Matt from IGN - Positive Revolution Info?

[ShawnPeters]

Striking - I know.

http://blogs.ign.com/Matt-IGN/2006/02/22/5881/

Devs are getting kits. And I know of a half dozen major games -- not the ones announced by Nintendo, but real, tangible, working, playable things -- that are underway and ramping up. Everyone seems extremely enthusiastic about their projects, and based on what I know of a couple of them, it's easy to understand why.

It's contagious. I'm hyped. And I can't wait for this May.

[FrankJ.Cone]

Getting developers working on titles is not a problem, it certainly was not with the Gamecube. The biggest names in gaming were excited about the Gamecube before it launched:


EA 7/26/01


In Bloomberg's report on EA's numbers, Chief Executive Larry Probst is quoted as stating "Coming out of E3, we were more excited about GameCube." It was revealed that EA increased the number of titles in development for a 2001 launch on GameCube to three from one. Madden 2002 is a launch title with SSX Tricky and Fifa 2002 the likely others


Activision 7/24/01


10 GameCube titles are in development at Activision for 2002 (none for this year). Though no names were given, Matt Hoffman Pro BMX, Kelly Slater Pro Surfer, Xmen, Spiderman, and Stuart Little are likely candidates. Tony Hawk 3 would easily be Activision's best seller so it's hard to imagine the game not being one of the magic ten.


UBI Soft 10/30/01


Ubisoft strongly believes in the success of Nintendo’s Gamecube that is why we are investing highly in game development in this platform. Indeed Ubisoft is announcing that Ubisoft will launch six Gamecube titles by March 2002. Some of these titles are Batman Vengeance, Donald Duck going Quackers, Tarzan Untamed. As a publisher with the second largest internal game development studio, Ubisoft is in position to produce a strong library of Gamecube titles


Sega 4/19/01


Of course we are very excited by the opportunities that working with Nintendo have. Not just with the Game Boy Advance, but also now with GameCube. Particularly I think with the announcement yesterday confirming that both Sonic Team and Amusement Vision are currently developing content for GameCube. I think they allow our development teams some great creative opportunities, and we look forward to bring some great games to GameCube.


Square 7/31/01


In fact, executives at Square are very enthusiastic about Nintendo (GameCube).



I offer huge praise for both the GameCube and Game Boy Advance



3DO (just for laughs!)


We are especially excited about the GameCube because of our strong brands for kids. In many respects, our brand mix struggled during the platform transition but market growth this year should expand the audience for both kids and casual-gamer adults where we have previously enjoyed notable success




There were even plenty of titles shown as playable before launch:

Games at Spaceworld August 2001:

Animal Forest Plus, Bomberman Generation, Doubutsu Bancho, Eternal Darkness, FIFA 2002, Luigi's Mansion, Pikmin, SSX Tricky, Star Fox Adventures, SSB Melee, PSO 2, Super Monkey Ball, Rune, Virtua Striker 3, Wave Race: Blue Storm

Excited developers, games shown at press events and shows ... Nintendo gave us all this already with the GC. I'd be more excited with Iwata coming out and embracing third parties, show some effort is being put into place to not only woo them into putting out games at the beginning but enable them to profit on the system and maintain support.

With the GC the big publisher's supported the GC very well indeed, only to find no market for them (Sega had success at the begining but that faded, especially when F-Zero crashed at retail). If Nintendo does not ensure their success immediately how long do you think they will stick around this time?

[ShawnPeters]

ooooookaaaay.

I think the point (if you read all of Matt's post) was that some key developers have gone from dismissing, and even laughing at, Nintendo's console to being excited about it. That's good news. They have said that the lack of power will be irrelevant. That's good news, at least for me. Matt has gone from thinking Nintendo was making the biggest mistake in history to being excited about the Revolution. That's a change in media perspective on a very influential site, so that's good news. See, I like to post good news.

Activision being excited about the GameCube in 2001. That's old news, and I don't really care.

[FrankJ.Cone]

Honestly Shawn I remember one developer who said something negative about the Revoloution and then he went and stated he was misunderstood and he thinks the Revoloution idea is "cool". Developer opinions have been incredibly solid and overwhelmingly positive in the most important area: desire to do something new with a new toy (wand)

Great Matt now thinks its a good idea. I am not sure Matt was really going to make the Revoloution a success in the first place. The number of people who visit IGN is a statistically insignificant amount in the grand scheme of things. Point being Cube IGN gushed about the GC and it certainly did not help sales.

I think you are giving one man a tad too much credit. Its not like he is Gabe or Tyco!! :)

[ShawnPeters]

To be clear, I don't like Matt and his opinions do not affect my gaming purchases at all. But I find his opinions have always been consistent with those of the gaming media as a whole. So, chances are, if he is positive about Nintendo's new console, then other journalists will also be. That can only be good for Revolution.

[FrankJ.Cone]

Fair enough. All good press is good for the Revoloution.