Atari Founder Dismissive of Nintendo DS
- Thread starter Logan Westbrook
- Start date
I used my smart phone mostly for calling people and texting people. If I have free time, I'll randomly game on it.
Phone batteries, in my opinion, don't have enough strength. I play on my Iphone for an hour then randomly text and accept calls every now and then and before 4pm, my battery's about to die.
Phone batteries, in my opinion, don't have enough strength. I play on my Iphone for an hour then randomly text and accept calls every now and then and before 4pm, my battery's about to die.
When the fuck will people learn that it's not about hardware, it's software that counts. Nintendo consoles sell because they are the only way get Nintendo games.
"Atari Founder Dismissive of Nintendo DS" huh?
I actually thought Google News glitched out and linked me to something from February 2004 when a considerable portion, if not the majority of the gaming media took it as common wisdom that the Nintendo DS would be a pathetic kids only stop gap system which would alienate itself from third party support, live a short, troubled life span akin to the Virtual Boy, and would surely be eclipsed by the PSP with its "mature" userbase, "sexier" hardware, and "mature" games.
Then the system actually game out, enjoyed some of the best third party support a system has ever had, and has been showered with worthwhile, often excellent games throughout its lifespan which continue to find uses for the dual screens and touch screen which critics swore would lose their initial gimmick appeal within a year.
Most surprising of all, Nintendo DS actually managed to attract a lot of new adults and retain young adults who who grew up with the Gameboy line (The GBA itself in 2004 had slightly over a third of its userbase being 18+ if I remember correctly, more than was generally imagined for a "kids" system), a demographic which was presumed to be the exclusive domain of the PSP with its more "hardcore" sensibilities.
Incidentally I've seen just as many small children playing PSPs in public as I have DS systems, while I've seen more adults out on the train, college campus, or in waiting rooms with DS systems than PSPs. That's just my own personal observation so your mileage may vary, but it generally corresponds to the numbers NDP and Nintendo have put out over the years.
When it comes to the 3DS and the iOS platform making it "irrelevant", I say fat chance. Most of the people I know or have talked to who use their iOS device for games would have NEVER been in the market for a dedicated portable system to begin with, no matter what its price or features or titles.
There is some definite overlap, but when people point to declining DS sales and rush to credit iOS with having "killed" the present Nintendo DS, they seem to forget that the DS has been a lame duck platform with its successor already lined up and known the the public for the greater portion of the year. Its a six year old platform which aside from being as close to achieving total saturation as a game system could hope for, is in the waning phases of its life cycle.
And again, as the iOS isn't a "game system", those devices can well wildly (as they surely will) and have swarms of owners playing games on them without causing much displacement in Nintendo's userbase, which was the case with the PSP.
A lot of people presumed the success (or at least the viability) of the PSP would naturally coincide with the "downfall" of Nintendo's portable empire, yet the PSP's audience more added to the portable gaming marketshare pie than it stole away Nintendo's slice.
I think we're going to see the same thing with the iOS vs. the 3DS.
I actually thought Google News glitched out and linked me to something from February 2004 when a considerable portion, if not the majority of the gaming media took it as common wisdom that the Nintendo DS would be a pathetic kids only stop gap system which would alienate itself from third party support, live a short, troubled life span akin to the Virtual Boy, and would surely be eclipsed by the PSP with its "mature" userbase, "sexier" hardware, and "mature" games.
Then the system actually game out, enjoyed some of the best third party support a system has ever had, and has been showered with worthwhile, often excellent games throughout its lifespan which continue to find uses for the dual screens and touch screen which critics swore would lose their initial gimmick appeal within a year.
Most surprising of all, Nintendo DS actually managed to attract a lot of new adults and retain young adults who who grew up with the Gameboy line (The GBA itself in 2004 had slightly over a third of its userbase being 18+ if I remember correctly, more than was generally imagined for a "kids" system), a demographic which was presumed to be the exclusive domain of the PSP with its more "hardcore" sensibilities.
Incidentally I've seen just as many small children playing PSPs in public as I have DS systems, while I've seen more adults out on the train, college campus, or in waiting rooms with DS systems than PSPs. That's just my own personal observation so your mileage may vary, but it generally corresponds to the numbers NDP and Nintendo have put out over the years.
When it comes to the 3DS and the iOS platform making it "irrelevant", I say fat chance. Most of the people I know or have talked to who use their iOS device for games would have NEVER been in the market for a dedicated portable system to begin with, no matter what its price or features or titles.
There is some definite overlap, but when people point to declining DS sales and rush to credit iOS with having "killed" the present Nintendo DS, they seem to forget that the DS has been a lame duck platform with its successor already lined up and known the the public for the greater portion of the year. Its a six year old platform which aside from being as close to achieving total saturation as a game system could hope for, is in the waning phases of its life cycle.
And again, as the iOS isn't a "game system", those devices can well wildly (as they surely will) and have swarms of owners playing games on them without causing much displacement in Nintendo's userbase, which was the case with the PSP.
A lot of people presumed the success (or at least the viability) of the PSP would naturally coincide with the "downfall" of Nintendo's portable empire, yet the PSP's audience more added to the portable gaming marketshare pie than it stole away Nintendo's slice.
I think we're going to see the same thing with the iOS vs. the 3DS.
