Gaming Signal: Nintendo gets a pass?

Nintendo gets a pass?

Last year, when Microsoft had trouble meeting the demand for XBOX 360's in the US, people gave them a ton of grief. The fact that there weren't then, and still aren't, that many compelling titles for the box was of no issue - people were still talking about Microsoft's blunder for not having that many and launching anyway. Frankly, at the time I thought it was marketing hype and that a slew of them would make release just prior to XMas, but it didn't happen (I was dead wrong.) At the time, people complained that they had pushed the box out too early in order to beat Nintendo and Sony to market, and there were a slew of issues to prove that - the unit was too hot, the power supply was too hot, the power supply was flaky, etc.

Fast forward to this year, when Sony is having all sorts of trouble meeting demand for the PS3. The pundits are again out in force criticising them for pushing the box out early, for not having enough quantity, for the price being too high, and for problems they feel are caused by pushing a BlueRay into the box, etc.

At the same time, Nintendo is getting nothing but praise for the Wii - about how it is priced for families, how the unique gameplay is so great, and how they know how to run a launch. But wait - this isn't the case at all. The available quantity of Wii's is so low, that retailers (like Walmart) are only selling it with bloated bundles full of crap (Walmart's has a case for the Wii so you can carry it around - wtf?) And these bundles are selling for $400-$600 (strangely similar to the PS3's price) and no doubt giving the retailer some fat profits. And the honest Wii owners have admitted that besides the controller, the unit isn't much different than a Gamecube (and for certain games, the Gamecube - and it's standard controller - is actually better than the Wii.) But do you see mass blog posts and game news sites criticising Nintendo? I don't. Why are they getting a free ride?

Wii's younger fan base could be part of the reason. There just aren't that many rabid rude elementary school fanboi's. Also, the type of gamer (casual) that the Wii is attracting are also usually not associated with fanboi-ness.

I think the fanboi "L334 haX0rz" are mostly "system spec" freaks and like to fire spec stat volleys at each other in user forums. They like doing that, it is their "fun" when not glued to a console.

PC gaming is the real conundrum to me. They have the casual and the fanboi types and both camps still seem to get along pretty well. Far better than the console kiddies.

Back on point: I don't think the Wii is getting a "pass" per-se. I think Nintendo was just a little more honest about shipping/availability prospects because they knew the real vehement fanbois were already arguing about 360/PS3 superiority and that took a lot of heat off the Nintendo marketing machines need to "spin" news about their release.

In a nut-shell, Nintendo didn't push the "next-gen" marketing button and avoided a lot of negative press that way. Smart in my opinion.

Posted by Trent on Wednesday December 13, 2006 at 2:45 PM

Personally, I think it has less to do with the words "next-gen" and more about truth of the delivered product. I also think Nintendo is one of those companies we all secretly love. They make high quality gear that may not necessarily push the boundaries of graphics, but instead focus on what gaming is about. Its "fun". I know I can look at many games on the Gamecube and now the Wii and say those look fun. Now I know there are titles on the other boxes that are deep and well written, but at the end - it is all about fun. This factor combined with a reasonable price point (still too high for me), a real backward compatibility story, and a decent launch list and it is a recipe for success.

As for the price gouging, that is not Nintendo. That is the Walmarts, Gamestops, and Best Buys of the world realizing they can squeek out extra profit since the darned things are so popular. Can Nintendo fix it? Not really, the numbers are not there, and probably won't be until sometime next year.

As for why PC gamers, they are too busy battling it out with console guys about why the PC is so much better. I won't go into that discussion here...

Posted by Tim on Wednesday December 13, 2006 at 5:16 PM

What I don't understand about the current generation of consoles (other than Wii) is why do they think Mr Me would be interested in a BlueRay or HDDVD for a gaming console? I don't know the cost associated with including those things, but I bet it isn't cheap. They should have stuck with standard DVD in my opinion

Posted by Bob on Friday December 15, 2006 at 11:44 AM

Psst, Bob. The 360 comes with a standard DVD player. You can buy an HD-DVD player as an option, but they don't force it on you. Sony, however, loves to sell its own proprietary, almost sure to fail technology on people (Beta, UMD, the memory stick thingy I can't remember the name of, and, possibly, Blu-Ray).

Posted by JP on Monday December 18, 2006 at 4:48 PM

While JP likes to bash Sony, the current HD format war is not over and there is no standard. The reason Sony put the Blu-Ray into the machine is the same reason the original PS2 had a DVD player - to increase the overall value of the machine. Time will tell whether that decision was a good one, but that was definitely something they had in mind.

Posted by Tim on Monday December 18, 2006 at 10:12 PM

I reject the premise that Nintendo is getting a free ride. The fact that gamers and the press haven't lambasted them for console availability, launch title lineup, and for overhyping their products does not mean they are getting a free ride. I think Trent was spot on that Nintendo did not crank up the hype machine for functionality and features they could not deliver. They focused on their unique controller and low price point and delivered both. Remember too that just six months ago many had not heard of the Wii but they had heard the siren's call of the ps3 for a year already. Don't blame Nintendo for Sony's failures.

To examine this topic from another viewpoint, couldn't one argue that Nintendo has not received a free ride but rather they have been unfairly criticized? If we look back to their Gamecube, wasn't this console underrated and unjustifiably lambasted by the gaming press and gamers alike? The Gamecube was said to be not as good as the ps2 and xbox yet it cranked out excellent games such as Resident Evil 4, GoldenEye, and a slew of competent Nintendo titles. Hasn't the Gamecube controller proven to be quite capable by even the hardcore gaming dilettante?

I'm no fanboy but Nintendo's Wii has delivered good value-for-money and has allowed me to share gaming with a slew of people that would never pick up a traditional gaming controller. I still plan to use the system for traditional hardcore gaming despite its less than incredible, yet still satisfying, graphics capabilities. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go verify the download date for ToeJam and Earl on my Opera based Wii browser.

Posted by Dean on Friday December 22, 2006 at 6:59 AM