390°

Final Fantasy VII Writer Sees End of The Nintendo Era

Since the release of the Game Boy, Nintendo has ruled portable gaming. That era is over, says Masato Kato, the writer of FFVII, Xenogears and Chrono Trigger. But why?

phantomexe5071d ago

right...i may not agree with nintendos future outline but i've heard this before.Nintendo could sell ice to eskimos plus nintendo will do what nintendo has alwasy done offer zelda mario metroid f-zero and there other 200 ips that they know people will snach up at day one. I have a felling nintendo isn't going anywhere.

qface645071d ago

this guy is just 1 big troll
if your gonna say nintendo is gonna come to an end at least give an actual reason as to why you think that

"With the iPad going on sale, the epoch of Nintendo is finished," Kato tweeted. "But with the DS and the Wii, it's been digging its own grave."
SERIOUSLY???

mikeslemonade5071d ago

As successful Nintendo is this generation, they won't be next generation. Essentially they hit two home runs this generation. They're due for another N64, Virtual boy, or Gamecube.

Fact of the matter is Nintendo will never invest as much money as Sony or Microsoft into their hardware. It's not like Nintendo has some kind of geniuses that Sony and Microsoft don't have; it's just that they got extremely lucky this generation.

For the Nintendo DS position, it's analogy is the PS2 generation against the competitors of gamecube and xbox. The competitors against the DS is the PSP and the iPhone/iPad/smartphone. Next generation Nintendo will will face stiffer competition because they're going to milk the same franchises again, but Sony will have 2 analog sticks, graphics in HD, and better online.

tunaks15071d ago (Edited 5071d ago )

"Fact of the matter is Nintendo will never invest as much money as Sony or Microsoft into their hardware. It's not like Nintendo has some kind of geniuses that Sony and Microsoft don't have; it's just that they got extremely lucky this generation. "

I don't think you understand how retarded that sounds. Nintendo got lucky? I think you are forgetting how long they've been in this industry. Sony and MS are playing catch up now. You also talk as if the GameCube and N64 were complete and utter failures. If I am not mistaken the n64 and gamecube are home to some of the most critically acclaimed games.

hamoor5071d ago

How did you knew that the PSP 2 will have better graphics/online than the 3ds?

phantomexe5071d ago

Love them or hate them, nintendo knows what there doing when it comes to games. 25 years of doing it is the proof. I think nintendo could make it if they wanted without 3rd party suport. Which is already preety bad except for a few games by 3rd partys conduit,monster hunter and a few more.

Reibooi5071d ago (Edited 5071d ago )

@tunaks1

It doesn't sound stupid at all. While I don't agree about the handheld sector(Nintendo will more then likely own that area for quite awhile to come especially if the 3DS does 3D well)

They WERE lucking with the Wii. Go back to the playstation or PS2 era and tell any gamer that the next big thing would be a console where you flail the controller around. No one would believe it. It's a weird idea. Yet it worked. It was luck. Nintendo has been Hit and miss with consoles. NES was massive success, SNES massive success, N64 was a semi failure and Gamecube was a massive failure. Saying they have critically acclaimed games on those consoles means nothing. EVERY console at some point in it's lifespan has critically acclaimed games. Look at the Dreamcast it was a failure yet is beloved by fans and has plenty of critically acclaimed games. Nintendo have had a MUCH better track record in the hand held market. However that's largely been because of lack of good competition.

I honestly don't see Nintendo recreating the success they had this Gen again in the next generation. That's just me.

mikeslemonade5071d ago

"I don't think you understand how retarded that sounds. Nintendo got lucky? I think you are forgetting how long they've been in this industry. Sony and MS are playing catch up now. You also talk as if the GameCube and N64 were complete and utter failures. If I am not mistaken the n64 and gamecube are home to some of the most critically acclaimed games."

So it's pure skill that Nintendo went from 20 million units sold with Gamecube to the Wii which is on pace to sell over 150 million? That is the biggest turnaround in video game history. I call that luck, and the way they did it was hit a "home run" or a "knock out punch". Nintendo themselves didn't think the Wii would be this successful. They brought in motion controls and targeted the casual audience and they benifited from that. Nintendo Wii isn't directly competing against 360 and PS3 and that is why it's doing so great. Next generation Ninendo will try the same thing again except the competition is stiffer.

