Nintendo: "We Have to do Better When We Launch NX"

[Cold Shiny]

When Nintendo dies, gaming dies.

Yeah, gaming might live on in the indie scene, but with Microsoft and Sony running the show, its gonna be nothing but low content, massive amounts of DLC, micro-transactions, buggy games, and grey shooters.

Is Nintendo perfect? Of course not. They are still the only major gaming company whose games are playable when they are released. They are also the only ones who don't cut their games up into millions of little pieces to be sold individually.

When Nintendo dies, I'm going all PC, indies are the only people who can be trusted to make actual games anymore, instead of "platforms" to sell content.

Get used to what happened with Street Fighter 5, that's gonna be the norm.

 

[bluegate]

When Nintendo dies, gaming dies.

Looking at how many people actually care about Nintendo consoles compared to other consoles, I would say that you might be wrong.

Gaming seems to be doing just fine without Nintendo around.

 

[Yopaz]

It also looked like a purple lunchbox and the 2 biggest showpiece games for it were the Mario game were you clean shit and the cartoony Zelda. In 2001. Need I remind you what was the overwhelmingly popular aesthetic both in hardware and in software at the time? With the early '00s edginess, that was, quite possibly, the worst time in gaming history to release a console like that.

Most kids actually thought the the GC was weaker, because they didn't show it off with "realistic" games and focused mainly on Nintendo properties, that were all colourful and stylised.

Doesn't change facts though. Launched at a lower price point with more power than the PS2, still did terribly. Now you bring up games as important. Well DUH! Of course games are important. To summarize what you said here: Hardware isn't all that matters.

3DS sold like crap on launch. The gimmick itself didn't prove popular at all, unlike the Wii or DS. It wasn't until the first price drop it took off. And it still sold horribly compared to the DS, due in no small part to mobile gaming eating its lunch.

Oh and the more powerful PS Vita did much better, right? It now holds the majority of the handheld market? No?

And even when Nintendo tried to do comparable hardware, they still managed to fuck up in some way or another. The GC had miniDVD's, which meant the storage space was a 1/3 compared to PS2/Xbox. They did this literally right after the N64 had the same exact issue with it's pathetically small cartridges, making that an absolute pain to develop for, while the PS1 used CDs.

You'd have to go back to the SNES to find a comparatively strong Nintendo console that didn't handicap itself in a stupid manner.

The cartridges had one major disadvantage and that was production cost. CDs on the other hand was a terrible medium for something as heavy as games because of the loading times. The Chrono Trigger released on PS1 had longer loading times than the one released on SNES, a much weaker console. Mass production was easier, the games could be cheaper and that was the advantage. Saying that Nintendo crippled themselves when they did in fact have some advantages is an exaggeration at best. It's also cute that you think that the mobile market is overtaking the handheld gaming market. Did you get that one from Sony? Very few mobile games hold a cancle towards anything you find on the two dedicated handheld platforms and none of the phones offer a comfortable grip and controller scheme without getting extra equipment to drag around. Also if what you say is correct: gamers don't like gimmicks.

You also completely missed my point or you intentionally changed the subject in order to be right. Nintendo hasn't been successful with comparabable hardware since the SNES. They have had three successful gimmicks in a row with one flop. They had two consoles with compareable hardware in a row that flopped. I have not once claimed that hardware is irrelevant, I am claiming it takes more than just hardware. I mentioned an example of this, you strengthened my case by explaining why hardware isn't enough.
Edit: After I posted I realized you pointed out the sarcasm in my post, thanks for that. I might disagree with you on things, but at least you're someone I can respectfully disagree with.

I

They did that with the GameCube, it was more powerful than the PS2 and launched at a lower price if I remember correctly (I might not it's been a long while) and we all saw how that went. It was a major success and Nintendo was swimming in money from the massive sales.

They then launched the DS, the first console with a touch screen. Did poorly.
Then came the Wii and non-one bought it.
Then came the 3DS, the first console to feature 3D and without glasses. Also a major failure.
So it's clear that all attempts at innovation have failed, while launching comparable hardware has never failed.

