And which investors would these be? The institutions? controlled persons? I hear a lot about "this won't work with investors!" "the investors won't be happy!" Which investors? The company is mainly held by institutions and controlled persons. Small investors don't hold enough to do anything and institutions tend not to be activists. I just want to know what investors aren't going to be happy.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Nikkei says Nintendo about to unveil its approach to mobile development [Update]
- Thread starter Poetic.Injustice
- Start date
And which investors would these be? The institutions? controlled persons? I hear a lot about "this won't work with investors!" "the investors won't be happy!" Which investors? The company is mainly held by institutions and controlled persons. Small investors don't hold enough to do anything and institutions tend not to be activists. I just want to know what investors aren't going to be happy.
TreasureHunterG
Banned
This is worrying me, really. Nintendo already left the core market as their primary audience since the GCN days and the possibility they might left traditional gaming behind for profit purposes only with mobile direction is possible given how profit centric the current management is.
I hope I'm wrong and this mobile approach doesn't change the entire company's philosophy like happened with Square Enix and might actually be a circumstance decision because of current struggles and not the definitive solution for all the problems.
I hope I'm wrong and this mobile approach doesn't change the entire company's philosophy like happened with Square Enix and might actually be a circumstance decision because of current struggles and not the definitive solution for all the problems.
Wouldn't that bring security issues? Genuine question.
Freedom = $1.05
Banned
Just give us the Mario endless jumper no one wants and watch it make Puzzles and Drangons money. Mobile gamers, please start paying/playing better experiences. You're killing the nintendo.
7DollarHagane
Banned
This will never happen because nobody wants that.
Its an advertisement to reach the smartphone market is all. Like running an ad on a popular reality TV show. Because smartphones have as much to do with Nintendo as that same reality TV show does.
People need to realize that Nintendo would need to drastically downsize and make huge cuts if they actually were reliant on smartphone income. Its just not feasible for a company their size. If they ever were forced to rely on the smartphone market for any actual income their business essentially has failed and they are no longer the same company that thrived off the success of the nes.
RPG_Fanatic
Member
I never said this move would solve Nintendo's problems. I was simply clarifying Nintendo's strategy with this move.
RobFox64tm
Member
It'd be so easy to just say "screw Nintendo" at this point if they didn't still create some of the best software out there. Arguably the most important thing really.
There isn't a "mobile approach" even yet. All we know and all we can go on based on what people at Nintendo have said, is that they don't will not release their games on competing platforms. Which is a good thing. I think opening up their hardware to make it easier for developers to join is a big first step. Bring the app store to the eShop.
And_Gignac
Member
I am sorry but they are.
The Wii U seems unsavable at this point, and the 3DS is losing a lot of momentum. It was down YoY in the States even when Pokemon/Zelda/2DS released and, in Japan, while still dominant, the console seems to have reached a close-to-saturation point.
Imo they need a more aggresive strategy than "lets release a Nintendo direct app".
It's more like a new beginning.
ZombiePlatypus
Member
Some people are kinda chomping at the bits for Nintendo to either go mobile or 3rd-party. Any piece of info that can remotely be interpreted as confirmation, is being thrown as fuel for the fire. (They're setting themselves up for disappointment.)
Thing is, if all these people are so desperate to play Nintendo games, they can just buy Nintendo hardware.
mugoldeneagle03
Member
Having an app primarily for advertising & tacking on demos hoping people will upgrade to bigger (and more expensive) hardware seems like a terrible way to enter the mobile space...It sounds like the exact opposite to mobile gaming actually.
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
I don't expect that this sort of approach will appease investors or materially change their financial fortunes.
It seems to strain credulity to believe that Nintendo's business is fundamentally sound, they just don't do a good enough job making people aware that they're releasing games. That's what this strategy says. It says that the 3DS and the Wii U are both good products which will succeed, but no one watches our ads so we just need to put our ads on mobile phones. The "demo" approach also assumes that Nintendo's games and franchises are appealing enough to make people want to buy hardware, if only they get a taste of the games. I don't believe this is the case, and I think it's obvious how it's not. Right, like the hubbub of last week wasn't "wow, no one is buying Nintendo stuff because they forgot that it exists". You have to assume that the massive miss on both 3DS and Wii U expectations was the result of some root issue in terms of demand.
Nintendo did very well with the DS and the Wii because they identified that the barriers to gaming are too high, and so making easy-to-get into compelling experiences for everyone (expanding demographics) at a fair price was a good strategy for success. So, what are the pillars of that strategy? Attract people who don't game much or have never gamed before. Give them something that is interesting and accessible. Make it easy, get rid of barriers. If you close your eyes and try to picture which platforms enable those goals best today, the answer is not Nintendo platforms. To the extent that controls got in the way before and that's why the touch screen and motion controls were a success, now Nintendo's controls get in the way of a pure touch interface. To the extent that higher software prices got in the way of PS360 success, now Nintendo platforms are competing against lower priced software. To the extent that hardware prices got in the way of PS360 and PSP last generation, now with mobile subsidies Nintendo's hardware is as expensive or more.
