Sega @ e3 2015!

[Lil Frier]

Here's hoping Nintendo's stubbornness and issues making compelling hardware (or diverse software) aren't going to start them down that path without hope for a turnaround. I honestly wonder if Nintendo would be 500% better-off just making handhelds and licensing software to the highest bidder. Then, have that become a two-way street, with the winner's home console IPs going to Nintendo handhelds. Imagine if Microsoft and Nintendo teamed up, put out something like a superpowered Vita, and you could carry Mario and Master Chief with you.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Here's hoping Nintendo's stubbornness and issues making compelling hardware (or diverse software) aren't going to start them down that path without hope for a turnaround.

Don't they make decent money on every piece of hardware sold nowadays? Seems like Nintendo has a profitable niche, and represents what is left of the Japanese gaming philosophy. No reason they can't survive as a boutique brand.

Sega's issue is that they should have taken Atari's mantle as the American gaming company. Sega America was more successful than the Japanese side was and their games (with gore and "blast processing") were Americanized years before the first Halo. Too bad the Japanese parent company held them back, if Sega America would have split off in the early 90s it might still be making hardware today. It might be the Xbox without MSes help.

 

[Lil Frier]

My thing is that I worry that won't last for much longer. I think the Wii U's lack of success kind of showed that, as the initially intriguing Wii got inconsistent support, and people started to see Microsoft and Sony grow social gaming really well, while Nintendo completely resisted it. The worry is that if Nintendo doesn't get itself together for this NX release, then the Wii U might not be the home console division's low point. If all they do is release rehashed and half-assed stuff like Mario Party 10 and Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival (where the latter is basically an improved version of the former), and the company just starts coming off as an amiibo cash grab, it could get worse.

Of course, it's hard to tell if Nintendo can even do better with the NX right now. It doesn't feel like they're holding back games for the NX to get a quality group of launch titles when its time comes. Given the slow trickle of titles on the Wii U, the NX needs a way to improve upon that. Nintendo seems to have always been a developer to take its time with games, worry quality almost to a fault, as we see long gaps between releases in franchises. Think about if the NX releases, and Nintendo's still in the early staged with Mario Party, The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, Mario Kart, and Super Smash Bros. They could be lacking software to support the console, leading to another Wii U mess. And if they go and make the NX backwards compatible, they might get themselves stuck in the past, unable to truly advance their hardware to a better place because they're trying to rely on the Wii U library to entertain people (which, of course, gives people less of a reason to upgrade from a Wii U to play the same games on a new console).

It's hard telling what exactly Nintendo's going to do. They need more developers, it feels like. They might make money on their hardware, but barely skating by with minor profits at the expense of a massive number of sales would be a sad existence for a company with some of the best, most-polished software in the industry.

 

[ImpulsE69]

They are trying to stand out from the crowd. Nintendo has ALWAYS put out things that don't go with the grain, and most of them were flops.

The other 2 are almost mirror images of each other. There is no way Nintendo following that path will be any better off than they are now. We don't need 3 consoles + PC with the exact same games. They don't put out enough exclusives (any of them) to justify it. They are fine where they are at. Again do you really want 3 consoles with 90% the same catalog? That isn't going to make anyone any happier. The 'games are more expensive to make these days' is a crutch excuse. Games are making more money than ever, and not just some of them. These companies aren't hurting. Same as the movie industry.

This NX seems like a real slap in the face, and isn't going to fix their image unless they come with guns blazing...which isn't possible at this point unless they stopped all production on Wii U and set all future games for it, even then you are looking at a 4-5 year trickle before you get any sizable amount of games. THIS is their problem.

 

[mmntech]

The other 2 are almost mirror images of each other. There is no way Nintendo following that path will be any better off than they are now. We don't need 3 consoles + PC with the exact same games. They don't put out enough exclusives (any of them) to justify it.

Gaming has become increasingly homogenized over the last 15 years. Your console of choice doesn't matter any more. Sony does have more first party franchises than MS does, but I feel they've slowed down their releases. All fanboys have left is to nitpick over inconsequential hardware specs.

I'm not really sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing for gamers. It's certainly good for multi-platform publishers who want to sell as many copies as possible.

I think Nintendo is going to take their time with the NX. It's well known that the Wii U was rushed in order to get the jump on Sony and MS. That was their undoing.

The Wii was a bit of a fluke. It's fad status attracted a lot of shovelware. It had a relatively large library that an ignorant consumer base gobbled up. Now that's gone. The Wii U has almost no major third-party software support these days. Nintendo can't produce games fast enough to hold peoples' interests. Poor marketing and lack of understanding of global industry trends haven't helped.

