Nintendo Plan of Attack

[Crash]

PSP, the one thing many thought would spell the defeat of Nintendo and the permanent reign of Sony to the gaming world. GBE the ultimate plan of attack for Nintendo to regain the near gaming-monopoly it held in the SNES era. Hold that thought and try to comprehend the genius planning that Nintendo went through to come up with a plan of this immense brilliance, risk, sacrifice, and threat.

1999, next Gen R&D at Nintendo had begun. After taking unexpected losses to the Sony Playstation, and seeing the sheer dominance and popularity of the ps2 was gaining Nintendo knew they couldn’t regain what they had lost in one generation. Enter the plan to take the gaming industry by storm. Launch the system in a variety of colors, something ps2 didn’t have, market in purple and black, and advertise as a family system. Some thought such a move was suicidal, but there was much more to come. Still having a virtual monopoly in the handheld market Nintendo decided to slow-play their hand and hold of the release of the “Nitro”, instead releasing a weaker and cheaper, GBA. With the success of GBA Nintendo decides to implement an expansion of controller pak-like connectivity as seen with the N64 and Pokemon stadium. This would offer something that ps2 didn’t have. Nintendo knew the connectivity wouldn’t take off right off the bat. But it would become a known, and heard of idea. Something they could use 2 generations later, people would know the concept, and Nintendo would market it in an outstanding way.

Phase one

E3 2004. Around a mass hyped PSP, Nintendo had the first step in its master plan up its sleeve about to be shown. The Nintendo DS. Until then most were skeptic, but seeing the new and innovative features of the DS. Many companies realized an untapped potential of the system.

Phase two

Market the DS as a “third pillar”; assure the public that the GB line will continue and that the DS would not be the next game boy. Many speculated that this would simply be a way for Nintendo to retreat should DS become a failure against PSP. Not all was as it seemed Nintendo had far more up its sleeve than anyone could have possibly imagined.

Phase three

Enter: Evolution and Revolution. Bold names for a company on “The brink of defeat”, as some analysts would say. Nobody truly knew what to expect, or, better yet knows what to expect. With the DS out for only a year Nintendo announced what would be, the biggest news in handheld history, every. Releasing 2 systems within one year of each other, many speculate DS owners to get fed up with Nintendo and move to PSP, some as myself, see that things will play out in a different manner.

Phase four

The revolution will house a wireless Internet connection capable of connecting to multiple DS and GBE units at once. The Revolution will be able to acquire Internet via wireless router, or normal Ethernet, as to appeal to gamers of all broadband situations. Now, PSP throw in the towel here come the 2 final punches. HDDS: hard disk DS. A mini hard disk inserted into the DS’s GBA slot capable of allowing 20-50 gigs of memory for, music, media, firmware updates, Nintendo’s own PDA software and more. The Revolution will be used, as a wireless hotspot where such downloads, as well as online DS gaming will take place. Here’s the knockout blow, The GBE. Nintendo originally had been developing a handheld gamecube since the Gab’s final days. However it was far too expensive to shrink the hardware to the size of a GBA at a reasonable price, until now. Gamecube is already the smallest system, running on mini-DVD format, anyone wonder why? Because Nintendo was waiting to drop the bomb, PSP comes out, Nintendo keeps GBE on the low pro, and when Sony least expected it BAM cheap portable gamecube. Crushing PSP in processing power and game library with over 500 games to date .It will be the next GB entry in Nintendo’s “three pillars”
Beating PSP to a pulp is what Nintendo has in mind and from what I can see, I'm liking the looks of things.

[Jason1]

Hmmmm...its possible.

But I doubt it.

[Crash]

Sony annouced plans to make a 30 gig hd version of the PSP... this explains why..

[DarkMaster]

That's quite the plan. Although they forgot the part where they get significant third party developer support.

[Vampyr]

That's quite the plan. Although they forgot the part where they get significant third party developer support.

"Hey, we have the best and coolest hardware on the market!"

...

"Holy ****, we don't have any games for it!"

Yeah.

:(

[Solid Snake]

What do you mean no games? Yeah maybe not as much as the PS2, but if the Game Boy Evolution will be able to play Game Cube games then Nintendo will already have 100's of games to play at launch.

