Will Nintendo end up like Atari and Sega?

http://www.fox5ny.com/news/16770535-story

In the early 1980s, after years of being on top of the world, Atari made the fatal mistake of investing millions of dollars into an E.T. video game, based on the wildly successful film of the same name, only to see it flop. It is regarded as the biggest flop in video game history. Landfills were filled with millions of unsold E.T games due to many publications labeling it as the ‘worst video game of all time.’

Then came the crash.

The video game crash of 1983, also known as 'Atari shock' in Japan, was a massive recession of the video game industry that occurred from 1983 to 1985. Revenues that had peaked at around $3.2 billion in 1983, fell to around $100 million by 1985. The crash was a serious event that brought an abrupt end to what is considered the second generation of console video gaming in North America.

The crash almost destroyed the then-fledgling industry and led to the bankruptcy of several companies producing home computers and video game consoles in the region, including the fastest-growing U.S. company in history at that point, Atari. It lasted about two years, and many business analysts of the time expressed doubts about the long-term viability of video game consoles.

There were several reasons for the crash, but the main cause, according to Electronic Games Magazine was the saturation of the market with hundreds of mostly low-quality games which resulted in the loss of consumer confidence. The full effects of the industry crash would not be felt until 1985.

Stores stopped promoting video games and Time Magazine as well as other publications said that ‘video games’ were a fad destined to the go the way of the ‘pet rock.'

But then Nintendo came along and proved all the critics wrong.

According to Steven Kent, author of 'The Ultimate History of Video Games,' sometime after the crash, Nintendo approached Atari about using their name to promote a revolutionary and advanced 8-bit system. Nintendo didn't believe their own name carried any weight in America. So Atari initially agreed. Until they saw a competing system known as Coleco Vision showcasing Donkey Kong at an electronics convention. Enraged at the thought that Nintendo gave them the rights to Donkey Kong behind their back, the deal went nowhere.

Nintendo had to go it alone.

And they did. The Nintendo Entertainment System made its debut in the United States in 1985.

They knew that stores had no confidence in video games and were not ready to start putting them up in their computer section.

Using a brilliant marketing scheme, Nintendo included a robot known as ROB with the Nintendo Entertainment System and stores began selling the system in the toy section, rather than the computer section and it took off.

Before long, over 30 million consoles were sold, eventually topping out 61 million consoles.

Nintendo was king in America, Sega was number two and Atari went down to number 3.

Fast forward to 2005.

Nintendo had a virtual monopoly on the hand held gaming industry with the Game Boy Advance and DS and kids everywhere loved Pokemon but they became a distant number 3 in the home console wars. The Nintendo Cube was in third place compared to Sony’s PlayStation 2 and the XBOX.

Nintendo had to do something revolutionary if they didn't want to end up just making video games for other systems which was the ultimate fate of Sega and Atari.

Nintendo boss Shigeru Miyamoto, the man responsible for legendary games like Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros. and more, felt that video game controllers, with all their buttons were just way too complicated. He wanted something that anybody could just pick up and play with.

The Nintendo Wii came out in 2006 as a system that lets you control the action on screen with your hands and body as opposed to only a controller.

And it was a monstrous success.

Before long, the competing systems, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 were just relegated to 2nd and 3rd place against the new juggernaut Nintendo created.

Their stock went from $19 a share all the way to more than $120 a share.

Nintendo was king once again.

Then in 2012, Nintendo felt it was time to move to the next level and introduce the Wii U.

But it wasn't a huge success.

The Wii U debuted in November of 2012 and was off to a strong start with over 400,000 units sold that month. However, sales started to dwindle in January as the Wii U sold only 57,000 units in the US.

By comparison, the original Wii sold 435,000 in January 2007, two months after launch.

And in April of 2012, Nintendo logged their first annual loss in over three decades.

While world-wide sales for the Wii U are 3.91 million as of September 2013, the new PlayStation 4, which debuted around Thanksgiving 2013 has already sold 2.1 million units and rising.

Many analysts are stunned and don’t know why this is happening.

Some suggest that Nintendo may have made the ‘Dreamcast’ error.

That error is when a console maker decides it is time to advance to the next level, way before their competition does. It is this mistake than sank Sega’s Dreamcast in early 2000s, which has been dubbed one of the most underrated systems of all time because of its high quality games but lack of promotion from retailers.

Gamers just weren't ready yet to buy a new system after investing their money in games for the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation and that is what lead to the downfall of Sega's Dreamcast and ended their nearly two decades stint in manufacturing consoles. Today, they make video games instead of consoles.

