Nintendo Hints At Coming Price War

[Ryan V]

Nintendo hints at coming price war

Revolution may lowball competitors to help attract consumer eyes.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) ? While the Xbox 360 is going to be dominating the media spotlight for the next few weeks (and possibly months), senior officials at Nintendo are quietly planting the seeds of Revolution.

Nintendo's next generation video game machine won't be out until 2006, but Reggie Fils-Aime, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Nintendo of America hinted this week the company might have a surprise up its sleeve.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 has adopted a two-tier price strategy ($299 for a bare bones version and $399 for a souped-up machine). Sony, meanwhile, has shouted from the rooftops the PS3 would be a pricey piece of equipment. Nintendo, though, seems ready to lowball its competitors on the retail front.

"Value has been a key card for us this generation and we'll continue to play it," Fils-Aime told me. "Do I expect us to be at a lower price point than our competition? Yes I do. Have we determined a price yet? No we haven't."

Nintendo employed this strategy at the beginning of this round of the console wars in 2001. While Sony and Microsoft released their video game machines at $299, the GameCube initially sold for $100 lower. Ultimately, the move didn't work as well as hoped. The GameCube is third in hardware sales, behind PlayStation 2 and Xbox, a position typically blamed on a weaker portfolio of third-party games and (initially, at least) the machine's boxy design, which even senior officials acknowledge looks childlike.

"I think there were some lessons we learned with the GameCube that we need to apply to the Revolution," said Fils-Aime. "First, we've got make sure that the titles in the first six months are strong and can drive sales. We've also got to make sure the console is attractive visually. And we've got to deliver on the right consumer needs. With GameCube, at the time, portability was thought to be a big factor ? that's why it has a handle. Obviously, that wasn't the case."

The Revolution (which will likely to be called something else when it hits store shelves) is aimed at a wider audience than the GameCube or any of Nintendo's previous systems. While it will play DVD movies (a departure for the company), its primary focus will be games. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will focus strongly on games as well, of course, but have their eyes on a bigger prize ? digital domination of the living room. Nintendo has said it wants, instead, to attract people who do not consider themselves gamers.

There are still plenty of mysteries about the Revolution, of course. And given Nintendo's proclivity for secrecy, we won't know many of those answers until mid-next year, at least. For example, will the Revolution ship with any of the auxiliary devices for the controller, a motion-sensitive unit that looks like a TV remote control? (Playing action titles, for instance, could almost demand a second device to facilitate movement in the game.) The answer? To be determined. "A lot of that will be driven by our first party games," said Fils-Aime.

One thing's for sure: The Revolution will not support high definition video, a marked divergence from the path Microsoft (Research) and Sony (Research) are taking. And it's not something the company is re-thinking, despite the fervent hopes of some hardcore gaming fans.

Casual and non-gamers, the company feels, are less interested in flashy graphics than enjoyable games. And the large files that go hand in hand with high definition video result in "almost interminably long" load times for games, said Fils-Aime, something that would also be detrimental to a mainstream audience.

"What we'll offer in terms of gameplay and approachability will more than make up for the lack of HD," he said.

As for existing products, don't be surprised if more facelifts are on the way for existing products. Nintendo unveiled a streamlined Game Boy Advance earlier this year (much along the lines of Apple's iPod Nano), dubbed the Game Boy Micro.

The logical choice for the next facelift would be the Nintendo DS. Last year's hottest holiday gift has seen its popularity grow as Nintendo and third party publishers have put out increasingly appealing software, but the device itself is fairly ugly by gaming standards.

Fils-Aime hinted a revamped DS is in the works: "As soon as [the DS] was launched, we started looking at ways to tweak it visually."

One final note for holiday 2005 shoppers: While Nintendo seems set to be a price spoiler next year, don't look for the GameCube, Game Boy Advance or Nintendo DS to get any cheaper this year. There is "nothing planned right now" in terms of price cuts, according to Fils-Aime.

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2005/11/10/commentary...aming/index.htm

[jerry]

Low price (Y)

No HD :unsure: :(

[The Teej]

By No HD, do they mean No 1080p/i, or do they mean no 720p/i? I never got that part.

[Acezo]

I'm pretty sure they mean none of either...but I don't understand if the hardware isn't going to support it at all, or if the hardware supports it but Nintendo isn't enforcing it

[Pc_Madness]

Hardware doesn't support it I should think.

[x-byte]

Revolution will not support HD. And it's just logical it will get the lowest price of the next gen consoles, since they don't focus on raw power.

