This is a COMPLETE side note, but I thought the peeps of 4CR would dig this little article:

http://www.jonpeddie.com/index.shtml

Quite interesting.

In all honesty, I love the way Nintendo operates.

“Different controller. Analog stick. Thank you very much.” And off the stage Miyamoto goes.

Sorry, I don’t get it….

Well, this article goes about saying a large amount of tech specs for the PS3. Being I know a number of us have been hit by PS3 media, I thought it would be interesting to layout just how much the media is hyping this thing.

I was commenting how I like the way NIntendo doesn’t release ANY type of information for their new devices. The public doesn’t get a bit of info about new Nintendo devices until the time is right. I was mentioning how I like that.

The Miyamoto quote was just me poking fun at how Nintendo releases info about their new devices. It’s always something that’s a little quirky, like the analog stick at the time, and they mention the advances in the new device in a very simple and straight forward manner.

Hmmm… maybe I’m just crazy.

Oh, I get it now. I also like the way Nintendo works. I hate the Media Hype Engine, but I think Nintendo needs to change their ways. You can’t live without hype in America when you are the underdog. They need to get people playing their system and seeing what it can do as soon as possible. Nintendo gets plenty of “word of mouth” hype, and they need to play with that more by intriguing people more, or something.

Alas, consumers are sheep. People need to be told what to buy, as advertising really does work. This is what pisses me off about Americans….

ahem…most americans….or maybe its just the media i dislike.

I agree with matt. While i do like the reserved and simple way that Nintendo presents itself, i don’t think there is anymore room for reserved. We, as Nintendo followers, don’t want to bombarded with news, but to the average gamer it wouldn’t be an onslaught, it would be a reason to get excited. It would be actual participation in the console wars that they should have been competing in since N64. Their strategies may have worked for NES and SNES, but they were the only game in town. Whatever path they have contiuned down for the past two console generations has not worked, or not worked well enough.

As was stated above: the PS3 media machine is already rolling. Even i’m excited to see what it is all about! On the other hand, Nintedo is monotonously waving the “ITS GOING TO CHANGE GAMING FOREVER” banner, which to me, just sounds like hype that can only build up too-high hopes. Nintedo has a serious marketing problem. You do not sell games and consoles to people that play games with subtle. Clever, yes. Subtle, no.

Why wouldn’t Nintendo want to take advantage of free pre-advertising? I can understand not wanting to reveal trade secrets, but honestly i have heard more hype from XBox and PS3 than Nintendo. The only reason i’ve heard about Nintendo things is because i seek it out. That is not good. Hopefully with all the good press for the DS it will help to change things, but Nintendo really needs to get in there and make some noise: Time for the game company to play the game.

Taking a look at some of the merchandise from the 80’s is quite striking. There is no Nintendo merch around (don’t count Pokemon, that doesn’t sell consoles to most people, if you are already into Pokemon, that is a whole other category.) like there is in Japan or there was in the US in the 80’s.

My friend (he is a freelance game writer) came back from E3 2004 with great tales of how he was so excited about the PSP and Xbox (he didn’t own an Xbox yet). I asked about Nintendo and he said the overall feeling from developers and attendees in general was “Why bother?”

The lines were really long to check out the DS last year…and that was even up till the last day (which is usually not that busy). I’d call shenanigans on your friend if he says the DS wasn’t a very big deal. I didn’t go to the Sony press conference, but I talked to people who did, and they said the PSP announcement was big, but nothing compared to what the DS was at Nintendo’s press conference. I was at the Nintendo one, and it got pretty rowdy. I’m not saying the PSP wasn’t big either, but from what I witnessed, it wasn’t drawing as big of a crowd (at least consistantly). This was nice because I got more time to look at the PSP.

But I also agree that Nintendo has to stop being so conservative.

Perhaps Nintendo’s conservative acts could work for them this time around. If their new device is as “revolutionary” as they say, the annoucnment could be a bombshell for MS and Sony.

Personally, I think the best bet for Nintendo would be to release a screen shot of some unknown game. Why not? It causes a great media stir and there’s really no need to answer any type of questions. I can’t see why more console makers aren’t doing that. “Yes, that tech demo is running on our machine. Yes, that is a game you will be playing at some point.”

Let’s all keep our fingers crossed!

Cog - I agree about dropping something big and it being a suprise. The problem with that is twofold: 1) if no one is bothering to look, it doesn’t have as much impact. 2) Rarely have Nintendo fulfilled their own hype.

Daniel S - I didn’t mean to imply the DS wasn’t a big deal. He was just conveying his overall impression from other gamers, people in the publishing industry, and developers at the conference. Hopefully he doesn’t represent the majority of the buying public, but he does represent the people that talk about and indirectly market the systems which is the part that worries me most. As soon as Nintendo falls out of favor with the people that live and breathe this stuff (ie. game press) then it has lost another very important battle. I will unite with you to call shenanigans in that i don’t think it should be this way.

It sounds like i’m coming off as being a downer or naysayer, but i’m more just worried. I’m a Nintendo and Apple user, so i know what it is like to be on a minority platform.

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