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Smashchu2 on 27 December 2010
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jarrod said:
Smashchu2 said:

Sony was the one that released earlier because they always released a year or two more. It's assumed that first to market wins, but it's not as importaint as people think.Also note that Nintendo has never been the first to market.

Nintendo will not be releasing a new system in 2011. The 3DS hasn't come out yet and it will get a lot of the software attention. There wont be anyway to support two systems at their early stages.

Well, I'm not saying first to market wins (that's almost never happened).  I'm saying launching last hurts when you're the established market leader... giving your opponent an opening always leaves you fundamentally vulnerable.  Sega (MD), Sony (PS) and Microsoft (360) have all capitalized on that to great effect historically.  Why do you think Nintendo rushed DS to market?

I tend to agree 2011 may be out at this point though, spring-summer 2012 is looking like the new sweet spot (for Japan at least, they could wait until fall for the west).  Get the jump on MS/Sony and build up an unsurmountable install base lead (like PS2), temp over current 360/PS3 devs early on with a slightly higher spec chipset (like 3DS) aaunch their own next gend by building a strong marketplace they'll simultaneously put pressure on MS & Sony to both ln systems (due to shareholders and press expecting it) and not launch their next gen (due to developers, publishers and retail enjoying the 360/PS3/Wii2 multiplatform marketplace).

The only time the bold is true is for Sony, and that is because Sony has to. They rely so heavily on third parties that they will always lose if the launch later than someone else. Of course, The SNES's problem wasn't launch time but software. Sega couldn't compete until Sonic.

I disagree with the second part. If Nintendo was planning to do all that, why not just keep supporting the Wii. There is no reason to launch a new console if there is not content that couldn't be done on the current system. Software defines consoles. Nintendo needs to keep following their mission of to expand gaming. That should be the top priority with any system launch. Of course, they are making the 3DS, a system which I think adds nothing except pretty graphics.