New Nintendo Platform Will Release in 2015/16

[Steven Bogos]

New Nintendo Platform Will Release in 2015/16

The new Nintendo platform will launch in the fiscal year of 2016, and have a focus on "health and well-being".

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced today at an business strategy meeting that the company plans to release a brand-new piece of hardware, dubbed the QOL (Quality-of-life) platform, in the fiscal year ending 2016. The new hardware will be based on non-wearable health monitoring technology.

"What Nintendo will try to achieve in the next 10 years is a platform business that improves people's [quality of life] in enjoyable ways," Iwata said.

As this was a business presentation and not a new product reveal, details are very scarce, and it's not actually known if this will be an entirely new console, or some kind of add-on for its existing Wii U or 3DS platforms. The main theme of the technology is to enhance the quality of life through entertainment. The key word is health, claims Iwata.

"As those who are already suffering from illness can seek medical care, our new business domain would... enable people to monitor their health," Iwata said. "However, what is generally good for health requires some kind of effort to be made by the individual, and... it is sometimes difficult to stay focused and engaged, and it is not uncommon to give up after a few days."

Iwata said that the company will officially announce the platform and provide more details over the coming year. He did say that it was being developed by a completely new and separate division at Nintendo from their Wii U and 3DS divisions, so you probably shouldn't worry about support for those platforms waning.

Source: Wired [http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/140130/index.html]

Permalink

 

[Zelgon]

Lets hope this isn't the WiiU successor. I'm a admitted Nintendo fanboy, but if Nintendo's console focus is going to shift to "healthy entertainment" I doubt very much I'll be into that idea.

We, as fans and consumers, need to get the message across in these critical early stages. DON'T GO IN THIS DIRECTION. Please Nintendo... Please.

 

[Jaylo69]

What the fuck?

Nintendo turning into the next Zynga? ergh

DIRECT TO YOU!

 

[Something Amyss]

Lets hope this isn't the WiiU successor. I'm a admitted Nintendo fanboy, but if Nintendo's console focus is going to shift to "healthy entertainment" I doubt very much I'll be into that idea.

We, as fans and consumers, need to get the message across in these critical early stages. DON'T GO IN THIS DIRECTION. Please Nintendo... Please.

To be fair, they've been going this way for a while.

However, I doubt this replaces the Wii U. OTOH, it makes me less likely to buy one.

What the fuck?

Nintendo turning into the next Zynga? ergh

DIRECT TO YOU!

Really? Have they ripped off various flash games and sold premium currency to play them on Facebook?

 

[RandV80]

Probably not a bad strategy by Nintendo, doing a quick search the Wii fit board sold 22.69 million world wide. These are not devices bought by 'core' gamers, and you could probably attribute much of the current woes in the Wii-U sale being from a lack of adoption from all the first time 'casual' gamers who bought a Wii.

Lots of gamers will shed tears over this sort of news, but to be successful Nintendo needs to find a balance between giving a platform to sell new iterations of their classic franchise and selling to the 'everyone and their grandma' crowd. They're not going to survive by trying to be an extreme gaming machine like the PlayStation or Xbox, and now especially with the Steam Box entering the ring.

 

[xaszatm]

I'm sorry, but this article is misleading. This will be an additional piece of hardware focused on people into health. What it isn't, is a new hardware gaming platform. The Wii U will continue to exist and articles like this just bring out the incorrect idea. Seriously, why don't we use the Nintendo article itself? It is a better source.

 

[xaszatm]

Lets hope this isn't the WiiU successor. I'm a admitted Nintendo fanboy, but if Nintendo's console focus is going to shift to "healthy entertainment" I doubt very much I'll be into that idea.

We, as fans and consumers, need to get the message across in these critical early stages. DON'T GO IN THIS DIRECTION. Please Nintendo... Please.

They aren't. It's a new piece of hardware dedicated to health. Like it will be Console/Hand-held/QQL. It's not going to replace something. It's going to add.

 

[Brian Tams]

Basically, what was said can be translated as thus:

"That Wii Fit doohickie sold a fucking bunch of units back on the Wii, so let's focus on that."

Whatever, as long as this isn't meant to replace the Wii U, I'm fine with Nintendo trying to tap into a market that Sony and Microsoft have pointedly ignored. As long as it keeps them in business.

