Nintendos Recent Comments in the Midst of Crazy Times

http://www.spong.com/x?art=6057


Discuss

I am really hoping that the mysterious product is not the Q-Player...

I'm not sure if there is an issue to make of this yet. I read some wierd sayings here and there, but all are unclear on anything. At least, as it is posted. I'll hold anything thoughts until some later article comes out which actually says something, IMO.

that's a really good piece right there.

Most importnat point is that games are not selling.

Really, they aren't.

People are spending money on FMVs, bullshit, and sports titles.

Games are not being sold - games are not being made.

The last nex gen game I bought was Viewtiful Joe. Ain't shit I can think to buy after that.

And I have a PS2, but I don't wager I want to play an interactive story right now.

I agree, the tech has plateau'd - this has been stated for years, and frankly, from PSX to N64, to DC to XBox, I feel like we aren't pushing the envelope. It's so all the same now.

Gaming sucks.

I am happy I didn't throw out my NES or SNES.

kiun said:

I am really hoping that the mysterious product is not the Q-Player...

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you mean the GBA player for the Q?

I think that's out in some HK stores now.

EvilWasabi said:

you mean the GBA player for the Q?

I think that's out in some HK stores now.

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My bad.. I was refering to the Nintendo console recently released in China: was it Que player?

EvilWasabi said:

Games are not being sold - games are not being made.

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That's a good point right there.
Really, only fighters and shmups...they seem to be the last stand of gaming.

And...if you want to read how bad the state of shmups are in, read this developers diary from the dev's of R-Type Final:

http://www.gamespy.com/devdiary/january04/rtype1/ [thanks to shapermc ]

To be honest, I'm not AS jaded as you seem to be CHAZ. I mean, I still get quite the kick out of games like DMC2 and PN03. People call them shallow...but they remind me of classics in both gameplay and design.

...But in general...games really do suck lately.

But, don't worry you sons of bitches. Gradius V is going to come out and EJACULATE all over your sullen faces

Kid Aphex said:

http://www.spong.com/x?art=6057


Discuss

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Nintendo's outlook seems bleak, but an upcoming crash isn't that far off. Companies nead to come up with something new for gaming. Granted, Pac-Man Vs. and Mario Party 5 are turning gaming into something truely casual, drag your friends over and play a match. It hasn't beent hat easy to raw non-gamers to your couch since the NES days. (and I really mean it, I remember how appealing gmaing was to non-gamers in the NES days. Despite nearly everyone BEING a gamer, drawing the softcore gamers near the hardcore takes truely special game sint his age).

But really, Nintendo has the weirdest hype machine out therte

Hmmmm .... the big N is acting pretty odd these days it seems. Although I can sort of identify with the guy, since I mostly buy vintage games (occasionally I'll buy a new game, it's sort of rare though). In reality, however, I think that consoles will see at least 2 or three more generations before getting anywhere close to the limits he's talking about. I don't see PS3 or X-box 2 cancelling their plans.

However, has anybody noticed that computer processor speed increases seem to have all but come to a halt? They've done things like FSB speed increases but the clock speed seems to have been hovering around 3.2 GHz forever. Maybe this is what he's talking about? Who knows.

galfordo said:

Hmmmm .... the big N is acting pretty odd these days it seems. Although I can sort of identify with the guy, since I mostly buy vintage games (occasionally I'll buy a new game, it's sort of rare though). In reality, however, I think that consoles will see at least 2 or three more generations before getting anywhere close to the limits he's talking about. I don't see PS3 or X-box 2 cancelling their plans.

However, has anybody noticed that computer processor speed increases seem to have all but come to a halt? They've done things like FSB speed increases but the clock speed seems to have been hovering around 3.2 GHz forever. Maybe this is what he's talking about? Who knows.

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bottlenecks to speed increases are closing in. This is an inevability. The old law that states a transistor dewnsity doubles every 18 motnhs....we're closing to within 15 years of where it loses applicability. If I remember right, in 2018 (assuming all factors remain equal, which seems a t least a little unliekly) transistor density reaches the physical limits of a few molecules.

The idea of a world where PC speed doesn't double every 18 months is both bizarre and frightening, but sooner or later reality will kick in. Technology iwll go on, but not with the clockwork certainty it has since the invention fo the transistor.

The exact reason it seems to be taking so long I don't know, of course.

jethrek said:

bottlenecks to speed increases are closing in. This is an inevability. The old law that states a transistor dewnsity doubles every 18 motnhs....we're closing to within 15 years of where it loses applicability. If I remember right, in 2018 (assuming all factors remain equal, which seems a t least a little unliekly) transistor density reaches the physical limits of a few molecules.