Combine all this with wifi technology, hard drive for DS, palm software, and conectivity between systems. Nintendo will be the hottest thing since sliced bread.

If this is true, I'm sold.

Please let this be true...please.... :bab:

[KillerGremlin]

LOLZ!

That was a pretty long winded post. Props, but no cigar.

PSP, the one thing many thought would spell the defeat of Nintendo and the permanent reign of Sony to the gaming world. GBE the ultimate plan of attack for Nintendo to regain the near gaming-monopoly it held in the SNES era. Hold that thought and try to comprehend the genius planning that Nintendo went through to come up with a plan of this immense brilliance, risk, sacrifice, and threat.

Before I start bitching, I want to point out that the PSP hasn't even hit the United States yet, it hasn't even had a year to be around, and your post is a hypothetical fanboy post. I don't even know why I'm taking the time to complain....

1999, next Gen R&D at Nintendo had begun. After taking unexpected losses to the Sony Playstation, and seeing the sheer dominance and popularity of the ps2 was gaining Nintendo knew they couldn’t regain what they had lost in one generation. Enter the plan to take the gaming industry by storm. Launch the system in a variety of colors, something ps2 didn’t have, market in purple and black, and advertise as a family system. Some thought such a move was suicidal, but there was much more to come. Still having a virtual monopoly in the handheld market Nintendo decided to slow-play their hand and hold of the release of the “Nitro”, instead releasing a weaker and cheaper, GBA. With the success of GBA Nintendo decides to implement an expansion of controller pak-like connectivity as seen with the N64 and Pokemon stadium. This would offer something that ps2 didn’t have. Nintendo knew the connectivity wouldn’t take off right off the bat. But it would become a known, and heard of idea. Something they could use 2 generations later, people would know the concept, and Nintendo would market it in an outstanding way.

I'd just like to point out that Nintendo never did lose because of hardware. You have to understand, the N64 kicked the Playstation's ass on every end of the hardware department. Hell, the Gamecube kicks the PS2's ass in the hardware department. Connectivity or not, Sony took the market by storm through 3rd party support and great games. I'm not saying that Nintendo's hardware is bad, I'm just saying that if phase one of Nintendo's plan is to focus on hardware and ignore the important part of gaming (the gaming), then they have a long road of pain ahead of them. I just want to point out that the SNES was technically superior to the Genesis, but it held its own past the Saturn and up till the Playstation because of its gaming.

Phase one

E3 2004. Around a mass hyped PSP, Nintendo had the first step in its master plan up its sleeve about to be shown. The Nintendo DS. Until then most were skeptic, but seeing the new and innovative features of the DS. Many companies realized an untapped potential of the system.

The DS is very very cool. However, I think "Master Plan" is being a bit unfair to Sony. I think "ironic" would be a better word to use, considering Nintendo went into what could be described as a "frenzy" after hearing that Sony had a handheld in the works. The DS was retalliation to the PSP, it wasn't a piece of hardware Nintendo had in the works, at least it's not likely. Consider: The DS was a rushed handheld, a VERY rushed handheld. It has almost no first or third party support right now, it only has a few games out right now, and everything is still a few months from starting to show completion. Two, Nintendo has already suggested they have an improved version of the DS in the works (Another kick in the nuts to Nintendo fans that bought a DS). I agree that the DS has untappable potential, but, it will be interesting to see how much of that potential gets tapped. Again, not to ignore the hardware, but hardware doesn't mean much when you have good games. I'd much rather play a racing game on the PSP and have a full screen with sexy PS2 graphics oppossed to playing a racing game on the DS and have average graphics on the top screen, and a map on the bottom screen. Not having a map in view 24/7 has never bothered me in the past, and, that has been the primary use of the second screen on the DS for the most part - so far. So, yes, the DS is something that has a lot of potential. The question remains, how many companies will actually make good use of this technology.


Phase two

Market the DS as a “third pillar”; assure the public that the GB line will continue and that the DS would not be the next game boy. Many speculated that this would simply be a way for Nintendo to retreat should DS become a failure against PSP. Not all was as it seemed Nintendo had far more up its sleeve than anyone could have possibly imagined.

