Naughty Dog Co-Founder: Nintendo ?Irrelevant as a Hardware Manufacturer?

[MrBaskerville]

The headline is misleading, cause he says Nintendo is irrelevant as a hardware manufacturer "right now", which is an important addition of words. And if WiiU continues to stumble he might have a point for the time being. But that doesn't mean that Nintendo can't resurface, they are probably going to learn from their mistakes. Who knows, they might even turn the ship around in time.

I can't help but think that Nintendo is in a good position if dlc, social media and microtransactions becomes a huge part of ps4 and Xbone then WiiU might start to look rather appealing. It's still fairly untainnted by all the b.s. that is creeping into the industry, it's all about the singleplayer experience.

 

[Lono Shrugged]

Rah-Bleh-Rah! Who the fuck does this guy think he is with his opinions?! I mean what the hell does he know?! He is OBVIOUSLY wrong and I am OBVIOUSLY right. I mean I have never run a crippled games studio into the ground. I play games every day. He just makes them. I doubt he has ever played a game in his life! I mean what the fuck would he know about the difficulties of developing games. Prick was probably happy when THQ went under and took all my favourite franchises with him. Fuck that guy and fuck Naughty Dog by association. Stupid triple A developers making games we all play and discuss.

Man, people and their opinions. That's whats wrong with the world. Too many people questioning shit and expressing unpopular views.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

Rah-Bleh-Rah! Who the fuck does this guy think he is with his opinions?! I mean what the hell does he know?! He is OBVIOUSLY wrong and I am OBVIOUSLY right. I mean I have never run a crippled games studio into the ground. I play games every day. He just makes them. I doubt he has ever played a game in his life! I mean what the fuck would he know about the difficulties of developing games. Prick was probably happy when THQ went under and took all my favourite franchises with him. Fuck that guy and fuck Naughty Dog by association. Stupid triple A developers making games we all play and discuss.

Man, people and their opinions. That's whats wrong with the world. Too many people questioning shit and expressing unpopular views.

10/10 would read again. Seriously Nintendo has the most defensive fans. It's not like the Wii U as a console offers much. It's just cheap and plays Nintendo games. That's it. The only reason to buy one is for the new flavor of Mario. That's a valid reason but it doesn't defend the hardware itself

 

[Saltyk]

Well, last I checked Wii U sold about 3.9 million units worldwide, in a year's time. PS4 and Xbone both look poised to hit around that number in under two months. So, he's less stating a controversial opinion and more observing data. Yeah, you can be mad at him for that, but it doesn't mean that he's wrong.

For the record, I have played a Wii U a bit and it isn't a bad system. But that's irrelevant when it is selling poorly and third party developers don't look poised to support it.

 

[Dragonbums]

I think the more important point that Rubin was making was that it is a travesty that Nintendo franchises are locked behind the Nintendo hardware wall and not available on the platforms that most people will have in their home over the next5-7 years (PS4/Xbone). There is an argument to be made that only Nintendo hardware and their innovations will push their franchises forward, although I'm not sure I can be convinced that something like Mario Galaxy would not be just as wonderful with a dual stick controller and game like Mario Kart is best played with the nunchuck, not motion controls.

I'm with ya. As far as I'm concerned, Nintendo hold their properties back by forcing them to exist on mediocre hardware. Zelda or Metroid would be glorious on the PC or a next gen console.

And when the PS4 sells more units in two days than the WiiU has done in it's entire life, it's hard to argue his point. Nintendo does well enough to get by, they always do, but for most people the WiiU isn't even an afterthought.

Except for the fact that Nintendo hardware compliments their software and vice versa.

People cry about Nintendo locking down their own property on their own hardware not realizing (or blatantly ignoring) the complete hypocrisy that nobody is crying about exclusives on Sony and Microsoft being locked down on their own hardware.

Nintendo isn't holding back their games on their own machines. They built those machines specifically for the ideas they have for new games. They practically develop said games side by side with the hardware team.

PS4 advertised the hell out of their console, and basically coasted on the good will of an E3 conference without having to do much of anything in terms of telling us what the console could outside of it not being Xbox One.

Microsoft also advertised the hell out of the console, but shot themselves in the foot with their controversial and bad PR management. It didn't help that Fox News reported on this case either.