Yeah, you do not remember that correctly, because as much successful the GameCube had it competed with the PS2, who crushed it and the Xbox like bugs leading Nintendo to see it as a failure, its games did get cult followings, but it was already too late for that.
Then the DS was a failure... WHAT?!
No one bought an Wii, this one I can kind of understand as there were supply shortages in America that were not resolved until 2009, but still, the DS and Wii sold like water.
And the 3DS did initally sell poorly (mainly because of the second analog stick), but the sales did eventually ramp up and crushed the Vita as IGN had brilliantly predicted it would not happen.

Sarcasm dude. I tried to make it obvious. The gameCube was a financial failure. The DS, 3DS and Wii were financial successes. Sarcasm is when you say one thing and mean something else. Do you feel smart for correcting me?

Snip

Congratulations on missing my point, join the proud group. I am saying that there is more to a console than its hardware. Nintendo has been successful when they do their own thing and unsuccessful in competing with the rest. You are of course correct that they need third party support. I didn't mention that because this was a discussion about how Nintendo lost because of bad hardware and a forced gimmick. That is the only point I am trying to make, don't bring up games, I would have too if this wasn't about hardware and gimmicks.

They then launched the DS, the first console with a touch screen. Did poorly.
Then came the Wii and non-one bought it.
Then came the 3DS, the first console to feature 3D and without glasses. Also a major failure.
So it's clear that all attempts at innovation have failed, while launching comparable hardware has never failed.

What kind of numbers did you read to come to this conclusion? XD Just give this link a look [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_game_consoles], the DS is the 2nd best selling gaming system in history at 154 million units. The 3DS didn't do as well as the other two, but the Wii and DS are in the top 5 best selling game systems world wide. That was a google search away. Just a tiiiiiiiiiiiny bit of research. We can try to bash Nintendo for being the company that nobody likes these days, but they sold an insane amount of systems and games with their ideas. There's a reason Microsoft and Sony tried to copy Nintendo with the Kinect and PS Move. It's cause Nintendo was fucking them in the ass in sales!

They do have their downs though. Virtual Boy, the first year of the 3DS sales, the Wii U... It happens. It most certainly happens.

Edit: If you mean at launch specifically, then I'd like to see some articles and/or numbers for that too. But the PS3 also had a hard time at launch too, if I recall correctly

You and Igor-Rowan should get together and form the "I don't understand sarcasm club". I am completely aware of that the GameCube with its relatively strong hardware was a disaster. The DS, 3DS and Wii were quite successful. You should take a look at this: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sarcasm I guess you also feel smart in correcting me?

 

[fix-the-spade]

Congratulations on missing my point, join the proud group.

Given that apparently nobody understood your 'point,' perhaps you should spend a little more time communicating and a little less time condescending.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

You and Igor-Rowan should get together and form the "I don't understand sarcasm club". I am completely aware of that the GameCube with its relatively strong hardware was a disaster. The DS, 3DS and Wii were quite successful. You should take a look at this: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sarcasm I guess you also feel smart in correcting me?

Hey smartass, let me tell you a little internet secret. Sarcasm is pretty hard to get across on the internet through text. And considering that people are stupid enough to say what you said with a perfectly straight face and believe it, I don't know why you're surprised. Of course, other people might notice it easier than some, me being one of them that didn't notice. Either that's a failing on my part, or as I said... Sarcasm is not super easy to convey. Probably a lot of the latter, considering you wanna act funny that several users didn't see it

He was being facetious, he was sarcastically pointing out how Nintendo at its most gimmicky was the most successful, ala Wii, DS, 3DS while the GameCube sold like crap.

How come this many people missed the sarcasm? It's not like it isn't blatant.

See the above!

 

[Elvis Starburst]

Given that apparently nobody understood your 'point,' perhaps you should spend a little more time communicating and a little less time condescending.

No kidding... People say these sorts of things with the firm belief they are correct. It's not hard to fall for such a stance if it's played as a joke

 

[omega 616]

snip

Not trying to invalidate anything. Just think you have rose tinted glasses from when Mario/nintendo was something to be excited about, instead of something that indie games can now beat.

I doubt anybody is more critical of Nintendo than me, I think they are living off nostalgia, haven't released a great game since I'd guess Mario 64, can't market to save their fucking lives ... if you can't get the message across that WiiU is a totally different console to Wii, you fucked up.

Firstly the name, Wii to WiiU? Who thought that was a good idea (to be honest, who thought Wii was good?)? Then you didn't push out the message it was a new console, people thinking it was an extension of the Wii. lastly, I saw adverts for xbox, PS4 and Wii but not a single one for WiiU. They can't market at all.