What I would like to see Nintendo do is focus on medium-budget games through second party studios. They have a good opportunity to tap into emerging markets as well. I just don't see them doing that though.

 

[Lil Frier]

They are trying to stand out from the crowd. Nintendo has ALWAYS put out things that don't go with the grain, and most of them were flops.

The other 2 are almost mirror images of each other. There is no way Nintendo following that path will be any better off than they are now. We don't need 3 consoles + PC with the exact same games. They don't put out enough exclusives (any of them) to justify it. They are fine where they are at. Again do you really want 3 consoles with 90% the same catalog? That isn't going to make anyone any happier. The 'games are more expensive to make these days' is a crutch excuse. Games are making more money than ever, and not just some of them. These companies aren't hurting. Same as the movie industry.

This NX seems like a real slap in the face, and isn't going to fix their image unless they come with guns blazing...which isn't possible at this point unless they stopped all production on Wii U and set all future games for it, even then you are looking at a 4-5 year trickle before you get any sizable amount of games. THIS is their problem.

Indeed, that's what I was trying to get across. Nintendo's still pushing Star Fox and Zelda (among others) as Wii U titles, which means they won't be ready until a couple (or more) years into the NX's life cycle.

Thing is, this isn't even about worrying about multi-platform fatigue. Nintendo has enough software/IP to get by, but not enough developers to produce it at an acceptable rate. Is it possible that the development of Splatoon (a fine game, mind you) is why we haven't seen a proper Animal Crossing since 2012, and a proper console iteration since 2008? If The Legend of Zelda will be the first home console release (ignoring the re-release of Wind Waker) in 5 years, will the NX have to go without a proper Zelda until 2021? The console could easily be dead by then, if it flops. Mario Kart took 6 years, and Smash took 6 years as well. You can't be so first-party dependent and take 5+ years on franchises with regularity.

Nintendo can work just fine as a second-level offering for gamers, but it's going to be ugly if they exhaust all of their software options on the dying/dead Wii U, then launch the NX with the same problem--a lack of impending first-party releases.

 

[HeXen]

I want to see a world where every single game can be played on whatever platform you want, even streaming to your TV like PS now. The games themselves are the only thing that matters.

 

[Lil Frier]

That'd be basically a monopoly scenario.

 

[thehotsung8701A]

At least Shenmue 3 is coming out even though it through kickstarter.

 

[HeXen]

That'd be basically a monopoly scenario.

An open sourced client for a variety of hardware that all publishers can use to distribute their games is hardly a monopoly. Perhaps you should look up the definition of that word.

 

[Lil Frier]

In the console world, it's what would become of it. Why would you buy a Wii U or Xbox One if the PS4 plays all of the same games and has better hardware, leading to better performance? You'd probably have a situation like Windows Phone, where there are non-Microsoft options, but why bother?

I know what the word means, come on. Sorry you lack critical thinking to understand what I said on your own.

 

[cmdrdredd]

In the console world, it's what would become of it. Why would you buy a Wii U or Xbox One if the PS4 plays all of the same games and has better hardware, leading to better performance? You'd probably have a situation like Windows Phone, where there are non-Microsoft options, but why bother?

I know what the word means, come on. Sorry you lack critical thinking to understand what I said on your own.

Pretty much and honestly I think it would be a terrible world if that happened because you'd have a million games built for the weaker hardware and nothing to show off at E3 to wow people. It would become even more about the money than it is already.

 

[sze5003]

I heard shenmue 3 and showed up..sega making a console now is kind of hard to believe. But shenmue 3 is now being made for ps4 and PC so I don't know what games sega would sell or remake.

 

[mmntech]

At least Shenmue 3 is coming out even though it through kickstarter.

Bigger publishers are starting to see the value of Kickstarter as a way of judging interest in a project. The more crowd funding one gets, the more likely wealthy investors are to get on board.

I heard shenmue 3 and showed up..sega making a console now is kind of hard to believe. But shenmue 3 is now being made for ps4 and PC so I don't know what games sega would sell or remake.

They're still making arcade boards. The Ring and Nu series use off-the-shelf PC parts. So you can still get your Hatsune Miku fix at the local maid cafe. A new Sega home system is very unlikely though. They've pretty much said they have little interest in consoles going forward. Especially after a few high profile bombs last year. Cough... Sonic Boom. Rather they're focusing on PC and mobile. I'd expect them to move a lot of their arcade assets into casino games as well. Pachinko machines are a big part of their business.