An interesting article about Nintendo's future.

http://money.cnn.com/2004/02/10/comm...ming/index.htm

On one hand, Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo's chief game architect (and the inventor of Mario, Donkey Kong and Zelda), told the latest issue of "Official Nintendo Magazine" that the company is hard at work on the successor to the GameCube. On the other is a report in a leading Japanese newspaper that Nintendo has decided not to release a follow-up console for at least two or three years, opting instead to focus on additional games and peripherals for the GameCube.

Nintendo's corporate office denied the report, which originated in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper.

"Are we getting out of the hardware business? Absolutely not," said Perrin Kaplan, vice president of marketing and corporate affairs for Nintendo of America. "We're working on our next generation console and plan to launch at the same time as our competitors."

Which competitor that is remains a mystery -- there's only two and they have different launch dates. There's growing speculation among analysts and publishers that Microsoft will launch its follow-up to the Xbox in 2005, a year earlier than originally speculated. Sony is still expected to launch the next PlayStation machine in 2006.

A 2005 launch for Nintendo is possible, but unlikely. And if the company waits until 2006 to debut its next machine, it really wouldn't be a big deal at all. (In fact, it's what pretty much everyone has been expecting it to do.)
Let's say the report is on target, though. (After all, Nihon Keizai Shimbun was the media outlet that first reported Sega was exiting the hardware business three years ago – a story Sega vehemently denied, until it cancelled the Dreamcast.) A 2007 launch could have serious repercussions. The GameCube launched a year after Sony's PlayStation 2 and never made up the lost ground. The console, in fact, barely held its own with a first time contender in the field, the Xbox.

The general consensus among industry insiders is Nintendo's next console could be its last, unless the company sees substantially better sales numbers than it has for the past two rounds. (Kaplan disagreed with this assessment.)

When it comes to game machines for the living room, Nintendo has never topped the sales of its original Nintendo Entertainment System, which launched in 1985. The original PlayStation trounced the N64 (outselling it by 65 million units). And the PS2 has outsold the GameCube by a 5:1 margin.

While Sony (SNE: Research, Estimates) and Microsoft's (MSFT: Research, Estimates) machines include multimedia functionality (such as a DVD player), Nintendo focuses solely on games. There have been no indications the company plans to waver from that philosophy.

Yielding to the PlayStation and Xbox wouldn't mean getting out of the video game business, of course. The Game Boy continues to boast record sales. The company will unveil a new portable dual-screen system in May called "Nintendo DS". And Nintendo's vast collection of popular characters would ensure a healthy run as a third-party publisher. Some analysts, in fact, say they half-expect to see the company transition in this direction.

"We would not be surprised to down the road see Nintendo make its console games for Sony and possibly [Microsoft]," wrote UBS analyst Mike Wallace in a note Monday.

While it said its next generation console plans are on course, Nintendo did not dispute the article's assertation that the company plans to release peripherals meant to diversify playing styles and improve connectivity with the successful Game Boy Advance system. Kaplan declined to offer additional details on what peripheral or peripherals are in the works. (Those, too, could be announced at the E3 trade show in May.)

Just the rumor of Nintendo delaying its next machine caused some major ripples in the industry Monday, however. Publisher THQ (THQI: Research, Estimates) saw its shares fall 3.6 percent, due to its heavy reliance on income from Nintendo games. Nintendo shares were off 3.3 percent in Tokyo.

It's not just the faithful who are nervous.

It seems that there are conficting reports about Nintendo's future as a hardware developer floating around. I wanna see how this plays out; I have a vested interest in this as a hardcore Nintendo fan

Ugh... I would NEVER lower myself to playing LoZ on a Playstation... *shudder*

Originally Posted by road doggy dogg Ugh... I would NEVER lower myself to playing LoZ on a Playstation... *shudder*

A fellow die hard, eh?

[DS]

I hate to say it but I really think that unless Nintendo picks up their game on the next console, I can see their end.

The one area they're shooting themselves in the foot is the online capabilities. If their next console doesn't have 100% online capabilities with every game (barring the obvious single-player games) then it will be dead before it even starts.