All I am giving is opinions, I am fairly into games and spend a lot of time on this site and youtube gaming channels (such as the know and gameranx) which do gaming news and stuff, so I get info about up coming games and nintendo hardly ever feature in any of them! So If I'm thinking "all nintendo are is the place to play Mario" then you need to work on marketing 'cos if somebody into gaming thinks that, then the very casual player is going to assume that, then think "I can play COD and all these other games on PS4 and Xbox, but all I can really play on Nintendo is mario .. fuck nintendo". That's an assumption but that's what I'd think.

Who are the smash bro's? 'cos I didn't think Kirby and Zelda have the same mother, if they are, I would hate to see their dads!

No, I assume the only games on Nintendo consoles are mario and zelda. I have said about 3 times, that I know there are other games but these two are the only ones Nintendo push. Why am I repeating this bit?

I am assuming that, of course if you're balls deep in Nintendo like you are, then you're going to know more but from somebody who is into gaming but not into Nintendo, they do NOTHING to sell themselves to me.

No, I am talking for me. I don't represent anybody. I am giving MY and only MY opinion of Nintendo.

Well yeah 'cos super Mario bro's was just Mario and Luigi ... are there any other bro's? Seriously asking.

It's not always about advertisements, they can market games at E3 or pump out more games, so that their consoles show up in more youtube videos. Such as gameranx putting WiiU next to PC, PS4 and Xbox in the list of places the game will be available on. More than one way to market.

My point is that's all they push but they have other games that aren't original IP and it's all Nintendo bank on. Producing things people know to milk it into oblivion (I even say it at the start of this post, look "I think they are living off nostalgia"). So they either make a straight game, like another Mario (same game for 30 years, move from the left to the right or in a 3D space doing the same shit) or they now smash two (or more) properties together to make a "new" game. Which is why it makes me laugh when people say COD gets milked.

It does support it but you just don't understand my point, top 10 and 4 feature the same fucker and my argument is Nintendo only ship Mario and Zelda (who features once in the top 10, so half the top 10 is made up of two characters) ... imagine if all 4 uncharted games came out on PS3 with very few other games. WiiU has 99 games in shops in USA, ps3 has 1024. So to scale it, ps3 had like 40 games with Nathan Drake in them, it's an absurd number.

Actually, I just picked top ten 'cos I wasn't going to go through all 99 games, it's just not worth it. I'm pretty sure top 10 by popularity is a good indicator of how popular something is ...

I visit the escapist and all my youtube subscriptions are gaming related, if I am not getting Nintendo news, that's Nintendo's fault 'cos like I've been saying over and over again, they can't market!

 

[omega 616]

Not trying to invalidate anything. Just think you have rose tinted glasses from when Mario/nintendo was something to be excited about, instead of something that indie games can now beat.

I doubt anybody is more critical of Nintendo than me, I think they are living off nostalgia, haven't released a great game since I'd guess Mario 64

Aside from the last paragraph, I stopped reading right about here. Just because, there are so many flaws and holes in your statements that you're doing so much damage to your argument. I'm not sure if it's a language barrier thing or what. But you're really coming across as if you think everyone shares your exact opinion.

First paragraph is INCREDIBLY presumptuous. Flat out. I don't need to say anything more.

Second paragraph is not only presumptuous, but it's also blatantly false. I actually showed you 9 critically acclaimed Wii U games. 6 of which are IPs new to 7th generation of consoles or higher. I'm sure you know how nostalgia works. It's pretty impossible to feel nostalgia for new products.

Besides, I know you don't own a Wii U. And it's a safe bet to say you've never looked at or played any of these games, considering your posts. You literally can't hold an opinion of these games, considering you've never even seen gameplay of them. You're just ASSUMING they're bad. Once again, congratulations on staying consistent.

I visit the escapist and all my youtube subscriptions are gaming related, if I am not getting Nintendo news, that's Nintendo's fault 'cos like I've been saying over and over again, they can't market!

You're currently making a post on a thread of a news article about Nintendo... Kind of hard to say "I'm not getting Nintendo news" here, isn't it?

Oh, and I just thought. If you watch anything to do with any kind of gaming convention (Pax, E3, Gamescom etc). But you're missing anything to do with Nintendo. Then it's because you're intentionally avoiding Nintendo related content.