Some industry figures have claimed that the Wii U is not in fact an 8th generation console, with many citing the hardware as the reason and thus the problem when promoting the system against the technically superior XBox One and Playstation 4.

Reggie Fils-Aime, COO of Nintendo of America, however, has noted that similar comments were made in 2006 when the Wii first launched and that the Wii ended up taking a majority share in the console market anyway.

There is no telling what Nintendo will do now that Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Xbox One are hammering away at their share of the market.

Even their most recent handheld system the Nintendo 3DS, followed by the 2DS failed to live up to expectations and their stock took a beating.

Still, Nintendo has maintained its 9 million Wii U sales forecast for the fiscal year through March 2014. Wii U software showed improvement in the Q2 period, reaching 5.27 million units, a 400 percent jump on the previous quarter. Nintendo has credited the software growth to key first-party releases such as Pikmin 3 and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD with more classic titles still to come.

If history proves anything, Nintendo’s Miyamoto doesn't give up easily and with tons of titles like Zelda, Super Mario, Pokemon, Metroid and millions of loyal fans, it doesn't look like Nintendo is ready to go the way of Sega and Atari just yet.

Summer fun brings summer dangers

Summer is here and with the summer fun, comes the danger of accidental drowning.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 4000 people a year die from accidental drowning, with about 60 percent of those drownings happening in swimming pools.  "If there were more lifeguards or at least trained family members there to supervise, I would say at least 30-40 percent of those victims would have been saved" said Dr. Larry Tethers, who works with the CDC.

But someone needs to certify those lifeguards or family members.

Companies like Lifeguard Training NY do all of that and more.

"The classes we currently offer are life guarding, junior life guarding, swimming, CPR/AED, First Aid and emergency oxygen" says Lifeguard Training NY owner Mordechai Eliyahu. 
"We have students from Nassau County, Suffolk County, Brooklyn, Queens, all over New York City, all over New York to get ready for a potentially very busy summer season."

After passing the life guarding class, all students receive a Red Cross life guarding certificate that is valid for 2 years.

"Health care providers, such as doctors, nurses, paramedics and even police officers, need to get their CPR certification renewed every year and we take care of that too" Eliyahu said.

Another danger lurking in the summer is on the beach.

Riptides cause hundreds of drownings each year, but what should you do if you happen to get caught in one?

"Just relax, do not panic under any circumstances" Eliyahu said. "Your first instinct may be to swim against the current, back to shallow waters. In most cases, even if you're a strong swimmer, this will only wear you out. The current is too strong to fight head-on. Instead, swim sideways, parallel to the beach. This will get you out of the narrow outward current, so you can swim back in with the waves helping you along."

He also mentioned that if it's too hard to swim sideways while you're being dragged through the water, just wait until the current carries you past the sandbar. "The water will be much calmer there, and you can get clear of the rip current before heading back in" he said.

Sale of last iconic Catskills resort signals the end of an era

Movies such as Dirty Dancing, gave us everlasting memories of the once affluent getaway spot.

Now, the last of the iconic Catskills resorts has been sold to a company that plans to turn the property into a healthy living resort. 

Sullivan County economic development officials said the sale of Kutscher's Country Club was finalized Wednesday.

The Catskills used to be the 'place to be' in the summers and winters for generations of vacationers.

Through-out the decades, major performers would flock to the tourist destination which was known for it's lavish hotels and getaways.

In the winter, The Concord, The Pines, Kutschers, Browns and many more hotels in the area is where families would stay to go skiing in the close-by mountain ranges or to watch famous acts such as Neil Diamond and Frankie Avalon, before the area's once unimaginable decline.

In the summer the area had great hiking, mountain climbing, camping and much more.

Families looking to get away for the summer would head there in the thousands each year; and parents would send their kids to the area's many sleep away camps like Kutscher's Sports Academy and Camp Anawana, made famous by the popular Nickelodeon show of the same name. 

Stars such as Sammy Davis jr. Jackie Mason, Frank Sinatra, Elvis and many more graced the billboards of the now dilapidated area.

Efforts to bring gambling to the area, notably to revive the Concord hotel with a casino, have so far not been successful.

The most recent attempt to revitalize the area, a casino called Monticello raceway, has met with only limited success, and the area still remains vastly neglected. 

The next Detroit? Atlantic City facing catastrophic collapse

• http://www.fox5ny.com/news/16771572-story

With the closure of almost half of Atlantic City's casinos, Newark set to vote on gambling and casinos or racinos in almost every state, it seems as if the reasons for the very existence of Atlantic City are in serious jeopardy.

