will nintendo ever be a serious contender?

[forever gaming]

In retrospect of nintendo I've come to the conclusion (probably very late on this) but with evevery released thus far their systems have been marketed and devoloped for with kids in mind. I for one could never take the 64 or game cube serious. Under my tv stand,next to the likes of a ps3 / saturn / neo (debatable) /xbox (original) my wii and 64 and game cube looks literraly like childs play. I mean as a young adult ( I'm 23) for how much longer can I con:crying: tinue to to support nintendo products and not a feel a bit out of place playing games with the same re- hash of characters of mario and such characters. Discuss

[Alchy]

If you can't take a console "seriously" because people younger than yourself might enjoy it, then I think that says a lot more about you than it does about Nintendo. Hell, I don't even own a Wii, but it's not out of some pathetic prejudice over their chosen demographic. Here's an idea: how about you just play whatever you feel like?

[Barc0de]

This isn't a kids forum though, discuss.

I like the gamecube's design just fine in Jet Black thankyouverymuch.

[3do]

Nintendo can be a serious contender but not if they go the exact same way they did with the wii.

What i'd love to see is Nintendo's next generation console being able to compete with MS and Sony in terms of hardware and what it can do but also keeping some of the stuff that made the Wii popular although maybe have them as extra feature(s) included with the console but not make them the main selling point.

I love the Gamecube and N64 but i don't see them like kids consoles as much as i do the Wii.

[XxHennersXx]

Jetblack gamecube cannot contend in Style to flat black Xbox?

Silver gamecube cannot contend in style to the silver PS2?

How does the console itself look like childsplay?

Look sir, they're called Video GAMES. You play them for fun.

Is it fun? Okay. Move along then.

[graphique]

I generally watch the screen when I'm playing games, not the console.

[karsten]

They just need to take out a decently powered machine, and STOP MAKING TOYS. wii is the biggest disappointment in my Videogaming life.

Bring back good old snes days!

[XxHennersXx]

They just need to take out a decently powered machine, and STOP MAKING TOYS. wii is the biggest disappointment in my Videogaming life.

Bring back good old snes days!

I'll stand by the Wii being a disappointment, fuck I camped out over 24 hours in November Washington Weather for that! However - I HAVE gotten a lot of play time out of it. Wii sports and excite truck, I enjoyed Red Steel throughout it's faults, No More Heroes, Zelda, Megaman 9, Contra Rebirth, Boom Blox.

The N64 and Gamecube touted their specs however and were fairly capable machines. The N64 was more capable than the playstation, the Gamecube more capable than the Playstation 2. However, the Gamecube and N64 both made critical mistakes that held them back from third parties I think, it's their choice of media.

The N64 took carts which threw off a lot of developers, and the Gamecube used mini DVDs that held 1.5GB IIRC. Initial Xbox games were under a gigabyte (I'm looking at you Halo) but eventually games were taking full 4.7GB of the DVD and even dual layer DVDs approaching 9GB the GC couldn't keep up.

The Wii I think would have become a solid machine that was simply graphically limited (Ala ZX Spectrum) that contended with the Xbox 360 had they not found a niche as a family console.

If the Wii didn't instantly become this super family friendly console, obviously there would be less shovel ware and developers would take it more seriously. They've put them selves into a little loop.

Example taken from wiki concerning the wii port of CoD:WoW "The Wii version ranked as the 19th best-selling game and the seventh best-selling Wii game of December 2008 in the United States."

I think that sort of shows - the market is there. Nintendo hasn't made enough effort to capture it.

[_SD_]

Nntendo have always been a very family orientated business. You only have to look at the catalogue of games these past 25ish years to realise this; there's no point complaining now. However, since the Gamecube they have made the effort to have more adult orientated titles available on their systems like Mad World, Resident Evil and even GTA on the DS.

Some things in the world are guaranteed, like Nintendo's release schedule. Every Nintendo console from now until the end of time will have at least one Mario Kart, Mario 'World', Zelda and 23 Mario Parties. There's no point complaining, it's just the way it is. Me, well I just want new Pilotwings and Starfox to match the awesomeness of the N64 versions.

