auroragb said:
1) Nintendo gambled because it was their entire business was on the line. They've already lost the last 2 gen and 10 years worth of home console business. They were approaching a point that their install base would not have the critical mass to support the games they published. With the exit by Sega in the last gen, Nintendo was feeling the pressure to succeed, lest they become another Sega. 2) Well, in a way, it's also their money on the line because they've invested a lot of money into Xbox and/or PS3. Only if their chosen console do well will they see the publishers cater to their console, giving them the return on their "investment" |
The problem is "winning" is suggestive. Gamecube and N64 made Nintendo a lot of money pretty readily, they were still the 2nd best publisher for most of those years. That and other ventures could have easily kept them in console buisness for a LONG time. Sega was not the same, they didn't make much money on Sega Saturn, Dreamcst or CD, in addition Sega 1st party games weren't as well recieved as nintendo ones (ever) and they didn't have all the side ventures nintendo does.