Protect Natal = $150?

[Eric]

http://kotaku.com/5548383/report-projec ... much-money

What do you guys think? Dead on Arrival?

[Zeus]

Oh yeah, always was

[Shrinweck]

Well this kind of thing is always going to be for the niche market until someone manages to make something viable to become a new industry standard. That said, they'll probably still make some money off the novelty of it. Will it cover their overhead? Who gives a shit? It's Microsoft, they probably heat their buildings with cash just to save money on the rising costs of electricity and gas.

[Julius Seeker]

Since Bill Gates created his own videogame console, why not his own Sega CD as well?

[Eric]

Since Bill Gates created his own videogame console, why not his own Sega CD as well?

The Xbox brand lost Microsoft 10 billion dollars, what is another 200 million? Or however much they spent on this thing.

Was it that much? They haven't started to turn a profit due to X-Box Live?

[Zeus]

Since Bill Gates created his own videogame console, why not his own Sega CD as well?

The Xbox brand lost Microsoft 10 billion dollars, what is another 200 million? Or however much they spent on this thing.

Was it that much? They haven't started to turn a profit due to X-Box Live?

They started turning a profit a couple of years ago on the hardware. They essentially lost money the entire Xbox 1's life (hence the 4 year life span) and for the first couple of years of the 360. If it wasn't for the $1.5B write-off 'cause of their idiocy (ie. the RROD errors), they'd be sitting pretty right now. Live is a different matter altogether, they make an absolute killing ripping people off on that

[Tessian]

Any peripheral that costs half the price of your console is a bit steep... they'll have to convince everyone this is THE SHIT and we all need it now cause it's so awesome. And they better be right

[Julius Seeker]

It depends, if it comes with a product that people will want to play, then I can see it being successful to a degree. Rock Band packages cost $160 and $170 if that means anything.

[Zeus]

Any peripheral that costs half the price of your console is a bit steep... they'll have to convince everyone this is THE SHIT and we all need it now cause it's so awesome. And they better be right

The killer app will make or break Natal and Move. Apparently GT5 has been delayed to incorporate Move (it was supposed to come out in April; and not a "we swear, it's coming" release date but a "it's done, here you go" one) so we'll see if that's just fluff or a real improvement to how the game is played. History has shown that practically all peripherals fail or generate mediocre sales 'cause they fragment the market and I don't think Natal or Move will do anything to change that trend. They will have to be packaged with the software made specifically for them and that will have to be a good value proposition on its own.

Hell, the only peripheral I can even think of that wasn't a pack-in that did well was the Rumble Pak. And look how many crap peripherals are on the Wii.....

[SineSwiper]

I have literally no idea how this will turn out. I agree with both sides here. It could take some of the glory away from the Wii, or it could flop as an extra peripheral which nobody buys.

I think if they stand a chance, they might actually want to think about converting some of those big Wii games into 360. Imagine if you can sell a system that has most of the games from all four platforms. Imagine if they stole some of the exclusives (besides first-party, of course) from Nintendo with hardware like this. I think they will need to push hard to get the platform embedded into every new 360. Don't try to make money on the hardware; make money on the software that comes out of it.

[Julius Seeker]

I think the aim of the Sony Wiimote was to try and gain some of Nintendo's audience. If they can get it out for less than 45 dollars then I can see some success; it has to be less than the original, since it will be seen as an immitation brand to a well established 4 year old product.

[Zeus]

I have literally no idea how this will turn out. I agree with both sides here. It could take some of the glory away from the Wii, or it could flop as an extra peripheral which nobody buys.

I think if they stand a chance, they might actually want to think about converting some of those big Wii games into 360. Imagine if you can sell a system that has most of the games from all four platforms. Imagine if they stole some of the exclusives (besides first-party, of course) from Nintendo with hardware like this. I think they will need to push hard to get the platform embedded into every new 360. Don't try to make money on the hardware; make money on the software that comes out of it.

Just never fail to take a dig whenever you get even the most remote opportunity, do you?

Sony and Microsoft don't want to take anything away from the Wii, they want completely different experiences. Basically to take the idea of the Wii to "the next level". If all they're trying to do is replicate Wii experiences but "better", they're done before they come out. But I don't think they're even attempting to do that based on how they're presenting their copycat peripherals.

In a few weeks we'll have a much better idea of what exactly their strategy is for these things.

[SineSwiper]

Just never fail to take a dig whenever you get even the most remote opportunity, do you?

No, I'm just stating the obvious. That's not to say that I don't disapprove of Nintendo's handling of their current gen console, and how they all but abandoned their previous audience for that sell-out casual cash.

Sony and Microsoft don't want to take anything away from the Wii, they want completely different experiences.

You're off your rocker if you think they don't want to take a share of Nintendo's cash cow. That's the whole goddamn point! Microsoft and Sony, two big profitable and care-for-nothing-but-money companies, want to tell people that they have the shit hot product that will blow the Wii out of the water and does everything short of fucking holograms.

They want to steal Nintendo's customers and their thunder. Period.

[Lox]

Yeah, I cannot believe that Sony and MS don't want some of the business from the casual Wii market.

[Julius Seeker]

That's not to say that I don't disapprove of Nintendo's handling of their current gen console, and how they all but abandoned their previous audience for that sell-out casual cash.

If anyone turned its back on fans this generation, it is Sony. Sony kicked off the generation with an overpriced console because they wanted to play Blu Ray movies on it and buy their high definition TVs.

I can't see how Nintendo turned its back on fans by expanding their franchise line, and improving the quality of existing franchises. the only time I really felt Nintendo was turning backs on fans was last generation: making Metroid a FPS, making Mario 3D a water gun game, the weird direction with Mario Kart: Double Dash, and cell shading Zelda. Yoshi's Story on N64 was a bit of a kick in the nuts too; a very poor sequel to 2D Mario, that of course will be forgotten; and cancelling Earthbound 2.

In truth, the only people I see who say they are fans, and that Wii betrayed them, are people like you who were not Nintendo fans; at least, not last generation or the generation before either. I suspect the reason why you guys do that is because of jealousy of Nintendo success; since you (and other anti-Nintendo people) always try to downplay Nintendo's groundbreaking success, that seems to obviously be the case. The Wii brought huge numbers of Nintendo's fanbase - handheld system owners - back to the Nintendo home console scene. Nintendo has sold more systems and games than anyone else this generation; even despite heavy piracy; that should tell you something. All of us actual Nintendo fans are quite happy.

[Zeus]

I think if they stand a chance, they might actually want to think about converting some of those big Wii games into 360.

Of course they're going after the casual market, that's the point. What they're not trying to do is replicate the Wii experiences as the quote above suggests

That's not to say that I don't disapprove of Nintendo's handling of their current gen console, and how they all but abandoned their previous audience for that sell-out casual cash.

For the millionth time, they've actually given their previous audience more on the Wii than any other system since the SNES days. Just because they happen to also release a ton of titles for the casual audience doesn't mean you've been abandoned