Both X1 and PS4 have just about as much interesting games as the Wii U at launch, and will more than likely suffer from an equally depressing game drought, but that's fine because hardware.

Wii U is slogging because of a failure to advertise and not telling consumers that it's a new console.

I cannot wrap my head around how the same people who claim it's not the hardware it's the games, than turn around and say it's the hardware not the games that sells consoles.

 

[BloodSquirrel]

Keep it up guys! If we can just spew out a little more hatred toward anyone pointing out that the WiiU is a sales flop, we'll be able to spin ourselves off into an alternate universe where everyone will be ruled by Nintendo's golden standard forever!

Don't bow down to the harsh mistress of reality! Our faith will save us!

 

[Mr.Mattress]

Well the way things stand now they might be shafting themselves horribly by making their own console that has fallen far behind the competition, yes Wii had amazing success and justified all the exclusivity but when you are the least selling console that coin flips on you rather quick.

As of right now, the WiiU has 4.1 Million Units out on the market, with the PS4 having 2.1 Million and the XBone having less then 2 Million. True, the WiiU is selling poorly right now, and I do expect the PS4 to overtake it, but the WiiU is still ahead right now, and probably could stay ahead of the XBone if next year Nintendo plays their cards right.

OT: I disagree with what he says; if anything, since the PS4 and XBone are simply mini-computers, it will be their hardware that becomes the most irrelevant.

 

[BloodSquirrel]

OT: I disagree with what he says; if anything, since the PS4 and XBone are simply mini-computers, it will be their hardware that becomes the most irrelevant.

What, exactly, do you think the Wii U is running on? Unicorns and pixie droppings?

The thing is just as much a mini-computer as the other two, as long as "just as much" doesn't take into account how much less powerful it is.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

y'know, why is it that most people who are ragging on Nintendo tend to be washed-up, has-been Western devs? Why exactly should I listen to Rubin when he hasn't done anything meaningful in years (even taking away THQ which was already a sinking ship by the time he arrived)? Or is he just mad that Nintendo is pretty much immortal while a lot of other companies can't keep anything going for more than a decade at best? His statement comes off as ignorant at best and a desperate grab for attention at worst, so it's best to just file this under "stupid man says stupid thing" and move on.

 

[Kittyhawk]

Yeah, what BloodSquirrel said is spot on.

Its harsh news but this guy is telling the truth based on the fact, that Nintendo won't meet their 9 million target. Wii U global sales back up his view too. Don't shoot the messenger.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

OT: I disagree with what he says; if anything, since the PS4 and XBone are simply mini-computers, it will be their hardware that becomes the most irrelevant.

What, exactly, do you think the Wii U is running on? Unicorns and pixie droppings?

The thing is just as much a mini-computer as the other two, as long as "just as much" doesn't take into account how much less powerful it is.

Consoles are suppose to be architecturally built uniquely. Every Console before the XBox had a unique architecture within them that 3rd Parties where then suppose to learn. Even the PS3 had a Unique Architecture within it (At first, I don't know about later models).

The WiiU is the only home console this gen not built like a Computer inside it (Which is why Technical Geniuses are still confused as to what the WiiU can and can't actually do). Both the PS4 and XBone are built like Computers inside of them, which kind of defeats the purpose: Why should they keep building consoles if all they're gonna do is build computers? Not only that, these Computers can't be updated internally (Or at least, they aren't suppose to be updated internally). Even though the WiiU will suffer from aging, it's suppose to age like that because it's not built like a computer. But the Mini-Computers will suffer even more (Especially since they're suppose to be the "Graphic Powerhouse" consoles).

 

[Battenberg]

Jason Rubin left Naughty Dog nearly a decade ago, there's really no reason to bring the ND name in here since he isn't going to be involved in any of their next gen games. I would have expected anyone posting on the Escapist to have enough sense to realise this and not present the article in a biased way (much like IGn did but I rarely expect much from them).

Also he does go on to describe Nintendo as a worldwide treasure and give Shigeru Miyamoto very high praise as a developer. His point was essentially that the Wii U is irrelevant to the next(/new) gen console battle and frankly it's hard to argue with that given how poorly it's doing as far as getting developers interested or any sizable portion of the market.

