Has Nintendo Lost Its Way? Latest Wii U News Makes Us Think So

[SepticLemon]

Well, not me, that was 1982, I wasn't even a sperm then! lmao!

Though I would've loved to play any game I wanted, thing is, in 1989 my Dad came back from work with a Commodore 64 and a shit ton of tapes, I didn't need to buy any more games for it. Though I should get it down again and see what games I had apart from Pac Mania, Proof of Destruction, Elite, Pinball Wizard and Space Invaders.

[Duke.Togo]

I think it is all about money. Nintendo creates products to turn a profit, and licensing fees for DVD and Bluray eat into it. They know they can ditch the support and people will still buy.

[Cynicaster]

Love it or hate it, I’m afraid the bottom line is that the internet is the way of the future for bringing movies into the living room. Even with the stellar audiovisual quality afforded by Blu-Ray, it’s not going to enjoy a market tenure like VHS or DVD did. Physical media in general will soon go the way of vinyl records—marginalized by more convenient technologies but strung along on life support by the minority faction too stubborn to let it go.

As strange as it may seem right now for Nintendo to leave out Blu-Ray, I think it may turn out to be a pretty wise business decision, if for no other reason than it’s one less thing adding cost to a product in a highly cost-competitive market.

Think of it this way: if your new product has an expected life cycle of 6-10 years, why would you equip it with cost-adding capabilities that are already showing the vague sepia tones of obsolescence several months before the product is even released? By the time the console hits its prime, Blu-Ray will be a distant memory for the bulk of the demographic.

[Dhalamar]

Eh, DVD is so ancient there's no reason NOT to have it in there, even though it's not surprising that they left it (though it was weird with the Wii given their target demographic).

Blu-Rays on there other hand, think about it. That's Sony's format. Do you REALLY think they're going to let the competition have that technology cheap? :P And on the same note, Nintendo probably doesn't want to give Sony the money for it.

[Burgertime]

Another product came into my head a little while ago when thinking of this. We're looking at the Wii and wondering why it doesn't have DVD playback, and I thought of radios. How many radios do you know that don't have clocks on them? Aside from maybe one designed to be an old fashioned stand alone model. Nintendo is doing that. Wanting to be a stand alone game system. Cell phones too, can you find one that's just a phone?
We live in a world today that wants everything combined into one simple machine that can replace a bunch of others, and honestly I don't fault Nintendo.

Ah man, that PlayCable commercial. It's going to cost me quite a bit to get one of those things in my collection.

[retroshaun]

Well, not me, that was 1982, I wasn't even a sperm then! lmao!

Euugghhhh! Too much info :-)

Its funny, maybe I'm an old fart but I constantly find myself kinda expecting or assuming that on a retro forum, everyone is late 30s or early 40s. Then I realize that of course they're not... and its a very cool realization!

So your Dad got a good deal it seems, probably from someone upgrading to an Amiga! I know that in the mid 90s when I started car booting it was common place to come home with a boot full of retro goodness for more or less pocket money. If only I had had more disposable income!

[retroshaun]

Love it or hate it, I’m afraid the bottom line is that the internet is the way of the future for bringing movies into the living room.

It is, you're right there, and I hate it. And for games. I have been a game developer for a long time and I'm torn between accepting the inevitable for the industry while still being a die hard retro gamer, but I honestly think when physical media goes away, and I genuinely feel thats still a couple console generations away, that will be the time I hang up the joypads and permanently go back to 'sticks.

[indieseoul]

Yes it seems that even young people are getting into retro games which is cool. However Us 30 somethings have the advantage of actually playing the stuff when it was new. It's more nostalgic for us old farts. (I'm 35 soon to turn 36) Also I hope that games don't become download only. Look at CDs you can still buy them even though it's easy to just download them. I think that it will still be a few years before that happens because although most people have the internet many people don't have wifi or connections near their TVs.

[retroshaun]

Agreed, but I have a feeling that gaming will go to electronic only distributioon way before music does. Hope I'm wrong!