Nintendo Will "Never" Develop For Other Platforms, Says Iwata

[Adon Cabre]

Where did this nonsense start? Why do people expect Nintendo to make games for competing consoles? Is anyone suggesting that Microsoft put Halo on the PS3/4 or the Wii U?

Because Nintendo's 2 major exclusive franchises, and which come every few years, are the only ones that sell into the 10's of millions -- it's not enough, and its why they jumped ship with the Wii.

Microsoft and SONY have Third Party Support. Nintendo Wii U does not, at all. Just look at their sales figures for Assassin's Creed III and Call of Duty, which were marketed for the Wii U -- abysmal numbers. How they conceived a Wii U launch without a franchise title attached is beyond my understanding.

New Super Mario Bros U. I know it's smaller than say the big 3D Zelda or Mario but it is as Mario as Mario gets.

Also Nintendo really hits it home with Second Party titles rather that the untamable beast the is the Third Party. Rare (once upon a time), Retro, Gamefreak. those guys. And for some current events, Possible Atlus.

Link: http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/07/rumour_nintendo_is_shaping_up_to_acquire_troubled_atlus

I want them to make it; Nintendo so contrasts that hyper-realism saturated into today's markets; but their own hardware, like the Playstation 3, seems to be the problem.

Unfortunately, this 2013.

 

[Danceofmasks]

Dear Nintendo,

Just release more games already. The 3DS is finally coming good, with a bunch of great games to play, but the WiiU still sucks donkey penis.
'cos it has nothing worth playing.

With how slow you guys are at making games, it's a good thing you're not making games for other platforms ... 'cos then we'd never get to play anything at all.

 

[Mobax]

Where did this nonsense start? Why do people expect Nintendo to make games for competing consoles? Is anyone suggesting that Microsoft put Halo on the PS3/4 or the Wii U?

Exactly, Nintendo's ip IS their brand. What Master Chief is to xbox, Mario is to Nintendo 10 fold. Nintendo knows they need to remain exclusive on their ip as a way to encourage sales of their consoles. If the Wii U sank with mario and co. why would it sell better if you could play those games on PC, PS or xbox? You don't see Disney selling Mickey Mouse to Warner Brothers and you don't see Warner Brothers selling Bugs Bunny, partly for tradition, mostly for dollars and cents.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

At least why they fail to me, personally.

They know that everyone would love for their Mario, Zelda, Metroid(would be so awesome on PC(the 3D FPS ones)) etc. to end up on other platforms.

But given the WiiU's current position, it's understandable that Iwata would say this.

 

[Doom972]

It seems like the opposite to me. In the short term, they would lose money because they would have to sell their console based on its own merits, which means a failure for the WiiU. In the long run, they would make much greater profit from the copies sold on other platforms.

 

[Winnosh]

One word for you 'POKEMON'

Nintendo owns Pokemon They don't need to even think about doing anything else even. Hell If they make a Pokemon MMO on the Wii U then consider the console war over.

 

[WeepingAngels]

So where are all the people calling for Uncharted 3D (LOL, the 3DS would choke) since the Vita is doing poorly too?

...... The vita has games?

Yes, it does. Update your argument.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_Vita_games

 

[Winnosh]

So where are all the people calling for Uncharted 3D (LOL, the 3DS would choke) since the Vita is doing poorly too?

...... The vita has games?

Yes, it does. Update your argument.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_Vita_games

Its a handheld game that's been out for three years with less than a hundred games in the US. For a Handheld that is very few.

Especially when many of them are only digital releases.

 

[WeepingAngels]

So where are all the people calling for Uncharted 3D (LOL, the 3DS would choke) since the Vita is doing poorly too?

...... The vita has games?

Yes, it does. Update your argument.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_Vita_games

Its a handheld game that's been out for three years with less than a hundred games in the US. For a Handheld that is very few.

Especially when many of them are only digital releases.

Vita has only been out in the US for a year and a half (Feb 2012). Digital games are still games.

 

[Winnosh]

So where are all the people calling for Uncharted 3D (LOL, the 3DS would choke) since the Vita is doing poorly too?

...... The vita has games?

Yes, it does. Update your argument.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_Vita_games

Its a handheld game that's been out for three years with less than a hundred games in the US. For a Handheld that is very few.

Especially when many of them are only digital releases.

Vita has only been out in the US for a year and a half (Feb 2012). Digital games are still games.

It would have a lot more if it would just frikkin localize what's available in japan

 

[WeepingAngels]

So where are all the people calling for Uncharted 3D (LOL, the 3DS would choke) since the Vita is doing poorly too?

...... The vita has games?

Yes, it does. Update your argument.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_Vita_games

Its a handheld game that's been out for three years with less than a hundred games in the US. For a Handheld that is very few.