This is a total non story, taking a quote out of context and attaching it to an essentially unrelated developer to grab readers interest and stir up arguments.

 

[Andy Shandy]

Well when it comes to home consoles, he's not entirely inaccurate, which seems to be what they were discussing at the time. He did also add the "right now" which is quite important. It doesn't rule out the possibility of Nintendo being hugely relevant again in the future.

Also, it should be noted that he has not worked at Naughty Dog (and IGN shouldn't have titled it with such an implication, if they wanted his opinion to be read fairly) for quite some time, and came in at THQ far too late to save it, so anyone trying to invalidate his view because of either of those connections just comes off as slightly foolish, in my opinion.

 

[Vivi22]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/12/02/naughty-dog-co-founder-nintendo-irrelevant-as-a-hardware-manufacturer

Well since he was the last president of THQ, I wouldn't hold his word up that much.

By the time he was brought in to run THQ they were already pretty much dead. He was given the nearly impossible task of trying to right that ship after it had already crashed into the rocky shores, and considering he made some pretty bold moves to try and do it such as the THQ bundle, he did a better job than most would have.

And he also happens to be right. Nintendo right now is irrelevant as a console hardware manufacturer. Their system is woefully underpowered, their new controller brings absolutely nothing new or useful to the table in the console market, and they managed to completely fuck up the one thing they were always good at and are selling the thing at a loss. Not to mention their sales right now are so atrocious that any developer looking at the Wii U as anything more than a dumping ground for PS3 and 360 ports is either insane or has a publishing deal with Nintendo.

 

[GamemasterAnthony]

OT: I disagree with what he says; if anything, since the PS4 and XBone are simply mini-computers, it will be their hardware that becomes the most irrelevant.

What, exactly, do you think the Wii U is running on? Unicorns and pixie droppings?

The thing is just as much a mini-computer as the other two, as long as "just as much" doesn't take into account how much less powerful it is.

Consoles are suppose to be architecturally built uniquely. Every Console before the XBox had a unique architecture within them that 3rd Parties where then suppose to learn. Even the PS3 had a Unique Architecture within it (At first, I don't know about later models).

The WiiU is the only home console this gen not built like a Computer inside it (Which is why Technical Geniuses are still confused as to what the WiiU can and can't actually do). Both the PS4 and XBone are built like Computers inside of them, which kind of defeats the purpose: Why should they keep building consoles if all they're gonna do is build computers? Not only that, these Computers can't be updated internally (Or at least, they aren't suppose to be updated internally). Even though the WiiU will suffer from aging, it's suppose to age like that because it's not built like a computer. But the Mini-Computers will suffer even more (Especially since they're suppose to be the "Graphic Powerhouse" consoles).

Indeed. I think MovieBob in his Game Overthinker spot for E3 described the Xbone as basically "having all of the weaknesses of a computer with none of the strengths", with the idea that being able to upgrade the individual hardware was one of the things that made up for the weaknesses of the PC. (Allowing for modding was another.)

In my opinion, I don't think the WiiU is anything close to irrelevant. One thing I've seen Nintendo try and do, with varying degrees of success, is try and find ways to make the games fun...both in the gameplay itself and with the hardware. Their only problem has been that third party developers haven't really committed to the idea of playing around with the hardware to see what could be done with it. As such, third party games have also been hit or miss. I think Sony might have picked up on this somewhat by giving the PS4 a better internal archetecture to make it easier for outside developers to make games...but the problem is the PS4 is still a piece of hardware that doesn't really innovate or encourage experimentation. Add to that the fact that it cannot have it's hardware upgraded under normal circumstances, and like Mr. Matress said the value of the PS4 will likely stagnate as a result since nothing particularly interesting or new will be created or will want people to go back and play those games in several years' time. Nintendo at least has made games and systems that people have wanted to go back to and play again, which is one of the reasons they are still in both the console AND game development markets.

Hell...I've heard of people who now wish to play the VIRTUAL BOY just out of curiosity's sake! THAT should tell you something!

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Yeah, what BloodSquirrel said is spot on.

Its harsh news but this guy is telling the truth based on the fact, that Nintendo won't meet their 9 million target. Wii U global sales back up his view too. Don't shoot the messenger.

I dunno I'd say Dragonbums and Aiddon are more spot on based on simple logical reasoning rather than made up to be "hardcore truth facts".

