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Viewtiful Jew posted:So who exactly are you guys expecting to be the new CEO? Somebody who's both not Japanese as well as being someone who doesn't already work for the company in some capacity? Someone who knows it's 2013, knows that region locking is loving retarded, knows that strong third-party support is a necessity, and knows that a strong online infrastructure is essential nowadays.
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Sep 26, 2013 04:01
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Expecting or wishing for? Two different things.
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Sep 26, 2013 04:06
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If Iwata does get ousted there is 0 chance his replacement is not another stodgy old Japanese dude.
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Sep 26, 2013 04:17
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At this rate I wouldn't be surprised if they brought in Bernie Stolar.
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Sep 26, 2013 04:26
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Viewtiful Jew posted:So who exactly are you guys expecting to be the new CEO? Somebody who's both not Japanese as well as being someone who doesn't already work for the company in some capacity? Ha, hahaha, ha. No. I suspect that there aren't really any names that I could name off that would be at all likely. Instead I'll list qualities that that person might have... He could be a family member of Yamauchi's since they are still the largest stock holders. He could be someone who is more associated with the handheld market. I think the handhelds and home consoles are developed in tandem by the same division of the company but that wasn't always the case and some people, behind the scenes, are probably more associated with one than the other. Like the head of the old Gameboy unit if he's still kicking around. Nintendo of current is very internally focused so if the current stakeholders retain control then those are the areas I would look at. If however Iwata's leaving is more based on being forced out than voluntarily resigning then there is no real clue, though I suspect that the person would still be Japanese and probably have some experience running a tech or games company. In that case honestly we'd be likely to get a temporary pres for six months or so until the new board chairman can do a thorough search.
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Sep 26, 2013 04:37
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The tricky thing with the whole idea of discontinuing Wii U support is that it would burn up any consumer trust in the next platform. The main selling point of the Wii U right now is the knowledge that it will be supported with respected first-party titles even if every third-party abandons it. Betray that minimal expectation, and nobody will have any confidence in the next machine. What Nintendo needs to do right now is strengthen their reputation through good services, feature upgrades, and a continued stream of titles. And then they can leverage that reputation when they're trying to sell consumers on their next platform.
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Sep 26, 2013 04:45
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Here's what I don't understand - and pardon me if others have suggested it or there are credible rumors or whatever - but why doesn't Nintendo just strip the tablet entirely from the Wii U, slash ~$150 off of the system price in the process, still sell the pad as an option, and allow anyone with a 3DS to use it as the gamepad for controlling the U?
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Sep 26, 2013 05:06
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The 3DS doesn't have the hardware to receive a video signal and function as a Gamepad, and all current Wii U software and firmware would have to be patched to account for potential lack of a Gamepad.
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Sep 26, 2013 05:09
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Transistor Rhythm posted:Here's what I don't understand - and pardon me if others have suggested it or there are credible rumors or whatever - but why doesn't Nintendo just strip the tablet entirely from the Wii U, slash ~$150 off of the system price in the process, still sell the pad as an option, and allow anyone with a 3DS to use it as the gamepad for controlling the U? Oh hey, its this question again! edit: Except for the 3DS part, in which the answer will probably be that despite looking the same they run off slightly different technology. Also the fact that the 3DS is lacking a number of buttons, most importantly the second control stick.
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Sep 26, 2013 05:12
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No 3DS game to date requires the 3D to play it and there's no real loss aside from aesthetics from not using it (in fact, many don't). Many Wii U games do use the tablet, so removing the tablet would be more akin to asking why the 3DS doesn't just remove it's touch screen.
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Sep 26, 2013 05:14
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Transistor Rhythm posted:Here's what I don't understand - and pardon me if others have suggested it or there are credible rumors or whatever - but why doesn't Nintendo just strip the tablet entirely from the Wii U, slash ~$150 off of the system price in the process, still sell the pad as an option, and allow anyone with a 3DS to use it as the gamepad for controlling the U? The Wii U tablet is a feature in almost every existing Wii U game to date in some fashion and there are several games which literally can't run without it. Unless they had some resolution to that or were willing to leave a lot of games (including most of their first party titles) either unplayable or with features disabled, it isn't going to be something they can just remove. Even if they did remove it, the 3DS is different hardware and can't function as a replacement. It has fewer buttons (two shoulder buttons instead of four) and only had a second joystick with an optional add-on nobody bought and which is only supporting by 1 out of 3 existing models. Even if you assumed they could make the 3DS function as a knockoff gamepad, it wouldn't be able to mimic the basic functionality. Even beyond that it is unlikely the tablet adds enough to the machine's cost that they could drop $150 off the price. ImpAtom fucked around with this message at 05:21 on Sep 26, 2013 |
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Sep 26, 2013 05:18
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Transistor Rhythm posted:Here's what I don't understand - and pardon me if others have suggested it or there are credible rumors or whatever - but why doesn't Nintendo just strip the tablet entirely from the Wii U, slash ~$150 off of the system price in the process, still sell the pad as an option, and allow anyone with a 3DS to use it as the gamepad for controlling the U? By not having native support for the game pad out of the box, nobody would develop for it and the Wii U loses the one unique things it has going for it. It becomes an accessory that gets the level of support of Wii Motion Plus and the Balance Board. 3DS doesn't have the button set up to make it a viable Wii U controller (missing two shoulder buttons and an analog stick). They are better off just slashing $150 off the existing system and taking a loss to move units. R&D on a new console that would need to be able to technically compete with the PS4/XBO would mean they would have to take a huge loss on every system sold, and that's not even with a guarantee that whatever monstrosity they create will sell either giving the PS4/XBO a year+ head start... If that's the case they are better off doing a massive price cut on the system to increase the user base, taking a similar loss on each system sold without the upfront R&D of a new console.
