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ultrajamie

Ultrajamie's Revolution thoughts (sold my 360)

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So, here we are. A couple of months away from the Rev's true unveilling at E3. Excited? :bowdown:

 

You should be.

 

As someone who bought an Xbox 360 on the launch night, I have to say that Nintendo's current thinking is painfully correct. The new console from microsoft and sony may be powerful, but curcially do they offer anything new? Lots of nice features, yes. But anything New? No.

 

Is project gotham 3 any better to play than gran turismo 4 because it has real-life locations and (slightly) better car models? No.

 

Does perfect dark manage to overcome it's myriad of design issues because it's pretty? No.

 

If you look at the 360 - all it really does is what the xbox did with a few bells and whistles. The experience is in no way new. If you were the type of consumer who did think playstaion or xbox 1 were interesting, does xbox 360 have anything to really convince you? No. In fact, if anything it's even more complicated, expensive, and off-putting.

 

Games need to change, we've been playing tarted up versions of the same old thing for 5 or 6 years now. As an avid gamer myself (having playing games for 20 years now, eek) it's rather worrying that i am getting bored. Even with new hardware on the horizion (and in my home), games are failing to ignite my interest like they once did.

 

Nintendos strategy of providing a new experience through the interface is going to pay off big style. why? because it removes barriers, simplifies the experience without removing the depth. And at the same time it offers something new and compelling. In the same way that mario 64 offered new control and a fresh take on a an old experience to provide a wow-factor that still hasn't really been matched - the revolution has the potential to provide new experiences and invigorate the market (which if you look at the finances of most games companies, is struggling despite the size of the industry growing).

 

If for one am happy to wait however long i have to for the revolution and, having realised the xbox 360 is all hype with substance, will not be tempted by a PS3 either. IMO the rev makes the 360 and PS3 look really old hat without even trying to match their specs.

 

my predictions about the revolution.

 

1, it's going to be at least half the cost of either xbox or ps3 - nintendo ignoring HDTV and other expensive features is going to make revoltuion cheap.

 

2, it WILL NOT feature a headset or 'stereoscopic display' as has been rumoured. Why? Because nintendo want to alienate as few people as possible. Putting on a headset or having a new type of display is hardly the way forward to DS-style mass appeal.

 

3, it will take the number one spot in japan within a year. As the DS has proved in it's battle with the PSP and constant domination of the Jap top 10, the Japanese are ready for something new and will embrace it without hesitation. Also expect Japanese Software houses to have a field day with the rev - sonic team in particular.

 

4, Publishers will come back to nintendo in droves... The low development costs for the REV will make it an attractive business proposition even if it doesn't sell as well as PS3.

 

5, Nintendos in-house teams are going to return to form and then some. Having lost their way a little with the gamecube. Nintendos focus on easy to use tools, rebuilding key franchises and fast turnaround big name titles is going to give fans a cause for celebration.

 

6, Smash Brothers, Pilot Wings, Sonic, and Metroid are all going to be launch titles.

 

Phew that was a long one!!

 

see you!

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Your opinion is identical to mine - uncanny. :)

 

But a revolution isn't neccecarily needed IMO, at least not in the west - Most people around here are quite happy buying Need for Speed games over and over (Not that it's a bad game or anything just...samey)

 

I think it might rejuvinate the Japanese market however, and of course it's going to be a hell of a lot of fun for us - it'll be like the time when you picked up your first games console again.

 

I can't bloody wait for it! Finally something NEW. :bouncy:

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nice article you have there, and I fully agree with it :) I'll even go as far as saying I think it has quality to be in revo-europe's main page, although it might seem a little fanboysish for outsiders, it's the truth and that's what I think along with lots of people (but I didn't bought a x360 at launch).

 

Also as a side-note I don't doubt those two consoles (x360 and PS3) will have good games although more of the same, and if revo was just a xbox 360 with nintendo games we'd be all over it... it's just that this premise is so much better, inovation can happen with a normal control, and will continue to happen, but you're confined to that control, revolution makes it part of the past, that's one of the reasons I'm excited.

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I totaly agree.. almost!

Games dont have to offer anything "new" to be great.. just look at Resi 4, but games like this are getting harder and harder to find as its hard to come up with new ideas and concepts using the same old controlers.

 

I think that the Revolution is going to do for the home console market what the DS has done to the handheld market... shake it up and give games a new lease of life, even if some arnt new (like Wario ware) they can be changed for the better just by how they are controled.

