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So you Want a Revolution - Published by N-Philes, Dec 7, 2005

So you want a Revolution

We all want to change the world. Well, maybe you do, and maybe you don't. Either way, Nintendo wants to change the world. Ok, maybe they do, and maybe they don't. Nintendo needs to change the world, or so they say. Over the past while, Nintendo has been spewing facts about the gaming industry, giving sombre impressions of what's to come, ceteris paribus: less interest in gaming and less pre-teens to pick up the hobby spells disaster for an industry addicted to graphical facelifts and polygoplasty.

Nintendo wishes to be gaming's shining light. They played that role twenty years ago when the NES revolutionized a nearly extinct market. By setting specific goals with their upcoming Revolution, Nintendo is preparing to shake up the world of gaming. Keeping with the status quo may or may not bring disaster to an industry whose revenue surpasses that of the movie industry. Either way, Nintendo feels that it is time for change. Expanding the gaming population and expanding the definition of gameplay while keeping both hardcore gamers and third parties on board will be tricky but, with any luck, Nintendo can make it happen.

Gaming Population +1

Twenty years ago when it had the market to itself, the Nintendo Entertainment System went on to sell 34 million units in Canada and the United States. Today, there are over 50 million consoles in North American homes. This does sound impressive, but when you take out multiple console owners and account for population growth, Nintendo claims that the market hasn't grown since its rebirth. For every person who picks up their first controller and experiences the wealth of entertainment gaming has to offer, a gamer hangs up his or her controller for good.

The Nintendo DS has been opening gaming to new people, as evidenced by the staggering sales of titles like Nintendogs, and in Japan, the Brain Training games. The touch screen interface eliminated many of the barriers that kept non-gamers away, while compelling, relevant software invited them to the table. One of Nintendo's primary goals is to extend this "gaming population" growth to the Revolution.

Unlike any controller before it, the Revolution's interface has the potential to appeal to non-gamers. Its slick remote control appearance makes it relevant and non-intimidating, while its functionality could make playing games more intuitive than an array of buttons ever could. Of course, no non-gamer will invest in a videogame, or the platform to play it on, if the cost is too high. For this reason, Nintendo has been very selective with which technologies the Revolution will and will not use.

The Revolution's lack of high definition support is the most note-worthy technological omission. Nintendo has officially stated that their next-generation console will not follow its contemporaries' footsteps by outputting in HD. This will reduce the overall cost of game development and hardware manufacturing, ultimately saving the consumers money. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata believes that for the non-gamer, the difference between standard def and high def is non-existent, and therefore HD will not be an issue for luring new gamers to Nintendo. The Revolution may be successful at attracting these new users, but at the same time, it may be alienating those who love games the most.

Hardcore Harm?

If anything, the new control set-up could push established gamers away from Nintendo. Just like the DS before it, many are quick to dismiss the new controller as an unnecessary gimmick. Often, the early adopters of video game consoles are technophiles, people who keep up to date with the latest technologies. For them, a new game console that isn't use the newest technologies, like high definition, may not be a top priority when there are two other consoles that do. Fortunately for established gamers, Nintendo is incorporating a strategy to appeal to them as much as they are the non-gamer.

Gamers need a constant flow of titles to hold their interest, and they will overlook a brand new system if a game drought hits it very early in its life. Such was the case with the N64, as a depressing software drought pushed many to return their systems, let alone buy one. Naturally, information is scarce about Revolution games, but Reggie Fils-Aime, the EVP of Sales and Marketing at NOA, has come out and said point blank that Nintendo is working hard at getting lots of games out within the system's first half-year. If this plan pans out, gamers should get a decent selection of AAA titles with established styles of gameplay that show off the Revolution's strengths, as well as new styles of gameplay that tap into the unique controller scheme.

Of course, the biggest hurdle Nintendo will face is getting gamers and non-gamers alike to test out the controller, to play the games, and to walk away wanting more. To promote the DS, Nintendo hit the streets, put multiple systems in stores, set up a Fusion music tour, and even set up the Japanese Touch DS website that featured video impressions of ordinary people playing games with the system.