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Sep 26, 2013 05:32
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Supercar Gautier posted:The 3DS doesn't have the hardware to receive a video signal and function as a Gamepad, and all current Wii U software and firmware would have to be patched to account for potential lack of a Gamepad. I'd actually buy an expanded 3DS model that came with this capability (and the necessary modifications for it to work), except I'm pretty sure I'm hosed for system transfers at this point and don't want to lose those digital games being on one unit. fivegears4reverse fucked around with this message at 05:38 on Sep 26, 2013 |
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Sep 26, 2013 05:33
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Rorus Raz posted:What would Nintendo do? Announce a new console at E3 2014 (more likely 2015) and drop the Wii U? Or just quietly slow Wii U games development to a crawl and coast on the 3DS until they get another shot for the NEXT generation? What will they do? Keep Iwata because dropping him would mean losing face, or at best, hire another stodgy old Japanese guy. Keep on pretending that the whole world is Japan, that the internet is a meaningless fad, and that HDTVs are three or four years away from mass adoption on any real scale. Think up another gimmick and try to catch that Wii lightning in a bottle again. Fail miserably.
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Sep 26, 2013 06:05
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Should we amend the OP with a stock answer to "why they can't just strip out the Gamepad"?TaurusOxford posted:Someone who knows it's 2013, knows that region locking is loving retarded, knows that strong third-party support is a necessity, and knows that a strong online infrastructure is essential nowadays. Don Mattrick 
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Sep 26, 2013 07:59
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People keep suggesting that Nintendo should bring more powerful hardware to the market as if it would fix anything, but I really don't think it would do much at all as far as courting third party developers. Industry talking heads have said time and again over the last decade that people buy Nintendo hardware to play Nintendo games, and there's little point in developing for a Nintendo platform because people will just buy Mario instead. Even the Wii pretty much only sold Nintendo games, party game collections, and Just Dance. It doesn't matter if your system *can* run GTA5 if nobody is interested in buying it for that platform. Even when Nintendo's consoles are successful and well-advertised, they don't bring in third-party developers because there's no money to be had there. I'm not sure what Nintendo can do to mend their relationships with third parties at this point, but I can't see hardware and marketing alone making that large a difference.
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Sep 26, 2013 09:07
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unimportantguy posted:I'm not sure what Nintendo can do to mend their relationships with third parties at this point, but I can't see hardware and marketing alone making that large a difference. It would make a bigger difference than you think. Sony and Microsoft went to all the major third-party devs and asked them what they wanted out of the next-gen consoles, and did their best to provide them with the necessities. Nintendo on the other hand made a console that catered to their game development only since they are still new to HD games while everyone has been doing it for 7 years now. Nintendo made no effort to make the WiiU cater to third-party devs, which is something they have been doing since the N64, except now it's finally catching up to them and the WiiU shows no signs of being the colossal fluke the Wii was.
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Sep 26, 2013 09:17
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Well to be fair, other than the minidisks the Gamecube was well suited to third party disks. And even then its not like Nintendo knew that DVDs would be standard, the previous gen had used CDs and then the Dreamcast, which was part of the same gen, used GDs, didn't it? Not to mention the benefits that mini-disks offered in combating piracy. It was certainly more third-party friendly than the N64 was anyway in everything but userbase.