Especially when many of them are only digital releases.

Vita has only been out in the US for a year and a half (Feb 2012). Digital games are still games.

It would have a lot more if it would just frikkin localize what's available in japan

That's true. It apparently sells better in Japan than here in the US.

 

[Winnosh]

So where are all the people calling for Uncharted 3D (LOL, the 3DS would choke) since the Vita is doing poorly too?

...... The vita has games?

Yes, it does. Update your argument.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_Vita_games

Its a handheld game that's been out for three years with less than a hundred games in the US. For a Handheld that is very few.

Especially when many of them are only digital releases.

Vita has only been out in the US for a year and a half (Feb 2012). Digital games are still games.

It would have a lot more if it would just frikkin localize what's available in japan

That's true. It apparently sells better in Japan than here in the US.

That could be the fact that most of the games I want for it are only available in japan

But yeah Nintendo doesn't NEED to become a 3rd party developer they are far too sucessful as a console manufacturer to even consider it.

 

[Winnosh]

Sega needed to go third party because they were in financial trouble. Nintendo is a juggernaut in terms of wealth and power.

 

[Ace Morologist]

Is this a thing? Are people asking for, say, a Metroid game on the Xbox? A Kid Icarus on the Playstation?

I don't pay much attention to what's available on the WiiU since I don't have one, but I would have thought people would be clamoring more for more games on the Nintendo console that aren't tried-and-true Nintendo exclusives. Maybe some games that don't seem like they're designed for kids. Cartoony ones, sure, but on the border of mature. Brothers and From Dust would have been cool Nintendo games. I've always thought Fable would've been a great Nintendo series. Limbo. Portal. Stuff like that, you know?

If Nintendo's games (and gimmicks) didn't make me feel like I'd outgrown them back in the '90s, I'd still be buying Nintendo consoles. Maybe that's the real problem. I loved my Gamecube because in addition to Super Mario Sunshine, Mario Kart Double Dash, Wind Waker and Twilight Princes -- all of which I loved -- I could also play games like Time Splitters 2, Resident Evil 4, Beyond Good & Evil and Eternal Darkness. (And I didn't have to slash, waggle and flail my arms to do so.)

--Morology!

 

[Psychobabble]

.

 

[PrimePowerOn]

Having not had the time nor the constitution to slog through 40 or so more comments on this issue, I'll just say this and hope no one has mentioned it:

For anyone who has researched Japanese management philosophy, this decision is extremely unsurprising. (My background in this is a few graduate courses on Lean Manufacturing and the Toyota management system, which included case studies of many other Japanese and American companies following Toyota's lead. I'm by no means an expert.)

Japanese culture, and management by extension, is extremely different in focus from that of America. All too often in America (my country), major layoffs are seen as a way to bolster short term stock growth, because of the increase in cash flow it provides. (You're not paying people anymore, but your products are still being sold.) Where this strategy falls down is long term development. You just lost a percentage of your workers, so new products and new sales stagnate. Japanese management recognizes this, and has an increase focus on both the companies value to society (both to it's worker base and society at large.) So, they generally eschew short term "quick-fixes" to their financials in order to work through their issues and set things up for the future.

At present the 3DS business is very successful. That can float the company for some time, as it has been doing. Even though Nintendo has sold a very small number of Wii Us up to this point, that's going to change. The Wii Us that have already been sold don't disappear because sales numbers are slow, so you'll see a steady rise of the number of Wii Us in the wild as more and more Nintendo quaility software comes out. They've already mentioned that Pikmin 3 moved consoles, though not as many as they would have liked. As more and more of these quality exclusives come out, more and more people will see their desires for a Wii U rise. I myself have been moved from complete indifference to being on the fence about it by Pikmin 3. Another quality game and I'll see myself dropping $400 on the console and a couple of games easily.

In contrast, letting these first party games out to other consoles would be the death-knell for the Wii U. Who, of ANYONE, would buy one if you could get Pikmin or Mario or Zelda or Metroid for another console? The second screen confers nice advantages, but with Microsoft and Sony planning to extend their consoles onto smartphones and other devices, that advantage will be a thing of the past. The XBone and Ps4 are coming out _this year_ after all. That would leave Nintendo in a place where no one would have their console, still, and would therefore have no market for any exclusive software they would want to develop. Wii U sales might be moving slowly, but I'm willing to bet on the tortoise in this race.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

Oh please, come on.

If a company making their games for only the console that their company made is anti-consumer, then we are venturing in really bizarre and just plain untrue territory.

This is going into territory that would make ignorant people start saying that companies wanting money for the things they produce is anti-consumer.

Really, has the world really come to the point where people think that they shouldn't have to pay for anything, that they shouldn't have to work for anything, and they should be given anything they want, when they want it.