"This is interesting for you. Why don't you touch [the Revolution controller]? If you touch it, I'm sure you are going to love it. That kind of message is more important that saying 'this is more beautiful'," says Iwata. He feels that the Revolution is something that needs to be experienced, and that is why the company hasn't yet released any game media. The Revolution doesn't lend itself easily to in store displays – one Nintendo representative even suggested there may not be any Revolution demo stations. They will need to double their efforts in order to remind everybody the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 aren't the only next-gen consoles out there.

Developer's System II

In fact, Nintendo wants to be in the minds of all gamers. The new controller design was influenced not by a new Mario title like past designs, but by the first person shooter genre. The GameCube missed out on many popular FPS and mature games simply because of its childish image. Not only has Nintendo gone to create a controller bound to make FPSs played with a standard controller (and perhaps even the keyboard and mouse) seem archaic by comparison, but they have done so with the cooperation of western developers.

The first time they went to developers, Nintendo failed to impress them with the single-handed free-style controller. It wasn't until they added the secondary joystick pod, the "nunchuck-style" add-on, that developers began to praise the revolutionary set-up. To further entice third parties to develop for the system, Nintendo presented to them ideas on how the Revolution could bring new gameplay and control elements to some of their established brands.

To further appeal to the ever-important third parties, Nintendo has designed the Revolution to keep development costs down and to turn higher profits for those who work with the system. Developers are instantly familiar with the Revolution because its development tools and more straightforward hardware are similar to the GameCube's. In an era where complex hardware is dramatically bumping up the costs to make games, Nintendo offers a platform in the Revolution where smaller teams need fewer resources to deliver a competitive product. For them, this means that they can more easily turn a profit on the system, even if their games sell fewer units than it would on the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.

By providing development kits at a low cost, or even free, Nintendo hopes to attract all the major players, as well as smaller independent developers. Suddenly, the Revolution appears a relatively low-risk platform to test out new styles of gameplay, new franchises, and quirkier titles. If Nintendo uses some of the money in its Q-Fund to help fund some projects, exclusivity of those games, and therefore more reasons to pick up the system, would be guaranteed.

While there haven't been many public announcements about which companies are currently developing for the Revolution, some confirmed to be are Ubisoft, EA, Camelot, Kojima Productions, Koei, and Grasshopper Manufacture.

Definition Mission

After Nintendo unveiled their next-gen controller at Tokyo Game Show 2005, developers were buzzing with thoughts about just what they could do with it. Not only can the revolution controller freshen established gameplay styles, it has the potential to introduce completely new ones. The best developers, regardless of where their money comes from, should have an interest in this at some point. These people are the ones that have been, and will continue to push the definition of gaming by providing new forms of interactive entertainment that haven't been explored before.

Nintendo is adamant about pulling new users into videogames with titles like Brain Age for the DS and the voice-enabled Legendary Quiz King for GameCube. The company and its close partners will also attract casual gamers and hardcore gamers alike with new genres and fresh spins on old ones. And for those ex-gamers who miss the golden age of videogaming can download first party games from the NES, Super NES, and N64 systems. Rumor has it that third parties will use this system as well.

R for Everyone

Twenty years ago, gaming was seen as shallow entertainment for young boys. Ten years ago, the introduction of 3D playing fields made it more difficult for both newbies to jump in and then-gamers to keep up. Even today, where gaming is more mainstream than ever, gamers are starting to get bored with the same gameplay being repackaged, remixed, and resold, regardless of how pretty the games look. The Revolution is aiming to change that

From the new controller to entice new gamers, "virtual console" backwards compatibility to bring back old gamers, a resource-friendly development platform to win back third party support who will help to keep the hardest of hardcore gamers happy, the Nintendo Revolution is truly a system that has something to offer to everyone. All these individual elements work together in order to put the system, Nintendo, and all its partners in a dominant position in the next generation. Heated debates across countless forums over whether this dynamic shift is necessary, or whether it will be successful, have ended not with a definitive answer, but with firm believers on both sides of the fence. If anything, one thing is certain: the success of the Revolution lies not with its launch date, nor its spec sheet, but with gamers and non-gamers who are open to exploring strange new worlds in the universe of gaming.

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