The idea of a world where PC speed doesn't double every 18 months is both bizarre and frightening, but sooner or later reality will kick in. Technology iwll go on, but not with the clockwork certainty it has since the invention fo the transistor.

The exact reason it seems to be taking so long I don't know, of course.

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Yep, it is kinda frightening, but it's also kinda nice - in that I've been using my pokey old 1.7 for over two years now and see no real reason to toss it and dump another grand or so on a new rig.

More money for my insane NGH addiction!!

Anyway, this transistor density issue will undoubtedly affect consoles' computational limits as well. Maybe that really is what this guy's doom and gloom speech is all about . Or maybe he just needs to take it easy on the sauce .

i like the half-biological processors research it s funny thinking we might get living things in our pcs (beside mosquitos or spiders)... i hope it won t eat too much >.<
but seriously, yeah the progress has been fabulous...
but for gaming... well i just do with whatever i get but the game i played most is still mappy on nes... and i still play mappy in 2004 (just played some)

jethrek said:

bottlenecks to speed increases are closing in. This is an inevability. The old law that states a transistor dewnsity doubles every 18 motnhs....we're closing to within 15 years of where it loses applicability. If I remember right, in 2018 (assuming all factors remain equal, which seems a t least a little unliekly) transistor density reaches the physical limits of a few molecules.

The idea of a world where PC speed doesn't double every 18 months is both bizarre and frightening, but sooner or later reality will kick in. Technology iwll go on, but not with the clockwork certainty it has since the invention fo the transistor.

The exact reason it seems to be taking so long I don't know, of course.

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Intel says that limit won't be reached till 2018 I think. They've got a roadmap out till there, and then they're unsure of what to do.

Expect major speed bumps in the coming year as they move beyond the 90nm fab process. AMD and Intel have 4Ghz+ CPU's slated for release by the second quarter of this year on their roadmaps.

On topic: Linky no wokry, someone mirror? I really wanna read this.

Anyone who thinks gaming is getting stale must not know about Doom 3 and Halo 2...

Nintendo have proved they have lost their fucking minds, they think online gaming is a fad! They thought carts were still better than CD's (N64). I don't take anything they say seriously anymore.

And nintendo have been releasing 50% re-hashes from N64 to present.

DashK said:

Anyone who thinks gaming is getting stale must not know about Doom 3 and Halo 2...

Nintendo have proved they have lost their fucking minds, they think online gaming is a fad! They thought carts were still better than CD's (N64). I don't take anything they say seriously anymore.

And nintendo have been releasing 50% re-hashes from N64 to present.

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Cartridges are better than CD's. They're more durable than CD's, and they have damn-near instantaneous load times. Plus, the developers actually have to make good games. Furthermore, they are more resistant to piracy.

Plus, Doom 3 and Halo 2 are just another couple of first-person shooters. Honestly, that genre has been done to death.

i saw this coming, videogames are now like all about the movie, and the bling bling and all that other trendy bullshit. i owned a ps2, gta3 was crap, ggx2 was horrible.nintendo died when they departed with sony, and the ony reason i have a xbox is cause i can play pac-man in 100% speed and 100% sound

FPS's, while neat and all, have been about the stalest things in gaming sanice Doom II was released. Even Goldenye does not get much of an exception to that...

They are all the same damn game. Sports titles vary nearly as much between two years than any two FPS's released in a generation.

DashK said:

Anyone who thinks gaming is getting stale must not know about Doom 3 and Halo 2...

Nintendo have proved they have lost their fucking minds, they think online gaming is a fad! They thought carts were still better than CD's (N64). I don't take anything they say seriously anymore.

And nintendo have been releasing 50% re-hashes from N64 to present.

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While both those titles are going to be interesting and look good....they're few and far between the rest of the bs being shoveled at us...

Honestly this has been the case since the present generation hit or else right before it.

Games don't exist anymore, it's just click here....move here....and the system does it for you. Nintendo is really the one exception...they make games, period.

While the Big N is being overlooked for making quality games, there are those of us that do appreciate what Nintendo, Sega, and Capcom have done for the little Cube that could.

Games like Pikmin, Viewtful Joe, Super Monkeyball, and others define what gaming is. While Halo might make you go ahhhhh and GT4 might make you go oooooooo where is the gameplay?

Halo was just another FPS (which the horse has been beaten enough already) and GT4 is another racer on a platform that is flooded with racers, sports, and mostly any other mediocre genre possible.