Third pillar my ass. Nintendo avoided the question "will there be another GBA." The DS was supposed to fill that void, and I was thinking for a minute that it would have. That is until I got my DS, and then I got to play my friends PSP. The DS is a damn good piece of hardware, but so is the PSP. Nintendo has every right to be afraid. Aside from the price tag, the PSP is an equally impressive if not superior piece of hardware. As I've said twice already, hardware aside, now it all depends on gaming. If the past means anything, Nintendo has no problem letting their third party walk away.

Phase four

The revolution will house a wireless Internet connection capable of connecting to multiple DS and GBE units at once. The Revolution will be able to acquire Internet via wireless router, or normal Ethernet, as to appeal to gamers of all broadband situations. Now, PSP throw in the towel here come the 2 final punches. HDDS: hard disk DS. A mini hard disk inserted into the DS’s GBA slot capable of allowing 20-50 gigs of memory for, music, media, firmware updates, Nintendo’s own PDA software and more. The Revolution will be used, as a wireless hotspot where such downloads, as well as online DS gaming will take place. Here’s the knockout blow, The GBE. Nintendo originally had been developing a handheld gamecube since the Gab’s final days. However it was far too expensive to shrink the hardware to the size of a GBA at a reasonable price, until now. Gamecube is already the smallest system, running on mini-DVD format, anyone wonder why? Because Nintendo was waiting to drop the bomb, PSP comes out, Nintendo keeps GBE on the low pro, and when Sony least expected it BAM cheap portable gamecube. Crushing PSP in processing power and game library with over 500 games to date .It will be the next GB entry in Nintendo’s “three pillars”
Beating PSP to a pulp is what Nintendo has in mind and from what I can see, I'm liking the looks of things.

That's all hypothetical for the most part, so I can't say you are right and I can't say that you are wrong. But, I can tell you this: Nintendo is afraid. They are not 100% confident any more, and it's understandable. It's got to be tought going from the #1 gaming company to something else. You can tell me that that comment is opinionated, but, just look at the charts, Nintendo is not selling the most stuff. Also, I hope The Revolution will not be a DS hot spot. I'm tired of having to buy crap to use more crap, and Nintendo sure makes you do a lot of that. I have a router, and I'm going to get a wireless router. I have a DS. I want to be able to use my router to put my DS online. In fact, if I can't use my router to directly hook my DS online, I'm going to just resort to using third party online support, because it will be out there, eventually. As far as releasing a portable gamecube, we'll have to wait and see. I doubt the thing will cost 100 dollars though, because if it did, Nintendo would be laughing at Sony during every interview, press conference and news event. The way I see it, Nintendo still must be skittish, because last time I checked, Sony has a handheld on the horizon, and it has a lot of hype, and yeah, Nintendo lost the console market pretty fast.

I like Nintendo as much as the next guy. I like Sony, I like Microsoft, and I like the guys that make my computer games too. The thing is, that's a lot of money to spend. Consoles from Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, and PCs. We're talking a real financial hole. If Nintendo executes their "master plan" as you have so nicely put it, I won't be to happy. But, the way you are praising Nintendo is ridiculous. There have been far to many ironies within the last year involving Nintendo, the DS, and now the supposed "GBA2." I still like Nintendo, and the DS is a great piece of hardware, but the PSP is a great piece of hardware too. And even if this master plan goes through, Nintendo still won't take Sony out of the market, trust me.

I'm sure Nintendo is happy to have fans like you though, they sure do need them at this day in age.

Edit: Does anyone see the irony in the fact that Nintendo spends day after day talking about how they want to be creative, and they come up with all this nifty hardware crap, like dual screens, and then their opponents just release a handheld with good graphics? And then, all of a sudden, talk about a GBA2 starts coming about, a Nintendo handheld that won't focus on innovative hardware but rather on having good graphics. Maybe I'm the only one that see irony in that.

[Vampyr]

But "a lot of games" is a question of relativity. If they don't have a "a lot" compared to the other companies, then what do they have "a lot" compared to? o_O

Nintendo is seriously lacking third party support. And I don't know if I consider backwards compatibility to count towards the overall game library.

[Jason1]

Yeah maybe not as much as the PS2, but if the Game Boy Evolution will be able to play Game Cube games then Nintendo will already have 100's of games to play at launch.





Matt on the IGN mailbag today brought up some good points about this issue. If revolution is really as "Revolutionary" as they say it is, a completley new way of playing games so-to-speak, that really dosent bode too well for backwards compatibility....

