Nintendo are they breaking monopoly laws with the GBC?
Dan Tropea
Boy. Lets see - Game Gear, Swan, Tiger had one that lasted about 6
months, NeoGeo is the latest.
It appears that there is a market for handheld game machines yet it
appears that everytime a new one appears it fails while Gameboy thrives.
This is an 8 bit machine.
I know they are a Japanese company but if Microsoft could be slapped for
violated monopoly laws when Microsoft at least had competition it seems
like Nintendo that has literally 0 competition in the handheld market
could be deemed a monopoly.
Are they commiting unfair trade practices? They appear to be stifling
competition far more then Microsoft has ever done.
You can get multiple forms of internet browsers not just Microsoft's.
With the death of the NeoGeo there is no competiton. Microsoft was
slapped fiercely on account of the browsers while Nintendo seems like
its immune. Even though they are a foreign company i would think they
would be subject to US anti-trust laws.
conANDave
news:10360-39...@storefull-235.iap.bryant.webtv.net...
: Every handheld system has failed since Nintendo came out with the Game
: Boy. Lets see - Game Gear, Swan, Tiger had one that lasted about 6
: months, NeoGeo is the latest.
:
: It appears that there is a market for handheld game machines yet it
: appears that everytime a new one appears it fails while Gameboy thrives.
: This is an 8 bit machine.
:
: I know they are a Japanese company but if Microsoft could be slapped for
: violated monopoly laws when Microsoft at least had competition it seems
: like Nintendo that has literally 0 competition in the handheld market
: could be deemed a monopoly.
But it's not Nintendo's fault. Each of the other handheld systems had a
flaw, whether it was bad marketing or being a battery sucker, lack of
support from their parent companies, or just games that suck. Nintendo
hasn't done anything to prevent them from succeeding. I know, some people
will say Pokémon but the Pokémon phenominon is to Nintendo's credit. They
know how to create a franchise.
The Game Gear and TurboExpress were battery suckers. The Wonderswan,
besides not being available in the US, isn't as technologically advanced as
GBC. game.com was just a piece of crap (no way around it). NGPC had great
games but poor parent company support, poor developer support, and poor
marketing. None of these are Nintendo's fault. And for any anti-trust to
be filed, it has to show that Nintendo forced these companies to close using
unfair business practices. And, this may just be me, but creating a popular
game isn't an unfair business practice. If SNK had got the Pokémon idea and
signed on Satoshi Tajiri, very likely they'd be a major player against
Nintendo. And it's not even like other developers didn't sign on for NGPC
because of Nintendo. SNK itself made it extremely difficult for other
developers to help and wanted to go at it alone.
There's more to what's going on against Microsoft that just competition. I
suggest you learn a little more about the whole anti-trust thing. But I
will tell you that what's going on against Microsoft isn't that it has no
competition. Be, Red Hat, Corel, Sun, Oracle, Apple, Netscape, America
Online, Opera <- These are all Microsoft competitors. What the anti-trust
case has to do with is whether or not Microsoft used it's dominance (not
monopoly. Read: BeOS, Linux, UNIX, OS/2) of the Operating Systems market to
push other products, such as the Microsoft Network (competitors: AOL) and
it's Internet browser (competitors: Netscape, Opera)
Sweet Zombie Jesus
> Every handheld system has failed since Nintendo came out with the Game
> Boy. Lets see - Game Gear, Swan, Tiger had one that lasted about 6
> months, NeoGeo is the latest.
You are totally off base. While I'm saddened by the departure of the NGPC
in America, Nintendo can't be blamed with anti-trust. Gameboy is an
affordable portable (rhyme! hehe) with a TON of games, not to mention the
Pokemon franchise. Lets look at the facts:
Game Gear: Had a solid run with lots of 3rd Party support. Ate batteries
like a mofo and had LCD blur problems.
Wonderswan: Doing well in Japan, as far as I know, good third party
support from companies like Konami and Square. If it doesn't come out in
America, that's Mattel/Bandai's fault, not Nintendo. A new B&W handheld
is just a stupid idea for the U.S.
Tiger Game.com: A total piece of crap that couldn't even handle simple
scrolling. Every game was so choppy to the point of unplayability.
Atari Lynx: To expensive at launch, the first version was too huge, no
third party support, Atari's overall incompetence killed it. A solid
system, but Atari under the Tramiel's rule was crap.
NGPC: Aruze, SNK's new owner, couldn't settle for being 2nd place. Their
measures were a bit drastic, but even as a NGPC owner, the game selection
leaves a lot to be desired...but I love fighting games, so I was happy.