Which brings me back to my original point!

You can't fault the company on your own personal ignorance!!

No, you're just not getting my point and I have said multiple times, it's my opinions and that I am not speaking for anybody else. Need to go and actually read what I said. Even in the first quote box "I think" it's not a statement of fact, it's an opinion.

Skipping the rest of it 'cos you obviously did, which is why you're missing my point.

You're currently making a post on a thread of a news article about Nintendo... Kind of hard to say "I'm not getting Nintendo news" here, isn't it?

Exactly, so I am reading and keeping up with Nintendo news and still think this. Stop being so in love with Nintendo that you can't see their obvious flaws.

Look, here is a guess ... 6 or so years after NX Nintendo will release a new console with an equally stupid name, they will announce it with at least Mario and maybe a Zelda. Mark my words, hope I am wrong but I doubt it.

 

[bluegate]

When Nintendo dies, gaming dies.

Looking at how many people actually care about Nintendo consoles compared to other consoles, I would say that you might be wrong.

Gaming seems to be doing just fine without Nintendo around.

Erm... You realize that the 3DS is THE most popular console of this generation, right? And that the Wii U is still outselling the Xbox One (granted, it has a time advantage)

You can't make the statement that "Gaming is fine without Nintendo around", when they're currently around.

The world sure is doing great now that the USA's no longer a country!

Sorry, when I say console I mean home console, I don't mean home consoles & handhelds, because then we might as well count all iOs and Android devices, because there seems to be a lot of gaming going on there.

Last I checked, the WiiU sits at around 13 million units sold and the Xbox One sits at around 20 million units sold, so even though the WiiU outsells the Xbox One in some monthly charts, it is only playing catch up to the Xbox One's total number, so yeah there's that.

Having stated this, I feel pretty confident that I can make a statement that gaming is doing just fine without Nintendo around, mind you, I am talking about the non-portable gaming industry here.

And as for why I say that they aren't around, this is because they aren't very impactful within the industry lately.

Sony, Microsoft, Ubisoft, EA, Bethesda, Bioware, Square Enix, Capcom and all sorts of developers and publishers that I can't be bothered to name seem to be doing just fine for themselves and the industry.

The statement that gaming were to die if Nintendo dies is more ludicrous than what I said.

 

[omega 616]

snip

ps4/xbox was released 3 years ago, so the scorpio and neo aren't brand spanking new consoles, just polished versions (that I don't give a fuck about).

I said I hope I am wrong, not "why would anyone want you to be wrong?" seriously, you need English comprehension. Not an insult but you keep getting the wrong end of the stick. Another example, I don't hate Mario or Link ... I just think Nintendo need to diversify their games.

I never said they do need to cancel it, I just think there is a thing as over saturating the market with the same game. People enjoy Mario and Cod and whatever else but people wont forget these franchises if they skip one release.

Again, to carry on from what I have just been saying. if out of 10 games 5 are Zelda or Mario, you need to diversify, it's like at the moment they think "we need an RPG!" and a lead designer says "So another zelda then?" or "we need another side scroller" and the same guy says "so another Mario then?" or "we need a kart game" same guy says "so stick Mario in it?" or "we need a sports game" ... "Mario?".

How about making a TPS with, I dunno ... squid people? And 'cos bullets and guns are scary, they use paint 'cos paint balls exist!

So "we at Nintendo are lazy as fuck! So we will just use the same assets again, just retexture to keep up with hardware". Which is what it is, indie studio's can knock out games at the same quality as Mario games these days.... look at "inside" game is fucking gorgeous ... looks better than Mario 'cos of all the lighting and particle effects, Mario is just stylised bright colours. There is something to be said for nice, simple, bright bold colours but in terms of being impressive other games (that aren't even AAA) leave Mario games wanting.

So why even have other characters? They put Mario in just about everything, so save even more time and just get rid of Zelda and Ash/Red and who needs Samus? Focus on gameplay? How hard is it to add a new suits and powers?

I honestly don't hate Nintendo, I just think they could be doing so much better.

 

[omega 616]

snip

You've shown me no examples of diversity, of any kind.

I think they are over saturating both, just how many mario karts, smash and 2D side scrollers does one company need?