Let's take the 3DS. Brain Age was an enormous hit in Japan and Worldwide for Nintendo. The franchise has 100% evaporated. It isn't because no one has heard of Brain Age anymore. It's because no one is interested in buying hardware in order to spend $30+ on a game they already got their fill of. That market has entirely left. And this expands to things like pet simulators, puzzle games, all sorts of pick up and play stuff. Nintendo does an incredibly good job making the kind of software you want to pick at for 5-10 minutes a day. That's a very lucrative market. But the market for that kind of software is gone and not coming back. Now that people are carrying smartphones, a dedicated device is overhead in both the personal and financial senses. On your phone you can boot up a game in seconds and switch to another. The 3DS by comparison is not very well geared towards multitasking. On your phone you can download something no matter where you are. The 3DS requires wifi. On your phone you can instantly purchase, download, update, delete your games. You can also purchase additional content or items. The spirit of Nintendo's idea of making games accessible to everyone is now most clearly articulated in mobile gaming. Now, you and I might omg hate that garbag casual gam, just make 9 new fire emblem!!!! so beast mode!!! but ultimately that was a large part of Nintendo's success. It made them a ton of their licensing fees as third parties pursued it, it moved hardware, and the software was cheap to develop and generated massive amounts of revenue. So anything that looks at that problem and says it's a perception problem, not a product problem, I think is misunderstanding why both development support and user demand has shrank.
And that's just gaming software. There's also the utility factor. People keep repeating the argument that no one buys a mobile phone for games. That's, in fact, the secret to the success of mobile phones as gaming platforms. If people aren't in the mood to buy hardware for games, and instead look at games as one of many things they can occupy their time with, then devices where there are many options to occupy your time with are a better buy.
I think that if Nintendo's response to a drastic earnings and projection miss is to announce that they're planning on doing exactly what they said they were always planning on doing -- learning to use smartphones to advertise their games to lure people back to their hardware -- investors are going to find that a very unsatisfactory solution to their woes. I don't think investors think that's the problem. I don't think investors think that will restore earnings to the place they should be. I don't think investors will rally behind the stock with that kind of announcement.
And I don't think customers will feel differently. Because I don't think the problem is advertising. So great, a kid plays the Mario app and gets to the end and it says "Want more Mario? Buy a 3DS". If you want more Angry Birds, just press a few buttons. Is Angry Birds as good as Mario? No, but quality was never the problem to begin with, so it's time to start being able to recognize with the problem is and work on that instead.
Trying to come up with a solution means figuring out what problem you're trying to solve. These solutions indicate that Nintendo thinks there isn't really a structural problem. It's just a temporary thing. Release some good games and target advertising better and they'll turn the corner. I just don't see it that way.
I hope that along with this announcement, Nintendo wisely announces a change in focus in terms of the type of software they announce and looking in to software value perception (instead of perversely saying "Next quarter we will release games to make customers realize value! Sorry that this quarter our games were not highly valued by customers!"). Making software more accessible, cheaper, easier to buy, and easier to play would be great. It would be a step. I'm not convinced it would solve the problems, but I think it would at least suggest that they recognize what the problem is.
It seems to strain credulity to believe that Nintendo's business is fundamentally sound, they just don't do a good enough job making people aware that they're releasing games. That's what this strategy says. It says that the 3DS and the Wii U are both good products which will succeed, but no one watches our ads so we just need to put our ads on mobile phones. The "demo" approach also assumes that Nintendo's games and franchises are appealing enough to make people want to buy hardware, if only they get a taste of the games. I don't believe this is the case, and I think it's obvious how it's not. Right, like the hubbub of last week wasn't "wow, no one is buying Nintendo stuff because they forgot that it exists". You have to assume that the massive miss on both 3DS and Wii U expectations was the result of some root issue in terms of demand.
Nintendo did very well with the DS and the Wii because they identified that the barriers to gaming are too high, and so making easy-to-get into compelling experiences for everyone (expanding demographics) at a fair price was a good strategy for success. So, what are the pillars of that strategy? Attract people who don't game much or have never gamed before. Give them something that is interesting and accessible. Make it easy, get rid of barriers. If you close your eyes and try to picture which platforms enable those goals best today, the answer is not Nintendo platforms. To the extent that controls got in the way before and that's why the touch screen and motion controls were a success, now Nintendo's controls get in the way of a pure touch interface. To the extent that higher software prices got in the way of PS360 success, now Nintendo platforms are competing against lower priced software. To the extent that hardware prices got in the way of PS360 and PSP last generation, now with mobile subsidies Nintendo's hardware is as expensive or more.