None of these systems are dead because of anything Nintendo did...it was
either technical flaws or stupid management.
Greg
=====================================================================
AOL Instant Messenger Handle: Parodius
=====================================================================
"Shut your wang-sucker!!!!"
- ICP to Sharon Osbourne on the Howard Stern Show
=====================================================================
Frank Grimes
Gameboy products then it might. But since Gameboy has been around longer
and has grabbed a large share of the market, it would be very hard for any
new competitor to compete. It's not like the Gameboy is selling for $200
and each game is $100, they would be stupid to do that since no one would
buy it anymore. You don't even need a Gameboy, but for the average user w/
a PC, Windows is the only OS available.
--
My friends call me Grimey.
Dan Tropea <tro...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:10360-39...@storefull-235.iap.bryant.webtv.net...
> Every handheld system has failed since Nintendo came out with the Game
> Boy. Lets see - Game Gear, Swan, Tiger had one that lasted about 6
> months, NeoGeo is the latest.
>
> It appears that there is a market for handheld game machines yet it
> appears that everytime a new one appears it fails while Gameboy thrives.
> This is an 8 bit machine.
>
> I know they are a Japanese company but if Microsoft could be slapped for
> violated monopoly laws when Microsoft at least had competition it seems
> like Nintendo that has literally 0 competition in the handheld market
> could be deemed a monopoly.
>
Dean Siren
> like a mofo and had LCD blur problems.
And it was more expensive than GB, not much more powerful, and it couldn't fit
in a pocket.
> Wonderswan: Doing well in Japan, as far as I know, good third party
> support from companies like Konami and Square. If it doesn't come out in
> America, that's Mattel/Bandai's fault, not Nintendo. A new B&W handheld
> is just a stupid idea for the U.S.
Does it fit in pockets? How does it compare to GBC as far as price/performance?
If it's only comparable to Game Boy Pocket, might Mattel sell it for $40?
> Tiger Game.com: A total piece of crap that couldn't even handle simple
> scrolling. Every game was so choppy to the point of unplayability.
They brought out Castlevania:SOTN for it. How was it?
> Atari Lynx: To expensive at launch, the first version was too huge, no
> third party support, Atari's overall incompetence killed it. A solid
> system, but Atari under the Tramiel's rule was crap.
Plus battery drain.
From 1989 to 1998, Game Boy was the only handled that could fit in a pocket or
got more than 30 minutes per AA. In fact, Game Boy gets 300 minutes per AA.
magius eternal
> > Game Gear: Had a solid run with lots of 3rd Party support. Ate batteries
> > like a mofo and had LCD blur problems.
>
> And it was more expensive than GB, not much more powerful, and it couldn't fit
> in a pocket.
I wouldn't call it a "lot" of 3rd party support... nothing near as much as
the GB had at the time.
>
>
> > Wonderswan: Doing well in Japan, as far as I know, good third party
> > support from companies like Konami and Square. If it doesn't come out in
> > America, that's Mattel/Bandai's fault, not Nintendo. A new B&W handheld
> > is just a stupid idea for the U.S.
>
> Does it fit in pockets? How does it compare to GBC as far as price/performance?
> If it's only comparable to Game Boy Pocket, might Mattel sell it for $40?
>
The performance is pretty good, and the price is quite low. I can easily
see it being solf for $40. The problem is it has few good games (even
"ports" of great games, like Klonoa, suck). Well, actually, it has enough
good Japanese style games, but not ones that typically endear a system to
a US audience.
>
>
> > Tiger Game.com: A total piece of crap that couldn't even handle simple
> > scrolling. Every game was so choppy to the point of unplayability.
>
> They brought out Castlevania:SOTN for it. How was it?
Crap. Like everything else on the system.
>
>
>
> > Atari Lynx: To expensive at launch, the first version was too huge, no
> > third party support, Atari's overall incompetence killed it. A solid
> > system, but Atari under the Tramiel's rule was crap.
>
> Plus battery drain.
Ja.
--magius
magius eternal
anyway -- what constitutes a monopoly? 75% of the market? 99%?) is illegal
just because it's a monopoly. Rather, it has to use it's power to unfairly
force others out of the market. The Big N isn't doing anything illegal in
this regard. Back in the NES days, it was a different story, but today?
Don't make me laugh. Read up on the law. The other systems failed due to
internal problems/mistakes.
