Response to "Update: Nintendo's Demise?"
I just started reading the article "Update: Nintendo's Demise?" (I didn't read the previous ones) and I was baffled on how misinformed Anthony Meier was. It's easier to sort this out by each paragraph he said so I can get each point across.
Paragraph 1:
"I am talking about this happening over the next few decades. 20, maybe 30 years perhaps. Bear in mind that Nintendo was a playing card company 20 or 30 years ago."
I'm not a fortune teller, but I'm confident to say that is not happening. Nintendo has recently gained a lot of sales back in Japan. Go here: N64.IGN.COM for more information on this. Nintendo 64 is extremely popular here, and the only reason Japan didn't welcome it as much was the lack of RPGs (RPGs are major over there), expensive and not as powerful medium (cartridges), and the lack of games in general. But, thanks to some great games recently (Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Stadium 2, Dai-Rantou Smash Brothers) Nintendo 64 sales are increasing over in Japan. They are not going bankrupt at all. With Dolphin (which so far seems more powerful than PS2), I believe Nintendo will gain back a lot of popularity because it corrects the major faults of the Nintendo 64. Nintendo has been a card company for over 100 years, by the way.
Paragraph 2:
"The second most heated debate was about Nintendo's survival using the GBC. Some people said, "Yes, Nintendo can live off the profits from Game Boy." If you take into account how much money Nintendo has in operating costs, like, N64 game development, "Project Dolphin," Nintendo Power magazine, staff costs, game counseling, players guides, and more, Game Boy makes up a very small percentage of that profit."
No, no, no. If you didn't realize, Nintendo is doing very well over here. And as I said before, they are also doing better now in Japan. Project Dolphin I believe will surpass PS2 specs wise (but I only will judge when they're actually released), which will have game developers flock to the system. With the PS2, sure, you can just make the same Playstation games because of backwards-compatibility, but people will want the best of the best, top of the line games. It is said that PS2 is extremely hard to make games for, taking a genius in specialized physics courses to actually tap into the power of the system. Few companies will be able to fully use PS2's power. Also, because of the difficulty in making games, some game developers will be scared off from it. Dolphin has been said to be easier to make games for than the N64. This is definitely an advantage. Also, I'm not going to even get into the problems with the cost, etc. of the PS2. Go here for that: ZDNN: Emotional overload for Sony?. I'm not sure if your question is if Nintendo can live off the Gameboy, or if they could.
If you mean that you don't think they could, you are far off base there. The Gameboy is Nintendo's most successful system, even when they reigned with the SNES (Super Famicom). No company can make a handheld to fight against the Gameboy, because they always lose. The Gameboy is HUGE over in Japan, with it still popular here and gaining more popularity because of things like Pokemon, GBC, and GB Camera, etc. The Gameboy has sold more units than Playstation (GB: 85 million units, Playstation: 50 million units). Granted, Gameboy has been out for 8 years now, but Gameboy sales are growing faster than they ever have now with the GBC. Nintendo could easily live off Gameboy, backing it up with great games from itself (Pokemon and other little things like the Gameboy Camera), Enix (they make the popular Dragon Quest series over there and it sold very well for the Gameboy), and now Sega, among tons of others. Just the Pokemon franchise in general they could live off of, with profits from merchandise around 3 billion dollars I believe (really!). So my point is that the Gameboy doesn't "make up a very small percentage of that profit."
Paragraph 3:
"A point that I failed to mention and few people seemed to comment on was the subject of Nintendo of Japan's profit decline. The N64 is not doing half as well there as it is doing here, and it is causing some major losses for them. They also rely heavily on Pokemon lisincing and the games. You can only sell so many copies of a game before everyone has one however, and Pokemon will get old there eventually. May I also add that Nintendo of Japan is the 'home base' of Nintendo, and they are the ones who come up with most of the games. Nintendo of America makes very few N64 games themselves as compared to Nintendo of Japan. For the most part, NOA does translations."