That and im not at all convinced backwards compatibality will really matter. Nobody wants to play last-generations games. Whens the last time you went out and bought an old N64 or PSX game?

[Crash]

maybe the backwards compatibility on "next generation hardware" is the Evolution being backwards compatible to GC.... I dunno

[KillerGremlin]

Matt on the IGN mailbag today brought up some good points about this issue. If revolution is really as "Revolutionary" as they say it is, a completley new way of playing games so-to-speak, that really dosent bode too well for backwards compatibility....

That and im not at all convinced backwards compatibality will really matter. Nobody wants to play last-generations games. Whens the last time you went out and bought an old N64 or PSX game?

A few months ago I bought Oracle Of Seasons, and I did pick up Mario Party 2, damn that game is fun!

Plus, I play Zelda every now and then.

[The Germanator]

That and im not at all convinced backwards compatibality will really matter. Nobody wants to play last-generations games. Whens the last time you went out and bought an old N64 or PSX game?

A month ago or so. I play my old consoles all the dang time. If I had one magical Nintendo system that playes NES, SNES, 64, and Gamecube games...let's just say it would make everything easier in terms of those old consoles not working and such.

[Jonbo298]

Nintendo had a poll on their main site a month or 2 ago asking if Ninty released a peripheral to play N64 games on the 'Cube, would you buy it? I gave an overwhelming yes!

I would love it if Ninty did backwards compatibility because nowadays its harder to track down working consoles then working games.

But for the stuff mentioned above, its possible. I'll have to watch to see how Nintendo plans everything out.

[DeathsHand]

Whens the last time you went out and bought an old N64 or PSX game?

I re-bought RE1, 2, and 3... Played through 2 twice, started playing 3... Would've played 1 but I just recently beat the Remake :p

Anyways, all I have to say is this...

That whole prediction thing mentioned the next GB being technically superior to PSP...

The other topic about how the next GB will come out sooner than we thought mentions it launching with a $99 or so price tag...

And those two don't really fit well together...

I say if Nintendo wants to release a system (other than the DS) that has N64-esque (or slightly better) graphics, $99 bucks it is... But if they're gonna release something on par or better than PSP, I just don't see that happening.... I say $150 at least...

Detailed predictions are still just predictions, might as well stick with last gen's (upgraded for the upcoming console wars) "Revolution will return Nintendo to the glory days of SNES!"

[Seth]

who cares?

[ZebraRampage]

It's possible for them to do that..and it would work..if they had games. I'm stealing exactly what Darkmaster and Vampyr said, but it was the first thought that came to mind when I finished reading that. I probably wouldn't play too many of the third party games if Nintendo had them..but I know a lot of other people would.

[Canyarion]

With Nintendo still stating that their next-gen console is nothing like the other consoles... I think they might have their own niche.

If the Revolution is impressive enough, people will buy a Nintendo NEXT to their PS3/XB2.

Then Nintendo wouldn't have to care about third party software competition... You simply won't have the newest Madden on the Revolution, but instead a football game that plays totally different.

[Jonbo298]

Only problem there is that people know Madden and would buy that rather then a no-name football game, even if the no-name football game was 10x better then Madden :unsure:

[MuGen]

I just love how it's called Nintendo's Master Plan and not their "Market Strategy"

Because I'm pretty sure Microsoft and Sony have master plans as well then.....

To be blunt.... it's not a master plan. Companies will have strategies every fiscal period to bring their profits up, and it's not some Genius plan. It's a market strategy.

I could sit here as a Sony fan and map out everything that has been said about the CELL chip and call it Sony's master plan... but obviously I'm not that fanboy-ish I guess.

[Blackmane]

Or maybe Sony's master plan is not as masterful as Nintendo's master plan. You ever think of that?!?! HUH ?!?!?!?!

:lol:

[MuGen]

Interesting.... however I would call Sony's plan a bit more masterful considering they are backed by over 100 software developers for their PSP and their new PS3, which accounts for 80% of the software developing community.

I'd say having 80% of all third party support is more masterful then cheating Nintendo fans out of more money by releasing DS and then blindly releasing another handheld.... And ALL in a master plan to answer to the PSP? hmmmm