--magius
Jeff Williams
news:10360-39...@storefull-235.iap.bryant.webtv.net...
> Boy. Lets see - Game Gear, Swan, Tiger had one that lasted about 6
> months, NeoGeo is the latest.
>
> It appears that there is a market for handheld game machines yet it
> appears that everytime a new one appears it fails while Gameboy thrives.
> This is an 8 bit machine.
>
> I know they are a Japanese company but if Microsoft could be slapped for
> violated monopoly laws when Microsoft at least had competition it seems
> like Nintendo that has literally 0 competition in the handheld market
> could be deemed a monopoly.
>
> Are they commiting unfair trade practices? They appear to be stifling
> competition far more then Microsoft has ever done.
In what sense? I don't think MS is a monopoly (and I'm confident they'll
win on appeal) and I don't think Nintendo's a monopoly either. You can't
blame either company for consumers buying their products over all others.
If consumers wanted to buy the NGPC, Atari Lynx, Gamegear, Nomad,
Wonderswan, Game.com, or whatever else, they would have. Nintendo has not
colluded with developers or artificially deflated their hardware prices or
falsely advertised or done anything else wrong - they just know how to
market their products. That's it.
>
> You can get multiple forms of internet browsers not just Microsoft's.
> With the death of the NeoGeo there is no competiton. Microsoft was
> slapped fiercely on account of the browsers while Nintendo seems like
> its immune.
Two wrongs don't make a right. Just because MS was spanked around by a
misguided judge doesn't mean Nintendo should be too. Start prosecuting
every company that sells popular products in this country and pretty soon
you'll end up with a socialist economy. Capitalism is based on the free
market. Sometimes the free market chooses one company's products over all
others, and without restrictions on their business practices that gives that
company time and money to learn how to sell their products even better. It
becomes a cycle. It's the nature of our economy.
// Jeff Williams
// ge...@nervhq.org
Magus_87
competing against the game boy, I'm gonna laugh. Technically
they are running a monopoly, if you disregard the thousands of
lcd one-game handhelds. But who cares, as long as they don't get
caught, I'm happy. Game boy rules!
* Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet's Discussion Network *
The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet - Free!
Jeremy Reaban
Dan Tropea wrote in message <10360-3947FFCD-43@storefull-
<snip>
>Are they commiting unfair trade practices? They appear to be stifling
>competition far more then Microsoft has ever done.
>
>With the death of the NeoGeo there is no competiton. Microsoft was
>slapped fiercely on account of the browsers while Nintendo seems like
>would be subject to US anti-trust laws.
Uh, why would a foreign company be subject to US anti-trust laws? US
laws apply in the US, not the entire world. I think at most they could
fine them
Anyway, Microsoft did a lot of underhanded stuff. For instance, MS
intergrated IE into Win 98, which didn't help, and in fact, hurts the
performance. (You can improve the perfomrance in Win 98 by using a
utily to remove IE, and use Win 95's file explorer).
They also forced computer manufacters to not install Netscape (or any
other browser) on their computers. And that's just the tip of the
iceberg.
If Nintendo forced retailers not to carry competing handheld systems,
then you'd have a point, but AFAIK, they haven't done that.
Nick Zitzmann
article <10360-39...@storefull-235.iap.bryant.webtv.net>:
> Every handheld system has failed since Nintendo came out with the Game
> Boy. Lets see - Game Gear, Swan, Tiger had one that lasted about 6
> months, NeoGeo is the latest.
>
> It appears that there is a market for handheld game machines yet it
> appears that everytime a new one appears it fails while Gameboy thrives.
> This is an 8 bit machine.
>
> I know they are a Japanese company but if Microsoft could be slapped for
> violated monopoly laws when Microsoft at least had competition it seems
> like Nintendo that has literally 0 competition in the handheld market
> could be deemed a monopoly.
Actually, AFAIK Nintendo won all these wars not out of monopolistic
competition (like Microsoft), but through some great marketing.
Unlike Microsoft, Nintendo has not (since they lost an antitrust lawsuit ten
years ago) tied any developer, store, or game series (other than their own)
to the Game Boy. Everyone who made games for the Game Boy did so on their
own.
Also unlike Microsoft, Nintendo did not engage in predatory pricing tactics,
nor did they ever make unethical decisions in attempt to protect their
application barrier. Microsoft got busted on all three of the above; the
only time Nintendo was ever found liable of violating the Sherman Antitrust
law was with the NES, and their monopoly power ended in court in 1990.