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Sep 26, 2013 09:29
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TaurusOxford posted:Someone who knows it's 2013, knows that region locking is loving retarded, knows that strong third-party support is a necessity, and knows that a strong online infrastructure is essential nowadays. The average person really really does not give a poo poo about region locking, since they'll never have reason to buy a game in a language they can't understand or even be aware it exists in another region but not theirs. Cliff Racer posted:Well to be fair, other than the minidisks the Gamecube was well suited to third party disks. And even then its not like Nintendo knew that DVDs would be standard, the previous gen had used CDs and then the Dreamcast, which was part of the same gen, used GDs, didn't it? Not to mention the benefits that mini-disks offered in combating piracy. It was certainly more third-party friendly than the N64 was anyway in everything but userbase. The Dreamcast used GD because DVD reading stuff was mad expensive in 1998 (which was when the Dreamcast launched in Japan). If Sega had waited a few years to put out the Dreamcast, it might have launched with DVD as the media like the PS2 and Xbox did. The GD essentially worked by using a standard CD read mechanism with a few cheap tweaks versus the expense of a DVD setup for that time period. Nintendo Kid fucked around with this message at 09:48 on Sep 26, 2013 |
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Sep 26, 2013 09:45
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Except the small discs had less capacity that the ones the Xbox and PS2 where using, so games had to be cut down a bit or missing features to be put on the cube.
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Sep 26, 2013 09:46
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Install Windows posted:The average person really really does not give a poo poo about region locking What's you point? Even if Joe Shmoe doesn't care or even know what region locking is, the fact of the matter is that I can buy whatever Gundam games I want for the PS3 or the Vita with no issues. I'm a happy gamer, and all Sony had to do is not embrace a piece of poo poo feature.
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Sep 26, 2013 09:52
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TaurusOxford posted:What's you point? Even if Joe Shmoe doesn't care or even know what region locking is, the fact of the matter is that I can buy whatever Gundam games I want for the PS3 or the Vita with no issues. I'm a happy gamer, and all Sony had to do is not embrace a piece of poo poo feature. Sony still had region locking support built into the PS3 at least, it was simply publishers' decisions to not use it dude. And you're one of like 10 people to own a Vita so I don't think lack of region locking is all that important there. Lack of region lock will never be the key to a console being a success.
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Sep 26, 2013 09:58
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Install Windows posted:And you're one of like 10 people to own a Vita so I don't think lack of region locking is all that important there. And one of 80 million almost who own a PS3, where it's optional and was rarely, if ever enforced as opposed to being a thing that was always present and only further pisses off the kind of people that Nintendo was aiming the Wii U at. It isn't the key to winning a console generation, but Nintendo kinda needs to not do things that make consumers who aren't diehard fans upset with/confused by them.
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Sep 26, 2013 10:17
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Install Windows posted:The average person really really does not give a poo poo about region locking, since they'll never have reason to buy a game in a language they can't understand or even be aware it exists in another region but not theirs. Sometimes countries that share the same dominant language are in different regions. Even for games in different languages, if language isn't significant or there's enough interest anyway, a lack of region-lock allows retailers to import titles at their discretion. This was the case at the Fry's Electronics in Austin. I remember seeing Ouendan and a few other Japanese titles for sale there in the mid-2000s. Actually, Wikipedia says: "Following high import sales for Ouendan, Nintendo and iNiS developed Elite Beat Agents, released in North America in November 2006 and in Europe on May 2007." So when it came to release a new handheld, Nintendo's infallible business strategists looked at that and said, "We must ensure something like this never happens again." Region locking is especially braindead when applied to portable consoles, since it discourages game purchases while traveling. The money I might've spent on Wii or 3DS games went towards books and records instead. My brother bought a Wii game, but he had to use technology also useful to pirates in order to get his system to play it. Either way, it's a purchase-prevention mechanism, and that's the absolute last thing the Wii U needs.
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Sep 26, 2013 10:27
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Region locking is stupid and pointless, but I'd bet that there aren't many people in America that even know what it is, and the number of people that both know and care has got to be microscopic. Can't speak for other regions.
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Sep 26, 2013 10:30
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Cliff Racer posted:Well to be fair, other than the minidisks the Gamecube was well suited to third party disks. And even then its not like Nintendo knew that DVDs would be standard, the previous gen had used CDs and then the Dreamcast, which was part of the same gen, used GDs, didn't it? Not to mention the benefits that mini-disks offered in combating piracy. It was certainly more third-party friendly than the N64 was anyway in everything but userbase. I remember in some cases that the controller left a lot to be desired. That little nub of a c-stick sucked for playing FPS games on it, and I remember one of the reasons that I chose not to get 007: Everything or Nothing for Gamecube was because the control scheme for it sucked.
