So Sheep, as someone in the privileged position of knowing and having interacted children. If you ask a five year old whether that toy was for a boy or a girl, what would they say? I'm going to ask you a question posed earlier in this thread. Do you think bras are sexist because they are primarily used by and marketed for women and that outlets are perpetuating a terrible stereotype because they don't, at the least, attempt to sell bras in the Men's Section, or at worst, not convert their clothing section to a completely unisex department? ... bras serve a functional purpose man? And there is actual notable difference is sizing in regards to clothing, both size and shape. But yes, in so far as style goes, I would be glad to see us move towards unisex design in clothing bar the obvious requirements.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/36332/Iwat...-neck-and-neck Nintendo president admits that there’s been little to separate the two machines in Japan this year You can decide for yourself whether it’s proof of a dramatic PS3 resurgence or a troubling Wii decline, but a recent confession from Nintendo president Satoru Iwata is certainly evidence of an increasingly heated and competitive battleground in the Japanese video games market. Speaking about the Japanese market at an investor conference (and spotted by Spong) the Nintendo figurehead stated: “A notable dip can be seen in sales of Wii this year, which is approximately half the size of last year. “On the other hand, Sony's PS3 showed a good transition and they increased the unit sales by about 50 per cent. “Although we held more than a 60 per cent hardware market share through last year – Wii has 42 per cent and PS3 40 per cent share thus far this year – so both machines are neck and neck in Japan.” There’s plenty of confidence from the publisher, however, with the recent Wii price cut expected to help the Wii regain its former momentum. “We are to regain the momentum during the upcoming sales season and we are well in the position to do so,” Iwata concluded. I'm not sure how to react to this. It seems both myopic and hopeful at the same time.

If the 360 sale at Walmart turns out to be true, I'll probably pick one up. And Ghostbusters.

Hardware price drops dont matter and Iwata knows it. The only reason he has to hope for a sales spike is software. In the case of this particular holiday season, he's counting on NSMB Wii, and a little too much at that.

Someone over at CAG spotted a used copy of DJ Hero Wii at Gamestop for $60. This looks like Rock Revolution levels of bad sales. Let the discounting begin. Spoiler: show spoiler hide spoiler

Hardware price drops dont matter and Iwata knows it. The only reason he has to hope for a sales spike is software. In the case of this particular holiday season, he's counting on NSMB Wii, and a little too much at that. Yeah, I've no doubt NSMB Wii will do well but I seriously doubt it's going to suddenly regain all the momentum the Wii's lost in Japan over the last 8 or so months. Especially when their main opposition there is getting FFXIII the same month.

Eh, Wii sales going down by a percent and PS3 sales going up doesn't really reflect any sort of wrongdoing on Nintendo's part, or some magic formula Sony discovered. As many people who are going to get the Wii have done so. Enough time has passed for enough price drops to fall into the PS3 and more people can afford it. It's like wow, imagine that. If this was a year into each console's lifespan, it'd be noteworthy.

Wait, saved $140 used? The regular turntable set is only $120 total. Renegade Edition is $200, but that's clearly not that set. That's a fucked up price somewhere down the line.

Its easier to maintain momentum that you have than rebuild that which you've lost. A price drop wouldve meant more if 1) it was done way earlier instead of waiting for sales to slow and 2) launched alongside a carefully planned series of titles, either first or third. Too conservative.

To a degree, that's just how Nintendo operates. Whether from in front or behind.

I think Nintendo shouldve considered buying at least a few of the deluge of failed western developers at cut rate prices. It wouldnt be like MS buying Rare, because it would be much cheaper. The companies themselves would automatically be a lot trimmer, as a surplus of unnecessary modelers/shaders/effects people get thrown out. Its also the time to forge new 3rd party alliances, which they have done somewhat through Capcom and Square-Enix. They are protected from the likes of the Capcom 5 betrayal of lost exclusives or the 64 Dream Team flops because of: 1) poor viability of up-ports to HD systems. 2) lower development costs relative to the HD systems (vs the 64 and the cartridge problem) 3) higher marketshare (vs the 64 & GC) It was time to start pushing dollars around and people around, hard.

Just for the sake of conversation, what developer that has failed recently would you suggest would be a good idea, theoretically, for Nintendo to have bought at said cut-rate prices?

I thought nintendo was still bitter towards capcom over the whole resident evil 4 thing?

Nintendo should buy Level 5 outright....even if it isn't a failing company, they are all about quality and the other traits of a Nintendo owned company.

I thought nintendo was still bitter towards capcom over the whole resident evil 4 thing? Was Nintendo ever actually bitter? I thought the only one that was particularly bitter was Mikami. Surely even if Nintendo was bitter, which at least a few of them surely were, they were never publicly bitching about that were they? Even if that's the case, I doubt Nintendo is bitter about capcom at all at this point, because Capcom has been giving Nintendo platforms seriously good support; and Nintendo obviously worked with them to produce the Monster Hunter Wii console/classic controller that came out in Japan. I doubt they'd do such a thing if they were still bitter about some game getting ported in the previous generation.

Besides Capcom said sorry when they ported their port of a port in order to make a more superior port of a port of a port. of a port....

I think any first party would be a fool to expect Capcom to make and keep a game exclusively on any one system for more than a few months. And, honestly, that's not even a knock on Capcom.

I have no beef with Capcom. Zack & Wiki, Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition, RE: Chronicles games, Okami, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, and even *snicker* Spyborgs have shown that Capcom have been putting some major muscle behind the Wii. It still hurts to think I'll never see a Zack & Wiki 2.

Alternatively, you could just give a single big-named expat from one of the ailing studios the opportunity to build a new team from the ground up, almost like Sakurai. As far as which to buy, it really depends on what kind of deal they couldve struck, and the commitment of the folks bought out to both stay and to channel their strengths into a unique product. For some reason I think small is better than big. Free Radical, which Crytek bought. Snowblind Studios, bought by Warner Brothers. Maybe Eidos (probably too big) BigHugeGames, bought by 38 studios Kuju, closed Factor 5 Buyouts of healthy companies are more dangerous because there could be some bitterness which results in an exodus of the GOOD talent. This already can happen/happens anyway. Level 5 seems to be doing Nintendo a lot of good just where they are.

I think any first party would be a fool to expect Capcom to make and keep a game exclusively on any one system for more than a few months. And, honestly, that's not even a knock on Capcom. Dead Rising lasted two years and change. But it's probably the exception.

I think any first party would be a fool to expect Capcom to make and keep a game exclusively on any one system for more than a few months. And, honestly, that's not even a knock on Capcom. Dead Rising lasted two years and change. But it's probably the exception. You mean the Wii game (2 years later)? It had a Mobile version too but I can't remember if it came before the Wii version or after.

What is the deal exactly with Factor 5? Are they dead, undead, in limbo or princess bride dead?

I think any first party would be a fool to expect Capcom to make and keep a game exclusively on any one system for more than a few months. And, honestly, that's not even a knock on Capcom. Dead Rising lasted two years and change. But it's probably the exception. You mean the Wii game (2 years later)? It had a Mobile version too but I can't remember if it came before the Wii version or after. Ahh, you're right. Wiki says the Mobile version hit in 2008. Still, though. August/September 2006 to somewhere 2008 is a good run.

Dead. Been that way for a couple months IIRC.

What is the deal exactly with Factor 5? Are they dead, undead, in limbo or princess bride dead? Dead