No, Nintendo won out because of good marketing. They knew that battery
longetivity was important, so every Game Boy has been designed to run on a
minimum of power, unlike the Lynx and the two Sega portables. They had the
Nintendo brand name recognition and some good advertising, while SNK had
neither. I'd argue the NGPC ultimately failed because SNK did nothing to
promote it, and so only a few people out of the general public even knew SNK
existed. Their marketing made their games (especially Pokemon) popular,
while the other consoles faded into obscurity because the companies which
made them failed to market them.
Nick Zitzmann ICQ: 22305512
To see my real signature, finger my E-Mail address.
FearNo1
evidence of how nintendo is monopolizing portable game systems. IMHO,
nintendo is dominating handhelds due to low price, lame "franchise"
games ie pokemon, mario crap, etc, low power consumption, clever
marketing and sheer number of games. As you can see I am no nintendo
fanboy. But I admit I dont follow handheld market too tuff, so provide
some evidence instead of speculation. IMHO, pound for pound, the
best portable system was the nomad ;-)
Dan Tropea wrote:
>
> Every handheld system has failed since Nintendo came out with the Game
> Boy. Lets see - Game Gear, Swan, Tiger had one that lasted about 6
> months, NeoGeo is the latest.
>
> It appears that there is a market for handheld game machines yet it
> appears that everytime a new one appears it fails while Gameboy thrives.
> This is an 8 bit machine.
>
> I know they are a Japanese company but if Microsoft could be slapped for
> violated monopoly laws when Microsoft at least had competition it seems
> like Nintendo that has literally 0 competition in the handheld market
> could be deemed a monopoly.
>
Dan Tropea
not see Microsoft having a monopoly either. But Nintendo if you go into
stores like Target, Circuit City etc even Babbages and EB Nintendo has
the very best display locations in terms of area and lighting.
Lets face it Nintendo gets preferential treatment in stores. They do
not get put under other products. At Walmarts the NeoGeos were under a
display of DC games. You had to bend over to see the games and systems.
If stores were really interested in making money with hand held systems
they would put either both side by side or at least not put one at the
bottom shelf. I am not sure if Nintendo has them do this via incentives
or its the stores chosing. If Nintendo gives incentives to put
competitors products in bad locations then that is a violation of
antitrust laws.
As others pointed out NeoGeo if one didn't search them out would
probably never knew it existed. The last true competitor for the
handheld market was Game Gear. I recall the early days it was a debate
about which one to buy.
NeoGeo was the first handheld since the Game Gear that had reviews in
EGM. I really thought we were seeing a return of the handheld wars. But
nope Nintendo wins once again on a system that is just 8 bit. Which
kind of blows my mind that no advanced system can win against Nintendo?
Even Pokemon is only at most 18 months old yet no one could approach
the GB in all these years. They have dominated the market since 91 or
92. That is almost unprecedented for any system to take control and not
give up reigns.
* Sent from Novell Discussion Forums http://novell.remarq.com The Internet's Discussion Network *
Bilan
Microsoft and Nintendo. Nintendo has not done anything dishonest.
<Are they commiting unfair trade practices? They appear to be stifling
<competition far more then Microsoft has ever done.
No, they are not. Microsoft was big enough to give away their web browser
as a freebie, while smaller companies were trying to make their entire
living off their web browser. Microsoft's actions had no purpose except to
keep browser companies out of the market. Nintendo, on the other hand,
offers their handheld system on the same plane as everyone else, and
succeeds honestly. What do you propose they do to allow more competition?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
While the angels, all pallid and wan,
Uprising, unveiling, affirm
That the play is the tragedy, "Man,"
And its hero, the Conqueror Worm.
--Poe
Dan Tropea wrote in message
<10360-39...@storefull-235.iap.bryant.webtv.net>...
conANDave
news:8i9bqs$ts8$1...@slb3.atl.mindspring.net...
: > Are they commiting unfair trade practices? They appear to be stifling
: > competition far more then Microsoft has ever done.
: In what sense? I don't think MS is a monopoly (and I'm confident they'll
: win on appeal) and I don't think Nintendo's a monopoly either. You can't
: blame either company for consumers buying their products over all others.
: If consumers wanted to buy the NGPC, Atari Lynx, Gamegear, Nomad,
: Wonderswan, Game.com, or whatever else, they would have. Nintendo has not
: colluded with developers or artificially deflated their hardware prices or
: falsely advertised or done anything else wrong - they just know how to
: market their products. That's it.
