Yeah, Nintendo tried that with the GameCube. Fancy hardware wont fix the stigma set by Sega's marketing. But outlasting the competition will. Xbox will be around for a while (but will be more of a Windows HTPC then the Xbox we know), but I don't know about Playstation. Their cellphone division is looking for a buyer, and their computers are hit or miss in popularity. I'm sure they will still be around, but I don't know.
But one thing's for sure, Nintendo is entrenched. It's userbase recognizes them for quality and they have major financial reserves. If a recession financial recalibration happens (which may or may not happen, consider politics that use brinkmanship is a key barganing tool and a mess of control) the major third party publishers will take a lethal hit (no one is going to buy EA's games in quantities vast enough to maintain their brainwashing advertisements), leaving Nintendo as the console with the most and best games.
Makes about as much sense as Nintendo risking their long-term exsistance by joining Microsoft and Sony's race to one-up the other.
Lol.
Blaming the GameCube selling so few units on awesome hardware is ridiculous.
It was purple, looked like s kids lunchbox, had a stupid name, and didn't play DVDs (actually quite the big deal at the time) when both its competitors did.
In short, it looked, sounded, and performed like s child's toy. M
Did it have superior hardware? Yes. But no one cares when it looked and sounded like a Leapster on steroids.
The original NES was marketed above what it was and the gimmicks were actually quite clever. The idea of a family computer for games was great. And the Super NES built upon that premise outpouring the Genesis and holding hardware secrets that Nintendo didn't unlock until they felt they needed something extra.
The n64 was heavily anticipated and was poised to destroy play station... Until Nintendo chose to use archaic and limited cartridges instead of cheap CDs with much more capacity. This reason alone is why ff7 did not come to the n64.
Boneheaded decisions like those are what scared third parties away to the point where the wii was nearly all Nintendo.
Nintendo does need to play the big boy power game and cobtinue the trend they've restarted with wii u by upping their social, app ecosystem, and tech game.
Both ps4 and d- play blu Ray also. But it doesn't hurt so much in this digital download age as it did when the GCN couldn't play dvd and you couldn't listen to CDs on your n64.
Two things that Nintendo basically GAVE AWAY TO THEIR COMPETITORS:
1) system power (though the wii u is no slouch). The Wii just didn't even try. At all. The Wii u is a very capable, very well designed system. But Nintendo wasn't out to impress anyone. Yet the cold harsh reality is that we live in an era where people really do need to be impressed if you're going to sell to them (flappy bird game notwithstanding).
2) online. The Xbox 360 had really done a good job here, playstation at least tried, and the Wii just forfeit. The Wii u showcases the beginning of an online foundation. Complete with major growing pains (party chat and freind finding/making systems,I'm looking at you).
So if Nintendo continues their laser focus when it comes to complete, high quality, compelling games, but actually offers truly impressive hardware, with a cool system name (come on now. Wii? Wii U? Game cube? What the creaking heck) and killer online, that does what everyone wants a multitasking system to do, Nintendo actually has a shot at shutting down ms and sonys next systems.
Not only will we have amazing looking Nintendo games, but third party hits as well. And heck, if Nintendo wanted to get ballsy and secure a major third party IP or two or three for its console, then we are talking big big things in the future.
But all that means jack squat if the system isn't genuinely impressively spec'd.
And msking s truly powerful system won't risk their long term existence, it will ensure it.
The more they pii away money on underpowered systems and silly gimmicks that sound cool at the office, but result in catastrophic losses, the closer they get to having to do something else.
With a master plan that starts out with incredible hardware, then incredible software that runs on it, and wooing back third parties, striking deals for IP exclusivity on hit games, solidifying the online systems, and marketing the thing aggressively because they CAN, knowing the system backs up the marketing, they can very much usher in a new SNES era.
But the foundation of the entire thing is the hardware. Get it right and the options are limitless. Get it wrong and no one wants to play COD On your console when it looks twice as good on the other guys'
Edited by Socalmuscle, 14 February 2015 - 12:57 AM.