Night Cap: GTA 5 Coming to Project Cafe? Is it too late? We’re Hiring

To cap off the day I bear some more rumor gifts, and they happen to be from some reliable sources. I also discuss if Project Cafe is too late, and if Nintendo simply can’t win. Oh, we’re also hiring (as if we ever stop hiring) for some very important positions. It’s an extremely loaded Night Cap tonight, so buckle up your seatbelt because Rockstar is coming to a Nintendo system near you in 2012. According to the same people who leaked the NGP news before anyone else knew about it (and they happened to be dead on accurate), and also leaked some of the Project Cafe rumors, Grand Theft Auto 5 will be released on Project Cafe.

01net tells us that Rockstar is planning to make GTA 5 a release title for Project Cafe. Of course, this doesn’t mean it’s not coming out for the PS3 or Xbox 360. In fact, it’s likely it will come up for both of those systems earlier in the year, but the fact it is coming to a Nintendo console at all is great sign. Third party support is riding high it seems for the rumored console.

The thing that keeps crossing mind when I think about what Nintendo is doing is if it’s simply too late. Project Cafe sounds amazing, but how is it really going to win back the audience it started to lose a decade ago? Because it has power? The GameCube had that. Without third party exclusive titles there is no true reason for gamers on the Playstation 3 or Xbox 360 to want to upgrade, outside of for Zelda and Mario. Even then, Zelda and Mario always ensure at least a good 20 million in console sales between the two of them. That’s just the sort of pull Nintendo franchises have.

However, the clear strategy right now is to convince 3rd parties to support the system, and I think they will do very well in that regard out the gate. The question is: Will those 3rd party games sell? That’s really the million dollar question. I mean, if you have a PS3 wouldn’t you simply buy the games for that instead of buying a new console to play them on? Now that all three consoles have solid motion controls and with a very nice box from Nintendo, are things like The Conduit going to stay Nintendo exclusive?

You have to worry that while a strict Nintendo gamer (or a Nintendo and PC gamer like myself) has to be thrilled, without extremely strong exclusive titles from third parties like Microsoft has with Halo or Sony has with God of War, it simply isn’t going to be able to win back what it lost. That doesn’t mean the console will completely flop: Nintendo is an excellent 1st party company, but it has to be a legitimate concern in terms of trying to start getting back what they’ve lost over the years.

Nintendo very well could get some exclusives, especially if it introduces an online system that is at least on par with the competition, but without a more compelling argument than power Nintendo could be hard pressed to get such support. In this sense, it may simply just be too late and Nintendo will have to continue to thrive off of their own work. On the flip side, Project Cafe could be the start of a new era that helps restore Nintendo to respectability with the older audience. Just forgive me for not being sold on the idea that power and more “classic” controls are going to be good enough, and for being a little skeptical that Nintendo might not actually much else outside of that to tug at the hardcore.

Moving into the last point, we’re hiring… again. This time, though, we’re looking for a practically entirely new staff! (hey oldies, you can come back anytime now!). Most the details about the positions can be found in this forum post. The general jist is that we’re looking for News Posters, Editorial Writers, and a Podcast Manager. You can submit an application to nathan@zeldadungeon.net, but I highly suggest reading the post first.