Just to start off, if you would like to continue this, please do so in
e-mail. Thanks! :-)
Anyway... The Microsoft case is different. While what you say above is true
about Nintendo, it is not so for Microsoft. Microsoft, even with the
upcoming Xbox, is using the same "initial losses now, profit later" tactics
that got it into this situation in the first place. By stuffing the Windows
OS with "integrated goods" like an Internet browser, an Online connection
(surprised they didn't just bundle Office into Windows), they essentially
defeated the need for competition in those markets. The software was
readily available for no additional cost to the consumer, effectively
blocking out competition. This is why Microsoft is being slapped with a
lawsuit, and the ONLY reason they will most likely win appeals court (ONLY
REASON) is that the Appeals court is filled with a bunch of conservative
wussies that aren't into letting the government intervene. True, the
Supreme Court has Rehnquist at the helm, but 9 justices, and enough
liberalism in them to get Microsoft broken up.
Same thing with Xbox. All press releases indicate that Microsoft will
release Xbox at a price comparative to the PS2, which basically means that
Sony could decide to give the PS2 away and Microsoft will do the same thing.
Microsoft has the financial might to sell the Xbox for free, make money off
the game licencing, take a loss only to be supplemented by market share
growth. This is the danger of Microsoft. Because of it's financial
resources directly related to it's massive control of the computer industry,
it can spread it's tenticles to other markets and force itself into being a
leader. The only instances when this is not true is when it's up against a
formidable foe, such as America Online.
teemoney
Dan Tropea wrote in message
<10360-39...@storefull-235.iap.bryant.webtv.net>...
>Every handheld system has failed since Nintendo came out with the Game
>Boy. Lets see - Game Gear, Swan, Tiger had one that lasted about 6
>months, NeoGeo is the latest.
>
>It appears that there is a market for handheld game machines yet it
>appears that everytime a new one appears it fails while Gameboy thrives.
>This is an 8 bit machine.
>
>I know they are a Japanese company but if Microsoft could be slapped for
>violated monopoly laws when Microsoft at least had competition it seems
>like Nintendo that has literally 0 competition in the handheld market
>could be deemed a monopoly.
>
>Are they commiting unfair trade practices? They appear to be stifling
>competition far more then Microsoft has ever done.
>
Sweet Zombie Jesus
> Does it fit in pockets? How does it compare to GBC as far as price/performance?
> If it's only comparable to Game Boy Pocket, might Mattel sell it for $40?
I haven't played it, but it seems relatively average from what I've
heard....good 3rd party support though. For $40 I'd probably get one,
actually...heh.
> They brought out Castlevania:SOTN for it. How was it?
I don't know if it ever came out, but I played it at last years
E3....sucked, dude. The problem with the Game.com is that it can't scroll
for shit...it's like the MSX...CHOPPY.
> Plus battery drain.
The only reason I had a Lynx was for Xenophobe...damn that game rules.
hehe.
conANDave
news:0eeed401...@usw-ex0106-044.remarq.com...
: Even Pokemon is only at most 18 months old yet no one could approach
: the GB in all these years. They have dominated the market since 91 or
: 92.
First, Pokémon "technically" started in 1993 when Tajiri approached NOA with
his idea, which evolved into the Pokémon trilogy (Red, Blue, Green),
released in Japan in 1996.
As for Game Boy's command of the market, it's just the Nintendo got it right
the first time. More power doesn't mean jack squat when it doesn't have
games that appeal to the masses or industry support.
And to FearNo1, you obviously haven't played either of the franchise games
(Pokémon or Mario), so where do you get off calling them crap?
JHuch
>best portable system was the nomad
Despite it's pathetic battery life (3 hours on 6 AAs) it did the huge library
of Genesis games to choose from. It's saving grace is that it could be used
like a regular Genesis.
14941
(There's an underlying sarcasm to all of my posts...)
Joe Ottoson
<jh...@aol.communist> wrote:
Really? I see no comment involving a gum drop house on Lollipop Lane or
anything about hugging and kissing poisionous snakes....
EM
$250 dollars and bundled a "free" copy of N64. It also would have
charged Enix (Playstation only developer) $50,000 for a Gamebody
Dev Kit, charged Midway (multiplatform developer) $25,000 for
the kit, and Rare (Nintendo only Dev) about $10,000.
There is nothing wrong in having a monopoly, using anti-competitive
measures to keep it is what got MS in trouble.