As I said before, they are increasing profits wise. Pokemon, as I said before, is an unstoppable beast. Kids will never get enough of it (it isn't like the Tamagotchi fad). In response to "You can only sell so many copies of a game before everyone has one however" there isn't just one game for Pokemon! There is Pokemon Feels Fine, the Pokemon Stadiums, Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Pinball, the four Gameboy Pokemon games (yellow, green, red, blue), and the upcoming gold and silver. There isn't a shortage of Pokemon games, people will have plenty to buy. Of course, Nintendo will keep on cranking them out to feed people's hunger for Pokemon. In response to you saying NOJ is the homebase of Nintendo, it is the homebase of all videogame companies (I'm talking about the current videogame companies Sega, Nintendo, and Sony). Hate to tell you, but NOA doesn't make ANY games. Duh. What you said about Japan making the games, what's your point? I couldn't find one...
Paragraph 4:
"'Project Dolphin' is highly awaited by American gamers, but Japanese gamers are still unsure as to whether or not it will be any good. They are still scared from the N64's low sales and how poor it is doing there. If PD cannot survive there, it will surely not ever make it here."
In Japan, a lot of people just don't buy the system by the name. This happened with the N64. The Super Famicom was very popular, but people waited to see if the N64 was any good. It isn't like that here, if we like a company we buy their product blindly. If the Dolphin is superior specs-wise to PS2, most people wouldn't want the inferior system. If you went to the link above, you would also see how uneconomical PS2 is and it also is expensive (around $500). Dolphin, however, has better specs (this only on paper, of course) and is cheap to make (this is a fact). So the bottom line is, if you see a PS2 and a Dolphin sitting on a shelf next to each other, you would grab the Dolphin. It isn't a very tough decision. Hmm...should I get the less powerful and more expensive PS2, or go for the more powerful and more expensive Dolphin? I don't totally believe that, though, because it all boils down to the games (what's a system without games!). You said: "If PD cannot survive there, it will surely not ever make it here." That is totally off base. First off, it will survive by the specs it has alone and that it is more economical than the PS2. This is going back to the previous statements. People (not just in Japan) go for the system that has the games, specs (graphics, etc.), and the price. Second, of course it will make it over here! Why wouldn't they go where the demand is? That statement just doesn't make sense...
Paragraph 5:
"On a final note, Sega was very big competition for Nintendo at a time..."
Your point?
I just started reading the article "Update: Nintendo's Demise?" (I didn't read the previous ones) and I was baffled on how misinformed Anthony Meier was. It's easier to sort this out by each paragraph he said so I can get each point across.
Paragraph 1:
"I am talking about this happening over the next few decades. 20, maybe 30 years perhaps. Bear in mind that Nintendo was a playing card company 20 or 30 years ago."
I'm not a fortune teller, but I'm confident to say that is not happening. Nintendo has recently gained a lot of sales back in Japan. Go here: N64.IGN.COM for more information on this. Nintendo 64 is extremely popular here, and the only reason Japan didn't welcome it as much was the lack of RPGs (RPGs are major over there), expensive and not as powerful medium (cartridges), and the lack of games in general. But, thanks to some great games recently (Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Stadium 2, Dai-Rantou Smash Brothers) Nintendo 64 sales are increasing over in Japan. They are not going bankrupt at all. With Dolphin (which so far seems more powerful than PS2), I believe Nintendo will gain back a lot of popularity because it corrects the major faults of the Nintendo 64. Nintendo has been a card company for over 100 years, by the way.
Paragraph 2:
"The second most heated debate was about Nintendo's survival using the GBC. Some people said, "Yes, Nintendo can live off the profits from Game Boy." If you take into account how much money Nintendo has in operating costs, like, N64 game development, "Project Dolphin," Nintendo Power magazine, staff costs, game counseling, players guides, and more, Game Boy makes up a very small percentage of that profit."
No, no, no. If you didn't realize, Nintendo is doing very well over here. And as I said before, they are also doing better now in Japan. Project Dolphin I believe will surpass PS2 specs wise (but I only will judge when they're actually released), which will have game developers flock to the system. With the PS2, sure, you can just make the same Playstation games because of backwards-compatibility, but people will want the best of the best, top of the line games. It is said that PS2 is extremely hard to make games for, taking a genius in specialized physics courses to actually tap into the power of the system. Few companies will be able to fully use PS2's power. Also, because of the difficulty in making games, some game developers will be scared off from it. Dolphin has been said to be easier to make games for than the N64. This is definitely an advantage. Also, I'm not going to even get into the problems with the cost, etc. of the PS2. Go here for that: ZDNN: Emotional overload for Sony?. I'm not sure if your question is if Nintendo can live off the Gameboy, or if they could.