Hell, if Gamecube were online they would be doing a lot better I'd imagine

Originally Posted by road doggy dogg The one area they're shooting themselves in the foot is the online capabilities. If their next console doesn't have 100% online capabilities with every game (barring the obvious single-player games) then it will be dead before it even starts. Hell, if Gamecube were online they would be doing a lot better I'd imagine

That's what I'm thinking too, but they're trying to stay old school, and the gaming world is passing them by.

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

I had NES, SNES and N64 but i'm all set with gamecube

Playstation/XBOX are both way better then it IMO

[sucafrutpi]

IMO, they would best serve their fans and stockholders by pulling out of hardware and just selling their games for xbox and ps2. the game cube doesn't offfer graphics any more amazing than the competition and most people won't buy a gamecube just for nintendo's games, but would by the games for the system they have (most likely a ps2). they could put all their development money into their software dynasties and come out with some really kickass games.

[MVP]

It's too bad to hear that about Nintendo. I mean sure, Mario, LoZ, Metroid, DK, etc. are all great game series, but I don't know if I'd want to play them on another system.

I don't own a Gamecube because I turned to the dark side about 5 years ago and dropped the N64 for PSX. I still love playing the classic games such as the original Mario Bros, any LoZ up to Ocarina of Time, and Super Metroid, but I too would find it hard to play those games on an XBox, PS2, or PC.

Gamecube doesn't appeal to me too much, but I love the classics too much to see Nintendo go down the drain.

[DS]

Why be so closed minded because of the system? If Nintendo falls in the hardware aspect yet continues to put out good games on other systems, I'm sure you would play. It's just a console.

It would suck to play them on another system, because you know if Nintendo's making say, Mario for Sony, they're not going to put all those special touches into the game that make it "Mario".

And Mario Kart will probably just become another one of the thousands of GTA clones, and Metroid will become yet another shitty Max Payne clone. At least Gamecube has original games.

Mario Theft Auto.

It just sounds so wrong.

[DS]

Here's the thing, if Nintendo no longer made consoles and went just to software, they wouldn't change anything. There is nothing, anywhere, saying that if you make a game for a Sony product you have to base it around an already exlusive, or perviously exlusive, game. Same with Microsoft and Halo.

Nintendo wouldn't make Mario some second hand GTA just because they didn't make systems anymore. They would be iching for money and would put out same quality games as if they would having a console. They wouldn't change the games.

I understand what you're saying though, so don't take this the wrong way. I would be sad to see the end of Nintendo's hardware division but if it comes down to it and they keep making games I wouldn't stop playing them.

[mitch_h]

I think a major problem is that casual gamers like to judge a game by how it looks instead of how it plays. I mean Nintendo has been pumping out some great and incredibly original games yet they seem to be going unnoticed, like Viewtiful Joe. While shallow games like True Crimes Streets of LA are the "hott games" to have. It would be sad to see Nintendo stop producing consoles though

[Penner]

i agree with mitch_h

Tru tru.

Viewtiful Joe is fantastic. It looks a little kiddy because of the cartoonishly big heads, but those are some hottttttt graphics.

[Bad Guy]

declining numbers for nintendo.

[Sephiroth]

Yeah with the next system they gotta make the thing alot better to make the grades go up again.

[Kane Knight]

It'll suck if Nintendo leaves the hardware biz.

I really dislike the thought of being down to Microsoft and Sony.

Nintendo needs to play ball. They need to shed their kids only image (Because it hurts them), and they need to make their hardware as useful as the other systems (I don't know why a game system needs to be a freakin' swiss army knife, but it seems to be a massive factor).

[Y2Ant]

Nintendo 4 lyf

If they end up making their games for Sony and Microsoft, I can see myself not bothering with console games anymore

Originally Posted by Kane Knight Nintendo needs to play ball. They need to shed their kids only image (Because it hurts them)

That is a major problem for them. I read in a Game Informer recently that the average gamer's age is now 29. Twenty freaking nine!

They desperately need some of the more risque developers making games for them.

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by Funky Fly That is a major problem for them. I read in a Game Informer recently that the average gamer's age is now 29. Twenty freaking nine! They desperately need some of the more risque developers making games for them.

Oh yeah.

It's not like "kiddy" games can't be fun, but let's face it: Most people can't get past that kid image.

They need to appeal to as many people as possible. Being a "Kid's" system these days is freakin' suicide.

They've got everything. Solid Hardware, some geat games, but people are gonna get hung up here.