It's called Bro's and unless you can tel me another pair of bro's, it's a Mario and luigi game.

Except every other dev house on the planet does these things you list, so yes, it is lazy of Nintendo.

In terms of everything they need to tell people, EXACTLY what they are selling. I've done marketing and courses on how to run a business, they need to do one as well ... you need to tell people what you're selling, why they need it, what benefits it provides etc they don't do any of these.

I don't really care why each one was created, you missed my point again. If reusing assets to save time and focus on more important things, why not just put Mario, with his art style in every game ... saved even more time.

I am bothered by the amount of games these two fuck knuckles are in, this is the point you consistently miss and I am not sure how you keep missing it. I am not bothered by Mario and zelda games coming out, I just want them to do what assassins creed did ... take a year off, develop another franchise or IP! I am not bothered how many COD games come out either, at least 3 different stuios work on them.

But they aren't new consoles, they are 0.5's ... NX is the NEXT Nintendo 'cos WiiU is a bigger flop than a breaching whale!

Do you want to keep talking about the word advertisement? You've brought it up like 4 times now and I've addressed it every time ...

I have said "I think" seriously, press CTRL + F then copy and paste "No, you're just not getting my point and I have said multiple times, it's my opinions and that I am not speaking for anybody else. Need to go and actually read what I said. Even in the first quote box "I think" it's not a statement of fact, it's an opinion." ... so I said that shit before your post and no, I haven't edited. You even have a post where you quote me saying "I think", I can't edit your posts, soooo....

 

[Yopaz]

You and Igor-Rowan should get together and form the "I don't understand sarcasm club". I am completely aware of that the GameCube with its relatively strong hardware was a disaster. The DS, 3DS and Wii were quite successful. You should take a look at this: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sarcasm I guess you also feel smart in correcting me?

Hey smartass, let me tell you a little internet secret. Sarcasm is pretty hard to get across on the internet through text. And considering that people are stupid enough to say what you said with a perfectly straight face and believe it, I don't know why you're surprised. Of course, other people might notice it easier than some, me being one of them that didn't notice. Either that's a failing on my part, or as I said... Sarcasm is not super easy to convey. Probably a lot of the latter, considering you wanna act funny that several users didn't see it

He was being facetious, he was sarcastically pointing out how Nintendo at its most gimmicky was the most successful, ala Wii, DS, 3DS while the GameCube sold like crap.

How come this many people missed the sarcasm? It's not like it isn't blatant.

See the above!

You're right, it is harder in written form which is why I made it painstakingly blatant. Also read the context, it might help you. The fact that you didn't get it doesn't mean it's impossible to understand, when a guy I do in fact disagree with and quite honestly I have been overly rude to agrees with me that this is blatant sarcasm then that might be an indication that you might have missed something obvious.

Congratulations on missing my point, join the proud group.

Given that apparently nobody understood your 'point,' perhaps you should spend a little more time communicating and a little less time condescending.

You do realize that you've grouped yourself with 2 guys who didn't understand blatant sarcasm, right? I called three fairly successful consoles failures and one unsuccessful one a massive success and they jumped in to "correct me". These are the guys you proudly make yourself a part of when you say "no-one understood my point". Also if you look back at the discussion you were butting into, do you see the guy I was discussing with mentioning games? Do you see me mentioning games? If I remember correctly we were discussing hardware, him saying it was important that they focused on hardware rather than gimmicks, me saying gimmicks had proven to be successful. That said, you are of course right that games are always the important selling point of any console. I would have moved on to that eventually, but I was trying to make my point that Nintendo's focus on strong hardware hasn't really given good results. The reason why I didn't go into this in that post is because you should always try to remain on the topic the person you're discussing with is talking about. Going off topic indicates that you have no suited counter arguments.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

How about you start by telling/showing people what it is? That's your first step to get people interested, find out too late and people may not have saved the money for it or whatever.

 

[Strazdas]

Large publishers have already been expressing much interest in the NX such as ubisoft, Rockstar(Take two?) and others. One would have to assume they already have access to development kits as is the course for new consoles. There must be something going for it.

Ubisoft and Rockstar was always interested in Nintendo console distribution. these two seem to want to be released EVERYWHERE (rockstar even re-releasing its old games on mobile phones now that they are powerful enough to run them). The thing is we see this every nintendo console launch, and they port a few titles to Wii/WiiU, they get shafted by Nintendo and then just give up. Hopefully thats not whats going to happen now, but i fear it seems to be the usual way things go.

