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3 Responses to "HDTV for Nintendo Revolution"

1. | Reply Geoff Taylor
   Posted 27 Jun 2005 at 3:49pm #
   

   Alrighty, no harm in asking for this feature. So I checked the site out. I've previously said that I understand Nintendo's reasoning. Why? Well, HD is definitely a giant improvement. But... even now most people just don't have it. At the time I checked out 1080up.org 69% of the people that voted do not have HD. We all want it, but it's still rather expensive. Even ignoring the price, it's a confusing process figuring out which one to buy.

2. | Reply Erik J. Barzeski
   Posted 27 Jun 2005 at 4:33pm #
   

   Geoff, the point is not how many people have HD right now. The point is that by 2008, everyone (in the U.S. anyway) will have HDTV, a D-to-A converter, or they won't be watching TV. The Revolution is not here now - it's a year away. If 15% of the people have HDTV now, that number will only be higher in a year, and it'll be a helluva lot higher in five years, which is when the Revolution will still likely be a "current" console.

   Furthermore, gamers are some of the quickest to adopt new technologies. The percentage of gamers with HDTV (31% or so based on that very loose poll) is going to be higher than the percentage of "everyone." That's just common sense.

   Sony and Microsoft will have kiosks with HDTV displays in stores to show off PS3 and XBox 360 games. If the Nintendo, sitting right next to them, looks bad, people will buy the other two regardless of whether they have HDTV or not. Not every time, but enough that I think Nintendo's decision - if they stick with it - will bite them in the ass, and hard.

3. | Reply Mike Owens
   Posted 27 Jun 2005 at 8:12pm #
   

   I agree with Erik that Nintendo should really be looking at the 5 year chart for consumer HD adoption. I can already see the look on a Nintendo exec's face when they actually walk into a Best Buy and see what unrecoverable damage not having HD has done to the perception of their system compared to the MS and Sony kiosks. No amount of HD marketshare figures can make that go away.

   Another thing I think is overlooked is the sales Nintendo will lose from gamers who very well may never have an HD-ready set during the Revolution's lifetime, but are always "gonna get one in a few weeks". For 5 years.

   This is the same (stupid) reason I shelled out for an expensive monitor with DVI a full year before I had an DVI-capable video card. When I was going through the product matrices, I made DVI a requirement, regardless that I got no benefit from it in hindsight.

   I can see this becoming a major marketing issue for Nintendo even if HD adoption rates sharply declined, especially in the famous 18-24 demographic.

   - a recently disenchanted Nintendo fan