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Sep 26, 2013 10:32
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Yip Yips posted:Region locking is stupid and pointless, but I'd bet that there aren't many people in America that even know what it is, and the number of people that both know and care has got to be microscopic. PAL regions have traditionally been bent over on pricing and release schedules depending on the country, so it can be a big deal. There's no logical reason for it given digital distribution existing and the sheer number of people who speak English as a second language. Hell, Australia has prices so bad, they're considering banning region-locked devices altogether. Granted, that amounts to Nintendo consoles and Blu-ray players at this point  I'm pretty convinced that even Microsoft caved because they don't want to deal with potential legislation. I tend to bitch about some games being over-priced like anyone else living in the States, but the only country that has cheaper prices than the US is Russia.I don't think you can pin the Wii U's problems on region-locking, though it would be nice to be rid of that poo poo on my 3DS 
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Sep 26, 2013 11:03
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I dunno what the numbers say but I and my (PAL) game-playing friends were aware of what region-locking was and how it was screwing us as far back as secondary school. It's not a killer app but it's a thing that helps and builds goodwill, and Nintendo can't afford to neglect those things. It might not be a big deal in America but I bet everyone else is acutely aware of it, and America is less than half of the market.
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Sep 26, 2013 11:26
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Supercar Gautier posted:The tricky thing with the whole idea of discontinuing Wii U support is that it would burn up any consumer trust in the next platform. The main selling point of the Wii U right now is the knowledge that it will be supported with respected first-party titles even if every third-party abandons it. Betray that minimal expectation, and nobody will have any confidence in the next machine. Any other product and I would agree with you, but gamers have memories like goldfish. Just look at the support the Xbone is getting. Nintendo could have another one of their Nintendo Direct presentations, open with a slide titled "what's new for Wii U?" and then intentionally show goate.csx or a huge middle finger. There would be outage at first, but as soon as Nintendo dangles something shiny enough in front of gamers' eyes, all would be instantly forgiven.
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Sep 26, 2013 12:46
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Nintendo should make a Steam Machine with Nintendo exclusives. They could get it out quickly and they wouldn't have to worry about third party support.
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Sep 26, 2013 13:46
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Dolphin posted:Nintendo should make a Steam Machine with Nintendo exclusives. They could get it out quickly and they wouldn't have to worry about third party support. I have a feeling part of the Steam Machine cert process will include stipulations like "you are not allowed to have exclusive software that requires your specific box" barring stuff like hardware drivers.
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Sep 26, 2013 13:49
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What if Reggie took over? He seems like he is completely aware of many of Nintendo's problems but basically has his hands tied behind his back and has to bullshit a lot in interviews.
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Sep 26, 2013 13:59
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univbee posted:I have a feeling part of the Steam Machine cert process will include stipulations like "you are not allowed to have exclusive software that requires your specific box" barring stuff like hardware drivers. Dolphin fucked around with this message at 14:02 on Sep 26, 2013 |
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Sep 26, 2013 14:00
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Dolphin posted:I'm not sure. I bet they could make a proprietary disk standard for their box. 
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Sep 26, 2013 14:01
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greatn posted:What if Reggie took over? I dunno, it's hard to get a read on anything Reggie genuinely thinks because he's pretty good at stating absolutely nothing but the marketing-approved party line, word-for-word.
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Sep 26, 2013 14:02
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Nintendo loves that poo poo. That's why they went with the tiny Gamecube discs.
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Sep 26, 2013 14:05
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unimportantguy posted:People keep suggesting that Nintendo should bring more powerful hardware to the market as if it would fix anything, but I really don't think it would do much at all as far as courting third party developers. Industry talking heads have said time and again over the last decade that people buy Nintendo hardware to play Nintendo games, and there's little point in developing for a Nintendo platform because people will just buy Mario instead. Even the Wii pretty much only sold Nintendo games, party game collections, and Just Dance. It doesn't matter if your system *can* run GTA5 if nobody is interested in buying it for that platform. Even when Nintendo's consoles are successful and well-advertised, they don't bring in third-party developers because there's no money to be had there. And lets be honest, would anybody in here buy a $500 system for Mario games? It alienates the one demographic they actually have a hold of, kids and families. System could be more powerful than the PS4, first complaint will be to lower the price because nobody is buying that poo poo.
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Sep 26, 2013 14:06
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Obviously this is a big hypothetical pipedream but: I want Nintendo to make their own official version of the RetroN 5 with eshop support. Obviously it wouldn't have the ability to play whatever roms you want but presumably Nintendo could manufacture the things even cheaper and a hybrid classic cartridge plus virtual console machine for $50 with a couple preinstalled games would sell to me and most of the nerds I know in a heartbeat. You can currently buy newly made, officially licensed Genesis consoles with a ton of good, preinstalled games for $50 or less. I want Nintendo to do that exact same thing plus network support for selling games but it will never happen. A True Jar Jar Fan fucked around with this message at 14:30 on Sep 26, 2013 |
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Sep 26, 2013 14:24
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Dolphin posted:Nintendo loves that poo poo. That's why they went with the tiny Gamecube discs. Back in the day they loved how the NES let them have total lockdown on how many carts could be produced (Publishers had to request a certain number of carts and Nintendo would give no more than they were willing). They never really broke from that mindset.
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Sep 26, 2013 14:39
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Sounds like an absurd way to run a business. Lets limit potential sales that's a great idea!
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