 

I also think Nintendo are on the right path... they seem to be helping Dev's as much as possible.. and they also seemed to have learned from there mistakes. The only thing that will make or break them is there image... if they cant shake off the (i hate to say this) kiddy image they wont get any futher than they did this gen. Personaly i think they are also on the right track at the mo when it comes to the Revos design because its so sexy and looks like more of a gadget than some thing you would find in Toys'r'us.

 

The only thing i would have liked the revo to support is high def graphics becuase my cube looks a bit poor on my HD ready LCD :cry:

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The only thing i would have liked the revo to support is high def graphics becuase my cube looks a bit poor on my HD ready LCD :cry:
couldn't a VGA box help? I don't know, never really seen one in action, but maybe... I'm thinking maybe revo+VGA box might cost almost the same as a X360, if so it might be a question of time before they make a "VGA" box for High definition TV's, that is... if revolution is sucessfull (there should be possible to do some kind of runaround with cables on a current VGA box already).

 

Anyway... cube this generation in europe wasn't progressive scan compliant, because the PAL standard wasn't finished in 2001 when the console launched, it's a given that revolution will feature it, and it will look alot better on HD TV's, at least in europe. (although I never compared it side to side)

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I also think Ninty are on the right path. Especially if they want to bring new life to franchises.

Just look at Wario Ware. The next ones needs to be different from the others, and it can be with the Revo.

Viewtiful Joe; though it's a great game and Capcom could probably get away with another that's more-or-less the same as the 1st two, it would be far more appealing with more powers that could be used with the Revo control.

FPSs....I'm sure we all know how they can be improved already...

 

There are also a lot more genres that can be lit up using the Revolution, such as Recing games or Platformers. Let's just say, i'm looking forward to how the revolution will control, and I can wait to see how it handles. Hopefully at this years E3, Nintendo will overshadow the competition!!

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good post ultra, as a 20-year gamer myself, ive been waiting for a console that can recreate the excitement i felt for the NES and the Rev is possibly set to do that. Learning how to use the remote will be like learning how to use the old NES controller for the first time, awkward and intriguing. And as much as i love the GC, the only things that really seperated it from the competition was the Wavebird and a handful of exclusives. Im sincerely pumped, and not because of fanboy obligation, but because videogames are about to become interesting again.

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I agree with you expect for the display part. I think that a novel 3D display technology, far from putting people off, would hook them in. If a casual gamer saw something that cool they would instantly be hooked.

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Same story for me, But i've been a Sony gamer.

 

I'm concerned that with 10 million PS2s installed in homes around the country that they may continue to market the PS2 at a $99 as production costs of the chips become lower as they get older.

They will copy the Revolution and effectively undercut the quality of experience on an older system by bundling some piece of junk eye toy style bundle with a game for the PS2. Of course the games will be piss poor in comparison because Revolution has sole support.

 

But Sony at that price.. and if they can muster some vague fun they might be on to something. I mean people buy a PS2 these days with singstar 70s/80s/90s/popstar as a cheap karaoke box with 4 microphones.

 

Good call for Nintendo to hold back the Revolution's big secret. Ultimately it wont end up in the PS3's system but it could be a bundled competitor for the PS2.

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I bought an Xbox360 for christmas and I think its shite.

My cubes got more play out of it than that over the xmas hols and I didnt even buy any new games for it!

Totally agree with Revo being top of the pile in japan.

And pilot wings as a launch title!

Holding the controller like a paper aeroplane!

How sweet would that be?

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Pilotwings for launch?

Kewl!

I think the Rev is cool, because the controller really has a hardcore feeling to it, and still it's the easiest to use yet!

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The revolution will live and die by its software. If there are 2-3 killer apps released within 2 months of the launch in japan, i think it will gain a good share of the market for at least the year. One of those killer apps must have mass market appeal in a Nintendogs way, one should be a respected franchise. Outside of Japan, all that really matters is marketing and more marketing.

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Ultrajamie - that was an excellent post.

 

If I may share my two penneth...

 

It seems to me that the generations of consoles we've had so far have gone like this:

 

NES/Master System era - re-establishes 2D console gaming.

SNES/Megadrive era - consolidates 2D gaming experience, better graphics, pushes limits of 2D gaming.

PS1/N64 era - the great leap forward into 3D gaming, a new experience, new ways to play.

Cube/PS2/Xbox era - consolidates 3D gaming, better visuals again, pushes 3D gaming as far as it can go.