Comparably, Nintendo as a company is doing well. The highest selling game on any onsole has been Nintendo 1P. And not merely by a small margin but a fuck-you sized margin. Which suggests that Nintendo hasn't lost the 'core gamer' nearly as much as people pretend it has. While you can criticise the lack of Nintendo IP ... its utter dominance in terms of handhelds is still going strong, regardless of mobile gaming. Even as there is a saturation in the latter.

Nintendo should totally still try to provide adaptive, innovative means to interact with the player. People can scream 'gimick' if they want, but it's far better than trying to merely copy what the competition has already. If you can improve development kits projects to new developers, they will at least view it as a new way to isolate and make their gamestand out in what is increasingly becoming a saturated marketplace.

Make it affordable, and future proof the NX so that it can make itself cheaper as new trends in hardware availability can be seen as to be on the horizon so that you can maintain price efficiency ... and you can compete on the ideal that you're providing an experience that won't simply be as if a cross-platform release and little else.

Wii Sports were in 2006 and i hardly see it being repeated again. Also if we consider cumulative sales for game, Nintendo is only 3rd place with that, After Tetris and Minecraft. If you want something made this decade however you need to look at 4th place - GTA 5 - a game thats not released on nintendo consoles at all.

Though i suppose the Wii Sports didnt even deserve that, as it only got so many copies "sold" because it was bundled with the console for ages.

The reason they dominate handheld is because they have a monopoly. Vita is absolutely unsupported and Sony seems to have given up on it completely. However if we look at actual handheld competition - mobile games - nintendo is being crushed.

The thing about innovative means to interact is that if you want to do them do something people actually like. Motion controls and Kinect failed not becuase they were called gimmicks, they failed because people didnt want to use them. On the other hand i see VR succeeding despite being equally gimmicky. Innovation for innovations sale is useless. It should be useful to your consumer.

The new hardware trends already hit the deck though. We got a 14/16nm GPU/APU technology and 12nm CPU technology is to become released this year. This is a huge leak from the old 22/20nm tech and i dont see another such leap in at least, say, 3 years. Given that both Sony and MS were forced to make use of this technology leap, theres not much nintendo could even do in terms of futureproofing above their competition. One things certain though, if they are going to use the old 22/20nm tech they are going to bleed money. MS and Sony didnt change to new tech out of goodness of thier hearts. they did because manufacturing lines are being regeared to new tech and producing old tech becomes exorbitantly expensive.

When Nintendo dies, gaming dies.

When Nintendo dies, I'm going all PC, indies are the only people who can be trusted to make actual games anymore, instead of "platforms" to sell content.

Nah, nintendo has became irrelevant to gaming long time ago. They are a niche market now.

And welcome to the PC, where actual gaming were going strong since 1985, independent of mercy of big publishers.

 

[Saulkar]

I am sad that I just cannot give a damn. No console appeals to me this generation and that is something I find genuinely disheartening. This has to be a real return to form for me to feel the slightest spark of interest but until then it will not be on my mind.

 

[McMarbles]

I mean, well... duh? This isn't a great insight here.

 

[RanceJustice]

I know this will meet with some opposition, but I think Nintendo needs a completely new trajectory. Claiming that they need to "explain the console better" seems to portend that it will be something "hard to understand" again which makes me think its going to focus on some sort of gimmick. At the moment, rumors suggest it will be a portable console with the ability to connect to a home entertainment center and/or comes with detachable controllers. The thing is... this isn't just that innovative (Everyone with an Android phone or any other devices can use wireless display technology), and so we come to the current conceit of my suggestion - its time to stop focusing on consoles entirely!