 

[lostlambda]

Kind of a weird 180 from nintendo going from gaming to health care monitoring as a business strategy. This is most likely a new version of the Wii fit board though I don't see it making up in sales of the Wii-U. I don't see this helping or hurting nintendo any gamers wont buy it in any number and people who never bought a Wii-U wont buy it for the fitness add on. The cost of this device and the Wii-U (if they come together or are separate devices) would cost more then a years membership at a gym.

 

[Steven Bogos]

I'm sorry, but this article is misleading. This will be an additional piece of hardware focused on people into health. What it isn't, is a new hardware gaming platform. The Wii U will continue to exist and articles like this just bring out the incorrect idea. Seriously, why don't we use the Nintendo article itself? It is a better source.

Thanks for your input! If you'll follow through to the nintendo source, as well as look at Iwata's direct quotes, he does specifically mention "platform" several times

 

[ClockworkUniverse]

So, basically, Nintendo realized that people liked the Wii Fit stuff, so they decided to make some hardware that's JUST for that and does it really well. Good call. Not something anyone would have expected 10 years ago, but as a way to diversify it makes a lot of sense.

Kind of a weird 180 from nintendo going from gaming to health care monitoring as a business strategy. This is most likely a new version of the Wii fit board though I don't see it making up in sales of the Wii-U. I don't see this helping or hurting nintendo any gamers wont buy it in any number and people who never bought a Wii-U wont buy it for the fitness add on. The cost of this device and the Wii-U (if they come together or are separate devices) would cost more then a years membership at a gym.

It's not a Wii U add-on as far as I can tell. It's its own thing.

 

[xaszatm]

I'm sorry, but this article is misleading. This will be an additional piece of hardware focused on people into health. What it isn't, is a new hardware gaming platform. The Wii U will continue to exist and articles like this just bring out the incorrect idea. Seriously, why don't we use the Nintendo article itself? It is a better source.

Thanks for your input! If you'll follow through to the nintendo source, as well as look at Iwata's direct quotes, he does specifically mention "platform" several times

Fair enough. That post I made was a condescending. I apologize. Thank you for replying to my post in a non-aggressive way.

 

[SecondPrize]

In what year are they going to release games for it?

 

[BrotherRool]

The Wii Fit doesn't even actually work. This isn't a turn-around, this is them doing all the default things they did with the Wii and were already doing but announcing it like they decided to turn the company around

The Wii Fit sold a bundle after the Wii was already a huge success. I don't think it's a magic bullet

 

[Stavros Dimou]

This isn't going to be a games console.
It's going to be an exercise machine.

 

[Strazdas]

Probably not a bad strategy by Nintendo, doing a quick search the Wii fit board sold 22.69 million world wide. These are not devices bought by 'core' gamers, and you could probably attribute much of the current woes in the Wii-U sale being from a lack of adoption from all the first time 'casual' gamers who bought a Wii.

Wii Sports is technically the best selling game in worlds history. Wii Fit coming in 3rd after another Wii Sports iteration in second place.
however i dont count them. that is because they were bundled with the console, therefore every console sale was technically a game sale as well. however that does not mean everyone that bought Wii even ever turned it on, and i know people who certainly didnt.

the problem with this strategy is that.... all those that wanted Wii fit already have it. they dont need to buy new console to play the same game.

 

[CriticalMiss]

So it's Wii Fit U (or maybe New Super Wii Fit World U to fit with current Nintendo naming trends). It might sell a few more WiiU's but if people already own one for the original Wii why would they need a second? Maybe it's going to have a bunch of extra medical gimmicks thrown in too, I would have suggested the vitality sensor or whatever it was called but since they mentioned it is non-wearable I guess that is out of the door.

 

[NoeL]

Can't say I saw this coming but sounds like a great move by Nintendo. Wii consoles and Wii Fit had huge success both at home and to aid with physical rehabilitation in hospitals. Obviously not something very many of us here would be interested in but they made a substantial name for themselves in the health and fitness market so it would be kind of a waste to throw that away when there's good money to be made.

They've stressed many times how gaming is at the core of the company so even if this takes off and leaves the Wii U in the dust I think it's unlikely Nintendo would get out of console gaming. This shouldn't be a threat to Nintendo fans.