Why don't Sony, M$, Square, and lots of other companies go 3rd party then?

Oh god - how unstoppable would that have been if Microsoft had bought Nintendo lock, stock?... wow... Then we'd have an even race right about now.

Hey - if you people are going to crap on Microsoft by typing "M$" then you have to do it to all the console companies - I mean they are all gazillionaires and corporate suits... $ony and Nintendough are both greedy and fat companies as well. Plus - it's so petty.

How's that crapping on Microsoft? Bill Gates is the richest man on Earth. I associate his company with money. When I think of Microsoft, I see dollar signs. It would be petty if I meant it as an insult but I really don't.

It does come across as an insult Kellehair, whether you mean it that way or not. It would be better to leave it out to avoid arguments as things like that are easily misunderstoon on message boards.

Oh - okay. It just seems like a jab and I see it all the time. Mah bad.

Square sells their strength. The games. They get paid by Sony so they stay exclusive. Then they can throw more money away on bad movies. ;)

Sony and Microsoft OTOH, are both gunning for the set top box. They want the licensing fee for all the entertainment that comes in your house. Diametrically opposed goals from what Sega, Square, Nintendo and Rare do. They pay a fee to sell on a platform (with the sole exception of Nintendo). So why would any software provider get in a pissing match with Sony or Microsoft? Its a business, theyre not acting on principle. They want to maximize profits.

Some of you act like Nintendo are your buddys who just want to make cool games for you to play like theyre defending the industry from the evil corporations like Sony and M$ ( -rolleyes- ).

Here is what Penny-Arcade thinks of people that use the $ in Microsoft:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2002/20020722l.gif

Thats a funny comic and all but Palladium really is the devil. :(

:lol: Oh priceless... :)

And you wouldn't want to be misunderstoon... ;)

I don't think Nintendo is defending me from anything. I know they are just a company trying to make money.

I'm just a big fan of the games only strategy they've adopted.

I hate the idea of a settop box. It drives up the cost, and I'm paying for features I don't want. For example, the rumored new version of the X-box with built in Ultimate TV (MSs Tivo) has been said to cost $500.

I think it would suck if the PS3 and X-box 2 come out with Tivo and whatever crap they put in the set top box and cost $400-500 or more.

$199 is the most I'm willing to pay for a gaming system (not accounting for inflation). Especially since I don't want a do it all box. This is why Nintendo is the most attractive of the companies to me.

As for my reasons for not wanting a set top box:

For one thing, most of these features are gimmicky. I had a Tivo I won, in broke and I didn't bother paying to get it fixed because I was debating on cancelly the $10 a month service anyway. I just didn't use it enough because there isn't crap on TV worth watching other than sports, and being able to pause and do instant replays wasn't worth the money to me.

Secondly, when you combine a bunch of crap into one machine, it's likely that it won't be as high a quality as getting higher end stand alone things. For example, the DVD player/receiver combos aren't particulary good DVD players or Receievers. The same will be true of set top box game systems as they have to keep the cost at a reasonable level.

So for me, I'm going to spend the extra money and buy higher quality stand alone things, and then if I want to play games I'd have to pay extra for a bunch of features built into a set top box that I don't need because I already have them in my home theater.

I dont have a problem having five consoles (yes my Genesis is still hooked up stop laughing) a DVD player and a cable box in my entertainment center. Josh you agree with me against a settop box but from the opposite side. You think its overkill. But Josh you and I are in the minority on this one. The average consumer would be thrilled with one machine that gave them access to everything. Hell Joe Six Pack is buying those craptastic DVD/VCR combos.

And the fact that two of the most resource rich corporations on the planet have made it a priority makes it a virtual certainty in the near future.

Remember, licensing fees are pretty sizable. When you have a stable of multimillion selling licenses, it might be more profitable not to pay the licensing fees. Super Smash Bros. Melee has sold over 2.5 million copies, and Mario Sunshine has already sold 400,000 in Japan, since it came out last week, according to a story on Gamespot.

