HUGECOOL
26-03-2006, 05:54 AM
In business, as in evolution, competition promotes characteristics and behaviors that increase the ability to survive while discouraging characteristics and behaviors that reduce the ability to survive. Hence, the adage, "adapt or die." A business increases its success (and therefore its ability to survive) by offering a product or service that is cheaper than competitors' goods and services, a product or service that is of better quality, or a product or service that no one else offers.
It should be noted that Sony and Microsoft did not ruin video games or Nintendo. They did not take developers or consumers away from Nintendo. Nintendo had become set in its ways and was inflexible in its dealings with software developers. Sony and Microsoft became more successful than Nintendo by offering software developers a more financially appealing option and by targeting games to mature gamers. There was an empty niche in the video game market and Sony and Microsoft filled it. Sony and Microsoft gave the industry and the market a choice and a significant number of people chose in Sony's and Microsoft's favor. This does not mean Nintendo is bad -- it means that Nintendo's product appealed to a smaller segment of the market and Sony's and Microsoft's products appealed to a larger segment of the market. Nintendo is firmly in third place but they are still making money. You can say that Sony or Microsoft or Nintendo "suck" or they are "ruining video games" but the fact that they are financially successful at making video games means they are doing something right. Nobody claims that Lamborghini sucks because they don't make a mini-van or that Buick sucks because they don't make a $200,000 sports car. They make products tailored to certain segments of the market and they make a profit doing it. The product may not be to your taste but it certainly caters to plenty of other people.
However, the video game market is becoming stagnant. The same companies are offering the same products to the same people. The market is clogged with sequels that offer no significant change from the previous games. Majora's Mask looked better than Link to the Past but it was just more of the same. Metroid Prime 2 looked better than Metroid Prime but is was just more of the same. The same problem occurs over and over across all console platforms. One exception is Resident Evil 4. Resident Evil was revolutionary in its time, but sequels offered no significant changes to the original game until RE 4 came along. Resident Evil 4 fundamentally reinvented the Resident Evil gameplay and breathed new life into the stagnant series. But for every Resident Evil 4, there's a dozen Princes of Persia or Splinter Cells, etc. So what's going wrong? I think it helps to review Plato's allegory of the cave.
Plato used an allegory to describe a situation in which, since birth, prisoners were placed in a cave and restrained in such a way that they could not move and never saw anything (including themselves) except for the cave wall. Behind the prisoners is a raised ledge on which a fire burns. Shapes of animals, plants and other objects are passed in front of the fire and cast shadows against the wall of the cave. When sounds are made by people or objects casting the shadows, the sound is reflected so that it appears to originate from the shadows on the wall. To the prisoners, the shadows are the only things they have ever perceived and therefore, the shadows are the only things the prisoners know as "real." If a prisoner was released and taken outside of the cave, the prisoner would be blinded by the light of day. As the prisoner's eyes adjusted to the light, they would begin to perceive colors and shapes and, eventually, the sun illuminating everything. If the prisoner went back into the cave once he understood what he saw and tried to tell the other prisoners about the outside, the other prisoners would think he was crazy. For them, reality is the shadows on the wall. They cannot conceive of anything existing besides the shadows because they have never perceived anything other than shadows. Plato used this allegory to show how perception can lead people away from understanding through reason.
How does the allegory apply to the video game industry? The gaming experience is defined largely by the interface (i.e. the controller). Games are created to conform to the functions of the controller and gamers must adapt that same conformity to advance through the game. Since the advent of the Nintendo 64, and later, the Playstation dual shock controller, the interface has not significantly changed. The current style of controller has been in use for so long it has, in effect, become the shadow on the wall. Games and gamers are structurally and psychologically constrained by the form and function of the current controller. The video game industry has built a tower around itself. The tower is secure but there are no exits. Anyone (potential gamers) wishing to get into the tower faces a difficult climb and anyone wishing to leave the tower faces a great fall. This is where Nintendo's last-place status puts it in the best possible position for the next generation of consoles.
The tower has also become increasingly cramped and Sony and Microsoft have effectively kicked Nintendo out of the tower. With no where else to go, Nintendo has wandered through the wilderness. Much like the freed prisoner from Plato's allegory, Nintendo has returned from the wilderness with a profound insight. You do not need to live in the tower. Nintendo is not knocking down the tower. Nintendo is not trying to knock down the tower. With the Revolution controller, Nintendo is tearing down a wall to enable people to enter the tower or leave the tower. Nintendo is destroying a barrier and giving people a choice. Sony and Microsoft will remain in the tower -- they have invested too much in the tower to leave it. Many people like the tower and will continue to stay there and many people will move into the tower but they will get there because Nintendo gave them a way in. Going back to the car metaphor; suppose you have never driven a car and live in a land with no roads but you want to learn to drive. Are you going to buy a $200,000 sports car from an arrogant salesman or are you going to buy a car from a salesman who will not only give you a luxury sedan for next to nothing, but also build the roads for you to drive it on? Sony and Microsoft offer the safety and familiarity of the tower but Nintendo is offering the unknown wonders of the wilderness and the call is too great for many to ignore. Many gamers have grown tired of the safety of the tower and the sameness of its walls. Games are not just about high scores or body counts, they are about exploration. I want to get out and explore the wilderness.
By knocking Nintendo into third place, Sony and Microsoft have positioned Nintendo to bring about a fundamental change in gaming and to make video games appealing to gamers and non-gamers alike. Being the outsider has put Nintendo in the position once held by Sony and Microsoft. Nintendo is offering something new to the market; something no one else is offering. Nintendo has been forced to adapt. Nintendo is reinventing itself, renewing its relationships with developers, and most importantly, it is reinventing gaming. Nintendo is tearing down barriers and ripping open psychological cages. Nintendo is throwing out convention and challenging people to think differently and more creatively and, for that reason, Nintendo Revolution is guaranteed to get my gaming dollar.
