| Subject: Re: Inner-Board Roundtable #1 |
Author:
KevinCube
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Date Posted: 15:57:26 04/19/02 Fri
In reply to:
MODERATOR
's message, "Inner-Board Roundtable #1" on 14:06:51 04/18/02 Thu
I feel a number of different ways on this issue.
Sure, I fully understand the huge impact that GTA3 has had on the market. I've seen the hysteria. I've stared in awe at the sales numbers. I'm aware that people still play it every day...
When I think about the Nintendo GameCube, however, and I consider its presence in the world of console gaming over these next years, I don't see the addition of GTA3 as radical or beneficial as I guess you guys do. I think Eternal Darkness will build for itself a new and respectable following without tapping in to what Sony has already done. ED will blaze its [i]own[/i] trail, and therein lies integrity. Therein lies innovation. Therein lies... the Nintendo difference. An excellent game that is all Nintendo's own. No one can touch it. That, to me, is more beneficial.
If we were to get the non-exclusive GTA3, it very well could turn quite a few heads - especially those of the casual gamers. But (as you guys have already stated) Sony has the fanbase and the sales. If you release a major game on all three next gen consoles, Sony will have the numbers to substantiate the PS2 userbase. We have Madden and Tony 3, and those were some of the best-selling titles of last year... but not because they were on Cube. It was all because of Sony.
When a major "casual gamer title" is ported, we don't see casual gamers buying GameCubes all of a sudden. The fact is, we're getting the games late - really late. Most of those people already own GTA3. And most of the Nintendo diehards already bought it if they really wanted to play. This is not hard to understand, since so many GCN fans own a PS2 as well.
To succeed in winning more casual/mainstream gamer market Nintendo needs to pull them in with things they [b]can't[/b] get on their PS2. Furthermore, Nintendo needs to prove to developers that the GameCube is a viable place to put a game with mature content. They need to prove a mature game can survive and thrive on their hardware. Only then will we see franchises like GTA come to the Cube. But like I said, it's not enough to get great mature content ported long after initial release on PS2 - Nintendo needs developers to have the faith and foresight to simultaneously release games of that nature. While Micro$oft seems content to throw millions into getting enhanced scraps from Sony's proverbial table, this has never been Nintendo's style and I doubt it will ever be.
Not to mention the fact that GCN ports of PS2-designed games have to put up with PS2's terrible weaknesses and bottlenecks. This is a separate issue, though...
If I was a casual gamer, I would not buy a GameCube simply because it had GTA3. Most likely I'd already have a PS2 and I'd be happy. If I didn't have a console yet and I wanted that game, I would buy a PS2 and not a Cube because I know of other poular games that are mature and cool on that system. [b]It's not duplicate software that will turn the tables[/b], because by that logic Nintendo should just start calling Sony "Daddy."
It's not always the most popular thing that is the most legendary. For example, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno is the most-watched late night show EIGHT YEARS STRAIGHT. The majority of people watch Jay. But fifty years from now, people will look back and remember not Jay, but Dave. It is Letterman who is the legend. Letterman has the larger crop of avid, diehard supporters. Letterman has innovated more, explored territory first, and broken ground. Dave Letterman is a legend, Jay Leno is a pop culture icon... for the time being.
So many Nintendo fans want Nintendo to be a "Lenoman," but we can't expect the market to always be the same as it was between '87 and '94. Times have changed, and personally I'll be fine sticking with Dave (Nintendo) until the rest of the world sees the value in it. And for that to happen, we need to see the Cube benefit [b][i]on its own[/b][/i]. Games like ED are what will make this happen. Getting GTA3 would help, but it will take ED to even get that far.
Eternal Darkness is the more beneficial game.
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