The main thing that's holding the Wii back at the moment is the power of the machine. I'm also reading that Nintendo are considering their next machine will be hybrid SD/HD. That's just mind boggling. Nintendo also need to bring their online gaming up to the standard that MS and Sony have set. Funny thing is that the Wii and DS are still the top selling console this generation, even though they are the weaker machines.

I think the next home console will be very interesting. Considering the success the company has enjoyed this generation, they are in a perfect financial position to release a real next gen killer machine. a Tegra powered handheld would be rather fantastic but they need a home system that's at least as powerful as the PS3.

[XxHennersXx]

Their online capabilities work for what they are. The matchmaking for Mario kart DS and Wii work. The problem is they are so obsessed with anonymity. You have no username and there is no voice chat (well in Pokemon there is I guess), you have no friend requesting. I wish there was globalized friend codes, why does my girlfriend need my Wii friendcode, mario kart wii friend code, smash brothers brawl friend code?

I should be able to have ONE friend code. If Nintendo is so obsessed with anonymity at leasst make a globalized friend code, I wouldn't mind memorizing a 16 digit number to give to people if I didn't need to memorize MULTIPLE ones. I thought the wii codes would be globalized, I can tell you my Wii friend code right now I memorized it.

You can't friend request which is horrible. Say I'm getting whooped around by some schmuck on Brawl or someone in Mario Kart knows a CRAZY short cut. I can't friend request them and learn how they did it. I'm completely in the dark. Many of my friends on Xbox Live I've met because they either knock me aroun dat a game or vice versa.

[ASSEMbler]

Make money = serious contender

[michal99]

I'll stand by the Wii being a disappointment, fuck I camped out over 24 hours in November Washington Weather for that! However - I HAVE gotten a lot of play time out of it. Wii sports and excite truck, I enjoyed Red Steel throughout it's faults, No More Heroes, Zelda, Megaman 9, Contra Rebirth, Boom Blox.

The N64 and Gamecube touted their specs however and were fairly capable machines. The N64 was more capable than the playstation, the Gamecube more capable than the Playstation 2. However, the Gamecube and N64 both made critical mistakes that held them back from third parties I think, it's their choice of media.

The N64 took carts which threw off a lot of developers, and the Gamecube used mini DVDs that held 1.5GB IIRC. Initial Xbox games were under a gigabyte (I'm looking at you Halo) but eventually games were taking full 4.7GB of the DVD and even dual layer DVDs approaching 9GB the GC couldn't keep up.

The Wii I think would have become a solid machine that was simply graphically limited (Ala ZX Spectrum) that contended with the Xbox 360 had they not found a niche as a family console.

If the Wii didn't instantly become this super family friendly console, obviously there would be less shovel ware and developers would take it more seriously. They've put them selves into a little loop.

Example taken from wiki concerning the wii port of CoD:WoW "The Wii version ranked as the 19th best-selling game and the seventh best-selling Wii game of December 2008 in the United States."

I think that sort of shows - the market is there. Nintendo hasn't made enough effort to capture it.

To be honest I don't think that the media size is the problem. I would say it's even an advantage for gamers. Look at the PS3 or PSP. They have lots of power and storage space and most of the games are just shallow and graphical show with no gameplay and any invention at all.

[Carnivol]

To anyone bitching about space: Storage space is non-issue. Saying you need more space is either rooted incompetence or a luxury problem of some sort.

However, I do wish for the next Nintendo platform to play all my Wii (and GC?) games in HD. It'd be nice! Especially considering how a lot of Wii games have absurdly high-detailed assets for being on a platform where you can't even see all the details. Anyway, there's a good few Wii games that look absolutely fantastic. Even if they only output at 480p.

Make money = serious contender

I guess the problem is that people see the Wii as some sort of joke. Like a comedy movie getting triple the attention of what The Dark Knight got in cinema or something... (I was gonna use a twilight reference there, but I figured everyone were tired of that + I don't wanna put Twilight and Wii in the same box)

[XxHennersXx]

To anyone bitching about space: Storage space is non-issue. Saying you need more space is either rooted incompetence or a luxury problem of some sort.

Not complaining, just saying I think it contributed. I know square didn't want to fuck with carts and thats' why there was no square games on N64.

