Wii U Baffles Godfather of Gaming

Karloff

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Wii U Baffles Godfather of Gaming



Atari founder Nolan Bushnell thinks that consoles as we know them are at "the end of an era."

The founder of Atari, creator of Pong and honorary godfather of gaming, Nolan Bushnell, just can't get the hang of the Wii U. Moreover, he doesn't have much hope for the future of any next gen console, whether Nintendo's or anyone else's. "It feels like the end of an era," said Bushnell to the New York Times. [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/25/technology/nintendos-wii-u-takes-aim-at-a-changed-video-game-world.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0]

Bushnell proclaims himself baffled by Nintendo's latest console. "I don't think it's going to be a big success," he claims. This isn't the first time Bushnell has taken a swipe at Nintendo; a short while back, Bushnell argued that the Nintendo DS would give way to mobile devices [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/103993-Atari-Founder-Dismissive-of-Nintendo-DS], and tablets and smartphones would become the platforms of choice for mobile gamers.

Bushnell's previous statements on the future of gaming in general haven't been particularly enthusiastic, so his latest prediction regarding next generation consoles should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt. In the past he's called modern games just isn't social [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/78229-Bushnell-Bashes-Modern-Games]. Perhaps his Wii U bafflement and console disenchantment ought to be seen in that context; less a prediction, more of an an admission that things have changed considerably since Bushnell's Atari days.

Source: My Nintendo News [http://mynintendonews.com/tag/nolan-bushnell/]


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Fappy

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I think "experts" making these kinds of predictions are often fruitless. Recent history (the past 10 years or so) shows that very few people have any clue where the industry is headed at any given moment.
 

AldUK

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I don't mean any disrespect to the man, but this sounds a lot like the bitter ramblings of an older generation. "In my day..."

Nothing new here, almost everyone has experienced similar from their parents / grandparents. Though probably not in relation to gaming, admittedly.
 

NLS

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Haha, tell me about the Lynx and Jaguar again. When was the last time Atari contributed anything useful to the console market in the last 20 years?
 

Smooth Operator

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Well the first part was right on, consoles as they were are indeed drawing their last breath, flail to win is the new way.
But that also means that Nintendo and the others will be just fine so long as they keep on this track.
 

AzrealMaximillion

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Consoles as we know them will have to change in order to remain relevant. He's right on the button with that. The way that DLC was handled this generation was a disgusting mess and one of the reasons that consoles have lost a lot of fans over the years.
 

Somethingfake

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TizzytheTormentor said:
Another person claiming consoles are dead, there seems to be a lot of those later, all the Wii-U's that were pre-ordered beg to differ.
Makes a change from people claiming PCs are dead. Both claims are just as silly.
 

DrunkOnEstus

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It sounds like someone's still bitter about how his presence in the console market eventually turned out. And why do all of these analysts and "professionals" insist that iPads are going to overtake everything? They have their place but we all know that they haven't come close yet to emulating the kind of experiences we get consoles for. Even the PS2 ports are lacking without tactile feedback, and using the bluetooth gamepads on a stand kinda does away with the whole "portable" thing they have going for them.
 

ViciousTide

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But this combined a Mobile PC with a Comfortable Gaming controller, oh wait, shh! Nobody has modified the Wii U controller yet. All you need to do is add an SD slot to it with Android OS. Then a few emulators and Wifi..

AND BOOM! The next Emerging Market, the Game Controller Tablet!
 

Canadamus Prime

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Actually I've become rather disenchanted with gaming myself, but I wouldn't lay everything at the feet of consoles though.
 

Callate

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Bushnell proceeded to inform the interviewer that in his day children were expected to walk to school uphill in the snow both ways, and demanded the interviewer "get off his lawn".
 

Guffe

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I think just like this generation and the generation before that are all going to do well.
People gaem mroe and more and the market gets bigger and bigger...
 

Charli

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...Sir I'm sorry this is what you call 'aging'. Be aware of it and take steps to prevent your fears of of the new creeping up on you and making you crotchety and unlikable.

While I have my own hang-ups on the WiiU, they're not based around 'ARuuuGH I don't understand this new-age goobledeegark, it's the sign of the end times!' He's right about one thing, consoles do need to step up the game, since PC's and Tablets have more than overtaken them due to being able to form multiple desirable functions including gaming, quite well. So consoles HAVE to be something more than they've been the last few generations.

My concerns are based on legitimate things like the hard-drive, the online capabilities and limitations, the multi-player integration with only one person being able to have a touch screen.
 

regalphantom

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This guy kinda reminds me of the villain from Deus Ex: Human Revolution. He seems be lashing out at the industry he helped create, which has in turn left him behind as he failed to adapt and remain relevant in the changing tides.
 

Notsomuch

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When was the last time Atari was even relevant to gaming? The answer is around twenty years ago, so you know, they know the future of gaming pretty well, right? Or wait, I should give them this, the head of Atari should know pretty well what might fail.