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Nintendo Revolution - June '06
shmokes:
I think I've made it clear that I'm a big Nintendo fan, so don't get me wrong. I'm not a PS2 or MS fanboy. But I'm with tetsujin here. Nintendo has an image problem. They are viewed as kiddie, and for the most part, they deserve it. It was a conscious, short-sighted decision made by the company. And it is an image they've been trying to shake for quite a while now.
What possible reason, other than some diabolically evil collaboration with Satan, would Rockstar have of targeting GTA at kids? 65% of console gamers are over 18 years old. People often seem to forget that videogames are all grown up these days. They aren't a "toy" any more than books or DVDs. They're a legitimate form of entertainment -- a form of entertainment, I'll reiterate, that is used significantly more frequently by adults than by children. Not only is the GTA content made to appeal to adults, but adults are obviously who Rockstar hopes will buy their game. There's a lot more money there.
Nintendo needs to take a page out of Disney's book (and they are trying). It's not like they should give up Mario and Kirby. Obviously not. They bring in loads of money. But Disney's also got Touchstone, making edgier, adult fare. And Disney's got....well, I don't know, but they've got a lot of different companies, making entertainment for every demographic.
Nintendo can't afford for more than 60% of the market to feel like a Nintendo system is "kiddie" or even "family" oriented. I like a lot of family oriented content, but that's just it; content should be family oriented, not a system. Some of my favorite movies are rated G. But I would never, in a million years, buy a DVD player that only had G-rated movies available for it. I think Zelda: Wind Waker, and GTA: San Andreas are two of the greatest games ever made. I own and love them both. But I have to own two different game systems in order to do so, and most people will not buy two game consoles. It's extremely important for Nintendo to quit alienating what is by far the largest segment of the videogame market. Resident Evil 4 was a helluva an olive branch. I hope they keep it up. And the sheer success of the PS2 means that the "kiddie" segement is still very well represented on that system. All Nintendo needs to do is hype V-Chip-like functionality for their system -- simply allow parents to lock out M-rated or T-rated content with a password to hold onto the family niche they have. But if they don't start courting, and providing more adult content they will exit the hardware market altogether. We would be witnessing the most innovative videogame hardware manufacturer in history exiting the hardware market.
Anybody who wants Nintendo to continue making consoles should want Nintendo consoles to have more adult oriented games available for their systems. It's a matter of survival. Nintendo is just grooming kids to grow up and defect to MS and Sony. Nintendo gets them hooked and then abandons them as soon as they finish puberty. Sony and MS must love Nintendo. Nintendo is like the gateway drug that leads to Playstation. They can't limit themselves to being marijuana, though. Nintendo needs to become crack cocain. Sony realizes this and is even starting to give its portable systems names that sound like drugs.
p.s. I apologize for what this post degenerated into by the end...
geomartin:
Wow! PSP, LSP, PCB...what a transition :P Honestly though, I bought my kids GameCube a couple years ago at Christmas strictly because they had the kid oriented games. I looked at PS2 and XBox and they did not offer much for kids at the time. I do own an XBox for myself though, because I could not find the games I was most interested in on the Cube. So, I would say both points are valid and it would serve Nintendo to purchase some franchise to market towards an older market. This would leave the Nintendo franchise pure, but still diversify the content available for thier system.
Geo
SOAPboy:
--- Quote from: TalkingOctopus on October 27, 2005, 06:59:36 pm ---Have you guys seen this revolution video?
http://videogames.3yen.com/2005-09-19/nintendo-revolution-trailer/
After watching that, it really doesn't appeal to me.
--- End quote ---
honestly, made me want one..
Gives me hope for the inovation of that damn controler :)