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1/21/2014 1:28:00 AM
14
Nintendo: no games for smartphones
I think we're all aware of some of the issues Nintendo has been having recently. Nintendo president Saturo Iwata said that, as part of a rethinking of business structure, the company would be looking at ways to use smart devices to grow the gaming business. [url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/01/20/nintendo-has-no-plans-for-mario-on-smartphones]On Friday, he clarified that this incorporation of smart devices would not mean releasing games for them.[/url]
Nintendo's hardware has generally been profitable, but the Wii U has been struggling lately. Sales are weak and Nintendo is already taking a loss on the console. The 3DS, on the other hand, is projected to sell 13 million units. Some have called for Nintendo to abandon hardware altogether and focus on developing its IP's for other consoles and platforms. It seems like the company will not be making that move anytime soon.
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2 RepliesWiiU2.0 same software, just stronger hardware that will catch up to Sony and Microsoft. Honestly it's the lack of 3rd party support. If they would have been actively attracting developers like bungie, I would have gone to Nintendo for the new system. The problem is really in that right there. All their first party titles are way too childish to get anyone but parents with young kids to buy the console. Nintendo has really just screwed itself in the long run with its isolationism in development. The 3DS is only successful because of pokemon and animal crossing, and that's just about it. I doubt the 3DS would've survived long without those two.
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Edited by tntbabin: 1/21/2014 11:35:33 PMI think that they need to attempt to revive the Wii-U fast. Get a good online multiplayer network up and running for future multiplayer games *cough*Smash Bros. *cough*, step up their virtually non-existent advertisement campaign, learn to create HD games in a more timely manner, and become MUCH more friendly with 3rd party devs by actively trying to get 3rd party titles on their console(including games designed specifically for the Wii-U's gamepad) and actually keeping in very close and constant contact with 3rd party devs. Also, the Ninten-phone mentioned by SLAMt4stic, may not be a bad idea...
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3 RepliesIncoming: Ninten-phone I'm calling it now. They refuse to give up control of the hardware and everyone is saying they should start releasing games on smart devices. (Image is from a quick google search, not my concept.)
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They need to change up their marketing strategy. The Wii U is on life support but its by no means dead. If they can get customers interested in the console and sell enough of them they can bring 3rd parties back. Its going to be a challenge no doubt, but its not impossible. There best chance would be to heavily advertise a game like X, showing that the Wii U isn't all just children games. It wouldn't fix the problems the console faces on its own, but it would be a good start.
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Edited by CND AAA Beef: 1/21/2014 10:11:00 PMWhen big name multiplatform developers like Bethesda and EA publicly abandon your console, it's pretty obvious that you need to rethink your strategy. I respect Nintendo for doing their own thing, but they were two generations late on the three biggest gaming trends of the decade: online gaming, high definition, and the shift to PC architectures. Microsoft jumped in the boat first with these three, and it let them carve out a piece of the market with the Xbox Original, which they grew with the Xbox 360. Sony followed within the next generation and caught up very quickly. The X1 and PS4 are both 4K ready and have very mature and very highly monetized online services. But the Wii U just finally supports HD in a world where everyone's waiting for 4K. Their online service is pretty much where Live and PSN were at the start of the last generation. The shift to PC architectures is the biggest reason why multiplatform developers have abandoned the console, more so even then the power gap. Right now, multiplat studios can build games for the PC, X1, and PS4 all at the same time. It doesn't even count as "porting" anymore since the hardware is so similar, the only real hurdle is optimization. The Wii U is still behind the curve on this, and so it costs much more time and money to bring a game over to it. And with such a small user base, publishers are saying "why bother?".
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3 RepliesThis was a sad decision. Nintendo has a HUGE catalogue of high-quality games, but by limiting them to only a few platforms (some of them very old platforms) you unnecessarily restrict the consumer. I've been playing Super Metroid lately. I got it for free online using a ROM emulator or something... it's weird, and probably a little illegal, but the full game works just fine. So there I am, sitting in front of my iMac, using an Xbox 360 controller with customized controls to play a 20-year-old Nintendo game. It sounds odd, but can you blame me? My alternative is to hunt down a working Super Nintendo and a functioning copy of Super Metroid... WAY too much hassle. I would much rather pay $5-10 for this game if I could have it on my computer or a mobile device legitimately.
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If nintendo is having issues, I'd hate to hear the news on Sony and Microsoft.
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They need to stop making gimmicky consoles and incredibly easy games that don't offer anything special/new. I owned a wii some time ago. I got tired of it after the initial "WHOA MOTION CONTROLS" wore off and I hadn't gotten any games that stood out to me so I sold it and forgot about the thing pretty quickly. I recently bought another one specifically to play Project M (a [i]mod[/i] of a Brawl) which makes almost no use of the motion controls so it could be on any console. I don't see how they thought they could ride the motion gaming thing for as long as they've tried.
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They're dead on with the 3DS, and I definitely think that Nintendo will recover in the future from the marketing misstep that is the Wii U.
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Nintendo might be failing but we have a lot to thank them for. They started the handheld market which in turn have us the psp. And most importantly they did the whole motion sensor gaming. Which led to the ps move, ps eye, and kinect
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Nintendo needs to compete directly with Microsoft and Sony. They have almost no excuse not to. It's almost cringe-worthy to view their incompetence in today's video game market. They could make a killing with an actual, modern console, and not that joke, child's toy I like to call the Pii U.
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They need to attract more development to their platform. As their first-party titles have proven, it comes down to the games. If they get more exclusive deals on top of their own portfolio they will attract more people. It doesn't help that the Wii U seems more like an expansion of the Wii than an evolution and while the Wii U gamepad is interesting in concept, it seems poor in execution.
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2 RepliesDidn't they just release a phone version of Contra though? Anyway, maybe instead of trying more gimmicks to make the Wii U sell they could actually look at ways of improving its public image and awareness.
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4 RepliesEdited by nao: 1/21/2014 2:29:35 AMMeh. Selling their IP on other platforms would be pretty foolish imo. Stay the course. Ride out the Wii U till about 2016 then release a new console that has more power and is third party friendly. Keep it cheap too. A $400-$500 Nintendo console wouldn't perform well. Their main problem is that they need some new IPs that appeal to older gamers (too many cutesy platformers), and they need to solve whatever issues they're having with HD development. Other than that I actually like my Wii U and really like my 3DS XL. They'll figure it out. I don't see them pulling a Sega anytime soon.