[ave]

I don't consider the Wii as "serious" as PS3 or Xbox plainly due to Nintendo's demographic aims in marketing. Simple as that.
It was sort of the same with the GameCube, but there wasn't such a huge (and supported) casual-game-market and Nintendo brought us games that were neither hat "Fit" nor "Sports" in their titles.

Nintendo just maintains its image from the early days: The Mario-stigmata! The chubby little guy who looks cute and it liked by all the kids. Mario's popularity was maintained until the end of the N64-era I'd say, when Mario began to become less and less important for Nintendo as a company. He's still one of the most important mascots, but not the center of the marketing any more. Teenage girls, housewifes, whole families have now replaced the creepy cartoon Mario in the 90's TV ads.

Finally, the Wii is not just a product that is aimed at kids, it's far more than that. Nintendo aims at elderly people as well as kids, they are ambitious to create a machine that everyone likes...
Sad thing is just that hardcore gamers want good hardware and demanding games, not that and accessible kind of software that's "easy fun for everyone", from Brenda to Grampa.

I don't think Nintendo will lose its image very soon, the Mario-stigma just got renewed with the casual games stigma. but for hardcore gamers Nintendo is almost dead.

[XxHennersXx]

I am divided. for many years I have wanted EVERYONE TO BE A GAMER but as it is happening before my eyes I feel even more eclipsed. What was once my calling as a hardcore gamer now leaves me in the dust. I feel isolated. -_-

[Vosse]

Make money = serious contender

You make a good argument there sir! :clap:

[MottZilla]

The N64 was more capable than the playstation

Say what? How do you come to that conclusion? Graphically the Playstation beat the pants off the N64. N64 was the age of BLUR. Blurring graphics as far as the eye could see. Some games certainly did look awesome though they frame rate was poor like Goldeneye and PD. But Playstation seriously was a much better system overall than N64. I mean if it hadn't been we wouldn't be where we are today.

I enjoyed the N64 back in the day but the PS1 deserved its victory for the most part. The only thing I will say bad about the PS1 was no RAM cart like the Saturn did. But other than that I would take the PS1 any day of the week over the N64. I hope you aren't saying that the N64 was more capable just because of the CPU clock speed as that has little to do with anything.

I don't know why exactly Nintendo doesn't support traditional gaming the way it did back on the SNES or even with the GBA but I assume it's related to sucking money out of as many wallets as possible which is fine except that mine will remain shut.

I also would imagine Nintendo didn't want to duke it out again with Sony and MS for top of the tower.

[Taucias]

The Wii is not as powerful as the original XBox. I think Nintendo would struggle with the R&D costs involved in competing with Sony and Microsoft. So they are always going to rely on novelty being the main selling point. Not in the past, but moving forward and starting with the DS and Wii.

This will mean they win and lose generations based on the idea they are trying to present.

[XxHennersXx]

mottzilla the blur again is because of the cartridge limitations is it not? That was my understanding. The textures had to be a smaller size, and they were stretched over resulting in blur.

The N64 had a higher poly count and had a faster CPU.

Is there more than that? Sure. But the N64 is hardly a toy compared to it's competition in the same way the Wii is.

Here's some stats, i know they don't mean much since the architecture and complexity of the tools can ease or worsen the development process for games but that is why I used the term "CAPABLE".

Playstation
CPU: 32-bit RISC (33.9MHz)
RAM: 2MB, 1MB RAM
Graphics: 3D Geometry Engine, with 2D rotation, transparency and fading and 3D texture mapping and shading
Colors: 16.7 million
Sprites: 4,000
Polygons: 360,000 per second
Resolution: 640x480
Sound: 16-bit 24 channel PCM


Nintendo 64
CPU: 64-bit R4300i RISC (93.75MHz) / 64-bit data paths, registers with 5-stage pipelining
Co-processor: 64-bit RISC (62.5MHz)
RAM: 4MB (36Mb) upgradeable
Graphics: Pixel Drawing Processor (RDP) built into co-processor
Colors: 16.7 million (32,000 on screen)
Polygons: 150,000 per second
Resolution: 640x480 pixels
Sound: 16 to 24-channel 16-bit (up to 100 PCM channels possible)


From a mathamatical standpoint the N64 is more capable than the playstation, the "blur" problem you mention was the result of what I talked about earlier - carts rather than disc