Interesting Article from the Chicago Tribune
10-31-01, 09:45 AM
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Interesting Article from the Chicago Tribune
Very Fair, I think...
Let games begin for Sony's rivals
By Michael E. Ryan
Tribune staff reporter
Published October 29, 2001
A new age is about to dawn in the video game business.
When Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo's GameCube hit store shelves in about two weeks, they will enter a market dominated by Sony and its PlayStation 2. Suddenly, gaming fans will have--for the first time--three powerful and roughly equal alternatives to plug into for their digital kicks.
Although it is too soon to make predictions as to the fortunes of Xbox and GameCube, both systems appear to be headed toward successful launch dates next month.
Xbox, available on Nov. 15 at $299, boasts the most powerful central processing unit and graphics processor in the group and is the only system to offer a built-in hard drive and broadband port.
GameCube, which will cost $100 less than Xbox when it ships on Nov. 18, is no slouch in the performance category, and it brings an established collection of game franchises to the table. It also interfaces with the popular Game Boy Advance hand-held gaming system.
Both systems, in short, have the guns to go after PlayStation 2. But to be successful, Microsoft and Nintendo will have to overcome a pair of all-important challenges: giving the public the games it craves and making sure that there are plenty of consoles to go around this holiday season.
"This market is less about the box than it is about the games on the box," said Perrin Kaplan, vice president of corporate affairs at Nintendo of America. "People don't go to the movies to see the theater."
John O'Rourke, director of Xbox sales and marketing at Microsoft, agrees. "People buy systems for the games," he said. Microsoft hopes to have between 15 and 20 games available for Xbox when it ships, he added.
Nintendo plans to showcase about 17 games when the GameCube hits store shelves.
What about Sony? Despite a disappointing launch last holiday season, when hardware shortages and a dearth of compelling games tempered enthusiasm for the PlayStation 2, the system enjoys a dominant position in the market.
With a library of roughly 300 games--many of which are quite good--the PS2 clearly has an advantage over Xbox and GameCube if the quality and quantity of games is to be the deciding factor in this competition.
"Sony's game library is very strong right now," says Billy Pidgeon, a video games industry analyst with Jupiter Media Metrix. "There weren't many good games for the PlayStation 2 at launch, but there are a lot of great games for it now. This will be a key challenge for both Microsoft and Nintendo."
The great games race
Both companies appear to be well aware of that fact. Microsoft has persuaded a number of third-party software developers, including industry giants such as Electronic Arts and Activision, to create games for Xbox. Nintendo has done the same, rekindling interest among software developers after seeing support for its Nintendo 64 system vanish steadily over that system's lifetime.
Strong third-party support is key for both companies, since established game franchises like "Madden NFL" and "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater" can generate a lot of interest in a console.
It is the exclusive games, however, that set the systems apart.
"Third-party software doesn't generally move units," says Nintendo's Kaplan. "People like exclusive content, and we have a lot of that" she said, referring to successful games based on such popular characters as Mario and Pikachu.
Microsoft has some impressive exclusive content of its own lined up for Xbox, namely games titled "Halo," "Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee," and "Dead or Alive 3." None of these games has the cache of a Mario game, however, and it remains to be seen whether they can move Xbox systems off store shelves.
Avoiding shortages
Beyond providing great games, the biggest challenge for Microsoft and Nintendo will be avoiding the same hardware shortage problems Sony stumbled through last holiday season. Both companies have scaled back their first-day unit estimates, but that does not seem to be making many people nervous.
Microsoft remains cagey about the number of units it will have available for retailers on Nov. 15, but the consensus among industry analysts puts the number at approximately 300,000. After Nov. 15, the company will adopt a "rapid refresh" approach, O'Rourke said. "We will deliver weekly shipments that bring the total number of Xbox systems to between 1 million and 1.5 million by season's end."
Nintendo is hoping to deliver a much larger first-day number but has a similar goal in mind. Kaplan said there will be "700,000 GameCubes on Nov. 18, followed by weekly shipments that bring the total to 1.1 million by the end of the season."
Pidgeon, the gaming analyst, said those numbers are reasonable.
"Both companies have set realistic goals for this holiday season, and they should be able to meet them," he said.
Early indications are encouraging for Microsoft and Nintendo. Recent preorder programs for each console offered by Toys "R" Us sold out in a matter of minutes: 30 minutes for the Xbox and only 5 minutes for the GameCube.