Nintendo makes more money from videogames than Sony or Microsoft. Microsoft hasn't made a dime on the Xbox; in fact, the Xbox has lost hundreds of millions of dollars, and Xbox Live will cost billions more. Microsoft has not clearly explained how they expect the console to ever recoup those losses. They have a lot of money to lose trying to set themselves up for domination of the industry, so Xbox will be around for a while. But I don't see why people expect Nintendo to drop out, when they're making money and the Xbox isn't.

Oh I agree Jolt, and that's why I hope Nintendo sticks it out in the hardware industry.

Joe Six Pack cares about convenience more than quality. Having a bunch of mediocre electronic equipment in one box is more appealing to them than having better quality equipment seperate.

So there's a good chance that set top boxes costing $500 or so could become the norm.

In that case I'd probably just resort to classic gaming. Digging out games I missed on the current systems, and waiting for the new set top box systems to be a generation outdated and significantly dropped in price before buying them.

Or you can join the dark side.


Psssst... PC gaming.

And how much would they have sold if there were a PS2 version. :eek:


If youre gonna add Nintendos profits as a whole and not just Gamecube than you may as well add in all of Microsoft. If GBA and Pokemon money are keeping the Gamecube in the game than how is that any different than XP keeping the Box in the game?

Exactly.

Because we're comparing the VIDEO GAME market. If Nintendo manufactured toilet bowl cleaners, we wouldn't be counting the profits from those.

Because XP has zero to do with the gaming industry while Gameboy is a part of it. Also the pokemon games are not just exclusive to the handheld systems. There have been plenty of Pokemon console games. And there will be Gamecube Pokemon games in the future.

If you pay attention to the monthly gaming charts from TRST NPD, they do not seperate the sales into handheld and console charts. Everything is listed together because they are all part of the gaming industry. It's funny that some people continue to say Nintendo is in trouble yet year after year they continue to be the top publisher in the industry.

Okay, that's fine, but he said Because all Nintendo makes products for is the video game industry, obviously they are going to have less profits than Microsoft. So Nintendo profits as a whole will be a lot less than Microsoft's.

I remember when the original Nintendo (NES) was about 2 years old, my dad gave me an article from the Wall Street Journal showing how Nintendo had planned for it to also function as a way for consumers to shop at home. It never happened, but I remember how he made a big stink about it (and he never talked about video games really before that) because he felt like it was putting "big brother" in your house and the article had all sorts of other speculations going on. The article was based on reports that Nintendo had released.

Lemme see the numbers where Microsoft hasn't made a dime of the Xbox. I'm not saying it's wrong - but I keep hearing that Microsoft is bleeding money and nobody is talking about all the games that have sold with the systems. Sure - if Microsoft is losing money on each console sold (which could change soon as they move to a cheaper production arrangement), logic dictates that they are losing money - but take into account the games they sell and the games to consoles ratio. You're saying Microsoft has lost hundreds of millions of dollars and will lose billions more - that seem pretty ludicrous if you have nothing to back it up. Give me facts, man. :)

I think you missed my point. Youre comparing Nintendos total video game sales to prop up the Gamecubes numbers. The Gameboy is the most sucessful console in history. How on earth does that make it more profitable to restrict Mario Sunshine to 75% less of an audience? (my numbers are probally a little off but if anything its on the low side) The aggregate money they make off the Gamecube cannot compare to what the sales on this one title alone would have done cross platform.

Once again... WHERE HAVE I SAID NINTENDO IS IN TROUBLE? I just think this is almost certainly the last Nintendo (non-handheld) console. That doesnt mean I wont be playing their games for the rest of my life.

Your numbers are fair - last I checked, Gamecube made up something like 20% of the next-gen console market... yeah, it makes financial sense to ignore 80% of the gamers out there. Yeah - nobody is saying that Nintendo isn't richer than God. All 3 companies are richer than God.

Yeah that bastard still owes me twenty bucks.

Losing Rare could be the begining of the end. As good as Mario/Zelda/Metroid/StarFox are thats about blowing their load. Four titles in the next year? Ouch. Conker on the Box? Double ouch. PD0 cross platform? :eek: