Atari Founder Dismissive of Nintendo DS
- Thread starter Logan Westbrook
- Start date
Kids gaming platform or not, until Pokemon ups and dies the Nintendo Handheld market will be fine.
Sure, I'll believe that when mature games start coming out on those platforms. As far as I can see, all that's available on phones atm are mainly flash-style glorified browser games and a couple of ports. Compare that to the substantial opening line-up of the 3DS and tell me which has the more mature set of games?
So a dedicated games platform backed by the developer/publisher with the most experience in the games industry, much less being the sole owner of the entirety of the handheld gaming industry for the last forever is going to be beaten out by systems that can do little above play shitty ports and flash games, cost the user $500+ and are more fragile then an egg?
Would be nice if these people could actually start making good phone games, rather than just saying this crap. It could happen, IF they make the games. Kind of convenient too. Phone, Camera, MP3 Player, Handheld-Console -> Smartphone. Saves a lot of pocket space!
Please tell me you aren't seriously that damned ignorant.linkzeldi said:
The NOKIA N-gage had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Nintendo. It was, in fact, the exact opposite; A mobile phone manufacturer trying to turn a phone into a game console...
This actually makes sense. Who wants to have to lug around several hand held devices when you can do it all with one? This will likely be a learning experience for Nintendo to drop gimmicks and add functionality, Soon there may be a DS Phone.
I'm cutting him a bit of a break: He is saying what he thinks WILL happen, not that Nintendo is not on top right now. Phones are becoming very powerful, and have Digital Distribution right from the get go, not to mention the consumer, "One device to do it all" mentality. The more people rely on phones, the less likely they are to make an investment in a hand held to play games that, even if they were higher quality, might not be higher enough quality to merit an entire investment. People replace their phones more often then handhelds as well, so Phones will likely outpace handhelds in terms of power. He also didn't so much say that Nintendo handholds will die, just that they won't be the leader. It's not crazy, but I think there is a few possible flaws in his reasoning.
Look at the Kindle, and to a lesser extent, other E Readers. They predicted that the iPhone and iPad would make it a flop. But then, they became a staple. How did this happen? For one, E Readers became super cheap, comparatively. Even if you need a new phone anyways, the cheapness removes that nagging doubt that for the same price, you could just get a new phone that can also function as a reader. Secondly, the Kindle offers something that fundamentally, the iPhone can't do: E Ink. That is a boon for a specialized reading product that the phones can't do without making it worse as a phone. And so, the Kindle carved out a niche. What does this show Nintendo?
Well, it shows that if they create a cheaper, specialized alternative, that has a capacity as a dedicated gaming device that it's competition just can't emulate on a more general use machine, you can get your demographic. Can Nintendo make a cheaper product that has a gimmick that pulls in the consumers? Well, history says that that is their specialty. I think Nintendo has a fight on their hands. But whether Phones cut into Nintendos share of the pie, or if people just start playing more games in general without cutting back on there Nintendo handheld consumption, is going to be an interesting fight to watch.
Look at the Kindle, and to a lesser extent, other E Readers. They predicted that the iPhone and iPad would make it a flop. But then, they became a staple. How did this happen? For one, E Readers became super cheap, comparatively. Even if you need a new phone anyways, the cheapness removes that nagging doubt that for the same price, you could just get a new phone that can also function as a reader. Secondly, the Kindle offers something that fundamentally, the iPhone can't do: E Ink. That is a boon for a specialized reading product that the phones can't do without making it worse as a phone. And so, the Kindle carved out a niche. What does this show Nintendo?
Well, it shows that if they create a cheaper, specialized alternative, that has a capacity as a dedicated gaming device that it's competition just can't emulate on a more general use machine, you can get your demographic. Can Nintendo make a cheaper product that has a gimmick that pulls in the consumers? Well, history says that that is their specialty. I think Nintendo has a fight on their hands. But whether Phones cut into Nintendos share of the pie, or if people just start playing more games in general without cutting back on there Nintendo handheld consumption, is going to be an interesting fight to watch.
Nokia looked at the handheld market, and the phone market. They decided that making a hand held capable of being a phone, satisfying 2 needs in one machine, would be a great idea. The problem here is that it ended up being a terrible handheld AND a terrible cell phone, for a price that was greater then a good phone and a good handheld. Gamers tend to talk, and talk quickly. It got bad press, and ended up a total flop.JaysonM said: