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GameCube going pear-shaped?

© Dan Caines

I have been thinking recently (don’t sound so surprised!) and while I have solved many difficult problems (of the ‘Why are we here?’ variety) there is one that has got me really puzzled. And yes, it does have something to do with gaming (shut up!) and it is this: are all the people at Nintendo (yeah, them – they were big sometime in the 80’s!) of the genius variety or are they all, to put it crudely, a bunch of muppets? (And I promise I’m gonna stop with the brackets now!).

The thing that is confusing me is their next-generation strategy. Bearing in mind the recent wipe-out of Sega (see next week for more details) we must examine the future of gaming companies more closely, and I am not too sure that Nintendo have got their strategic planning right. Before I launch into this, however, can I just point out one thing: Nintendo have an ace the size of Manhattan up their sleeve (don’t ask how that works – damn, brackets again) and it goes by the handle GBA. Game Boy Advance – the magic words. Also know as GMM – Guaranteed money maker. IVA – incredibly valuable asset. And for good luck try QPTSOADGC – Quite possibly the saviour of a drowning games company. But that is for another, probably more positive article. Anyhow, back to Gamecube. These are the points that flashed into my mind:

q THE DAMN THING IS PURPLE. I appreciate that Nintendo think that they are being terribly clever in that they are unlocking a market sector untapped by any of their competitors – the 5-14 age group. Thus you design a console that is purple, has a carrying handle, presumably will ship with a whole host of cutesy games (Pokemon! Warning, Warning!) And is ‘unbreakable’ (yeah, sure. What about the innards?). Sounds great, provided that that market is big enough on its own to support a console. The thing about the PS2 and X-Box is that they are trying to broaden the appeal of games devices beyond little sectors of the market. q Why have they chosen to market it without a DVD drive? You’d think they were actually looking for trouble if you didn’t know better... They are utilising a proprietary 2.5 inch (according to current reports) disc which means that the system will not be able to play CDs or DVDs. Fine, you want to stop piracy, but this seems a bit of a risk.