Warp escreveu:
>   Somehow it seems that Nintendo has understood some basic truth about
> computing: It's not processing power that sells. Consider this:
> 
>   Xbox 360: Triple-core CPU at 3.2 GHz, 512 MB of RAM.
>   Units sold: 30 million.
> 
>   PS3: A 3.2 GHz Cell microprocessor, which consists of one PowerPC-based
> core and six SPE cores, 256 MB of RAM.
>   Units sold: 22 million.
> 
>   Nintendo Wii: A single-core CPU at 729 MHz, 88 MB of RAM.
>   Units sold: 50 million.
> 
> 
>   PlayStation Portable: 333 MHz CPU, 32 MB of RAM (plus 2 MB of GPU RAM).
>   Units sold: 50 million.
> 
>   Nintendo DS: A 67 MHz main CPU and a 33 MHz coprocessor, 4 MB of RAM.
>   Units sold: 100 million.

Nintendo has been about 2 generations out of the spotlights with the N64 
and GC.  They realized they couldn't compete hardware-wise and took the 
easy route with a gamble:  let's repackage a slightly beefed-up Gamecube 
hardware under new plastic plus a new motion sensing controller and 
launch it with a truly silly name, silly games and try to appeal to a 
new, familiar public rather than hardcore gamers.  Oh, and let's also 
make it the cheaper of the consoles, so that we profit a lot from our 
cheap, obsolete hardware while the competitors struggle with their 
expensive new anti-social machines for geeks.

Guess what?  The gamble worked out!  The competitors seemingly didn't 
see both an economic turmoil coming, nor the fact that running HD games 
on a conventional CRT TV wouldn't be worth the trouble so that apart 
from the expensive console you also need expensive HDTVs, nor the fact 
that a broad new public to videogames are ok with silly old 8-bit 
gameplay under N64-level graphics as long as it's fun and silly enough 
to play with friends and parents.  Wheee!!!

> NES: 1985 (1986 in Canada)
> SNES: 1991
> N64: 1996
> GameCube: 2001
> Wii: 2006
> 
>   Do we see a pattern here?-)

6 years is the typical useful life cycle of a console.  Useful in that, 
different from PC games, console developers benefit from many optimized 
techniques evolved through time and actually extract every last bit of 
power from the hardware -- some of the best games and swann songs for 
the console come that late.

BTW, I left Nintendo behind after FAIL 64 and its lack of variety in 
worthy games.  It's ok when people are ok with just Wii Sports, Wii 
Sports Resort, Wii Aqua Sports, Wii Beach Sports, Mario, Mario 2, New 
Mario Wii etc.  Not for me.

-- 
a game sig: http://tinyurl.com/d3rxz9

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