| Soundwave said: I disagree, XBox is an example of a company just willing to brute force hardware to the market and lose hundreds of dollars per unit to make it happen. |
Considering console manufacturers have always typically lost money on hardware and recouped it via software... Kinda makes this redundant.
From a consumers point of view it was a massive win, more hardware for less.
It was a better bargain than Gamecube and Playstation 2 in that regard.
| Soundwave said: If the GameCube was developed around that philosophy it probably could have been much more powerful. |
It's called the Wii. Much more powerful.
| Soundwave said: The losses on the XBox per unit were too high even for Microsoft as they basically opted to kill the system early in 2004 even though Halo 2 was a massive hit and hardware sales were up, that's pretty much the dictionary definition of shit hardware design that the higher ups at the company want the system killed and moved out. |
Xbox 360 also cost Microsoft on every console sold... Again consoles losing money on hardware and recouping it with software is a standard practice.
The issue was ironically the nVidia contract, they weren't willing to budge on chip costs or work with Microsoft for a die shrink.
And that is why each and every single console from Microsoft since, use ATI/AMD Radeon... And why Sony never went back to nVidia after the PS3. (Also helps that AMD could build an APU)
| Soundwave said: It's just an example of MS throwing money at every kind of challenge like a spoiled rich kid going off to college using daddy's credit card to try and make anything work. They lost $4 billion reportedly on the original XBox in like only 4 years, lol that's horrendous hardware management. |
And the consumers got better hardware as a result. It was a net win.
Multi-billion dollar companies losing money isn't our concern.
| Soundwave said: When Nintendo announced the Dolphin at E3 1999 officially and basically said it would be as good as the PS2 or better many people scoffed at this claim ... Nintendo delivered on that promise and probably then some. And they did it at $200, not $300. |
They absolutely did meet the claim.
The Gamecube not only had better paper specifications than the PS2, but it was also more efficient in every area... And efficiency is king.
| Soundwave said: I can kinda see why Nintendo was frustrated after the GameCube, they had made great hardware and fixed just about every problem from the N64 and even landed massive exclusive deals like Resident Evil, one upped the PS2 in hardware and basically got no credit for any of that effort. |
Perception is stupidly important.
The Gamecube looking like a device meant for children (Although it was a great machine for mature gamers) didn't do it any favors, that styling just didn't fit more mature gamers.
The Gamecube hardware did get a second lease on life with the Wii... Which gave us some impressive looking games for that consoles specs.
| curl-6 said: There were actually a couple of Wii U games that streamed data from internal storage even when running from disc: Xenoblade Chronicles X and Breath of the Wild.
It was rare, but it could be done.
|
My mistake, you are correct. 3GB of data was set aside for that.
Xenoblade and Breath of the Wild were great exemplars of what the WiiU could do... But it makes you wonder what they *could* have achieved had the hardware existed for a few more years.
| Soundwave said: I think one of the things that doesn't really get talked about enough was that losing James Bond exclusivity was a massive, massive blow. GoldenEye 007 was bigger for the N64 than people realize, if that game didn't save Nintendo's 1997 holiday season the system's sales may have fallen apart before Zelda: OoT was ready (that was still a year+ away in fall 1998). GoldenEye saved their ass and carried the system hard for that interim period between Mario 64 and Zelda OoT. GoldenEye 007 made the console a must have item on college campuses all over the US. They really, really needed to have kept Bond exclusivity at least for another generation. Losing him was a massive blow and while Metroid Prime was a great game it had nowhere near the same market appeal. Then throw in on top of that they cartoonized Zelda and cut it's appeal due to that and Mario Sunshine wasn't really the groundbreaking Mario 64-2 a lot of people were expecting and things got murky. In hindsight they should have just paid up for the Bond license, GoldenEye made Nintendo cool and they couldn't afford to lose that nor can you just whip up a replacement character for Bond, obviously movie studios have been trying to do that for like 50 years. |
The Nintendo 64 had many detractors...
Delaying the launch arguably opened the Market up for the PS1...
They lost Final Fantasy to Sony.
The carts hurt...
But the quality of games were never an issue with me on the N64, it had so many banging titles from Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Turok 1/2/3, Zelda OOT, Mario Kart, Lylat Wars and more... Today if i am given a choice, I would always reach for the N64 over the PS1 or Saturn.
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