Atlantic City, once a major vacation spot during the roaring 20s and 1930s, as seen on HBOs Boardwalk Empire, collapsed when cheap air fare became the norm and people had no reason to head to the many beach town resorts on the East Coast. Within a few decades, the city, known for being an ‘oasis of sin’ during the prohibition era, fell into serious decline and dilapidation.

New Jersey officials felt the only way to bring Atlantic City back from the brink of disaster would be to legalize gambling. Atlantic City’s first casino, Resorts, first opened its doors in 1978. People stood shoulder to shoulder, packed into the hotel as gambling officially made its way to the East Coast. Folks in the East Coast didn't have to make a special trip all the way to Vegas in order to enjoy some craps, slots, roulette and more.

As time wore on, Atlantic City became the premier gambling spots in the country.

While detractors felt that the area still remained poor and dilapidated, officials were quick to point out that the casinos didn't bring the mass gentrification to Atlantic City as much as they hoped but the billions of dollars in revenue and thousands of jobs for the surrounding communities was well worth it.

Atlantic City developed a reputation as more of a short-stay ‘day-cation’ type of place, yet managed to stand firm against the 'adult playground' and 'entertainment capital of the world' Las Vegas.

Through-out the 1980s, Atlantic City would become an integral part of American pop culture as a place for east coast residents to gamble, watch boxing, wrestling, concerts and other sporting events.

However in the late 1980s, a landmark ruling considered Native-American reservations to be sovereign entities not bound by state law. It was the first potential threat to the iron grip Atlantic City and Vegas had on the gambling and entertainment industry.

Huge 'mega casinos' were built on reservations that rivaled Atlantic City and Vegas. In turn, Vegas built even more impressive casinos.

Atlantic City, in an attempt to make the city more appealing to the ‘big whale’ millionaire and billionaire gamblers, and in effort to move away from its ‘seedy’ reputation, built the luxurious Borgata casino in 2003. Harrah’s created a billion dollar extension and other casinos in the area went through serious renovations and re-branded themselves.

It seemed as if the bite that the Native American casinos took out of AC and Vegas’ profits was negligible and that the dominance of those two cities in the world of gambling would remain unchallenged.

Then Macau, formally a colony of Portugal, was handed back to the Chinese in 1999. The gambling industry there had been operated under a government-issued monopoly license by Stanley Ho's Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau. The monopoly was ended in 2002 and several casino owners from Las Vegas attempted to enter the market.

Under the one country, two systems policy, the territory remained virtually unchanged aside from mega casinos popping up everywhere. All the rich ‘whales’ from the far east had no reason anymore to go to the United States to spend their money.

Then came the biggest threat.

As revenue from dog and horse racing tracks around the United States dried up, government officials needed a way to bring back jobs and revitalize the surrounding communities. Slot machines in race tracks started in Iowa in 1994 but took off in 2004 when Pennsylvania introduced ‘Racinos’ in an effort to reduce property taxes for the state and to help depressed areas bounce back.

As of 2013, racinos were legal in ten states: Delaware, Louisiana, Maine, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia with more expected in 2015.

Tracks like Delaware Park and West Virginia's Mountaineer Park, once considered places where local degenerates bet on broken-down nags in claiming races, are now among the wealthiest tracks around, with the best races.

The famous Aqueduct race track in Queens, NY, once facing an uncertain future, now possesses the most profitable casino in the United States.

From June 2012 to June 2013, Aqueduct matched a quarter of Atlantic City's total gaming revenue from its dozen casinos: $729.2 million compared with A.C.'s $2.9 billion. It has taken an estimated 15 percent hit on New Jersey casino revenue and climbing.

And it isn't just Aqueduct that's taking business away from them.  Atlantic City's closest major city, Philadelphia, only 35-40 minutes away, and one of the largest cities in America, now has a casino that has contributed heavily to the decline in gamers visiting the area.

New Jersey is the third state in the U.S. to have authorized internet gambling.  However, these online casinos are owned and controlled by Atlantic City casinos in an effort to boost profits in the face of fierce competition.

California, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Texas are hoping to join Delaware, Nevada, New Jersey and the U.S. Virgin Islands in offering online gambling to their residents.

With this in mind, it seems the very niche that Atlantic City once offered as a gambling and entertainment hub for east coast residents is heading toward the dustbin of history.

Time will tell if this city will end up like Detroit. However, the fact that they are losing their biggest industry to major competition, much like Detroit did, with depressed housing, casinos bankrupting/closing and businesses fleeing , it all makes Atlantic City’s fate seem eerily similar.