Should Nintendo start publishing games on other consoles?

I have had a thought bouncing around my head this past while, and as the title suggests its, ‘Should Nintendo start publishing on other consoles’?  This would consist of Nintendo financing titles to come to the marketplace on their own primary consoles as well as the competitors.

EPIC Games and Unreal Engine 3

EPIC Games is a studio that to me epitomizes a singular studio that has the power to define a console. With their unreal engine tech, its usability and how so many developers license it to make their games on the list of Unreal Engine 3 games clearly show the sheer amount of developers working with the engine and the nature of the games that it is used to develop. With EPIC Games designing their engine for certain hardware it leaves the systems that they do not do this for with the choice, the development studio could try to shoehorn the engine or older versions onto the system that provides a less than ideal result and initiates what could be a costly exercise, or find some other engine. Finding another engine to develop a game on is mostly a non-choice because when its a multi-platform game it seldom works out the best, leaving then the systems without UE compatibility out of a multi-platform IP.

A discussion about gaming, with mum :)

Well today, in a lengthy journey, my mum and I were discussing several elements of the games industry. This covered a broad spectrum of information that I’ve divulged using my own analytical style and other information that I’ve been so lucky to be made aware of by close contacts. But the part that struck me was our discussion about how Nintendo are the true leaders of the Games Industry.

Yes they may have not been successful each and every generation but the fact remains that Nintendo are the only Gaming centric and exclusive competitor. They aren’t as diversified as the other competitors so they have a single culture and identity. Now this next bit struck me as something that people would declare as a “fanboy” comment, but couldn’t be as my mum does not play video games. She said, “it seems to me like these other companies {Sony, Microsoft} take the best bits from all over the industry to try and be the best, and most of these ideas come from Nintendo”. The way she sees it that the industry takes it lead from Nintendo, and the rest follow, yes they may do their own bidding with other technology or power abilities. But they can only do this with influence by Nintendo, and this doesn’t ring any truer that this whole casual and motion push that is going on.

EDIT

I should add, that yeah she doesn’t play games these days but back when she played Mario AllStars on the Snes and Tomb Raider on the PS2

Why are Nintendo consoles the only one’s referred to as “Toys”?

Well we have all seen it out there in the consumer space, time and time again, “get your latest toys from {generic store name} like the all new Nintendo DSi/Wii”. It struck me vividly with the new UK retailers Argos advert about being the UK’s largest toy retailer, and their focus of the advert is Nintendo.

But why is it that Nintendo consoles are the only ones relegated to “Toy” status while the PS3 and 360 are electronics devices/media hubs?

Michael Pachter – A New Nintendo Lesson

Granted throughout my blog i have mentioned Michael Pachter once or twice, maybe more. But this is due to the fact that he is a representative of the industry, not through development but through his research and analysis work at Wedbush Morgan Securities. As an industry analyst it is Michaels job to know the industry inside out and provide reliable information to his employers as well as their consumers, on the sideline he is an analyst that regulars on GTTV with Geoff Keighley, to provide his unique insight to the future of the industry.

Michael Pachter on GTTV

UK Government chooses PEGI ratings!

David Yarnton, UK General Manager, Nintendo, said: “The Government has made the right decision. The PEGI age rating system is right for the protection of children as it is designed specifically for games and interactive content.

“As a global company we welcome the decision as mature and intelligent as it works across some 30 international territories.“Rob Cooper, Managing Director, Ubisoft UK, said: “The adoption of PEGI as the rating system for games is a good decision. The PEGI system is future-proof, delivering effective child protection now and in the future. PEGI Online is a key component of the system, ensuring that the government does not have to re-assess the entire system once again in 12 months time.”

New Play Control – Microsoft

Now everyone seems to have an opinion on new ways to play videogames, whether you love it or hate it this seems to be the future for the industry. This is not exclusive to console manufacturers, it is also open to publishers/developers of video games the best examples are EA/MTV/Harmonix and Red Octane/Activision with their seemingly never ending stream of music controllers, or an even more recent one would be with Tony Hawk’s RIDE with the new board peripheral that simulates a skateboard for the game but could also be used in the future as a snowboard, surfboard or even wakeboard.

Nintendo was the pioneer of opening up the games market to new control types, going all the way back to the NES with the power glove, the power mat and the synonymous R.O.B the robot. Up until the recent times Nintendo had a prototype controller for the Gamecube that is similar to the Playstation 3’s sixaxis controller they also had Donkey Kong bongo’s moving to the Wii with the Remote as a primary control option with motion and infra-red pointer control. Also looking at what the touch abilities have done for the handheld market and the possibilities for the in-game use of the DSi’s cameras already showing with augmented reality games in the works.