I myself would go so far as to say the guy is rambling for attention seeing as how he hasn't actually done anything in years to actually become noticed again until now and posing himself in a bad light by using Nintendo like most would as an easy scapegoat of a target.

I mean if we wanna go based on "truth facts" then the birds fly, grass grows, it rains and the sky is blue.

 

[BloodSquirrel]

Consoles are suppose to be architecturally built uniquely. Every Console before the XBox had a unique architecture within them that 3rd Parties where then suppose to learn. Even the PS3 had a Unique Architecture within it (At first, I don't know about later models).

The WiiU is the only home console this gen not built like a Computer inside it (Which is why Technical Geniuses are still confused as to what the WiiU can and can't actually do). Both the PS4 and XBone are built like Computers inside of them, which kind of defeats the purpose: Why should they keep building consoles if all they're gonna do is build computers? Not only that, these Computers can't be updated internally (Or at least, they aren't suppose to be updated internally). Even though the WiiU will suffer from aging, it's suppose to age like that because it's not built like a computer. But the Mini-Computers will suffer even more (Especially since they're suppose to be the "Graphic Powerhouse" consoles).

This is just pure console mysticism.

The reason the PS4 and the XboxOne have gone to PC architecture (with their own additions, like the shared system/video memory) is because it's the best configuration given current technology. There's nothing to be gained from using a processor with a different instruction set just for the sake of using a processor with a different instruction set. Making developers learn to work with new hardware doesn't help anyone. Developing your own architecture and having it be competitive is simply no long feasible with how complex existing architectures have become.

Even the Wii U isn't particularly architecturally special. It's running a PowerPC processor and an AMD graphics chip.

And what are you even on about with this "updating internally" stuff? PCs are perfectly capable of updating their software and firmware, and you can't exactly update the Wii U's hardware over the internet.

Also, nobody is "still confused as to what the WiiU can and can't actually do". It's architecturally the same as the Wii. They're just struggling with getting things to run on the hardware because it's got such a weak processor.

 

[EvilRoy]

OT: I disagree with what he says; if anything, since the PS4 and XBone are simply mini-computers, it will be their hardware that becomes the most irrelevant.

What, exactly, do you think the Wii U is running on? Unicorns and pixie droppings?

The thing is just as much a mini-computer as the other two, as long as "just as much" doesn't take into account how much less powerful it is.

Consoles are suppose to be architecturally built uniquely. Every Console before the XBox had a unique architecture within them that 3rd Parties where then suppose to learn. Even the PS3 had a Unique Architecture within it (At first, I don't know about later models).

The WiiU is the only home console this gen not built like a Computer inside it (Which is why Technical Geniuses are still confused as to what the WiiU can and can't actually do).

That isn't a good thing. It means its harder for both first and third party developers to produce quality optimized games for your platform. Why would you do that to your own business partners, on whom you depend for sales?

It used to be by necessity, when consoles first became a thing computers were by no means standardized, so even if you piggybacked on an existing computer architecture it would still be vastly different than anything else on market. Then it became an attempt to force standards, as an example the PS3 tried to push cell architecture, because they knew that at a later date it could be cheap to produce and alright to dev for so long as developers were willing to learn the difficult design issues now, and so long as consumers were willing to front the massive pricetag.

Both the PS4 and XBone are built like Computers inside of them, which kind of defeats the purpose: Why should they keep building consoles if all they're gonna do is build computers? Not only that, these Computers can't be updated internally (Or at least, they aren't suppose to be updated internally). Even though the WiiU will suffer from aging, it's suppose to age like that because it's not built like a computer. But the Mini-Computers will suffer even more (Especially since they're suppose to be the "Graphic Powerhouse" consoles).

This doesn't make sense. The consoles in terms of processing ability will all age at exactly the same rate. It may be more noticeable in the xbone and the ps4 as they have farther to fall than the wiiU, but that's it. If a wiiU game looks worse than a ps4 game today, in three years it will still look worse than a ps4 game. The only saving grace for a wiiU game is that a wiiU game from today may only look only marginally worse than a wiiU game in 3 years, as opposed to how poor a ps4 game may compare to a future iteration, but that won't help it in comparisons to other digital media.