While I realize full well that everybody and their brother has one and it had quite a few “must own” games, was Nintendo’s Nintendo 64 system a success or a failure? I ask this because it seems to me that its lifespan and number of games released appears to be less than any of its competitors, and, by an large, any system than has been considered “successful.” Rather than burn out, it more or less faded away rapidly. Does anyone know why this is?
The Nintendo 64 was definitely not a failure. Despite it not having as large a market share as PlayStation, the N64 was a very profitable console. Here’s a list of the N64’s top selling games (up to Dec 1999, thus they may be slightly inaccurate) and I think the sales numbers speak for themselves:
- Super Mario 64: 9,040,000
- GoldenEye 007: 6,980,000
- Mario Kart 64: 6,230,000
- Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: 5,720,000
- Diddy Kong Racing: 3,780,000
http://ign64.ign.com/articles/072/072580p1.html
That’s solely the United States. Global sales would obviously be higher. The N64 was anything but a failure in the US; however it did not catch on with the Japanese market nearly as well. But even there, it wasn’t a “failure” per se (“very disappointing” may be more accurate), especially when compared to the Xbox fiasco.
I forgot to mention that the list didnt account for 3rd part releases either.
What? What happened to the Xbox?
That it’s been selling piss-poor in Japan, which can be attributed to a number of factors. One being it’s sheer size; a major turn off given the tight living quarters many Japanese folks reside in. Secondly, the software simply didn’t appeal to the Japanese market. The Japanese market isn’t too keen on first person shooters, thus Halo, Microsoft’s one killer app at launch was worthless in the Japanese market. Finally, the Xbox was released roughly two years after the PS2, long after the market had already been saturated.
Not to mention that the Xbox is the only foreign-made console going up against two Japanese computing Goliaths (Nintendo and Sony).
You could say that compared to the NES and SNES, that the N64 was a failure…
I find nintendo seems to be aiming it’s console games* more at kids lately than teenagers and adults (with notable exceptions, like Conker’s Bad Fur Day). I have a N64, and being an rpg gamer, I had a very, very hard time finding anything I really liked. If I could afford if (damn tuition fees…) I’d get myself a PS2 and some Final Fantasy games.
*This only applies to consoles, not Gameboy systems. There’s a better range of games for the GB/GBC/GBA, and they’re aimed at a wider audience. The success of a system has more to do with the games availiable for it than anything else.