Toys "R" Us has not released the number of units available in each promotion, but the fact that consumers were so quick to snatch them up is a good sign for Microsoft, Nintendo and the video game business in general.
Limited preselling
Another good sign is that preorders for both systems, through all retail channels, have been limited. Rather than put up their entire stock for preorder, retailers are preselling only a fraction of their initial Xbox and GameCube shipments. This ensures that there will be some actual units on store shelves for each launch day, as opposed to confused customers wondering why all of the units were gone before they were even given a chance to buy.
Still, the most popular question in the video games business these days is who will win the three-horse gaming race?
According to Jeff Brown, a spokesperson for gamemaker Electronic Arts, this question misses the point entirely.
"Too many people look at this as a game where one team wins and everyone else loses," says Brown. "We think that the market can support three competing consoles, and support them quite well."
The technology powering these three systems is a key factor, he said. "The technology is so good, and the game experience so compelling, that the games have become much more accessible."
"The market has the desire for more than one system," Kaplan said. "It may even be able to sustain three or four."
The skinny:
Microsoft XBox
Price: $299
Pluses: Excellent graphics and performance; built-in hard drive and Ethernet; DVD movie playback
Minuses: Larger than the other systesm; hard drive is noisy; no dedicated reset button
Gamer's view: It's big, but it's powerful. Games look and play great and load fast. Nice game controllers, though they may be bigger than some users prefer.
Nintendo Gamecube
Price: $199
On sale: Nov. 18
Pluses: Compact design; excellent exclusive games; $100 less the competition; can use Game Boy Advance as game controller
Minues: Weaker third-party gme support than the other systems; no DVD movie playback
Gamer's view: Slick little box with great graphics and speedy performance. Game controllers felt flimsier than those on the other systems.
Sony Playstation 2
Price: $299
On sale: Available since last year
Pluses: Enormous software library; original PlayStation games are compatible; DVD movie playback
Minuses: No hard drive or modem; technically, it's now a year behind
Gamer's view: The reigning champion. Boxy design, but it gets the job done. Tried-and-true controller is responsive and easy on the hands. Sheer number of games available is almost overwhelming.
Let games begin for Sony's rivals
By Michael E. Ryan
Tribune staff reporter
Published October 29, 2001
A new age is about to dawn in the video game business.
When Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo's GameCube hit store shelves in about two weeks, they will enter a market dominated by Sony and its PlayStation 2. Suddenly, gaming fans will have--for the first time--three powerful and roughly equal alternatives to plug into for their digital kicks.
Although it is too soon to make predictions as to the fortunes of Xbox and GameCube, both systems appear to be headed toward successful launch dates next month.
Xbox, available on Nov. 15 at $299, boasts the most powerful central processing unit and graphics processor in the group and is the only system to offer a built-in hard drive and broadband port.
GameCube, which will cost $100 less than Xbox when it ships on Nov. 18, is no slouch in the performance category, and it brings an established collection of game franchises to the table. It also interfaces with the popular Game Boy Advance hand-held gaming system.
Both systems, in short, have the guns to go after PlayStation 2. But to be successful, Microsoft and Nintendo will have to overcome a pair of all-important challenges: giving the public the games it craves and making sure that there are plenty of consoles to go around this holiday season.
"This market is less about the box than it is about the games on the box," said Perrin Kaplan, vice president of corporate affairs at Nintendo of America. "People don't go to the movies to see the theater."
John O'Rourke, director of Xbox sales and marketing at Microsoft, agrees. "People buy systems for the games," he said. Microsoft hopes to have between 15 and 20 games available for Xbox when it ships, he added.
Nintendo plans to showcase about 17 games when the GameCube hits store shelves.
What about Sony? Despite a disappointing launch last holiday season, when hardware shortages and a dearth of compelling games tempered enthusiasm for the PlayStation 2, the system enjoys a dominant position in the market.
With a library of roughly 300 games--many of which are quite good--the PS2 clearly has an advantage over Xbox and GameCube if the quality and quantity of games is to be the deciding factor in this competition.
"Sony's game library is very strong right now," says Billy Pidgeon, a video games industry analyst with Jupiter Media Metrix. "There weren't many good games for the PlayStation 2 at launch, but there are a lot of great games for it now. This will be a key challenge for both Microsoft and Nintendo."
