Rumor: Nintendo's Answer To Gran Turismo And Forza In Development

[gumby_trucker]

RolStoppable said:

gumby_trucker said:

eh... tomayto tomahto 

What's your point?

ok ok, I was just trying to have a bit of fun . here's my serious response:

reasons I like this idea: 

• It's good use of the hardware - customization of cars and tracks via the tablet, using the WiiU controller like an arcade steering wheel, etc. 
• It makes sense from a business perspective - Mario Kart is currently Nintendo's biggest market for a single franchise and they have been trying to expand their racing portfolio since forever.
• From the sound of it, it's a good use of human resources - being developed mostly by external devs with a long history of making this type of game, and also building more business relationships with talented studios in the west.
• In terms of public relations, it's a good way to signal to current owners of PS3 and 360 that Nintendo is still relevant to them, and also demonstrate that the company is never resting on its laurels and remains unexpected and aggressive.
• it allows Nintendo the opportunity to add a unique twist to the genre, or just revive some good ideas that it abandoned along the way, and make it more interesting and accessible for everyone in the long run

reason's I don't like this idea:

• May not contribute to having a more balanced portfolio on Nintendo consoles - It's actually an area/genre with sufficient amounts of effort and talent behind it currently in the industry - besides polyphony digital and whoever makes the forza games (since they are exclusive) there are multiple teams at EA (NFS Shift, NFS Hot Pursuit, etc), Codemasters (Grid, Dirt, F1 etc)  and elsewhere (Sumo - makers of F1 2009 and Sonic Racing, Nadeo - makers of the excellent Trackmania games,also project CARS which I already mentioned) who are releasing these kinds of games on all platforms, and their games are actually pretty good. 
• May further alienate third parties -  Nintendo entering this market could be percieved as a threat by third parties, and goes against the idea that it is in Nintendo's best interest to allow them to release software that complements Nintendo's own first party offerings. From the way the article describes the project, it looks like it is meant to be one of very large scale, which means less sales for competing products on Nintendo's platform - don't try to claim that on other consoles this isn't the case, since we all know whenever Nintendo dedicates themselves to something they knock it out of the park and end up dominating on their own platforms.
• Seems more like a red ocean move than a blue ocean move - instead of focusing on creating more genres, which stimulate growth and leave room for third parties to fill in the gaps with their own interpretations (nintendogs, fitness games, brain games, music games etc ), this kind of strategy has Nintendo spending considerable effort (financially, man-hours, etc) in exchange for limited returns in revenue and limited growth in user base.

I could go on but I think this sufficiently clarifies my point. Let me just emphasize once again, this could still end up being a tremendous success, like Smash Brothers, but only if the actual game is a lot more unique and original than the article is trying to make it seem. That is definitely a possibility.