In 2001, after so much struggle to stay within the home console business, Sega shut down its production to focus on arcade gaming and third party development. Its unfortunate demise was due to a barrage of add ons and poorly developed consoles, as well as not producing enough content to keep their brand relevant. The Dreamcast was their final hardware product and was in my opinion superior to the competing N64, but it was too little too late.
The final nail in the coffin had already been struck.
As we look at the current situation, Nintendo seems to be repeating the same mistakes as Sega.Nintendo is starting to shift away from the eye of the media and most major outlets such as E3. With things such as Nintendo Directs taking over for appearances at conventions, it seems as if they are becoming a little too proud of their product to truly realize they are digging their own grave. The only thing that is keeping their company afloat is nostalgic gamers awaiting 1st party games, such as, Donkey Kong, Mario, Metroid, and of course a Legend of Zelda game they put out.
The newest console, the Wii U, has not done well–and for good reason. Wii U has been out since November 18th, 2012, and has only had a handful of good games released for it, most being ports of games that had already been released on PS3 and Xbox. Third party developers have already begun to voice their concerns over continuing to make games for a system that beginning holiday 2013/14 will for all intents and purposes be obsolete. Will first party exclusives and development be the saving grace? Only time will tell, but it is beginning to look as if sometime in the near future we may be graced with Mario’s presence alongside Master Chief and Nathan Drake.
As has been proven time and time again throughout history: pride cometh before the fall.
Published: Jun 26, 2013 10:28 pm