[ECEGatorTuro]

Quick question... there are so many people out there saying that "oh it sucks becuase it won't have HD" but honestly, how many people ACTUALLY have an HDTV that they would be hooking this up to? I'd rather have a lower price and a good game but then again that's just me. ;)

[Acezo]

Quick question... there are so many people out there saying that "oh it sucks becuase it won't have HD" but honestly, how many people ACTUALLY have an HDTV that they would be hooking this up to? I'd rather have a lower price and a good game but then again that's just me. ;)

586803699[/snapback]

Me...I'm not saying it sucks because it doesn't have HD, I'm just really disappointed.

[Xerus]

They want to target the non-gamer and casual-gamer the most. I dont think most of the people in that category are going to have HDTVs.

[dt]

Gamecube games look great, this will be better than that. Plus great Nintendo games, "Nintendo Wi-fi Connection," the controller, low price point. :) what else would you ask for ? plus it'll probably focus on smooth frame rates and great visuals for standard def, rather than choppy frame rates and great visuals for high def.

[Pc_Madness]

Quick question... there are so many people out there saying that "oh it sucks becuase it won't have HD" but honestly, how many people ACTUALLY have an HDTV that they would be hooking this up to? I'd rather have a lower price and a good game but then again that's just me. ;)

586803699[/snapback]

I'll be buying one just for the Xbox 360, not that I didn't want one otherwise of course.

what else would you ask for ?

586803862[/snapback]

Great third party games?

[DAaaMan64]

I think this is good, Nintendo keeps the prices low and competitive while Sony and Microsoft keep try to jack them up. AKA Intel vs. AMD.

[Rudy]

its good because i didnt have to pay for my 360 (which i think is way too expensive) and im planning on picking up a revolution (which by the look of this should be cheaper) :)

[kaffra]

Quick question... there are so many people out there saying that "oh it sucks becuase it won't have HD" but honestly, how many people ACTUALLY have an HDTV that they would be hooking this up to? I'd rather have a lower price and a good game but then again that's just me. ;)

586803699[/snapback]

true, currently i dont see any need for HD but 1 or 2 years down the road i might want to have such features when HD becomes common. These consoles are going to be around for about 5 years.

anyway till there are some actual game comparisons, i wont be deciding on any system just because of hardware specs

[Eaten By A Grue]

I don't see the need for me to upgrade to a HD TV until DVDs or HD-DVD/Blu-Ray movies will be in a higher resolution. I also have a perfectly good working standard TV. I rather Nintendo keep the price reasonable then cater to the 12% who have HD TVs because if it is $200 at launch I will definitely be picking it up. I refuse to spend $400 at launch for the Xbox360 and PS3, that is way too much for me to spend on a game console.

[GNRambo]

Fils-Aime hinted a revamped DS is in the works: "As soon as [the DS] was launched, we started looking at ways to tweak it visually."

oh what the hell, i knew this would happen but im still angry :(

[Erich]

Everyone is saying "in 1 to 2 years when HD becomes common"... How often do you think people replace their TVs??? We're still using a 15 year old TV that is 36"... It does the job, it looks fine, we don't intend on replacing any time soon.

I would honestly guess the average lifespan is about 20 years, because that about the time between: getting married (get new tv) Have kids (can't afford anything new) Kids move out (spendable income again). 20 year or longer lifespan... seriously. Unless someone has some generally accepted statistics they'd like to show me proving otherwise???

[GoogleNinja]

Price + Gameplay + Controller > HD

[The Teej]

Everyone is saying "in 1 to 2 years when HD becomes common"... How often do you think people replace their TVs??? We're still using a 15 year old TV that is 36"... It does the job, it looks fine, we don't intend on replacing any time soon.

I would honestly guess the average lifespan is about 20 years, because that about the time between: getting married (get new tv) Have kids (can't afford anything new) Kids move out (spendable income again). 20 year or longer lifespan... seriously. Unless someone has some generally accepted statistics they'd like to show me proving otherwise???

586806978[/snapback]

Exactly, although I wouldn't be surprised in the gen after this next gen, HD will be commonplace. Or, even at the end of this next one.

But, it won't be true common place. Kind of like Widescreen TVs five-six years ago. They were around, a few people had 'em, but they weren't really common place.

[yankee lion]

Exactly, although I wouldn't be surprised in the gen after this next gen, HD will be commonplace. Or, even at the end of this next one.

But, it won't be true common place. Kind of like Widescreen TVs five-six years ago. They were around, a few people had 'em, but they weren't really common place.

586808201[/snapback]

Almost everyone I know has one, maybe I just live in a rich part of town. They have 1 HDTV, and several other smaller TVs (CRTs most likely).

[The Teej]

You definately live in a rich town in a rich country. In UK I don't know any-one who has an HDTV, and I know a lot of people. A lot have Widescreen TVs, but not HDTVs.

[Ryne]

Not having HD is a negative, no denying that.

However, if they can become cheaper, it would be a good thing. They are not really looking to fight with Sony or Microsoft, just to become everyone's second system, their own niche market. The cheaper, the better.