Things like using discretionary pricing (giving another company
better discounts to drop support for a rival company), illegally
tying of products not to benefits the consumers but to stifle competition
(ie bundling IE to Windows), and leveraging a monopoly in one area
to try to takeover another (like MS Exchange).
EM
Mark
In article <10360-39...@storefull-235.iap.bryant.webtv.net>,
tro...@webtv.net (Dan Tropea) wrote:
<< Every handheld system has failed since Nintendo came out with the Game
Boy. Lets see - Game Gear, Swan, Tiger had one that lasted about 6
months, NeoGeo is the latest.
It appears that there is a market for handheld game machines yet it
appears that everytime a new one appears it fails while Gameboy thrives.
This is an 8 bit machine.
I know they are a Japanese company but if Microsoft could be slapped for
violated monopoly laws when Microsoft at least had competition it seems
like Nintendo that has literally 0 competition in the handheld market
could be deemed a monopoly.
Are they commiting unfair trade practices? They appear to be stifling
competition far more then Microsoft has ever done.
You can get multiple forms of internet browsers not just Microsoft's.
With the death of the NeoGeo there is no competiton. Microsoft was
slapped fiercely on account of the browsers while Nintendo seems like
its immune. Even though they are a foreign company i would think they
would be subject to US anti-trust laws. >>
Yes they are subject to US anti-trust laws. However just having the only
product out on the market that is selling isn't a violation of the anti-trust
laws. They have to be found to be guilty of price-fixing (like Microsoft has),
of engaging in contracts to impede fair trade (like Microsoft has), or a
variety of other unfair business practices (like the ones Microsoft has engaged
in).
The anti-trust laws are not meant to keep a product from selling like hotcakes,
only to prevent unfair business practices like price-fixing and
anti-competitive contracts.
-Mrk
Mark
In article <skghoqf...@corp.supernews.com>, "Jeremy Reaban"
<j...@Xconnectria.com> wrote:
<< Uh, why would a foreign company be subject to US anti-trust laws? US
laws apply in the US, not the entire world. I think at most they could
fine them >>
Nintendo of America is subject to the laws, as they are a US company. If they
didn't exist, however, NCL would still be subject to the laws insofar as doing
business in this country.
That's why DeBours (however it is spelled) cannot do business in the US. This
is the company that controlls over 90% of the diamond market and keeps the
prices artificially high. Yet they can still fund commercial campaigns to help
increase the demand for diamonds. They just can't sell diamonds in the US.
Of course, any US company that sells diamonds is either going to have to get
their diamonds from them, or from somebody that gets the diamonds from them.
-Mrk
Mark
In article <0eeed401...@usw-ex0106-044.remarq.com>, Dan Tropea
<tropead...@webtv.net.invalid> wrote:
<< I am not sure if Nintendo has them do this via incentives
or its the stores chosing. If Nintendo gives incentives to put
competitors products in bad locations then that is a violation of
antitrust laws. >>
That would be true, however I am fairly sure it is the stores chosing.
Think about it, you have two portable systems for sale, one of them has about
12 games that you stock and no advertising to back it. The other has hundreds
of games, you can't even stock them all. It also has the highest selling
game(s) for it out of ALL videogames, including consoles. As a store owner you
stand to make booko bucks off the GBC and Pokemon stuff, and you might have a
chance to make some money of NGPC. Are you really going to kill yourself trying
to give the NGPC the same product placement as GBC?
-Mrk
magius eternal
> Heck, I
> remember when Word came on 2 800K floppies. Now it takes 60+MB, and
> there's no real improvement.
What? You mean you don't like having talking paperclips cluttering your desktop?
Blasphemy! ;)
--magius
figment
news:3948F2D4...@purdue.edu...
AAAAAAUGH! The Paperclip Must Die! It and all it's ilk should be banished to
the depths! Microsoft has wrought (yet another) evil on the computer
industry. Evil paperclips, bulleted text that doesn't copy and paste right
(at least bullets are removeable now, unlike Works 3.1), what is this world
coming too?
---
figment
-Who feels much better now.
Darien Allen
<grap...@zdnetmail.com> we were graced with this statement:
I like the doggie.... ;(
------------------------
Darien Allen
ICQ-2927081
"Southern trees bear strange fruit..blood on the leaves..."
G. Golembiski
idiots?
In my book the only handheld with a chance against the GBC was just
pronounced DOA. I'm sure that if a larger firm than SNK were handling
the NGPC it would have been a fair competitor. As it stood, SNK just
didn't have the tremendous market cloud or name recognition needed to
succeed. Goodness knows, they had the right price point and attitude
about it though.
