Nintendo going software only.

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Yeah for real. I literally have a GamePro magazine from 2001 where in the reader mail section somebody was saying that Nintendo should go third party software. People keep bringing this up like it's some radical new idea.

Nintendo is 126 years old, and of the big 3 they've been the ones with the least amount of red for the last 30 years. They could have multiple console flop in a row and still be fine.

Spoiler

And they always keep bringing it up right around the time Nintendo unveils a bombshell that makes it quite clear that they're not going anywhere with anything. They'll still be making hardware, include consoles, they'll still be making entries in their long-established franchises, and they'll still be making new IPs. So it's about time we call out these kinds of arguments about Nintendo on what they really are: desperate or just plain fantasy. Because make no mistake, the idea of Nintendo going software only is pure fantasy, it is not something grounded in reality and the arguments made to say otherwise are desperate. It's time to just live with the fact that Nintendo going software-only is impossible.

 

[Saltyk]

I think their last bastion is going to be handheld gaming, and in the long, long run they end up losing to mobile phones.

From what little I know of the NX, that seems to be what Nintendo has come up with as well.
Seriously, is it a handheld? A console? Both? How does that work? I fear that the NX doesn't know what it is and that will be a problem.

And not knowing anything is something that has killed my interest in the console entirely.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I think their last bastion is going to be handheld gaming, and in the long, long run they end up losing to mobile phones.

From what little I know of the NX, that seems to be what Nintendo has come up with as well.
Seriously, is it a handheld? A console? Both? How does that work? I fear that the NX doesn't know what it is and that will be a problem.

And not knowing anything is something that has killed my interest in the console entirely.

I feel like this is the same thing that killed the Wii U from the get-go - how little N bothered to promote its own product.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I imagine they intend to go forward with a stronger strategy with the NX than the Wii U had.

They're putting even less of an effort to promote it and confirm/dispel rumors about it, which hurts both Wii U and NX sales.

If any console brand is dying someday soon, it's the Xbox. Anyone with a decent gaming PC sure doesn't need one, and a combination of Playstation and Nintendo consoles can go quite far in terms of exclusives and third party games. Even with all of that against the Xbox, I don't see it outright dying easily.

And yet the Xbone has sold better than the Wii U (19m vs. 12m) even though the Wii U had a full extra year on the market.

 

[Gamerpalooza]

Nintendo's issue is how they approach their console. They have no issue at all being successful with their handheld.

If they can transfer the mentality that allows the success of their handheld to their console that's all they need to be on top once again. The thing is that they don't even try.

 

[Saltyk]

I think their last bastion is going to be handheld gaming, and in the long, long run they end up losing to mobile phones.

From what little I know of the NX, that seems to be what Nintendo has come up with as well.
Seriously, is it a handheld? A console? Both? How does that work? I fear that the NX doesn't know what it is and that will be a problem.

And not knowing anything is something that has killed my interest in the console entirely.

I feel like this is the same thing that killed the Wii U from the get-go - how little N bothered to promote its own product.

I'd say that terrible naming combined with terrible marketing doomed the Wii U. I have met people who legitimately thought the Wii U was an add-on to the Wii. Watch the original announcement trailer for the Wii U and tell me that is not an understandable conclusion. Even knowing the Wii U is a console when I watched it, I could see how people wouldn't get that.

 

[Fox12]

Seriously this exact thread pops up every few months.In fact I'm pretty sure you created at least one of them OP *quick search* Yup you posted this exact same topic earlier this year

To answer: Probably not.Thanks to the success of the Wii and DS Nintendo are on a fairly sound financial footing quite the opposite of Sega when they went software only

That's not how business works. Investors don't want to hear about how much money you have left over from last generation. They want to know what you're doing for them right now.

OT: Quite possibly. Two major failures in a row could easily knock them out of the race. That said, they don't necessarily need to be a smash success to stay in the hardware business. They would just need moderate sales. Furthermore, I doubt they're dropping out of the handheld business any time soon, and I'm sure they'll enjoy great success in their upcoming mobile games division. They're not on the strongest ground, but I wouldn't count Nintendo out yet. Not as long as their more iconic founders are still around to keep the spirit alive.

 

[SupahEwok]

What a lot of people don't understand is that Nintendo isn't a games company. It's a toys company. It was founded to sell decks of cards, it started developing their own new toys in the 1900's, and it was with that attitude that they first started making vidogame hardware. To them, games aren't the toys, the consoles are. It is still a vital part of their company culture. A Nintendo that doesn't sell hardware isn't Nintendo at all for those who lead it. They'll go bankrupt before going software only.

Maybe I'll do a follow up post when I get home or if I get a longer break at work, about the history of Nintendo's foray into the games industry (and about their hardware "gimmicks") but if I don't, take this away from me: Nintendo will die before they give up on consoles.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

It's a toys company. It was founded to sell decks of cards, it started developing their own new toys in the 1900's, and it was with that attitude that they first started making vidogame hardware.

They also started a chain of fuck hotels somewhere in between.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

That's not how business works. Investors don't want to hear about how much money you have left over from last generation. They want to know what you're doing for them right now.

Except that line of thinking doesn't work concerning Nintendo. The "investor" argument would work if we were talking about a Western company like EA or Activision, but Japan has very different ideas concerning business and especially concerning investors. Simplifying it down to the base, it's this: investors don't have any power in Nintendo's structure. They don't have any real impact on business decisions. And that's before we get into how shareholder activism is rare in Japan. So, yeah, investors can't really do anything and thank Buddha for that.

 

[xaszatm]

That's not how business works. Investors don't want to hear about how much money you have left over from last generation. They want to know what you're doing for them right now.