It's companies like those mentioned above that know what gaming is, throw in Konami and SNK and there you are pretty much back to the companies that for 20 years have lived for games and not the flavor of the week.

Sony wouldn't be in this business if not for Nintendo and Microsoft wouldn't if they didn't use the Dreamcast as a test for the Windows enviroment in a console setting, they don't care if you only play a game once as long as they have your money.

You can hate the old school companies all you want but there is no denying that if not for the road they paved yesterday...today you would not have your PS2 and X-Box with the shiny bells and whistles but can't produce a decent game even with "Top Quality Game Making for Dummies"

Kid Aphex said:

While both those titles are going to be interesting and look good....they're few and far between the rest of the bs being shoveled at us...

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it's true, but it has always been like this, it just seems there are more crappy titles, because there are more games than ever, since there is more money to be made than ever.

johnroche said:

Cartridges are better than CD's. They're more durable than CD's, and they have damn-near instantaneous load times. Plus, the developers actually have to make good games. Furthermore, they are more resistant to piracy.

Plus, Doom 3 and Halo 2 are just another couple of first-person shooters. Honestly, that genre has been done to death.

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CD's are cheaper, they hold a shit ton more data, when they are coming off the assembly line, the fail rate is lower, the games of today would not even be possible on carts, unless you wanna pay 2 grand per game. load times will become obsolete as system memory gets insane. more resistant to piracy? it's just as easy... and every genre has been done to death IMO, it's adding fresh new elements and approches.

DashK said:

CD's are cheaper, they hold a shit ton more data, when they are coming off the assembly line, the fail rate is lower, the games of today would not even be possible on carts, unless you wanna pay 2 grand per game. load times will become obsolete as system memory gets insane. more resistant to piracy? it's just as easy... and every genre has been done to death IMO, it's adding fresh new elements and approches.

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How do you know they wouldn't be possible on carts? Sure, they'd have to get rid of some of the extraneous shit that they pile on there (FMV, etc.). In fact, games would be better overall, because the companies would have to be more careful not to simply release the same old crap, since they'd be putting more money into each game. Tell me the industry wouldn't be better if the many, many "fly-by-night" companies like Rockstar went out of business (did I mention that GTA is a piece of shit that actually makes me wish Lieberman would become President?).

And it's not "just as easy;" pirating CD-based games is just a matter of dragging it into the hard drive.

And the "fail rate" of the software may be lower, but the fail rate of the hardware becomes more common the more moving parts you have in the system.

And a "shit ton"? What the flaming fuck is a shit ton?

johnroche said:

How do you know they wouldn't be possible on carts? Sure, they'd have to get rid of some of the extraneous shit that they pile on there (FMV, etc.). In fact, games would be better overall, because the companies would have to be more careful not to simply release the same old crap, since they'd be putting more money into each game. Tell me the industry wouldn't be better if the many, many "fly-by-night" companies like Rockstar went out of business (did I mention that GTA is a piece of shit that actually makes me wish Lieberman would become President?).

And it's not "just as easy;" pirating CD-based games is just a matter of dragging it into the hard drive.

And the "fail rate" of the software may be lower, but the fail rate of the hardware becomes more common the more moving parts you have in the system.

And a "shit ton"? What the flaming fuck is a shit ton?

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nintendo should hire you, that's all i gotta say. if you think Halo could be done on CART, you are a fucking mad genius. and that game has NO FMV. N64 carts ran 59.99 for PSX level stuff, you think xbox or GC games could be done on cart for even double that? No way... look how much neo carts are, they are only doing 16 bit stuff.

Who cares about Halo, that's all i hear out of anyone's mouth is fuckin Halo. John's right, any shithead with a computer can pirate a cd but do you even have the first idea on how to pirate a cart? I know I don't. Also, piracy = loss = less money to make better games. All these people want today is all the bells and whistles, but where's the gameplay at? Sure a game can look nice, but if it plays like shit it doesn't matter how good the game looks. I know this is a strange example, but look at Animal Crossing. That game was so fuckin original and fun to play that I would get my ass outta bed early everyday just so I could get a few hours in. And you know what? It had N64-esqu graphics on a next gen system, but I didn't give a shit cuz it played so well. I'm with the rest of these guys in saying you can keep your cds, I'll take better gameplay anyday.

My favorite GameCube games

Cubivore
Animal Crossing
Pac-Man Vs.
Viewtiful Joe
Ikaruga
Super Monkey Ball

hardly the most hardware intensive games on the platform.