--
This post is courtesy of My Opinion and the letter "F".
"Our current strategy with Dreamcast is that it is a viable, albeit
secondary, platform." - Mitch Lasky, Activision
Alex Mendes
> Every handheld system has failed since Nintendo came out with the Game
> Boy. Lets see - Game Gear, Swan, Tiger had one that lasted about 6
> months, NeoGeo is the latest.
>
> It appears that there is a market for handheld game machines yet it
> appears that everytime a new one appears it fails while Gameboy thrives.
> This is an 8 bit machine.
>
> I know they are a Japanese company but if Microsoft could be slapped for
> violated monopoly laws when Microsoft at least had competition it seems
> like Nintendo that has literally 0 competition in the handheld market
> could be deemed a monopoly.
That ain't what it takes to have an antitrust suit thrown at you. Now,
if you can show that Nintendo has taken action to extend it's monopoly
into other regions, and hurt consumers in the process, then you'ld have
something. THis is pretty much why MS lost, although the various
idiotic stances they've taken throughout the trial had something to do
with it as well, I suspect (oh, yeah, lobby to close the DOJ, that
doesn't look suspicious at all...).
> Are they commiting unfair trade practices? They appear to be stifling
> competition far more then Microsoft has ever done.
Frankly, they aren't doing anything but marketing as far as I can tell.
Let's face it, the other portables were either unwieldy battery hogs
(earlier models), or unsupported, unadvertised money sinks (the later
ones). Nintendo, meanwhile, always has some slick new gimmick up their
sleeves to keep people interested. New sizes, new screens, new colors,
new faddish games (not to knock pokemon, it's harder than most PSX RPGs,
which should trouble developers).
Around here, the NGP was front and center, directly in front of the door
at the local EBX. Most of their patrons still didn't notice it.
Obviously, SNK just never got the word out so, as much as I hate to say
it, they deserved the smack in the face.
Alex Mendes
"figment" <grap...@zdnetmail.com> wrote:
> "magius eternal" <mag...@purdue.edu> wrote in message
> news:3948F2D4...@purdue.edu...
> > Chris Pickett wrote:
> > > Heck, I
> > > remember when Word came on 2 800K floppies. Now it takes 60+MB, and
> > > there's no real improvement.
> >
> > What? You mean you don't like having talking paperclips cluttering your
> desktop?
> > Blasphemy! ;)
>
> AAAAAAUGH! The Paperclip Must Die! It and all it's ilk should be banished
> to
> the depths! Microsoft has wrought (yet another) evil on the computer
> industry. Evil paperclips, bulleted text that doesn't copy and paste
> right
> (at least bullets are removeable now, unlike Works 3.1), what is this
> world
> coming too?
Is it just me, or does that thing look like it's looking for either a
crackhead to sell to, or a child to molest? Seriously, I really don't
want help from some sheisty-looking, shifty-eyed metal object.
Magus_87
They've been going on for 11 years now! Why? They can easily
adapt to the changing demand for games. They have the best
portable, so good that others cannot compete with it. Nintendo
cna't help it if they rule!:) By the way, if you didn't already
know, neogeo pocket color is moving out of the US and europe
(HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!)
Nomad was COOL! I didn't have one, but that was one of the best
Ideas anybody could ever have! I wish nintendo would make
something like that. Maybe reintroduce the SNES games with
something like that, make N64 games playable on the road, etc.
The possibilties are endless...
I am the greatest!
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Guybrush Threepwood
>Nintendo and GBC rule!
>They've been going on for 11 years now!
You mean Nintendo as a company, or Gameboy as a portable? Nintendo as a company
has been "going" for well over a hundred years.
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corny.
JHuch
>Ideas anybody could ever have! I wish nintendo would make
>something like that. Maybe reintroduce the SNES games with
>something like that
Actually, they were running Super Mario Kart on GBC, so ports from SNES to GBC
are not unlikely. Check out pocket.ign.com, they had a huge special on GBC with
all kinds of stuff like that. You may have to search the news archives though,
not sure.
>make N64 games playable on the road,
This would suck batteries like no other. I don't think it's really feasible at
this point. I think what made Nomad special was that it was a portable Genesis
and regular Genesis in one. It's battery life was pathetic (3 hours on 6 AAs).
14941
---------
PC Game Review Collabra - http://members.aol.com/jhuch/pcgrc/index.htm
Status: Partially up.
conANDave
news:20000703162656...@ng-ci1.aol.com...
