Hiku said:
robzo100 said:
You may be right. However, that would be unprecedented. This would be essentially the first generation in a loooong time, where the Big 3 are not all releasing "new" consoles together in-sync for a holiday season. Historically, both artistically and economically, it's always been a big trio of an event with a ton of mutual and recipricol sales that end up benefiting the entire industry as a whole.
If Nintendo essentially goes it alone, for the first time in a long time(NES?), then in many ways you could argue that Sony and Microsoft are taking a big risk by letting potential customers all be monopolized by one company. For that reason alone I feel like the the other two companies are already planning "replicas" for April-2017 in case things go really well for Nintendo. Otherwise they'll be rushing like mad to play catch-up. You see where I'm coming from?
|
Yes, but that is because Nintendo prematurely excecuted their console (WiiU). Sony and MS are enjoying what seems to be another long concole cycle. Maybe it won't be as long as last gen, but they certainly don't have the same motivation to kill off their consoles early as Nintendo did.
Do you think it would be good business for them to conform to every system launch schedule the other party makes, even when it's based on desperation, just because their concept 'may' become a big hit? I think rather than spending millions/billions on R&D for such a system prematurely, they first assess the likelyhood of this being "the next big thing." If the likelyhood isn't high enough, they won't risk their investment prematurely.
If the Switch concept becomes a big hit and they end up having to play catch up though, do you really think that will be a problem for them? Playstation Move came out 4 years after Wii, and not only did it not do much to boost sales for the system, but the PS3 still ended up selling very well and outlasting not only the Wii but the WiiU as well. It's getting Persona 5 and Tales of Berseria soon. How is this cause for concern? X360 got a nice boost from Kinect though, but that one too came 4 years after Wii released. And Xbox 360, like PS3, ended up selling really well.
I think they're both content at continuing the way they are doing. And even if the Switch concept becomes really popular, they won't neccesarily find it in their best interest to try to mimic it. Nintendo are doing poorly in the console business, and yet they're not imitating Sony for their next comsole, in spite of PS4 being very successful. Because Nintendo don't seem to think it's in their best interest to compete dirtectly with Sony and MS. Likewise, even if Switch becomes successful, that doesn't mean Sony and MS will want to copy that model any more than Nintendo wants to copy Sony's model.
|
Hmmm, I'll be honest I'm having some difficulty wrapping my mind around the next generation (not being present doesn't help, heh) partly because I see parallels to previous generations, only they don't match up perfectly. Some say history doesn't repeat, only rhymes.
Anyways, bear in mind that with the big revolutions like NES, N64, and Wii (2D/3D/Motion), the hardware often dictated the software. So even when competition didn't replicate the hardware they often indirectly followed Nintendo's lead through influence of software. The big guys would clearly be Mario-2D, Zelda-3D, Wii Sports-Motion. I see this being forgotten in this thread.
Competition/Markets are always looking for the next big thing. When you mention VR I think you have a legitimate point. Nintendo doesn't seem to be reaching out for it perhaps due to failed attempts. I'm not sure how to categorize what the Switch's "new" appeal is. It's not trying to be revolutionary like the Wii, but I think there may be some hidden features that showcase innovations in portability beyond the obvious trait of home console power on the go. I could be wrong, as we've been fed very little in the Switch trailer.
VR could be the next big thing, but Sony and Microsoft aren't pushing it like it is. it hasn't caughten fire like motion-controls, 3d-gaming, or 2d-gaming. What are they waiting for? Also, it's my belief that a new entertainment has to catch fire in order to be accepted. - foreign concepts have a steeper threshold for acceptance.
