Nintendo 64 and the lack of games compared to the Sony Playstation
This is an old article written by Marty Chinn in June 4, 1997. Here Marty analize the Nintendo 64 game release situation comparing it with the Playstation and Sega Saturn ones. It is a nice article worth the reading.
It's been almost a year since the Nintendo 64 was first released in Japan. Since then, it has quickly jumped to over two million users. While the figure is an astonishing feat in theory, there are some things you might not know about the actual status of the Japanese market.
Despite some amazing launch figures in June, the N64's sales quickly dropped off when the system was hit with a three-month drought of software. There was not another game, Wave Race 64, released until September 27th in Japan. From there, it would be another two months before another game would be released, and not until the middle of December when one of the most anticipated games for the system was released, Mario Kart 64. A total of four games were released in the month of December. This coming from a market where a slow week would be considered to have only four titles released for the PlayStation and for the Saturn. An average week would be about ten games for each system. The lack of titles didn't just hurt Nintendo, it hit them hard as system sales dropped dramatically.
Now before you go off and starting raising questions of how many of those games are actually any good, let's just leave it at that -- it doesn't matter. They have a choice of games. They have new games to pick from every week. Sure, not all of those games will be good. In fact, many are likely to be bad. However, neither quality titles nor poor titles are an exclusive to any system. All systems have these factors. There are currently 18 games for the Nintendo 64 in Japan, which turns out to be about a game every two and a half weeks on average. Of course, there was a period of dead times as well as multiple titles coming out on the same day. I really don't think it takes a genius to figure out that there are a lack of games. Even if you don't think that the game situation is that bad, there is the entire Japanese market which disagrees with you.
Not convinced yet? Here are some statistics:
The exact number of systems is:
Nintendo 64 - 162,996
PlayStation - 1,550,653
Saturn - 139,681
As you can see, the PlayStation is outselling the Nintendo 64 by a ratio of almost 10:1. It's also outselling the Saturn by the same ratio. This isn't great for the Saturn, but it isn't bad for them, either. I'll explain why in a second.
While Sega isn't selling their Saturn in great numbers, it already does have a significant user base, and its software is still selling in respectable numbers, with Saturn titles hitting the top ten seller charts on a weekly basis. On the other hand, you'll notice that only recently the N64 has started to gain some market share in the software sector, which concurs with the release of Star Fox 64. The other boost in March indicates the period of time when Blast Corps was released, as well as a couple other titles, and the time when the price of the Nintendo 64 dropped down to 16,800 yen (about $150).
Despite Star Fox 64 being a major Nintendo release, and including the Rumble Pak and having a lower price point of 8900 yen, system sales didn't increase at all. Based on sales figures of both the game and the system, it appears the people who bought the game were existing system owners. Star Fox 64 entered as the #4 top-selling title during the week of its release, selling 133,151 copies. The two notable titles that beat out Star Fox 64 were Tobal 2 for the PlayStation and Pocket Monster for the Game Boy. Tobal 2 sold 216,455 copies and Pocket Monster sold 154,455 copies.
Sounds pretty dismal, doesn't it? Well, the good thing is that Nintendo's situation isn't hopeless. I think we can almost count out Nintendo passing up the PlayStation at this point. Sony just has too much behind them to lose ground, especially with Square and Enix's Dragon Quest 7 coming to the PlayStation. These were two pretty big blows (at least to the Japanese market) and the system sales reflect this. Nintendo, however, still has a chance of at least being respectable within the marketplace.
Nintendo's main concern should be focusing on getting games into the market. They should do what they can to attract and help developers create games for the system. While the Nintendo 64 is a very powerful piece of hardware that some developers would love to get their hands on, there are a couple factors that keep them away. The biggest factor is the cost of the cartridge ROM. Unlike CDs, there is a greater investment of money in producing cartridges without knowing if they will sell or not, as well as it taking much longer to manufacture a cartridge over a CD-based game. The second reason is the limitations of the cartridge size. While you can create an excellent game given within the size of a 96 to 128 megabit cartridge, game sizes are growing. A lot of the newer PlayStation games would have trouble fitting on a 64DD disk because of the amount of data used. This just isn't FMV or red-book audio, either. This is pure game data. Tobal 2 approaches 90 megabytes, as does Dracula X. Final Fantasy 7 and Resident Evil, with all their pre-rendered backgrounds, wouldn't fit on a 64DD disk, either. With compromises, of course, the game could be done. But the keyword is "compromise."