Post only to discuss the thread. :rolleyes:
It should be noted that Sony and Microsoft did not ruin video games or Nintendo. They did not take developers or consumers away from Nintendo. Nintendo had become set in its ways and was inflexible in its dealings with software developers. Sony and Microsoft became more successful than Nintendo by offering software developers a more financially appealing option and by targeting games to mature gamers. There was an empty niche in the video game market and Sony and Microsoft filled it. Sony and Microsoft gave the industry and the market a choice and a significant number of people chose in Sony's and Microsoft's favor. This does not mean Nintendo is bad -- it means that Nintendo's product appealed to a smaller segment of the market and Sony's and Microsoft's products appealed to a larger segment of the market. Nintendo is firmly in third place but they are still making money. You can say that Sony or Microsoft or Nintendo "suck" or they are "ruining video games" but the fact that they are financially successful at making video games means they are doing something right. Nobody claims that Lamborghini sucks because they don't make a mini-van or that Buick sucks because they don't make a $200,000 sports car. They make products tailored to certain segments of the market and they make a profit doing it. The product may not be to your taste but it certainly caters to plenty of other people.
However, the video game market is becoming stagnant. The same companies are offering the same products to the same people. The market is clogged with sequels that offer no significant change from the previous games. Majora's Mask looked better than Link to the Past but it was just more of the same. Metroid Prime 2 looked better than Metroid Prime but is was just more of the same. The same problem occurs over and over across all console platforms. One exception is Resident Evil 4. Resident Evil was revolutionary in its time, but sequels offered no significant changes to the original game until RE 4 came along. Resident Evil 4 fundamentally reinvented the Resident Evil gameplay and breathed new life into the stagnant series. But for every Resident Evil 4, there's a dozen Princes of Persia or Splinter Cells, etc. So what's going wrong? I think it helps to review Plato's allegory of the cave.
Plato used an allegory to describe a situation in which, since birth, prisoners were placed in a cave and restrained in such a way that they could not move and never saw anything (including themselves) except for the cave wall. Behind the prisoners is a raised ledge on which a fire burns. Shapes of animals, plants and other objects are passed in front of the fire and cast shadows against the wall of the cave. When sounds are made by people or objects casting the shadows, the sound is reflected so that it appears to originate from the shadows on the wall. To the prisoners, the shadows are the only things they have ever perceived and therefore, the shadows are the only things the prisoners know as "real." If a prisoner was released and taken outside of the cave, the prisoner would be blinded by the light of day. As the prisoner's eyes adjusted to the light, they would begin to perceive colors and shapes and, eventually, the sun illuminating everything. If the prisoner went back into the cave once he understood what he saw and tried to tell the other prisoners about the outside, the other prisoners would think he was crazy. For them, reality is the shadows on the wall. They cannot conceive of anything existing besides the shadows because they have never perceived anything other than shadows. Plato used this allegory to show how perception can lead people away from understanding through reason.
How does the allegory apply to the video game industry? The gaming experience is defined largely by the interface (i.e. the controller). Games are created to conform to the functions of the controller and gamers must adapt that same conformity to advance through the game. Since the advent of the Nintendo 64, and later, the Playstation dual shock controller, the interface has not significantly changed. The current style of controller has been in use for so long it has, in effect, become the shadow on the wall. Games and gamers are structurally and psychologically constrained by the form and function of the current controller. The video game industry has built a tower around itself. The tower is secure but there are no exits. Anyone (potential gamers) wishing to get into the tower faces a difficult climb and anyone wishing to leave the tower faces a great fall. This is where Nintendo's last-place status puts it in the best possible position for the next generation of consoles.
The tower has also become increasingly cramped and Sony and Microsoft have effectively kicked Nintendo out of the tower. With no where else to go, Nintendo has wandered through the wilderness. Much like the freed prisoner from Plato's allegory, Nintendo has returned from the wilderness with a profound insight. You do not need to live in the tower. Nintendo is not knocking down the tower. Nintendo is not trying to knock down the tower. With the Revolution controller, Nintendo is tearing down a wall to enable people to enter the tower or leave the tower. Nintendo is destroying a barrier and giving people a choice. Sony and Microsoft will remain in the tower -- they have invested too much in the tower to leave it. Many people like the tower and will continue to stay there and many people will move into the tower but they will get there because Nintendo gave them a way in. Going back to the car metaphor; suppose you have never driven a car and live in a land with no roads but you want to learn to drive. Are you going to buy a $200,000 sports car from an arrogant salesman or are you going to buy a car from a salesman who will not only give you a luxury sedan for next to nothing, but also build the roads for you to drive it on? Sony and Microsoft offer the safety and familiarity of the tower but Nintendo is offering the unknown wonders of the wilderness and the call is too great for many to ignore. Many gamers have grown tired of the safety of the tower and the sameness of its walls. Games are not just about high scores or body counts, they are about exploration. I want to get out and explore the wilderness.
By knocking Nintendo into third place, Sony and Microsoft have positioned Nintendo to bring about a fundamental change in gaming and to make video games appealing to gamers and non-gamers alike. Being the outsider has put Nintendo in the position once held by Sony and Microsoft. Nintendo is offering something new to the market; something no one else is offering. Nintendo has been forced to adapt. Nintendo is reinventing itself, renewing its relationships with developers, and most importantly, it is reinventing gaming. Nintendo is tearing down barriers and ripping open psychological cages. Nintendo is throwing out convention and challenging people to think differently and more creatively and, for that reason, Nintendo Revolution is guaranteed to get my gaming dollar.
Post only to discuss the thread. :rolleyes: