Gamer From '78
04-18-2007, 06:32 PM
From Spong:
"The management of a corporation are rewarded for ‘increasing shareholder value’, so you’d expect the Nintendo management to have trouble getting out of their offices right now due to the sheer weight of rewards blocking the door. The reason for this is that, according to finance newswire, Bloomberg, Nintendo’s current share price on the Osaka, Japan Securities Exchange, is the best it’s been since the company launched on the exchange in 1962.
Analysts are slapping the Wii on the back for this one – although the DS, which has seen huge success in recent years, must also take some of the credit.
So, is the share price up on ‘good vibes’ and excellent word of mouth? No, while in fanboy land this kind of thing may hold sway, in the land of the market trader, it comes down to cash-money.
According to the company’s recent financial statements, overall sales went up a massive 90% to 966-billion yen (a smidge over £4-billion) for the year ended March 31. This compares well to the Januay forecast of 900-billion yen in sales.
Yes, you say, but the Wii and the DS are not exactly expensive pieces of kit compared to the PS3 or even the Xbox 360. So, maybe it’s sold a load of kit for not much cash? Nintendo states that its earnings are actually up by approximately 20-billion yen (£84-million).
All of this excellent news for president and CEO Satoru Iwata and his team, as are the recent findings from Japan-based statistics company, Enterbrain. Its figures for hardware sales in Japan for the week ending April 8th show sales of the DS up by 28% up to 110,935 (and that’s despite apparent stock shortages). Sales of the Wii also rose 52,583 – this compares with the PSP’s Japanese sales of 31,503 during the same week.
The PlayStation 3 beat out the Xbox’s 2,963 sales with 14,520 units of its own (less than half the Wii’s)."
Why don't I feel graphics matter so much this gen? First, sales of the PSP versus the Nintendo DS. The DS is clearly graphically inferior to the PSP, yet it's compelling content and innovative design and implementation have propelled it where the PSP will never be able to catch it.
Second, last-gen titles such as God of War II and Resident Evil 4 STILL look spectacular. While I will be the first to say how much graphics in games like Gears of War "wows" me, it takes second place to the gameplay. Wii games like Zelda, Paper Mario, WarioWare and many others deliver in spades.
Third, World of Warcraft. This game is decidedly LAST-GEN, yet it has sold over 8 million copies with over 7.5 million users subscribing currently.
Quality gameplay wins every time. A game is good regardless of how much bump and/or normal mapping it has.
With the pheomenal and unrelenting worldwide sales of the wii-nearing 7 million now, developer heads are turning. It doesn't take a genius to see that more & more projects will be released on the Wii.
BUT...Nintendo needs to not only have unique and fun experiences, they need to have the Guitar Hero's of the gaming world. How perfect would that game be on the Wii? And just like the classic controler, they could make the guitar plug directly into the Wiimote for wireless control. How great could that be?
While we see the Wii being played by grannies at the nursing home, I don't think people should mistake the fact that the system is selling primarily to gamers. What Nintendo has done is to make a system that CAN appeal to people of all ages and they are scoring free press as the world watches the news and sees old ladies throwing virtual bowling balls.
The best thing to happen to Nintendo was Yamauchi handing the reigns over to Satoru Iwata. He is leading Nintendo in a brilliant new direction.
And back to the question of how important are graphics? The world has spoken. And Wii is kicking @$$. :thumbsup:
"The management of a corporation are rewarded for ‘increasing shareholder value’, so you’d expect the Nintendo management to have trouble getting out of their offices right now due to the sheer weight of rewards blocking the door. The reason for this is that, according to finance newswire, Bloomberg, Nintendo’s current share price on the Osaka, Japan Securities Exchange, is the best it’s been since the company launched on the exchange in 1962.
Analysts are slapping the Wii on the back for this one – although the DS, which has seen huge success in recent years, must also take some of the credit.
So, is the share price up on ‘good vibes’ and excellent word of mouth? No, while in fanboy land this kind of thing may hold sway, in the land of the market trader, it comes down to cash-money.
According to the company’s recent financial statements, overall sales went up a massive 90% to 966-billion yen (a smidge over £4-billion) for the year ended March 31. This compares well to the Januay forecast of 900-billion yen in sales.
Yes, you say, but the Wii and the DS are not exactly expensive pieces of kit compared to the PS3 or even the Xbox 360. So, maybe it’s sold a load of kit for not much cash? Nintendo states that its earnings are actually up by approximately 20-billion yen (£84-million).
All of this excellent news for president and CEO Satoru Iwata and his team, as are the recent findings from Japan-based statistics company, Enterbrain. Its figures for hardware sales in Japan for the week ending April 8th show sales of the DS up by 28% up to 110,935 (and that’s despite apparent stock shortages). Sales of the Wii also rose 52,583 – this compares with the PSP’s Japanese sales of 31,503 during the same week.
The PlayStation 3 beat out the Xbox’s 2,963 sales with 14,520 units of its own (less than half the Wii’s)."
Why don't I feel graphics matter so much this gen? First, sales of the PSP versus the Nintendo DS. The DS is clearly graphically inferior to the PSP, yet it's compelling content and innovative design and implementation have propelled it where the PSP will never be able to catch it.
Second, last-gen titles such as God of War II and Resident Evil 4 STILL look spectacular. While I will be the first to say how much graphics in games like Gears of War "wows" me, it takes second place to the gameplay. Wii games like Zelda, Paper Mario, WarioWare and many others deliver in spades.
Third, World of Warcraft. This game is decidedly LAST-GEN, yet it has sold over 8 million copies with over 7.5 million users subscribing currently.
Quality gameplay wins every time. A game is good regardless of how much bump and/or normal mapping it has.
With the pheomenal and unrelenting worldwide sales of the wii-nearing 7 million now, developer heads are turning. It doesn't take a genius to see that more & more projects will be released on the Wii.
BUT...Nintendo needs to not only have unique and fun experiences, they need to have the Guitar Hero's of the gaming world. How perfect would that game be on the Wii? And just like the classic controler, they could make the guitar plug directly into the Wiimote for wireless control. How great could that be?
While we see the Wii being played by grannies at the nursing home, I don't think people should mistake the fact that the system is selling primarily to gamers. What Nintendo has done is to make a system that CAN appeal to people of all ages and they are scoring free press as the world watches the news and sees old ladies throwing virtual bowling balls.
The best thing to happen to Nintendo was Yamauchi handing the reigns over to Satoru Iwata. He is leading Nintendo in a brilliant new direction.
And back to the question of how important are graphics? The world has spoken. And Wii is kicking @$$. :thumbsup: