Trigger

I don't see these very often these days, but I just saw one for Wario (at least, I think that's what it was for)... anyway - it looked more like a PS2 commercial than anything else... complete with Asian pronounciation of "Gamecube" by female whispering voice over the GC logo. Interesting tactic. Or am I just imagining things?

darkside

I haven't seen it yet. The only ones I have seen lately are for the Game Boy Player for the Gamecube.

With their sales struggling they might be trying a more PS2 style approach in their ads just to see if it helps.

Trigger

couldn't hurt.

Captain Harlock

No you're not imagining things. I've seen it too. Can't really blame Nintendo though. They are trying to break away from the "kiddie" image they've been saddled with for ages. They're trying to be "edgey" I guess. They could have done that from the begining by doing a few things....

1. Designing a system WITH DVD playback and that DOES NOT look like a building block.

2. Having a decent online strategy.

3. Focus on more "adult" titles. Sony has alot of "E" rated titles, like Sly Cooper and Ratchet and Clank. But Nobody looks at the box of the PS2 and says "OOOH Lookee here!! The new Sly Cooper game!! I got to play to that!!".

4. Have a decent marketing strategy that DOESN'T depend on Mario. The old mascots are an anchor now.

5. Better third party support. This has been said a zillion times but you can't say it enough.

Another thing I thought was annoying was that when you turn on the GameCube you have that little xylophone diddy and the blocks form the "G". I'm glad I have a PS2, that would drive me nuts to have to listen to that every time I started the machine up.

Just my opinion.

mmconhea

...And the thread goes Nintendo bashing in record time!

Captain Harlock

I didn't think this was "Nintendo bashing". It's an observation. These are the things I that I think , in my opinion mind you, that I believe that Nintendo is doing "wrong" this generation.

If you disagree that's fine. But support your argument. Don't just fall back on "Oh Nintendo bashing!".

Trigger

I think he's talking about your LegoCube/DuploCube comment.

Trigger

This falls under the category of "you had to be there", but me and my roommates say "ba-by!" in a baby voice when we see that. We clown on the cube around the house, but I've learned not to do it on this forum cuz GC owners are really sensitive about it.

PixyJunket

More "adult" titles..?

Chopper

Some (more) opinions...

1) Someone on here could probably correct me if this is incorrect, but wouldn't adding the DVD playback increase the price? Maybe the intention is that most people would have a standalone DVD player & wouldn't see the DVD playback as a buying point. And would there be a difference in graphical quality by having the DVD playback available? As for the shape, I don't think that many people have said "I would buy a Gamecube, but the shape really doesn't work for me".

2) I don't play games online, so this wouldn't matter to me either way. But knowing that people are buying their system to play online, I'd agree that this should be changed for future versions.

3) "Adult" titles are not always good. How about they focus on more "quality" titles & if they happen to be "adult", so be it.

4) Yes & no. The Mario game was not worth the wait. The Zelda game was worth the wait, but left me feeling unfufilled. The Metroid game was excellent. Three old mascots, three different results. And I wouldn't think any of those would qualify as an "anchor". Also, I'm not positive that I follow how you're saying that the GC marketing strategy depended on Mario.

5) Agreed

stingo

that's when they hire Ron Jeremy to star as Mario...

Captain Harlock

1. I think you're right about the DVD player. It would most likely increase the price due to the licenese fees. But with Nintendo's system for the GameCube, the storage capacity ( if I'm wrong then please be so kind as to let me know) is only 1.6 gigs of information on a GC disc. A DVD-ROM PS2/XBox disc I believe stores up to 7 gigs of data. I'm not sure how much that really means, but I know it wouldn't mean switching discs for Enter The Matrix.

2. Agreed

3. You're right, but I still think the perception that the GameCube is a "kids" machine is hurting. They really needed more quality M rated titles.

4. I admit that was an over generalization on my part. But alot of people still associate Nintendo with Mario and Co.

5. At least we agree on something.

hey stingo? Did you see the cover of that game magazine with Ron Jeremy dressed up as Mario? That was really disturbing yet surprisingly funny.

Outlaw

You mean you actually saw a Nintendo commercial on TV? coolness!

I've only ever seen 2 in the past few months. I never would have seen the Metroid Prime or Eternal Darkness ones if it wasn't for the internet yet I saw dozens of Sony and MS ones. Its good to see they are advertising more.

edit: Just downloaded the Rebel Strike video and I liked what I saw. Very cool. I actually heard that Nintendo switched advertising agencies some time ago, these might be some of the new ones from them, and they are leaps and bounds above before. They ought to show the F-Zero GX one on the silver screen .

random123

i've seen commercials for SC2, F-Zero, RSIII, Wario World and the new wrestlemania, they need to drop the beating heart thing, it's pretty lame and it sound of makes it sound like gamecube is going to die soon

Revoltor

1. DVD playback isn't necessary. Sure it saves space but the main focus here is games. Why they didn't bring the Panasonic Q here I'll never know.

2. Hmm. Not really. The only reason I feel Xbox Live is a "success" is probably because people paid for it in advance and want to make sure their money isn't going to waste.

3. ? I question your reasoning but the Adult thing is really halfassed anyway. Nintendo has always made "kiddie" games. Metroid was one of their first few attempts but even that was passed on to some US dev team. They need to focus on exclusive third party support.

4. Mario will always sell, plain and simple. The Mascots are what make nintendo.

5. Probably the most important issue

Josh H

1. DVD playback would drive up cost and likely isn't that big of a selling factor anymore as DVD players are so common and stand alone's are far superior to the consoles. Launching at $150 probably generated more sales than launching at $200 with DVD playback would have.

2. I'm not in to online gaming, so I don't care personally. From a business standpoint, Nintendo can't afford to do it right now (other than maybe just allow peer-to-peer gaming). It's not profitable to set up an X-box Live type server system right now and they don't have money to lose like MS.

3. A good game is a good game. I could care less if it's "adult" or "kiddie." I loved Zelda and I hate the GTA games. It's the gameplay, not the theme/graphics that make me have fun with a game.

4. Their mascot games are great, they should never go away. They're always AAA games (though sometimes a little to similar to previous installments) and always sell well.

5. Agreed. They (as well as MS) need to get some big time third party exclusives if they ever want to catch sony.

Groucho

It means greatly reduced load times, which is a big plus in my mind.

Josh: the Gamecube did launch at $200 (which at the time was $100 less than either of its competitors).

PixyJunket

Sorry going to have to break your bubble on this one. Every Gamecube game I have seems to have NO load times at all, or are very good at hiding it. Almost every PS2/Xbox game I've played still seems to have unecessiarly long load times (for what the machines are capable of, of course). Granted I've probably plays oodles of more games on the PS2/XBox than on the GC.. but still.. it's noticable.

..and I don't see why ANY game would need more than 1.6 GIGs of data, that's regoddamndiculous. Oh wait.. I forgot, FMVs.. *lowers head in shame*

Groucho

That's what I meant. Gamecube load times are much less than those of the other two systems, and this is because of the smaller disc. Most multi-console games fit on one Gamecube disc anyway. Those that don't usually have a lot of FMV. And its no big deal to switch discs. It's not like I was going to play through the entire game without getting off the couch.

Qui Gon Jim

Another reason that Nintendo opted for the smaller disc size was to fight piracy. It is widely known in hacker circles that GC games are notoriously difficult to crack, unlike XB and PS2 games. The format is part of the reason. I am sure that having to licence DVD technology was another concern; one less royalty to pay per machine and one less cost to pass on to consumers.

Say whatever you want, Nintendo without question has always had the absolute strongest first party line-up of any company bar none. Mario. Zelda. Samus. These games are legends on every platform they have appeared on. Name one property created by Sony that has that kind of prestige. You can't? That's because Sony doesn't create the games, they pay other companies to create them, then market them.

Thier second party games are usually excellent, and they have lots of third party software out there. Very few games are released now for only one system unless they are exclusives.

I think that the "kiddy" factor is something that the Nintendo bashers constantly bring up. I don't think the die hard gamer nor Nintendo themselves are overly concerned with that "image". It simply isn't true. The creme rises to the top, and a good game is good even without blood and gore. GTA held my attention for about 10 minutes. Make the game play good, and THEN add the gore and violence and you may have me. This game is simply a teenage rebellion against adults. It sucks. Mario Sunshine, otoh, is absolutely brilliant. It had me rapt from beginning to end. IMHO PS2 has W A Y more "kiddy" games out, anyway. Jax, Ratchet, Spyro, Toomba etc etc... and the games are below par...

Don't get me wrong, there are tons of good games for PS2 as well. I own one and have a ton of games. I just think that the word "Nintendo" is a red flag to some people, and they can never give credit to them.

Oh, BTW all the N bashers, keep in mind if it weren't for the "kiddy" games on NES, there would be no GTA3, Nintendo revived the video game industry...

Trigger

Um... yeah ok... so... commercials? Oh yeah... commercials. Boy, those gamecube commercials sure are lookin alot like PS2 commercials these days. What do you guys think?

Joshic

I keep hearing this defense of the smaller disc, and I keep thinking that this defense is inadequate. If Nintendo wanted to stop piracy, why didn't they make a disc that is only marginally smaller (or larger!) than a standard CD/DVD disc? It would still be hard to copy due to its proprietary format, and yet it would hold much more data than the tiny discs the GCN currently uses.

correction... although Nintendo may have revived the console industry, the video game industry consists of more than just consoles... ie PC gaming.

darkside

Was that what started all this insanity? Yes, I think they are looking a bit more like PS2 commercials. How that turned into everything else in this thread I have no idea, but I do agree they have changed the look of their commercials.

As far as the what Nintendo should do debates. It really doesn't matter what we think. Nintendo will do whatever the big wigs in Japan think is best and live or die by it. They might make the next console more like the Xbox or it might end up being a big yellow pyramid that uses floppy disks. With Nintendo you just never know. One thing is for sure, they won't stop making games like Mario and Zelda that look like cartoons and if that kills them in the hardware business so be it. I'll still be first in line to buy my Yellow GamePyramid so I can play Zelda and Mario, because I know they will be two of the best games ever made.

Captain Harlock

Uuuuhh yeah, before I get sidetracked again...I saw the Soul Calibur one with Link....Definitley a different style of commericals.

spankyj

Watch TNN.

I usually tune in for the asian madness that is Most Extreme Elimination Challenge - and there are numerous GameCube commercials during that time.