How did you knew that the PSP 2 will have better graphics/online than the 3ds?

Sony always invests more on their hardware. They sell the system at a loss and the hardware normally almost costs twice as much as the MSRP. Nintendo always launches the system at a profit. Day one Nintendo will be making money.

Dragon_Hiko5071d ago (Edited 5071d ago )

I'm going to have to agree with Mikeslemonade with Nintendo on the console market, hand held is a different ball game all together and I don't have an opinion on that.
But getting back to the wii; I'm just going to point out some simple logic...Nintendo cannot make a true successor to the wii that will sell like the wii. Why? Because...there's the wii! Nintendo won't be able to laud as one of their biggest features downloading old classic arcade games for example...why? Because the wii does it, why buy a new console when your old one does what you want right? Same with the games that the casual market liked with wii, they have the wii! Why buy a new console? You have to remember the casual crowd is not the hardcore crowd, casual game players do not want to buy a new console when they don't play that many games to begin with, and all the fun games on the wii are again there. The casual crowd does not care about super pretty HD graphics, or state of the art AI and physics engines in games...if they did they wouldn't be 'casual' gamers would they?
The way I see it Nintendo has 2 options.
1-they go for a suped up console and try to compete with Sony and Microsoft on the high end spectrum on consoles.
and
2-they stick two wii's together with duct tape like they did the game cube for the wii. Joking aside, basically a minor upgrade which means cheap launch price catering again to the casual crowd.
Now, option 1 in my opinion is the one they should go with, but it will mean a lot of competition for nintendo since Sony and Microsoft both have learned a LOT i'm sure about their HD consoles and what to make even better next time round where for Nintendo it will be there first shot in the HD era. NOT saying they can't do it, just will be a hell of a battle.
And option 2 is a death knell as far as I'm concerned. If they try the EXACT same formula for the wii 2 as the wii I believe they will fail to achieve half the market share of the wii. Again....with the casual crowd who DON'T want to upgrade, and already have their virtual store for their older games and already having a plethora of fun games on the wii...where would the incentive be for the casual market to upgrade?

N4g_null5071d ago (Edited 5071d ago )

You have to understand how hard it is to go from 2d to 3d and learn how to use the tools to effectly make or bring the magic you once had to an evolving platform like gaming. Hell you could get a hacked version of zbrush and still not be any good at it for a long time.

Why do I say such a thing? Nintendo sucked at 3d for a good while until the wii. It was mostly game play wise. It's no secret that japan was on the loosing side of the graphic war simply because all the big 3d iron makers where american. It's like their heart was not into it or some thing yeet really they simply did not have access to our tools. They where truly following some one elses vision it seemed. Yet now they have gotten good at 3d. I'm pretty sure they are using normal maps now and a few procedual graphics chips. The 3ds will run shaders, real shaders not gimped ones. Hell you may even see an epic engine on the 3DS.

With the wii they have almost prefected game play in true 3d and with motion controls to boot. So far the wii has my favortie versions of all their franchise out or coming out on the wii and they all crush the GC versions and even the N64 versions.

Nintendo was actually dead to me during that time yet now they are busting out of the grave like a vengful zombie. It funny because they got their groove back and while their wii sports offer game play no one has been able to do yet with motion controlls all of their core games got graphic up grades.

After seeing Mario galaxy two on my DLP samsung I can not fathom why you guys think nintendo can not handl HD gaming, We all know thier next system will have it and they just prefected all of their franchises pretty much and even gave us a 2d mario that is a gem.

By the time they want to do HD on a console we will have a video card with almost 2,000 cores in it and enough ram to power my workstation from 2001. seriously HD will be ready for mass consumption then and a $250 HD console will be easy to produce and sell at that price. The power usage is shrinking like crazy.

Also slow thinking people think nintendo profits are going down because of low sales, no it's called R&D cutting into your profits. Nintendo is spending big for the next DS and the next Wii. They where not lucky. They have multiple core nintendo games in the 10 million range along with games that I though would never get my wife to play games let along her parents.