If you mean that you don't think they could, you are far off base there. The Gameboy is Nintendo's most successful system, even when they reigned with the SNES (Super Famicom). No company can make a handheld to fight against the Gameboy, because they always lose. The Gameboy is HUGE over in Japan, with it still popular here and gaining more popularity because of things like Pokemon, GBC, and GB Camera, etc. The Gameboy has sold more units than Playstation (GB: 85 million units, Playstation: 50 million units). Granted, Gameboy has been out for 8 years now, but Gameboy sales are growing faster than they ever have now with the GBC. Nintendo could easily live off Gameboy, backing it up with great games from itself (Pokemon and other little things like the Gameboy Camera), Enix (they make the popular Dragon Quest series over there and it sold very well for the Gameboy), and now Sega, among tons of others. Just the Pokemon franchise in general they could live off of, with profits from merchandise around 3 billion dollars I believe (really!). So my point is that the Gameboy doesn't "make up a very small percentage of that profit."
Paragraph 3:
"A point that I failed to mention and few people seemed to comment on was the subject of Nintendo of Japan's profit decline. The N64 is not doing half as well there as it is doing here, and it is causing some major losses for them. They also rely heavily on Pokemon lisincing and the games. You can only sell so many copies of a game before everyone has one however, and Pokemon will get old there eventually. May I also add that Nintendo of Japan is the 'home base' of Nintendo, and they are the ones who come up with most of the games. Nintendo of America makes very few N64 games themselves as compared to Nintendo of Japan. For the most part, NOA does translations."
As I said before, they are increasing profits wise. Pokemon, as I said before, is an unstoppable beast. Kids will never get enough of it (it isn't like the Tamagotchi fad). In response to "You can only sell so many copies of a game before everyone has one however" there isn't just one game for Pokemon! There is Pokemon Feels Fine, the Pokemon Stadiums, Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Pinball, the four Gameboy Pokemon games (yellow, green, red, blue), and the upcoming gold and silver. There isn't a shortage of Pokemon games, people will have plenty to buy. Of course, Nintendo will keep on cranking them out to feed people's hunger for Pokemon. In response to you saying NOJ is the homebase of Nintendo, it is the homebase of all videogame companies (I'm talking about the current videogame companies Sega, Nintendo, and Sony). Hate to tell you, but NOA doesn't make ANY games. Duh. What you said about Japan making the games, what's your point? I couldn't find one...
Paragraph 4:
"'Project Dolphin' is highly awaited by American gamers, but Japanese gamers are still unsure as to whether or not it will be any good. They are still scared from the N64's low sales and how poor it is doing there. If PD cannot survive there, it will surely not ever make it here."
In Japan, a lot of people just don't buy the system by the name. This happened with the N64. The Super Famicom was very popular, but people waited to see if the N64 was any good. It isn't like that here, if we like a company we buy their product blindly. If the Dolphin is superior specs-wise to PS2, most people wouldn't want the inferior system. If you went to the link above, you would also see how uneconomical PS2 is and it also is expensive (around $500). Dolphin, however, has better specs (this only on paper, of course) and is cheap to make (this is a fact). So the bottom line is, if you see a PS2 and a Dolphin sitting on a shelf next to each other, you would grab the Dolphin. It isn't a very tough decision. Hmm...should I get the less powerful and more expensive PS2, or go for the more powerful and more expensive Dolphin? I don't totally believe that, though, because it all boils down to the games (what's a system without games!). You said: "If PD cannot survive there, it will surely not ever make it here." That is totally off base. First off, it will survive by the specs it has alone and that it is more economical than the PS2. This is going back to the previous statements. People (not just in Japan) go for the system that has the games, specs (graphics, etc.), and the price. Second, of course it will make it over here! Why wouldn't they go where the demand is? That statement just doesn't make sense...
Paragraph 5:
"On a final note, Sega was very big competition for Nintendo at a time..."
Your point?
