Nintendon't
Okay, I admit it--I love Nintendo. However, I love them like I'd love an uncle who's been an inventor for the last twenty years and has a frequent-user discount card at mental institutions. There's no question that Nintendo still has moments of inspired brilliance, but for every one of those, there are now about ten "What the...?" moments as well.Nintendo released some information on their next console, the Revolution, on their official website in the last few days. Here's a large section of their breathtaking news:
In its final form, Revolution will be about the thickness of three standard DVD cases and only slightly longer.
If Nintendo had been in the space race in the 1960's instead of the United States, the press conference would have gone something like this:
The Press: "Does Nintendo believe that they can get to the moon first? Do the power of your engines compare with the power of the Soviets? It's been speculated that the Soviets have an overwhelming technological advantage. How do you comment on that?"
Nintendo: "We are not to be overlooked. Our spaceship is much smaller."
Great. Way to zero in on the critical issues, Nintendo. Now I know this is actually a factor in Japan--consumers there absolutely hated the size of the original Xbox--but the rest of us aren't going to be staring at the size of your unit, pardon the expression.
I don't usually go out on a ledge, but I'm going to with this statement: Nintendo is done in America. Not as far as portables go, although the PSP is certainly going to significantly impact them, but when it comes to regular gaming consoles, they're done. Not only will they be third in the upcoming generation, but they'll be a weak third. There's a fine line between innovation and oddity, and at some point in the last decade they walked over the line. Now they're so far over the line they can't even see it from where they're standing.
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