 

So here were on the cusp, or slightly over it, of the next generation. History, in my opinion, says that the technology of this new generation should be a great leap forward. But here we are with Xbox 360 and what do we have? Barely half a step forward. The same is likely to be true of PS3. Sure there'll be plenty of gamers who'll lap it up, Halo will sell buckets and so will GTA but I predict that as this cycle progresses it will stagnate and gamers will get bored. There will be a Hollywood style slump.

 

The Revolution, if Nintendo get it right, is a fantastic opportunity to offer that great leap forward. Getting it right is no easy task, but we should be thankful that Nintendo are at least trying.

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I agree. Before a console launch was something that excited you a lot with new possibilities and games, but now only Revolution gives me that feeling. Games are getting too old too fast, if developers take advantage of Revolution, things can change for the better.

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people put too much on the kiddy image as a reason for nintendo's lacklustre performance, but they forget DS aso has this kiddy image while PSP has the cool mature image.

 

Point being its all down to software and 3rd party support. If you bring the games, the consumers will follow.

 

The real interesting thing is the almost role reversal between sony and nintendo. Im looking and its like nintendo is now using sony's PS1 strategy with a nintendo spin. While sony is heading into the next gen N64 style with multimedia capabilities

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I totaly agree.. almost!

Games dont have to offer anything "new" to be great.. just look at Resi 4,

 

RE 4 did offer something new. a new way of playing, and new story line which is why it was so great.

 

"RE4 who cares same story, zombies and Umbrella, T-virus and G-virus, WHO CARES!! But wait its different, no stupid slow walking zombies, no dumb Umbrella, no stupid G or T virus, and best of all no stupid third point 'Fly on the wall' perspective!"

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The revolution will live and die by its software. If there are 2-3 killer apps released within 2 months of the launch in japan, i think it will gain a good share of the market for at least the year. One of those killer apps must have mass market appeal in a Nintendogs way, one should be a respected franchise. Outside of Japan, all that really matters is marketing and more marketing.

 

This console will sell in Japan whatever.

At that price, with a home grown label like Nintendo on it it will sell.

It will sell ridiculously well and I think it will beat Sony even if it doesn't have the killer app you speak of, just look at Mario 64 for DS. It rocked the charts with Warioware heading up the charts in 18 or something.

 

But you're correct marketting is the most important thing for Europe and to America, Japanese older people are more open minded, they're effectively ahead of us in Japan.

You ask an 80 year old Japanese person about a DVD she will tell you it's a digital disc. You ask a 80 year old European and they will ask you how you rewind it.

 

To penetrate the older markets in Europe and America they will have to advertise on daytime TV like oprah, richard and judy etc.. ball is in Sony's court here because they have a higher installed base rate in these areas so Nintendo will have to spend a lot to reap the rewards in the months following release.

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The revolution will live and die by its software. If there are 2-3 killer apps released within 2 months of the launch in japan, i think it will gain a good share of the market for at least the year. One of those killer apps must have mass market appeal in a Nintendogs way, one should be a respected franchise. Outside of Japan, all that really matters is marketing and more marketing.

 

Well 75% of nintendos teams are working Revolution and DS titles and they haven't put out any really big GC game in nearly a year. You have to assume they've been pretty busy on NEW stuff in that time. E3 is going to rock.

 

nice article you have there, and I fully agree with it :) I'll even go as far as saying I think it has quality to be in revo-europe's main page, although it might seem a little fanboysish for outsiders, it's the truth and that's what I think along with lots of people (but I didn't bought a x360 at launch).

 

 

I actually write a front page column for Britxbox.co.uk and would love to do one here too (anyone out there?) - to be honest that post wasn't meant to be an article and so would have been a bit more balanced if it was.

 

Anyway, my surrent column is up at BXB - it's about whether or not the 360 offers anything really new. (it's the first one in the list)

 

anyway guys... some nice replies <Looks around> :yay: i think i'm going to like it here. :D

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I'd have to disagree. So what if the 360 has more bells and whistles... thats its job.

It has unparrelled online gaming, Nintendo are simply NOT going to match it with their "friendly" online service. Having a huge amount of storage on a HDD is also really helpful, 1GB simply isn't gunna be enough.

 

MS has alot of key franchises on board, and Nintendo are losing more and more in terms of their 3rd party support. Yes, okay PDZ was a bunch of crap but PGR3 was simply awe inspiring in terms of both gameplay and graphics. We'll see when Halo 3 rolls around shall we? :)

 

(oh and i am buying a Revolution)

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