Nintendo Is Hurting :(

[Ivo]

In my opinion, a great deal of the Wii U's problems (and certainly also reason for the 3DS not doing as well) is the proliferation of iOS and Android devices with cheap / "free to play" games.

Of the 3 console developers, Nintendo had its central strategies - motion controls/extra screen; handhelds - affected much more.

While PC stands perhaps the least affected with the best graphics and arguably best controls (mouse and keyboard, or any peripherals) and mostly everyone has one anyway, the PS4 and Xbox One also partly offer better graphics than the tablets can provide for now (although as the years pass, I believe that will start to change), and - for those who care like us - controllers with actual buttons.

But for Nintendo, the graphics aren't really a big differentiator (and that is if they don't actually lose out). The 3D didn't work as well as they wanted, which could have been a differentiator had there been enough truly great killer apps that would encourage people to shell out for a 3DS even if they were mostly satisfied with the plentiful, cheap games on their mobiles/tablets.

Their attempt with the Wii U was possibly trying to catch on to the tablet success, but the success of the tablets is not really due to the form factor and control type (which the Wii U has) but rather because mostly everyone has one anyway (doesn't apply for the Wii U as it can't be used as an actual tablet) and because the games (even if they don't always hold up as a good experience) are free/cheap and fun (or at least trick people into thinking they are fun, if you think some of these f2p games are the spawn of evil psychological manipulation).

Maybe Nintendo should launch its own tablet with a variation of Android and exclusive 1st party games on it

[ZeroAX]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/vi ... tructuring

In other news: Journalists still totally miss-presenting the news with article titles that are just conclusions they jumped to.

(the interesting part:)

"We are thinking about a new business structure," Iwata said at a press conference today in Osaka, Japan. "Given the expansion of smart devices, we are naturally studying how smart devices can be used to grow the game-player business. It's not as simple as enabling Mario to move on a smartphone."

Not sure what that means yet though.

[mas]

Would Nintendo ever do this. Make and revamp the snes and nes console's kind of like sega did with the atgames 80 in 1 console's? Get the nes and snes systems a little smaller and sleeker, wireless remotes on both systems, av cords, and 20-40 games pre loaded. Plus you can still buy games and play them on the snes or nes which ever system you buy. Think of how cool it would be to have the snes library like dk country1-3 Mario rpg, all stars, Mario kart, Metroid, Zelda, all ready on your system. Just have better sound than the atgames sound chip for sega. That thing sounds like crap lol. I really believe the snes and nes systems would sell out quick if they charge 40-50.00 for the systems.

[Zing]

While the Wii U is selling relatively poorly compared to other consoles and Nintendo's expectations, the doom and gloom reports are just short-sighted thinking, if there is any thinking involved at all.

Nintendo has a record of 8-2 over the past thirty years when it comes to game consoles. Everyone who invents and creates things will occasionally make something that isn't viable for the mass market. The Wii U is something that was worth creating, and many people get enjoyment from it. Nintendo simply over-estimated the demand and faltered on the marketing.

[Gunstar Green]

In my opinion, a great deal of the Wii U's problems (and certainly also reason for the 3DS not doing as well) is the proliferation of iOS and Android devices with cheap / "free to play" games.

For the 3DS and handhelds in general that is certainly a problem, I'm not sure about the Wii U though.

Would Nintendo ever do this. Make and revamp the snes and nes console's kind of like sega did with the atgames 80 in 1 console's? Get the nes and snes systems a little smaller and sleeker, wireless remotes on both systems, av cords, and 20-40 games pre loaded. Plus you can still buy games and play them on the snes or nes which ever system you buy. Think of how cool it would be to have the snes library like dk country1-3 Mario rpg, all stars, Mario kart, Metroid, Zelda, all ready on your system. Just have better sound than the atgames sound chip for sega. That thing sounds like crap lol. I really believe the snes and nes systems would sell out quick if they charge 40-50.00 for the systems.

I doubt it. They already have the virtual console and to be frank the AtGames stuff is kind of garbage and I don't think Nintendo would just let a clone console slap its name on a product like Sega will. They're a lot more protective of their intellectual property.

I don't know what kind of kickbacks Sega is getting for licensing the clone consoles but it's probably not a fortune.

[samsonlonghair]

Nintendo has had bigger flops than this in the past. I think the problem here is that Nintendo continues to loose money on WiiU. Nintendo can scrap a Virtualboy or a N64DD and keep moving on. I don't see an exit strategy for Nintendo's WiiU. I think the only thing Nintendo can do now is to release main franchise games to move consoles. The upcoming Smash Brothers is a good move. A new Metroid Prime, Mario Kart, or Pokemon Stadium could shift some units. An original new Zelda title could really make a difference, but I understand that represents a long development time.

[BurningDoom]

I just wanted to share this from an article from the latest issue of Retro Gamer. It's VERY reflective of what's going on with Nintendo now, but with the N64. Ironic that I read this today, when this thread is going on.

It's from their section "Back to the Nineties", which takes actual gaming articles from the magazines of the time and reprints them. This one from 1996.

Nintendo was in a state of flux with worrying reports regarding the state of the company over recent weeks. First was the news that its long awaited Nintendo 64 was suffering from sluggish sales and that Nintendo's sales forecast was overly optimistic. Nintendo also announced further price cuts to its newest console with the N64 dropping from $249.99 to $199.99 for it's North American launch last month. Japanese N64 consoles were reduced accordingly.

Nintendo suggested this was to squeeze the competition, Sony's PlayStation and Sega's Saturn, both of which had also recently launched. Others indicated that N64 wasn't selling the units Nintendo had projected.

Potentially the most damaging news report was that long time Nintendo employee and head of its development team, Gunpei Yokoi, had left the company. Yokoi had been involved with many of Nintendo's biggest hardware and software creations. He had created the Game & Watch handheld LCD games and the Game Boy. He had also helped Shigeru Miyamoto as the producer of Mario and Donkey Kong and also produced the hugely popular Metroid franchise. Sadly, it seemed his one failure - the headache-inducing Virtual Boy - cost him his job.

Unfortunately for Nintendo a combination of all these elements resulted in its shares dropping and being suspended from trading amid a wave of selling in its stock. However, its shares resumed trading the next day.

Sounds a lot like what's happening with the Wii U with it not selling well, the price drop, and even talks of Shigeru Miyamoto retiring (like Gunpei Yokoi's departure then).

[BoneSnapDeez]

I just hope no one is murdered like Yokoi was.

[ZeroAX]

I just hope no one is murdered like Yokoi was.

Um....didn't he die in a traffic accident?

[BurningDoom]

I just hope no one is murdered like Yokoi was.

Um....didn't he die in a traffic accident?

Yeah, but like so many other celebrity deaths; there's some questionable stuff in the investigation which leads to all kinds of theories.