Except that line of thinking doesn't work concerning Nintendo. The "investor" argument would work if we were talking about a Western company like EA or Activision, but Japan has very different ideas concerning business and especially concerning investors. Simplifying it down to the base, it's this: investors don't have any power in Nintendo's structure. They don't have any real impact on business decisions. And that's before we get into how shareholder activism is rare in Japan. So, yeah, investors can't really do anything and thank Buddha for that.

Hell, with the current restructuring of Nintendo's Board, investors now have even less power than they did before.

OT: Can I make a thread about Microsoft going third party? Because, if we're doing this again, I'd rather speculate the other company not doing too hot right now in the video game department. I mean, Microsoft already makes games for other consoles.

Spoiler

So can I make a thread on how great it will be when Microsoft goes third party? No? It sounds completely stupid? Well, that's my reaction to this thread.

 

[Something Amyss]

I feel like this is the same thing that killed the Wii U from the get-go - how little N bothered to promote its own product.

Yeah. People thought it was an add-on and Nintendo couldn't even be bothered to explain that.

Trying to be secretive is only going to hurt them, but hey. Their choice.

 

[Ravenbom]

I think their last bastion is going to be handheld gaming, and in the long, long run they end up losing to mobile phones.

Not at all. Mobile gaming is 75% of the app store's sales, but then again apps that people pay for are usually around a buck, a Tell Tale season is 20 times that. Even freemium games tend to grab about 10-20 from people while several articles and podcasts in the last few years talk about how "whales" are how most mobile games maintain their revenue stream.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/mobile-game-makers-try-to-catch-more-whales-who-pay-for-free-games-1431306115

It's a big market on the app store but as we've seen at Apple's own WWDC this year, the app store is a fucking mess. They're working on cleaning it up (at least the search function) but it's still a mess and more and more devs are leaving.

It's a different generation than the one we grew up in. Kids today get grounded from their iPhones and iPads, not their 3DS.

Rovio was arguably the most impressive mobile game company in the world and today they recording operating losses.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/rovio-records-operating-loss-over-angry-birds-movie-1459956527

The mobile market bubble is bursting, and like the rest of the games industry lately, the big push now is back to core gamers, not casual.

Either way, I still think they're apples and oranges even though I would have said the same thing (that Nintendo will eventually lose the handheld market) like 5 years ago when the mobile market hadn't hit a ceiling yet.

 

[aozgolo]

Nintendo has money... LOADS of money, more money than they know what to do with. You can't quite measure their overall corporate health solely by the success and failure of a single platform. They are one of the last remaining console makers where the term "first party" really carries weight, and they have achieved some measured success in every generation, albeit perhaps not comparatively in the console-share market, but taken on their own, as they prefer to do, each generation of consoles has found it's audience and sold well.

 

[Lightspeaker]

Nintendo's issue is how they approach their console. They have no issue at all being successful with their handheld.

If they can transfer the mentality that allows the success of their handheld to their console that's all they need to be on top once again. The thing is that they don't even try.

I don't think you can put the success of Nintendo's handhelds down to any kind of actual successful strategy or mentality on their part so much as the total lack of any competition whatsoever. To my knowledge no other handheld has challenged Nintendo in the market for more than one iteration until the release of the PSP in 2004. And the PSP has had its own severe market struggles (just look at the still-common perception that the newest version, the Vita, has no games).

You can literally see that Nintendo doesn't know what they're doing even in handhelds with the way they've handled the NEW 3DS. Which is to say they've not handled it. At all. It was pushed out the door and flopped, because it was directly competing with the 3DS everyone already had and Nintendo didn't give a single compelling reason to buy one. They've just been incredibly lucky that they're the market leader in handhelds and have stayed market leader by sheer virtue of being the market leader and the lack of credible opposition.

 

[ultrabiome]

I have to agree with those who say Nintendo will give up on gaming before becoming 3rd party. Even if the Wii U is considered a flop compared to its competitors, the PS4 and Xbox1, it still sold 10 million units, and probably paid for itself, allowing Nintendo to develop and grow for the next generation of gaming. But they beat to their own drum, where Sony and Microsoft go for paths of least resistance, Nintendo has a vision and they try to be faithful to it. Even if you don't like where they go, Sony and Microsoft copy Nintendo anyway.

Nintendo is like Disney, aiming for perfection of the craft. In Nintendo's case it means producing both quality hardware (at cost!) and utilizing it to the fullest by their quality software, which remains the industry leader in polish and playtesting. Without both they just aren't Nintendo. They might not have the flashiest hardware specs or the most 3rd party games, but you can't say they aren't trying to make inventive, fun, new games.

 

[MidnightMoor]

Let's say the NX fails. Do they go software only? And would they do better?

That title shocked me for a moment.

 

[WeepingAngels]

What a lot of people don't understand is that Nintendo isn't a games company. It's a toys company. It was founded to sell decks of cards, it started developing their own new toys in the 1900's, and it was with that attitude that they first started making vidogame hardware. To them, games aren't the toys, the consoles are. It is still a vital part of their company culture. A Nintendo that doesn't sell hardware isn't Nintendo at all for those who lead it. They'll go bankrupt before going software only.

Maybe I'll do a follow up post when I get home or if I get a longer break at work, about the history of Nintendo's foray into the games industry (and about their hardware "gimmicks") but if I don't, take this away from me: Nintendo will die before they give up on consoles.

I started out as a baby, am I still a baby?

 

[omega 616]

I hope not. Competition is a great thing.

Are they in any competition? Sony and microsoft certainly are but Nintendo? They produce games that only come to their console, they aren't even in the arms race, like Sony and microsoft are 'cos they aren't doing the half step or ever really tried to produce horsepower since like the N64 days.

 

[Yoshi178]

I started out as a baby, am I still a baby?

i'm assuming this is a rhetorical question. :3