the game…(and I don’t mean Far Cry is a bad game) When I finally got the game I was so hyped up, I was actually fed up with Far Cry and it was boring to watch the stuff I already saw and expected….
But Nintendo is still keeping their secret, so the Hype might work…Just look at the PS3. We know most details about it…and it is the one least talked about…the most poweful, yet imho boring console….
Don’t reveal all your aces 😉
PlutoProphet16
I think the hype is all part of the plan. With comments like “It’ll stun the world,”, how can you avoid hype? I for one really appreciate what Nintendo is doing. I have always hated the graphics war, graphics don’t make a good game (cough…cough…x-box..cough…). I love my DS, and I love the touch screen, and thanks to my recently purchased Nintendogs I love the Mic. All the innovations are absolute brilliance, so if the Revolution is half as amazing as the DS, then sign me up, hardcore!
Anonymous
remember, WE all created all this hype, Nintendo is pretty silent. This has happened before in gaming, the PS2, I even remmeber hearing that the ps2 was so powerful they were banned from India, because they could be use to guide missiles! too bad it never really was more powerful than their competitors, but the damage was done. Probably we will be dissapointed by Nintendo not able to reinvent the wheel but mass consumers will probably hop in nintendo’s wagon. remeber how everyone said the DS was just a gimmick with no games, and now its the best seller by a huge margin and how everyone loved the PSP when it was announced and everyone expeculated about nintendo’s demise, well, lat i heard Nintendo is winning and now Sony is getting low blows with Emulating nintendo’ past systems and by that opening their system to piracy, which means even less developers making games. I’m still holding on getting a DS until christmas just to get online games. Maybe a PSP when they hit $100 and they announced the PSP2 with no Nintendo emulation crap!
PlutoProphet16
PSP2? That must be coming out about the same time as the DS2 (with 3 screens!). I think the PSP2 is just the white model, and that DS2 I think was a miserable rumor.