With over four billion dollars in the bank, Nintendo has money to work with. They should start dipping into that and try using it effectively. Buy some exclusives if you have to, or help developers out, but do something and get some good things turning in Japan. Releasing Zelda 64 sooner on a cartridge is a good move to start. Releasing the 64DD in March of 1998, though, could be a mistake. At the same time, the 64DD has a good lineup of software for the release. Pocket Monster 64 should prove to be a major hit for the unit. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, the game currently is the top-selling Game Boy game, as mentioned above, selling over 2.5 million copies. Pocket Monster 2 is the 9th most anticipated game in Japan. Despite Pocket Monster being released almost a year and a half ago, it still stays up on top of the weekly charts. And, at the rate it's selling, it should easily pass up Final Fantasy 7 on the PlayStation, which has sold over three million copies.
The bottom line, though, is money. All companies, whether you like the ethics of it or not, are in this industry for the money. The U.S. market is perfect for developers, as Nintendo 64 games are consistently among the best-selling software. Unfortunately, since this isn't true in Japan, you have a lot Japanese developers holding back. They don't have an incentive to develop for the system. I could care less for U.S. developers if we're going to get poor software such as War Gods, Mortal Kombat Trilogy and FIFA 64. I know a lot of you are itching for titles, but buying poor titles such as these won't help the situation any. Like I said before, the bottom line is money. If companies get away with making a ton of money on these poor quality titles, then they'll think they can get away with it by putting minimal effort into a game. Some of you may like the games I listed. But I must say that you can do better. They are simply poor titles. Why waste your money on these games when you can hold out for a good game such as Star Fox 64, or even put it into another system if you only own the Nintendo 64. Multiple systems is easily the best way to go to enjoy games. War Gods alone could have bought half a PlayStation or half a Saturn. You have the voice within your purchasing power. Don't let companies get away with poor games like these.
Nintendo does, however, have many wild cards. But they need to be played soon before they are overlooked in Japan. If Nintendo doesn't play their cards right, they could fold this generation, which would be amazing if you ask me. Nintendo has never been in this position before, but I have a feeling if they don't get something rolling by Christmas 1997, the Nintendo 64 might hit a downward spiral to its death in Japan.
Obviously, Nintendo does have an ace up their sleeve: Zelda 64, which is due in November in Japan. It very well may be the game that will help Nintendo thrive in this falling market. Zelda has previous sold extremely well in Japan on all the formats. Right now, it's Nintendo's main title that they're pushing. While I have no doubt that Miyamoto will come up with an extraordinary game, the big question is, will it be enough? What Zelda 64 needs to do is not only sell in numbers but sell systems like Mario Kart 64 did. Currently, it's ranked as the 13th most wanted game, according to Famitsu. And Nintendo can't stop there, either. If the game is a hit, there shouldn't be a dead period again. They should capitalize on it being hot and release other games shortly after -- and some games beforehand. They need to get a nice, steady rhythm of releases going so it doesn't get cold again.
With the 1997 Electronics Entertainment Exposition (E3) show coming upon us within two weeks, hopefully things will take a spin into a positive light. Dream is obviously the big question mark on everyone's mind and will hopefully have a big impact upon the public and the system. Miyamoto seems to be very pleased with what he's played of Rare's game. Nintendo may be hurting in Japan, but they are far from dead. Ignore all this advocacy that goes around, and don't blind yourself with the situation. Things are not all fine and dandy, but don't let that prevent you from enjoying great games on the system. Go get International Superstar Soccer 64 and Star Fox 64 when they both come out and have a blast. You should play games, not systems. Again, remember you have the power with your money. Don't support bad games, and if you have to, buy another system to fulfill your gaming needs. Just have fun with the games, there is no such thing as system loyalty or betrayal.
- Marty Chinn