I personally feel that the idea of the gaming console - as a proprietary platform - has outlived its usefulness and does more to hurt the player base and industry as a whole than help. Decades ago, when general purpose computers cost thousands of dollars and had limited processing power consoles, though expensive for the time, provided a rather affordable way to get into gaming and required purpose built hardware to do so. Today, most modern consoles (ie PS4 / XBOne ) are simply locked down PCs and other devices, using very similar hardware to that provided off the shelf. Focusing more on Nintendo, they have been falling behind for several generations for a number of reasons, but ultimately it comes down to their focus on gimmicks that aren't that innovative or exciting. For instance, the single-touch resistive touch screen WiiU controller pad falls short in an era when multi-touch capacitive smartphones and tablets are widely available. For many gamers, there just isn't much compelling about Nintendo's hardware or ecosystem; the only thing they have is a handful of first party games. I didn't buy a WiiU or a New 3DS, even though I'd love to play Smash Bros, Zelda, Metroid, Fire Emblem, Bayonetta, Xenosaga, and other titles that are on the platform. However, I don't see them as justification to purchase a couple of $200-300+ consoles when I have a PC and mobile - platforms with many advantages! I'd buy all the titles listed above if they were available on PC and/or Android, assuming they were quality ports for reasonable prices, for instance.

Nintendo has fallen behind even the other console manufacturers for a number of reasons too long to assess in an already verbose post. If they have the fortitude to break with the traditional need for control and ownership of an entire platform, I believe they could profit by leveraging their strengths: their games and peripherals. Giving up the costs of running a console platform, mobile or otherwise, will save a considerable amount of money. They could invest it into developing/publishing for the PC and mobile.

It would be easier and cheaper to develop/publish on PCs and the market is growing considerably. Imagine being able to buy the latest Smash Bros on Steam (or Humble etc) and play it against all of your Steam friends remotely, or with others on the same PC. Likewise, sales via Android would be alluring as an alternative to all of the "mobile monetization garbage" out there by charging "3DS style" where a game is $10-40 or so and includes the complete game content (though post-launch development can of course result in expansion style DLC). I'd love to play Fire Emblem Awakening and Fire Emblem Fates on PC and/or my Android phone. Pokemon GO already shows the desire for a Pokemon game on Android (and iOS), with the main criticism against GO being that it isn't enough like a "real" Pokemon game, having an attenuated feature set and mobile monetization style. If they launched the next generation of Pokemon on Android/iOS, I can only see it as a huge success.

Complementing releasing their games on PC and mobile, Nintendo could also develop peripherals for these platforms. Their affection for so-called innovative controllers and other "gimmicks" could be explored as they could create the well-respected peripherals for which they've been known for decades. Furthermore, by developing these peripherals for PC/mobile use and focusing on open driver packages and standards like Bluetooth, they could faciliate offering peripheral / gimmick driven games for those interested as well as provide another entry to the PC controller marketplace with a solid history. This could also provide additional control schemes for gaming especially on mobile, such as a quality bluetooth "dock/controller" that would give gamepad style controls for gaming on mobile devices. Thus, the criticism that 3DS and NX style games would not play well on touchscreen only mobile devices could be mitigated, by offering another control option.

As much as I love many of Nintendo's properties, I can't see myself purchasing any more consoles - not from them, or anyone. I'm tired of platform exclusives, lockdown, and the inability to utilize existing hardware and focus on openness an player experience. If Nintendo can get past their intransigence and move beyond the console paradigm, they could bring their greatest strengths of games and peripherals to targeting the PC, I think they have the potential to break free of their lagging status and change the game entirely, profiting greatly by giving people a better choice.

 

[go-10]

"we have to do better when we launch NX"
...
...
you don't say? and here I thought you wanted to do worse. Well color me impressed this statement changes EVERYTHING!

 

[Vigormortis]

I doubt anybody is more critical of Nintendo than me, I think they are living off nostalgia, haven't released a great game since I'd guess Mario 64

Hey now! Metroid Prime was pretty great.

Granted, it was developed by Retro Studios, not Nintendo, but still. It kinda counts, I guess?

Mostly agree on your other points, though.

 

[WeepingAngels]

No, we know it's going to REVOLUTIONARY and INNOVATIVE and AMAZING and some other buzzwords, isn't that enough for you? I am annoyed that they haven't given us anything concrete to be honest, but I think I know why. If this console is a successor to the Wii U it will hurt Wii U sales from now and until the launch of NX (which might not be a solid launch considering fans feel betrayed by the quick transition to a new console). By giving us vague information they avoid that and still get us throwing money at the Wii U. What they should have learned form the Wii U is that giving vague information doesn't help them one bit.

Then they shouldn't have mentioned the NX at all.

No, the existance of the NX has been no secret. Nintendo is just guarding the details for whatever reason, maybe it's because the hardware is underwhelming.