: >Nomad was COOL! I didn't have one, but that was one of the best
: >Ideas anybody could ever have! I wish nintendo would make
: >something like that. Maybe reintroduce the SNES games with
: >something like that
:
: Actually, they were running Super Mario Kart on GBC, so ports from SNES to
GBC
: are not unlikely. Check out pocket.ign.com, they had a huge special on GBC
with
: all kinds of stuff like that. You may have to search the news archives
though,
: not sure.
They were running Super Mario Kart and Yoshi's Island on Game Boy Advance
(aka "GBA"). However, you are right that SNES -> GBC ports are not
unlikely. Recently, Rare ported Donkey Kong Country from the SNES to GBC.
It was a very impressive feat, but don't count on it happening to many SNES
games, especially Super Mario Kart. The GBC doesn't have shoulder buttons
which eliminates so many cool aspects of the game and many others like it.
GBA resolves this by adding shoulder buttons, but personally, I wish that
GBA had X and Y buttons too.
: >make N64 games playable on the road,
:
: This would suck batteries like no other. I don't think it's really
feasible at
: this point. I think what made Nomad special was that it was a portable
Genesis
: and regular Genesis in one. It's battery life was pathetic (3 hours on 6
AAs).
I'm sure that a Nintendo "Portable N64" would have a much better battery
life, but that Nintendo still wouldn't do it. This is because, since the
Nomad and Game Gear, Nintendo and their technology partners could
undoubtably design more energy efficient systems. Also, Nintendo wouldn't
use a backlit system, most likely opting for the current screens, which
require an external light source, which would provide a comparable savings
in power.
However, Nintendo is unlikely to release a Portable N64. N64 is one of
Nintendo's close calls to failure. (Yes, it was successful in it's own
right, with 30 Million units sold, but still, compared to the console market
share it had with NES and SNES? It's absolutely not a resounding success.)
Also, because of one of Nintendo's major mistakes in designing the N64
Using the most expensive parts available on market (ie- remember the
Silicon Graphics fiasco?)), it would be technologically unfeasable to create
a Portable N64 at an acceptable mass-market price point for handhelds (which
is <$100, just like the console mass-market price point is <$200). People
just aren't that likely to buy a handheld, even if it is capable of the
N64's power, at more than $100. I'm sure it's feasable, but if Nintendo
thought that a Portable N64 had a lick of a chance to be a success, I'm sure
they'd be all over that, especially with PSone. But it doesn't. And with
GBA coming out, that is capable of having many NES, SNES, and N64 games
ported to it, there's no need for Nintendo to waste money on a Portable N64.
Any Portable N64 would be yet another "Virtual Boy" scar on Nintendo's back,
and right now, they don't need that, especially in the face of Sony
PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Xbox.
JHuch
>(aka "GBA").
I don't know what I was thinking when I was putting C. I'm just replying so you
don't think that I'm an idiot. I meant GBA, not GBC. Silly me.
Eh, lack of sleep will do that to you.
O_v
message...
>However, Nintendo is unlikely to release a Portable N64. N64 is one of
>Nintendo's close calls to failure. (Yes, it was successful in it's own
>right, with 30 Million units sold, but still, compared to the console
>market share it had with NES and SNES? It's absolutely not a resounding
>success.) Also, because of one of Nintendo's major mistakes in designing
>the N64
I can think of one other reason: In the history of these portable consoles,
the only ones that have had any sort of real longevity are those that
didn't rerun old or even current carts. (Game.com and Lynx being the woeful
exceptions.)
I mean, TurboExpress, NOMAD, et al are great ideas. But those didn't make
it as well as when a company with a long line of successful franchises
behind it created a brand new console with _new_ titles. Very little
rehash.
Or so i, O_v, see it.
Joshua Kaufman
Actually, those failed because of battery life. The Game Gear was only
moderatlely successful because Sega backed it enough to be.
-Joshua
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Magus_87
a significant decrease in graphics capabilities. and you'd have
to buy the game seperatly. I mean the same way as the nomad (the
same game on a portable, direct from the console, the same cart.)
Kiasecto
I just hope the GBA comes out with some original games, I dont want ports of
games I have played to death on snes years ago. Thats probably the only reason
I dont have a GBC, there is really only 1 good original GBC game and thats
Mario Golf, which I can no longer get since its not for sale in australian
anymore!?!
So far I have heard that GBA might release with remakes of Yoshi's Story, Zelda
3. Heres hoping that there is a killer NEW mario game! perhaps Super Mario 32!