Businesses are about making profit. There is nothing wrong with that. You don't get something for nothing. That is not how the world works.

If I take my time to make something to and someone wants it, I should be compensated for the work that I did.

Microsoft and Sony are Nintendo's competition. Microsoft and Sony would never release their game on a competitor's platform. Nintendo doing so would be financial suicide. They might gain a bit of brief extra income, but then that wouldn't matter. Why would people buy Nintendo's console if they could get Nintendo's games on the console the already own.

And besides, as it has been said, Nintendo isn't failing. They are still making money and are in the black. Yeah, they are selling fewer Wii Us than they intended, and they are now having to sell them at a loss, but with the profits from their other property sectors, they are easily taking that lose and still making profit.

Thank you, its annoying when people complain about exclusives especially when its pc gamers acting like pc doesn't have any exclusives. Last time I checked, Planescape Torment never got ported to xbox, playstation, or nintendo. I'd like to play a few Nintendo games too, but I don't care enough to buy a Wii U for it and I won't blame Nintendo for not handing out good games to their competitors like candy. Games aren't being "held hostage" from anyone, I'm perfectly capable of buying a Wii U but I choose not to. It doesn't even matter cause every console ends up getting a pc emulator anyway

On topic, as its been said, Nintendo isn't doing that bad unlike Sega and even if the Wii U turns out to be a bust Nintendo will probably just keep making portable consoles for their games which I'd be more than ok with. They don't need to go third party

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Having not had the time nor the constitution to slog through 40 or so more comments on this issue, I'll just say this and hope no one has mentioned it:

For anyone who has researched Japanese management philosophy, this decision is extremely unsurprising. (My background in this is a few graduate courses on Lean Manufacturing and the Toyota management system, which included case studies of many other Japanese and American companies following Toyota's lead. I'm by no means an expert.)

Japanese culture, and management by extension, is extremely different in focus from that of America. All too often in America (my country), major layoffs are seen as a way to bolster short term stock growth, because of the increase in cash flow it provides. (You're not paying people anymore, but your products are still being sold.) Where this strategy falls down is long term development. You just lost a percentage of your workers, so new products and new sales stagnate. Japanese management recognizes this, and has an increase focus on both the companies value to society (both to it's worker base and society at large.) So, they generally eschew short term "quick-fixes" to their financials in order to work through their issues and set things up for the future.

At present the 3DS business is very successful. That can float the company for some time, as it has been doing. Even though Nintendo has sold a very small number of Wii Us up to this point, that's going to change. The Wii Us that have already been sold don't disappear because sales numbers are slow, so you'll see a steady rise of the number of Wii Us in the wild as more and more Nintendo quaility software comes out. They've already mentioned that Pikmin 3 moved consoles, though not as many as they would have liked. As more and more of these quality exclusives come out, more and more people will see their desires for a Wii U rise. I myself have been moved from complete indifference to being on the fence about it by Pikmin 3. Another quality game and I'll see myself dropping $400 on the console and a couple of games easily.

In contrast, letting these first party games out to other consoles would be the death-knell for the Wii U. Who, of ANYONE, would buy one if you could get Pikmin or Mario or Zelda or Metroid for another console? The second screen confers nice advantages, but with Microsoft and Sony planning to extend their consoles onto smartphones and other devices, that advantage will be a thing of the past. The XBone and Ps4 are coming out _this year_ after all. That would leave Nintendo in a place where no one would have their console, still, and would therefore have no market for any exclusive software they would want to develop. Wii U sales might be moving slowly, but I'm willing to bet on the tortoise in this race.

This is why I always roll my eyes when you have Western analysts, journalists, or even developers trying to figure out Nintendo. They're utterly baffled because they just don't get how Japanese companies do business. It's like watching aa tourist in a foreign country get freaked out by local customs. Nintendo has ALWAYS thought in the long term, while most Western devs and pubs can't seem to think more than a year ahead. It's why Nintendo has never had to lay people off or suffer extreme losses while companies like EA, Ubisoft, Activision, etc have layoffs CONSTANTLY and have had to resort to really questionable decision in order to bolster profits. Nintendo will be fine, especially since recent history as of late has shown them to completely humiliate their critics (DS, Wii, and 3DS)

 

[Lightknight]

Fine, they'll continue to peddle their software to less than 4 million WiiU console owners and pass on selling to what could quickly become triple that number within a year or even more.

However, if they're planning to release a stronger console in a couple years then this would be a bad idea in the interim.

 

[J Tyran]

I mean, it's never a good sign when you're forced to sell your next-gen console at a loss in order to help make it appealing.

That's the standard procedure for most consoles though, sell them at a loss and make the money back on games and licencing fees to third parties. It is a bit unusual for Nintendo though.