Its amazed me how Nintendo has always dominated the handheld market with inferior technology compared to the competitors. There have been some serious competition, and they have all been smoked.
Follow this list:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_h ... e_consoles
And yes, a of that is junk on there, but there were some serious large scale releases on there that were set to seriously challenge nintendo. The N-Gage comes to mind. That was basically a gaming phone. It had a massive marketing campaign, had pretty solid graphics, and a really good game lineup. Splinter Cell, Tomb Raider, Call of Duty, Tony Hawk. But nope, couldnt cut it.
The only real contender was the PSP, and even that barely hung on.
I dont know how much longer they have left, but a 30 year domination is pretty amazing.
What video game system's success shocked you?
- Rookie1
- Posts: 705
- Joined: August 6th, 2015, 7:42 am
- MoarRipter
- Posts: 192
- Joined: July 12th, 2015, 2:38 pm
Re: What video game system's success shocked you?
The Wii. I personally didn't see the appeal of a system with five year old graphics and inaccurate controllers that caused arm pain. Wii Sports was fun (the bowling anyway) but that was it. Yet everyone was hooked on the damn system and and it was hard to find in supply for years after release. I ended up buying three of them for family members as gifts as it's what they wanted, and for each of them the novelty soon wore off and the things never got used again. These family members also didn't much care for the crappy graphics as they hooked them up via composite cable despite having HDTVs. Then again Nintendo didn't really advertise that the thing could at least do 480p, had they bundled a cheap component cable at least then the graphics would've looked slightly less terrible. The Wii never gave me a single ounce of appeal until my parents gave me their console back and I installed the Homebrew Channel on it. Then, suddenly, it was a good system and with Wii homebrew having accurate emulators for a lot of retro 8-bit and 16-bit systems, and being able to load Gamecube and Wii ISOs from an external hard drive I now think it's a pretty cool console. I sure wasn't a fan of the Wii before Wii Homebrew and I still detest the games that use moronic half-assed thought-out motion control waggling that is just grafted onto the game because they could, instead of being used intelligently like how Wii Sports handled motion control. To me, the Wii's best feature is being a single system to play old games through accurate emulation, and being able to load GC/Wii games without the discs. It freed up some space on my disc box racks. I would be perfectly happy if I never played another gimmicky motion control waggling game for the rest of my life. So glad that fad died and died hard.
-
- Posts: 1555
- Joined: April 14th, 2015, 8:08 pm
Re: What video game system's success shocked you?
I've started gaming again semi-regularly for the first time in nearly a decade, and you know what I learned? It's not nearly as fun playing by yourself (compared to playing with siblings, friends, etc).
So, the Wii, despite its gimmicks and crappy hardware succeeded because "social gaming" was its #1 selling point. And yeah, it had some success with getting mom and even grandma to play with the kids. And yes, even if the appeal was short-lived, it doesn't matter because it still sold.
I'm actually about to purchase a Wii, not for the system itself, but for a few GC titles I'd like to try and the Virtual Console. Maybe I should go with the Wii U instead?
So, the Wii, despite its gimmicks and crappy hardware succeeded because "social gaming" was its #1 selling point. And yeah, it had some success with getting mom and even grandma to play with the kids. And yes, even if the appeal was short-lived, it doesn't matter because it still sold.
I'm actually about to purchase a Wii, not for the system itself, but for a few GC titles I'd like to try and the Virtual Console. Maybe I should go with the Wii U instead?
- Rev
- Posts: 1487
- Joined: April 7th, 2015, 7:31 pm
Re: What video game system's success shocked you?
Voor wrote:I've started gaming again semi-regularly for the first time in nearly a decade, and you know what I learned? It's not nearly as fun playing by yourself (compared to playing with siblings, friends, etc).
So, the Wii, despite its gimmicks and crappy hardware succeeded because "social gaming" was its #1 selling point. And yeah, it had some success with getting mom and even grandma to play with the kids. And yes, even if the appeal was short-lived, it doesn't matter because it still sold.
I'm actually about to purchase a Wii, not for the system itself, but for a few GC titles I'd like to try and the Virtual Console. Maybe I should go with the Wii U instead?
If you're not super stoked about the Wii U library I'd recommend waiting until a price drop. I know Nintendo isn't planning on doing one soon, but next year it will drop one way or another as retailers will be trying to clear out their stock before the NX arrives. Black Friday also has some deals with it being $250.
-
- Posts: 870
- Joined: April 9th, 2015, 8:02 pm
Re: What video game system's success shocked you?
Rev wrote:Voor wrote:I've started gaming again semi-regularly for the first time in nearly a decade, and you know what I learned? It's not nearly as fun playing by yourself (compared to playing with siblings, friends, etc).
So, the Wii, despite its gimmicks and crappy hardware succeeded because "social gaming" was its #1 selling point. And yeah, it had some success with getting mom and even grandma to play with the kids. And yes, even if the appeal was short-lived, it doesn't matter because it still sold.
I'm actually about to purchase a Wii, not for the system itself, but for a few GC titles I'd like to try and the Virtual Console. Maybe I should go with the Wii U instead?
If you're not super stoked about the Wii U library I'd recommend waiting until a price drop. I know Nintendo isn't planning on doing one soon, but next year it will drop one way or another as retailers will be trying to clear out their stock before the NX arrives. Black Friday also has some deals with it being $250.
Why not just get a Gamecube with the Gameboy Adaptor? That way you can play Gamecube games & Gameboy Color & Gameboy Advance games. Plus the actual cartridges cost pretty close to what they cost on the Virtual console. You'll have a wider selection and the ability to actually own the games. Dang it! I want a DS player soooo bad.
- VideoGameCritic
- Site Admin
- Posts: 18106
- Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm
Re: What video game system's success shocked you?
I'm going with the Playstation 4! While it's certainly a well-designed next gen system, its library is somewhat modest with very few (if any) must-have titles. In addition, I have never been a fan of the controllers. They cramp my hands and that touch pad is worthless.
And yet I heard this console is outpacing the PS2!
And yet I heard this console is outpacing the PS2!
-
- Posts: 271
- Joined: April 7th, 2015, 7:10 pm
Re: What video game system's success shocked you?
VideoGameCritic wrote:And yet I heard this console is outpacing the PS2!
Considering how we're barely around the second year or so, this is a rocket fuel record of sorts...
-
- Posts: 559
- Joined: April 18th, 2015, 10:32 am
Re: What video game system's success shocked you?
Momentum and brand loyalty. Folks will buy a new Sony console because it's a new Sony console.
-
- Posts: 1818
- Joined: April 27th, 2015, 6:37 pm
Re: What video game system's success shocked you?
VideoGameCritic wrote:I'm going with the Playstation 4! While it's certainly a well-designed next gen system, its library is somewhat modest with very few (if any) must-have titles.
It also does not help matters when most of the better/worser games on the PS4 are also on the PC along with the Xbox One, the Wii U, and heck even the PS3/Xbox 360 along with the 3DS and/or the PS Vita for that matters if applied. As 95% of the PS4 library at the moment, can be acquired elsewhere, meaning you do not really need a PS4 to play 95% of the library!
- VideoGameCritic
- Site Admin
- Posts: 18106
- Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm
Re: What video game system's success shocked you?
I think the Playstation 4 is this generation's winner by default. You have Microsoft which managed to alienate a major portion of the gamer population with their online-only gambit. And then there was Nintendo with their stealth PR blitz for the Wii U. All Sony had to do was not screw up, something the other companies seem quite adept at.
Return to “Video Games General”