The great games race
Both companies appear to be well aware of that fact. Microsoft has persuaded a number of third-party software developers, including industry giants such as Electronic Arts and Activision, to create games for Xbox. Nintendo has done the same, rekindling interest among software developers after seeing support for its Nintendo 64 system vanish steadily over that system's lifetime.
Strong third-party support is key for both companies, since established game franchises like "Madden NFL" and "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater" can generate a lot of interest in a console.
It is the exclusive games, however, that set the systems apart.
"Third-party software doesn't generally move units," says Nintendo's Kaplan. "People like exclusive content, and we have a lot of that" she said, referring to successful games based on such popular characters as Mario and Pikachu.
Microsoft has some impressive exclusive content of its own lined up for Xbox, namely games titled "Halo," "Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee," and "Dead or Alive 3." None of these games has the cache of a Mario game, however, and it remains to be seen whether they can move Xbox systems off store shelves.
Avoiding shortages
Beyond providing great games, the biggest challenge for Microsoft and Nintendo will be avoiding the same hardware shortage problems Sony stumbled through last holiday season. Both companies have scaled back their first-day unit estimates, but that does not seem to be making many people nervous.
Microsoft remains cagey about the number of units it will have available for retailers on Nov. 15, but the consensus among industry analysts puts the number at approximately 300,000. After Nov. 15, the company will adopt a "rapid refresh" approach, O'Rourke said. "We will deliver weekly shipments that bring the total number of Xbox systems to between 1 million and 1.5 million by season's end."
Nintendo is hoping to deliver a much larger first-day number but has a similar goal in mind. Kaplan said there will be "700,000 GameCubes on Nov. 18, followed by weekly shipments that bring the total to 1.1 million by the end of the season."
Pidgeon, the gaming analyst, said those numbers are reasonable.
"Both companies have set realistic goals for this holiday season, and they should be able to meet them," he said.
Early indications are encouraging for Microsoft and Nintendo. Recent preorder programs for each console offered by Toys "R" Us sold out in a matter of minutes: 30 minutes for the Xbox and only 5 minutes for the GameCube.
Toys "R" Us has not released the number of units available in each promotion, but the fact that consumers were so quick to snatch them up is a good sign for Microsoft, Nintendo and the video game business in general.
Limited preselling
Another good sign is that preorders for both systems, through all retail channels, have been limited. Rather than put up their entire stock for preorder, retailers are preselling only a fraction of their initial Xbox and GameCube shipments. This ensures that there will be some actual units on store shelves for each launch day, as opposed to confused customers wondering why all of the units were gone before they were even given a chance to buy.
Still, the most popular question in the video games business these days is who will win the three-horse gaming race?
According to Jeff Brown, a spokesperson for gamemaker Electronic Arts, this question misses the point entirely.
"Too many people look at this as a game where one team wins and everyone else loses," says Brown. "We think that the market can support three competing consoles, and support them quite well."
The technology powering these three systems is a key factor, he said. "The technology is so good, and the game experience so compelling, that the games have become much more accessible."
"The market has the desire for more than one system," Kaplan said. "It may even be able to sustain three or four."
The skinny:
Microsoft XBox
Price: $299
Pluses: Excellent graphics and performance; built-in hard drive and Ethernet; DVD movie playback
Minuses: Larger than the other systesm; hard drive is noisy; no dedicated reset button
Gamer's view: It's big, but it's powerful. Games look and play great and load fast. Nice game controllers, though they may be bigger than some users prefer.
Nintendo Gamecube
Price: $199
On sale: Nov. 18
Pluses: Compact design; excellent exclusive games; $100 less the competition; can use Game Boy Advance as game controller
Minues: Weaker third-party gme support than the other systems; no DVD movie playback
Gamer's view: Slick little box with great graphics and speedy performance. Game controllers felt flimsier than those on the other systems.
Sony Playstation 2
Price: $299
On sale: Available since last year
Pluses: Enormous software library; original PlayStation games are compatible; DVD movie playback
Minuses: No hard drive or modem; technically, it's now a year behind
Gamer's view: The reigning champion. Boxy design, but it gets the job done. Tried-and-true controller is responsive and easy on the hands. Sheer number of games available is almost overwhelming.
