Soundwave said:
Even if the Wii U can run some version of 720/PS4 ports ... are hardcore gamers really going to care?
Would you buy the XBox 360 version of a game if it had 1/2 the resolution and had many effects and general visual fidelity scaled back quite a bit over the PS3 version?
I don't think we know how well the WiiU or the other consoles are going to perform, but we can be sure it won't be another Wii situation. And we can't really say the WiiU will have a problem to attract hardcore players just because it won't have the same graphics. As far as I can tell, games like Black Ops sold 1 million on the Wii (which is enough for profit) even with crap graphics, lack of HD resolution and zero marketing, which means a lot of people want to play those games on Nintendo systems or they simply doesn't care and on the WIiU they will care even less about the other consoles, because as I already showed you, we won't have another Wii situation. x720/PS4's gpu needs to have at least 12TFlops (which is just not going to happen) in order to produce the same Wii x x360/PS3 difference. A lot of Nintendo fans started gaming on HD consoles because they bought an HD TV or because the Wii lacked a good third party support. Now, apparently, WiiU is going to have a much better third party support and some of those people won't need to abandon the platform like they did with the Wii because now it's an HD platform with better support (but we will see if it's good enough).
Of course most people are going to pass IMO. Hardcore players want a large jump from the 360/PS3, they've already had those systems for 5+ years in most cases.
And how can we say for sure what the WiiU or even the x720/PS4 will produce?
Otherwise Nintendo would have to pay $450/system to have hardware comparable to Sony/MS and launch this year ... that's just not gonna happen. I do genuinely think Nintendo would like hardcore gamers. But they can't very well bankrupt themselves in a hardware race vs. Microsoft/Sony.
Actually, that's not possible, at least not in this next generation. I think it's easier for Sony to bankrupt than Nintendo. They could very well forget about the WiiU gamepad and focus on graphics, but I don't think it will be interesting to focus on graphics in this next generation, I don't see a lot of difference coming and if people expect x720/PS4 to have high end PC quality, then I think (my opinion, not fact) people will be disappointed.
Also, Nintendo also sold 150M DS units, almost 100M Wii units and they already sold 20M 3DS units and it’s just the hardware side. If we talk about software, Nintendo is doing even better. Games like New Super Mario Bros Wii sold 25M copies worldwide 25m x $30 (I know the game was launched for a higher price, but let’s use $30) = 750 millions in revenue with just one game. There is more than 5 games on DS which sold more than 10 million copies and the same goes for the Wii. Nintendo can lose money for years and years:
http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2012/03/nintendo_reportedly_has_8128_billion_yen_in_the_bank
Now the 3DS is doing ok, selling very well worldwide, software sales are really good for first party titles.
At the same time, Sony lost 5 billions with PS3, they can't trust in software sales like Nintendo, PSV is doing poorly and they are aiming for a high end PS4, but Microsoft probably stole a part of Sony’s userbase. All their divisions are doing very bad and the gaming section is in trouble imo.
I think Sony is in a much worse position than Nintendo but yet, people say it's Nintendo who could go bankrupt if they invest in graphics, I don't understand. Maybe they say it just because Sony is a conglomerate? I don't know.
|
However, you have some great ideas, If I was Nintendo, I would listen to some of your ideas, but I think this is not going to be necessary. Everything I saw on neogaf makes me think the Wiiu's graphics will be good enough and it won't be blown away by x720/PS4 like the Wii situation, it's just not possible. Maybe people think it's going to be the case because they are used to what happened to the Wii, and I can understand that, but it's a totally different situation.
There is a BIG problem for all the three companies. I can't really defend any of the 3 companies or say for sure they will be successful.
Nintendo: Needs much more third party support and third party sales. They also have a very bad online (I am talking about digital support, digital options, lack of achievements/trophies) etc. Nintendo also needs to make different types of games. Games like Uncharted/Gears of War, I don't really care about it but some people do. Maybe they should buy a new studio just for this kind of game, I don't want Retro Studios developing something like that.
Sony: Already lost a lot of money on PS3, PSV isn't doing well and if they go with a powerful PS4, maybe it means they will lose money again. They need to balance price x hardware on the next PS4 and do something very "un-Sony" or else they will just have another PS3 situation.
Microsoft: I don't have a time machine/crystal ball but I think it will be hard to sell consoles with montly subscription IF true.
