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Well, it really depends on what side of the Pacific you are on. In the land of the rising sun, Miyamoto and company have every reason to worry, with the Nintendo in third place behind the Saturn and the PSX. Remember, that this is Japan, home of the electronics industry and a much more enthusiastic marketplace for videogames than anywhere in the world. Now, when Nintendo looks like it may finally be about to turn the corner, Sega's Dreamcast looks primed to yank the rug out from underneath the software giant. This machine is a technological wonder, and we all know about how much the Japanese love new technology. The system specs that have been revealed are many times more powerful than any console in the home market, and the demonstrations certainly do have the development community talking. But it will not be the hardware which will seal Nintendo's fate, or even a strong cast of games. Although the great games will surely come, it is the presence of one game which will make this machine an overnight success. The Virtua Fighter series has a fanatical following in Japan, and the Dreamcast will have a perfect arcade conversion of VF3 at the launch. Nothing else matters to the masses in Japan; only the one game is needed. Any other titles at launch will just be more dirt on the grave for Nintendo. But let's not bury Nintendo quite yet. That is only one market place, and fortunately for Nintendo the story is vastly different on this side of the ocean. In America, parents associate video games with Nintendo. It is not little Johnny's video game system; it is Johnny's Nintendo even if the game system has a different label on it. The success of Nintendo with the NES, and SNES is still fresh in the minds of that generation; I should know because I am a parent myself, and most of my friends don't know the difference between any of the systems currently available. The Nintendo 64 is a good system, but it is crippled by the lack of a CD-ROM player which will begin to become apparent in the next system wars. It will be at least two more years before Nintendo submits another contender on these shores; hopefully that machine will be more competitive. The games for the current console are few and far between, and the game delays do not even warrant a discussion. The market is ripe for the right company to come along and take the video gaming crown. However, many believe that Sega does not have the capability of winning this war, even if their hardware is far superior to the competition. Sega doesn't have the best track record in the past few years, and has left a sour taste in many a gamer's mouth. The 32X and the Saturn are still fresh in many minds, and I have several friends that have resolved to never buy another Sega product again, and have instead moved on to the PSX and the electronics giant that is Sony. However, Sega is going to change a lot of minds with the Dreamcast and their plan for winning back the majority of the market share and gamers' hearts. Sega has learned from its mistakes, cleaned house, and is doing everything right with their next console. By taking time to perfect the software and implement their plan of attack, the Dreamcast is going to take the gaming world by storm. The most important thing that Sega has learned is patience; you only get one shot at a successful gaming launch, and it will not move until all the pieces are in place. It will take more than VF3 to win the American gaming public; fortunately, there will be a good selection of polished software available, and a good supply of Dreamcast machines to meet the demand. Should Nintendo worry?
Oh, I'm afraid it is already too late... R.I.P N64. Now what
can we do about Sony?
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