- Messages
- 205
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 102
Super Tongue said:Over the past 5 years Nintendo has been in a terrible downfall. After the release of the GameCube, of course after PS2 and X-Box had been released, Nintendo had basically no sales. 100,00 units may seem a lot to you but it's nothing to Nintendo. They lost millions with the GameCube. If Nintendo fails again with the Nintendo DS and "Revolution" it may be lights out for Nintendo like Sega.
Sega is reentering the hardware business slowly. They have re-released the Saturn controller for the PlayStation 1/2. It's better for non-dual shock and fighting games because it has a great D-Pad.
Nintendo is, however, dying a preventable death - Sega's was not. While Nintendo continues to market to preteens, an ever-shrinking market in North America and Europe, Japan licks it all up. Nintendo could "XTreme" their image - that's how Sega stole their marketshare back in the 90's.
However, unlike Nintendo, Sega's fall was due to extreme unknown corporate mistrust, semi-espionage, conspiring and trade secrets.
When Sega of America recieved a Sega CD prototype in 1991, not only did they never know about it's development, but they were perposely sent a crippled "Dummy Unit." that had all the parts, but no ROM, so it couldn't boot. SoJ was afraid SoA would spill the beans. Somehow, the two engineers testing it procured a ROM image and booted it up with awe...until they starting coding on it that night. It was by no means worth what is was going to sell for.
The 32X was a concept by Americans - the Japanese wanted to sell a Genesis 2 console that had double the colors and an extra 32-Bit CPU. The Americans rejected it because "It was not a legitimate new console with legitmate new software," and Sega of Japan's (SoJ's) CEO Nakayama allowed them to create a Genesis upgrade. They couldn't get the design down, so the Japanese team helped them out and installed a processing structure identical to the Saturn (Which once again SoA had no clue about) but with a MUCH weaker video chip. Scarier still was the fact that team members worked on both consoles on the same floor, and the Saturn was purposely hidden from SoA.
When SoA CEO Tom Kalinske, who led SoA to thriving success, demonstrated the console at the 1994 Consumer Electronics Show, people were amazed. Of course, when the 32X launched in America SoJ launched the Saturn with great fanfare in Japan.
By 1995, Nakayama forcibly launched the Saturn in the states and refused to let Kalinske support the 32X, Sega CD, or Genesis lines, and pretty much relinquished Kalinske of every right he had in the company, right down to advertising. Kalinske knew how to save Saturn, but he was not allowed. The ads became somewhat sweet and kiddy, the Sega scream vanished, and the Saturn was no longer a "cool" console to own.
Kalinske resigned in 1996, and Nakayama signed his company's death warrant with arrogance.
Nintendo will live - they just have to change their image fast, because they seem pretty screwed right now.