It's really sad how the every one truely believes that the hard core never leave gaming. They sure as hell left PC gaming ask id software. They are just as fickle as the new comers unless you believe the hardcore truely are sheep or brain washed.

Tech wise I think nintendo is looking for some thing where they can bring custom hardware to each new game release, very similar to the FX chip. You can't do that with optical media unless it is caddy based, yet you can do that with 2TB SDXC cards, which would be able to contain as many as 100 high-definition movies, Yes thats a 2,000 gigs way bigger than a blu ray disk and even faster. It's very easy to then use a tegra or some other GPUCPU hybrid to off load rendering or even add more system ram just for one game.

Unthinkable, well if they where in debt and trying to turn a profit yes I would be inclined to agree but they are not.

Nintendo is the most dangerous right now. Every one looking in on their success can not see nintendo has made it's best games for casual, and hardcore gamers this gen. The sale prove it, yet of course a PC gamer would not like traditional console games like a 2d mario.

Wake up gamers you have intruders in your house! PC gamers are not your friends LOL.

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 5071d ago
Mo0eY5071d ago

Nintendo lost me as a consumer for their next-gen console. I'm sorry, but they had so much potential in their hands, and they create casual, mini games? I was expecting sword fighting epicness, insane FPS games, and a rebirth of the first person shooter with the controller. Screw that.

n4f5071d ago

yeah what ever and this time its coming from that guy?
hater much?

saint_john_paul_ii5071d ago

the ipad? you mean that $400 POS that apparently is great for gaming? has anyone played games on the thing yet?

I rather play on a SEGA Game Gear than that POS..

ATLGAMER5071d ago

thats what i was tellin u before***( cleavandshow)

PirateThom5071d ago

The Game Gear was great though.

madpuppy5071d ago

with a ton of accessories and a few games, like an idiot, I gave them to my neice and nephews.

unknownhero11235071d ago

funny you should say that because I just did an hour ago, played on the game gear I mean.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 5071d ago
tunaks15071d ago (Edited 5071d ago )

the iPad will not pose a threat to the DS in the long run. How much can really be achieved with no buttons? Sure mini games here and there will be neat on the iPad, but when will we see a full fledged title that is exclusive to the iPad? A game that will get as much buzz as a Mario or Zelda game? Never.

Brklynty15071d ago

The iPad? That $600 piece of shit is just a oversized iPod touch, what? you mean to tell me for birthdays and christmas mothers are going to start getting thier 8 year olds iPads instead of a DS? You must be insane, 70 million Wiis sold and like 120 million DS sold, yea, nintendo is going anywhere son.

Aphe5071d ago

Oh, is it that time of the month for someone to say Nintendo is doomed again?

/yawn

Show all comments (44)
80°

Nintendo's Massacre Of The 3DS And Wii U Is Finally Complete, Regrettably

Hanzala from eXputer: "The cruel hammer of Nintendo has fallen. Farewell, 3DS and Wii U, you surely brightened my life and many others; you won't be forgotten."

280°

Xbox's Preservation Step Sets A Much-Needed Example, Especially For Nintendo

Hanzla from eXputer inquires: "If Xbox can care about preserving its games and legacy, what exactly is wrong with Nintendo, trying to kill game preservation single-handedly?"

purple1015d ago

Ahh yes the good old game preservation of saving all your games to a removable hhd on the Xbox 360, taking it round your mates house, setting up multiple tvs to
Be met with “save data corrupted, please re download”

Or how about removing 360 games
From the store
, download them now or else, and, better hope to god that save data doesn’t corrupt, or it’s lost for ever

Nice one ☝️

Zeref4d ago

It's better than what Nintendo and Playstation is doing. It might not be perfect but at least they are TRYING. Unlike the others.

DarXyde4d ago

Trying? Take off the blinders for a moment, mate.

1. A failure to preserve games is just that: a failure to preserve games. Don't try to sugarcoat it: NO ONE is doing it properly. Better than awful is nothing to write home about.