What "more mature experiences" are available on the phones? Certainly, none I can think of that is more mature than, say, the Hotel Dusk games.
Using that argument, it's like saying "the 360 only has FPSes". To be blunt, look harder.MaxPowers666 said:
The whole kids vs. adults thing is pretty arbitrary, especially when comparing the DS to iOS where all the widely popular games I know of are E rated and are generally benign puzzle type games.
Some make the mistake of thinking "kid friendly" equates to "kids only", but this is not the case as the DS games that have been popular with adults have been chiefly family friendly retro revivals such as New Super Mario Bros. and puzzle and lifestyle titles like Brain Age, Planet Puzzle League, and the Touch Generations series in general, and not the grittier offerings such as GTA Chinatown Wars, Call of Duty, and other T and M rated games which are generally eschewed due to their obvious visual inferiority versions available on other systems.
Then there's the whole "maturity" factor associated with the iOS devices itself by nature of their being higher end luxury items and essentially multi-purpose portable computers, though Nintendo since the DSi has been very gently nudging their own portable systems in that direction as well.
As I said earlier, even the GBA had saw about third of its userbase being 18+, which may have something to do with its gradual transformation throughout its lifespan from the very toy like Gameboy Advance, to the sleeker SP, to the ultra staid, aluminum bodied Micro. Given the DS's noted increase in the percentage in adult players when compared to the GBA, I think the "DS is kids only" perception will only factor in for the terminally hip minority who would rather die than be seen in the wild with an "unhip" device.
I haven't owned an iOS device, but from what I've seen, its strong points in terms of hardware (its lack of buttons) and the nature of the "always on hand" manner in which most owners would carry them, I would think the most popular, enjoyable, and practical games on the system would be those which are easy to understand and get into get into for short bursts of time, which generally lend themselves to being kid friendly.
So I don't expect the whole "Nintendo games for kids, iOS games are 'mature'" angle to be taken on outside of fanboy land and perhaps a feisty comment or two from Steve Jobs.
Some make the mistake of thinking "kid friendly" equates to "kids only", but this is not the case as the DS games that have been popular with adults have been chiefly family friendly retro revivals such as New Super Mario Bros. and puzzle and lifestyle titles like Brain Age, Planet Puzzle League, and the Touch Generations series in general, and not the grittier offerings such as GTA Chinatown Wars, Call of Duty, and other T and M rated games which are generally eschewed due to their obvious visual inferiority versions available on other systems.
Then there's the whole "maturity" factor associated with the iOS devices itself by nature of their being higher end luxury items and essentially multi-purpose portable computers, though Nintendo since the DSi has been very gently nudging their own portable systems in that direction as well.
As I said earlier, even the GBA had saw about third of its userbase being 18+, which may have something to do with its gradual transformation throughout its lifespan from the very toy like Gameboy Advance, to the sleeker SP, to the ultra staid, aluminum bodied Micro. Given the DS's noted increase in the percentage in adult players when compared to the GBA, I think the "DS is kids only" perception will only factor in for the terminally hip minority who would rather die than be seen in the wild with an "unhip" device.
I haven't owned an iOS device, but from what I've seen, its strong points in terms of hardware (its lack of buttons) and the nature of the "always on hand" manner in which most owners would carry them, I would think the most popular, enjoyable, and practical games on the system would be those which are easy to understand and get into get into for short bursts of time, which generally lend themselves to being kid friendly.
So I don't expect the whole "Nintendo games for kids, iOS games are 'mature'" angle to be taken on outside of fanboy land and perhaps a feisty comment or two from Steve Jobs.
Lol "mature" games on iphone? I'm so sick of hearing about this. You prefer an iphone or similar device only if you're too insecure to play a dedicated gaming console or you want to appear to be accomplishing something at the office. The current DS is better, so you can bet your ass that the 3ds will be. Besides, your fingers greatly obscure your view unless half of the screen is dedicated to a touch based controller. (which is never responsive consistently unless you keep looking at it)
I think I'll be avoiding the 3DS and iphone for now.
3D or no, 300 bucks is not in my spending range. I'll stick with the PSP for now.
3D or no, 300 bucks is not in my spending range. I'll stick with the PSP for now.
So where is the logic in assuming something, that cost twice as much with a $40-$120 mandatory monthly subscription fee where you still have to spend $1-$15 on games that are sub-par, to a hand held console solely dedicated to playing games, being better in the hand held gaming market?
We will see what merits his words will have when the 3DS ships next year, and Nintendo makes more money than most small nations.
We will see what merits his words will have when the 3DS ships next year, and Nintendo makes more money than most small nations.
He left in December of '78. Long before it hit it's peak or subsequent crash under Warner.Blind Sight said:
He's not in charge of Atari, he's simply a member on the board - and at that a guest position representing BlueBay Asset Management's stake in the company.HT_Black said:
Different Atari. That was Atari Corporation (1984-1996), not the original Atari Inc. (1972-1984) he was a part of, and certainly not the current Atari (formerly Infogrames) he's on the board of.HeySeansOnline said:
Exactly this. I have a simple flip phone, I own several GBA's and am currently saving money for a DS. I am over 8.psrdirector said:
No thanks. My ipod is good for certain situations, but I won't ever see it as my go-to portable gaming device.