2. At the time of this comment, isn't it the case that you need an internet connection to play Xbox games even if you buy physical discs that are hardly in circulation anymore? I don't have a Series X and I can't verify, but I think that is correct. I'm fairly certain you can at least play PS5 games at version 1.0 (not much of a win really when many games require day one patches). I think Microsoft's all digital, licensing approach is by far more aggressive than anyone else's. They really try to push you to game pass where you lose your entire library by umm.... Skipping a month of payments.

I don't think anyone is doing it right whatsoever. Don't get me started on Nintendo, who goes after anyone looking to preserve their games better than they ever would with extreme litigation.

Don't be a simp for any of these companies. Get it together.

PhillyDonJawn4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

@DarX never speak on Xbox again. You lost all credibility with your internet connection comment. Smh you have 0 clue and misinformed yet speaking on something you don't no squat about.

Einhander19724d ago

What has Sony done exactly? You guys keep deflecting to Sony but I am not actually seeing any results, and ai am certain nothing that you can come up with even comes close to what Microsoft has done and what they have tried and failed to do, like tie all your disks to your account on xbone.

Microsoft removed their whole indie section when they moved to the xbone because they were going to only allow games on the service that came from a publisher, id@xbox started after xbone launched and it only exists because Sony embraced indie and Microsoft was forced to cancel their plans and reverse course.

And every single game that was part of games for windows live including disk games (I have gta 4 on disk that won't work) so hundreds of games that use that DRM no longer work unless the company themselves patched it out which of course very few did.

MrBaskerville4d ago

Not trying. Tried. they killed of the backcomp program years ago. They set something up again, but sounds like it's more of an attempt to save the current library on whatever they are planning next. With luck they save everything and more, but let's see. I could see them killing off parts of the OG xbox and 360 libraries. Can't imagine that they would allow us to play Forza 5-7 in the future.

With that said, I do like what they've done and really wish they could have done more.

shinoff21834d ago

Zeref

So killing off physical media is trying what exactly. Ms don't really give a fk if you think they do your kidding yourself.

Profchaos4d ago

They are not trying this team is established for forward compatability the team is. It interested in preserving Xbox or 360 games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4d ago
isarai5d ago

Is that why Hellblade 2 is digital only?

Zeref4d ago

Just because it's digital only doesn't mean you can't preserve it. Just put it on an external and you have the exact same functionality of what a disc does.

MrNinosan4d ago

Guess you're trolling, but if you actually think that's how it works, I'd recommend buying some braincells.

mkis0073d ago (Edited 3d ago )

Volitile vs nonvolitile data. A disc will not corrupt either. A drive can be corrupted.

Einhander19725d ago

This is just a scammy PR move to distract from the fact they are going digital only and trying to push streaming and subscriptions only.

No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft.

Without discs there is no preservation, preservation can't be done by the rights holders it can only be done by the consumers, anything else is a lie.

5d ago Replies(3)
Einhander19725d ago

Anyone remember xblig which Microsoft removed their whole 360 indie section removing hundreds of games from people?

5d ago
5d ago
Zeref4d ago

Do you know you can put your games on an external and preserve them that way? There are no benefits to discs. ZERO. Idk why some of you are still obsessed with them.

DarXyde4d ago

Because games like Persona 5 exist. It's STILL V1.00. On Playstation, that's a win because 1.00 is installed on the disc—no need to download anything.

If a game does not require any updates, it's all on the disc.

Extremely low bar in the modern era, of course. It's not much of a win by any stretch.

But for now, physical media does have a purpose, at least on Playstation.

Einhander19724d ago

That is factually not how game licensing works, try plugging your hard drive into someone else xbox, It's not going to work, and it won't work if the licensing servers ever go down.

Einhander19724d ago

Anyone remember games for windows live.

I have around a dozen games, some on Steam itself that will not work because Microsoft shut off the licensing servers.

BehindTheRows4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

I do. I STILL have games (Gears of War being the big one) I cannot access because Games for Windows LIVE is total garbage and no one has held Microsoft accountable.

Zeref4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership.

Chevalier4d ago

"You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership."

Damn how many times do people got to explain your idiocy to you? You can take a copy of Persona 5 like someone used as an example and play that game on ANY console WITHOUT logging in which means I can lend the game to a friend without internet and they can play my game. Can you lend your hard drive to anyone without logging in for them to play? NOPE. That is a huge difference and if you think otherwise then sorry you're an idiot.

Tacoboto4d ago

"No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft."

Ubisoft is literally erasing games people bought from their libraries... My PS1-3 discs are useless on modern hardware. Nintendo's re-published and resold almost their entire Wii U library, and the eShop is completely dead with no BC mechanism in the Switch software. Microsoft publishes everything they make today day one on Steam and Xbox/Windows. Sony only brings to PC the titles they think you might want some years later and Nintendo won't even design a functional long-lasting joystick.

You're absolutely trolling and not serious if you think Microsoft today is the worst offender.

shinoff21834d ago

Yay steam

Not everyone fks with computers though. The disc is still the best way as a console player. Period.

Tacoboto4d ago

How do Sony and Nintendo feel about these discs from 2001-2013?

Don't be stupid, you know Xbox is the best at this today.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4d ago
Hofstaderman4d ago

Nobody wants this. Sales or the lack of it in the case of XBOX is very telling. I wonder how the adorably all digital series X will fare. Adorably dismal perhaps?

crazyCoconuts4d ago

Only time will tell, but for from someone like me suspecting that Xbox is trying to gracefully exit the console market, that "forward compatibility" team is trying to get Xbox games playing on Windows PCs. I mean, it's nice that they're not planning on exiting with a "enjoy your games while the hardware still works" message, so that's nice. They still have a brand to protect via Microsoft so probably feel obligated to have a better exit strategy.

Xeofate4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

That is not their plan, their plan is to transfer users accounts to the cloud.

Phil Spencer himself said as much a few months back, plans could have changed but I think people are reading way too much into one statement where Phil said he would allow Epic on xbox because he wants to be able to sell xbox games directly on other platforms. Aka, instead of selling Sea of Thives through PSN he wants to have an xbox store to sell his games on PlayStation without giving PlayStation any money.

Again, it's extremely unlikely that Phil plans to put PC on xbox and licensing would prevent them from just giving out other publishers games purchased on xbox copies of thier games on PC, Microsoft does not own their games.

crazyCoconuts3d ago

The thing that doesn't align with the cloud strategy is the giving up on exclusives. You'd still need strong exclusives for cloud streaming - it's still a "platform" , just with a lower upfront hardware investment. I feel like they've learned what PS learned with PSNow long ago. We're not ready to stream games and it's only gonna lose them money to try at this point

FinalFantasyFanatic4d ago

I would love that, I'd buy up some of the Xbox games if they could run on PC, like the Rare Replay, Lost Odyssey and Dead or Alive Ultimate, probably a pipe dream though.

Show all comments (43)
90°

Nintendo's War Against Player-Made Content Will Hurt The Company In The End

Danish from eXputer: "Nintendo has historically gone against player-made content and emulation of its games. This has done much to harm the company's image."

XiNatsuDragnel11d ago

I agree nintendo hire some these folks to help in your games it'll help imo.

banger8810d ago

They need to stop announcing these mods and fan remakes until they're finished. Finish it, upload it, and then if Nintendo dmca's it tough shit. Once it's online, people can share it around, even if the original download gets taken down.

Jingsing10d ago

True, but most modders need constant admiration during the process to motivate them.

PRIMORDUS10d ago

Yup, once it's a torrent nothing can be done Nintendo is helpless at that point. But it would be wise if they just had a site on the dark web, it's also easy to use with Tor and no one will bother you.

mastershredder10d ago

This is all coming from the mouth of short-sighted fandom and grifting madness.
No.... it wont. There is a clear defined reason why they don't. This is nothing new. Make your own shi7 from your own original ideas especially if you are trying to capitalize of it it. Duh.

Yeah, hire people that have zero respect or understanding for an established process. Wow. Yep. Totally makes sense.

shinoff218310d ago

Those guys that made that sonic game got a gig from sega or something along those lines and that game was dope as hell. One of the best sonics as of late.