Let's take the 3DS. Brain Age was an enormous hit in Japan and Worldwide for Nintendo. The franchise has 100% evaporated. It isn't because no one has heard of Brain Age anymore. It's because no one is interested in buying hardware in order to spend $30+ on a game they already got their fill of. That market has entirely left. And this expands to things like pet simulators, puzzle games, all sorts of pick up and play stuff. Nintendo does an incredibly good job making the kind of software you want to pick at for 5-10 minutes a day. That's a very lucrative market. But the market for that kind of software is gone and not coming back. Now that people are carrying smartphones, a dedicated device is overhead in both the personal and financial senses. On your phone you can boot up a game in seconds and switch to another. The 3DS by comparison is not very well geared towards multitasking. On your phone you can download something no matter where you are. The 3DS requires wifi. On your phone you can instantly purchase, download, update, delete your games. You can also purchase additional content or items. The spirit of Nintendo's idea of making games accessible to everyone is now most clearly articulated in mobile gaming. Now, you and I might omg hate that garbag casual gam, just make 9 new fire emblem!!!! so beast mode!!! but ultimately that was a large part of Nintendo's success. It made them a ton of their licensing fees as third parties pursued it, it moved hardware, and the software was cheap to develop and generated massive amounts of revenue. So anything that looks at that problem and says it's a perception problem, not a product problem, I think is misunderstanding why both development support and user demand has shrank.
And that's just gaming software. There's also the utility factor. People keep repeating the argument that no one buys a mobile phone for games. That's, in fact, the secret to the success of mobile phones as gaming platforms. If people aren't in the mood to buy hardware for games, and instead look at games as one of many things they can occupy their time with, then devices where there are many options to occupy your time with are a better buy.
I think that if Nintendo's response to a drastic earnings and projection miss is to announce that they're planning on doing exactly what they said they were always planning on doing -- learning to use smartphones to advertise their games to lure people back to their hardware -- investors are going to find that a very unsatisfactory solution to their woes. I don't think investors think that's the problem. I don't think investors think that will restore earnings to the place they should be. I don't think investors will rally behind the stock with that kind of announcement.
And I don't think customers will feel differently. Because I don't think the problem is advertising. So great, a kid plays the Mario app and gets to the end and it says "Want more Mario? Buy a 3DS". If you want more Angry Birds, just press a few buttons. Is Angry Birds as good as Mario? No, but quality was never the problem to begin with, so it's time to start being able to recognize with the problem is and work on that instead.
Trying to come up with a solution means figuring out what problem you're trying to solve. These solutions indicate that Nintendo thinks there isn't really a structural problem. It's just a temporary thing. Release some good games and target advertising better and they'll turn the corner. I just don't see it that way.
I hope that along with this announcement, Nintendo wisely announces a change in focus in terms of the type of software they announce and looking in to software value perception (instead of perversely saying "Next quarter we will release games to make customers realize value! Sorry that this quarter our games were not highly valued by customers!"). Making software more accessible, cheaper, easier to buy, and easier to play would be great. It would be a step. I'm not convinced it would solve the problems, but I think it would at least suggest that they recognize what the problem is.
relax, they aren't going to abandon their console and handheld market when they just finished building their new R&D department building last year
DragonSworne
Banned
Brain training games on mobile that play an ad of a current Nintendo game when you want to refresh the cooldowwns.
Curious to see how Iwata plans on advertising on mobile. This is obviously something thwy have been planning for sometime so hopefully it is not halfbaked.
Curious to see how Iwata plans on advertising on mobile. This is obviously something thwy have been planning for sometime so hopefully it is not halfbaked.
Pie and Beans
Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
I enjoyed Rayman Jungle Run more than every single NSMB :S
BoboBrazil
Member
Horrible. Having an app for videos of Nintendo games and companion apps are not what investors want. This is a fucking boneheaded decision and sounds exactly like something Nintendo would do.
Hahahaha wow. Releasing a Marketing App, that by design can't make them money, that will only appeal to people who are probably already filling out Intend-to-Buy Club Nintendo surveys. You're killing me Iwata. Oh, wow.
Hint: playing a crappy, buttonless version of your two screen games on one tiny screen is not going to drive people to buy your software. It's going to make them think they're getting enough with Cut the Rope and Temple Run.
Hint: playing a crappy, buttonless version of your two screen games on one tiny screen is not going to drive people to buy your software. It's going to make them think they're getting enough with Cut the Rope and Temple Run.
Randolph Freelander
Member
It might help a little, but I just don't see them deriving revenue in any meaningful way without actually selling experiences on these devices that can be consumed entirely where they are. You might get a handful of people to follow you to your uni-tasker, but I just feel like the overwhelming majority cannot be bothered.
They are not in a dire situation. They are a healthy company with a product that failed. The 3DS isn't a failure but its competing in a much smaller market. There is a very healthy mobile console market but it isn't as big as the market used to be. Could that change? Yes. It will change.
When you say "dire situation" and call on them to swing for the fences you might want to download their financial statements yourself instead of going on what someone on a forum said or some idiot talked about on a gaming podcast. They are not in a dire situation. They need to change how they do business but they are not in a dire situation. Both Sony and Microsoft are more likely to leave the console business and go to the mobiel business than Nintendo is.
We saw that native Miiverse app in the very first Wii U trailer, if anything they sure took their sweet time about that one, I can't believe we got 3ds miiverse first.
Look at the sales for Rayman Legends. It didn't.
Yeah I can see this potential backfire. Basically you are encourage your core fans to spend even more time on smartphones.
Eh Jungle Run is alright but it's just memorisation. Gets boring very quick. NSMB U is amazing. Sad that it gets thrown into the "lol NEW Wahwah" category.
ZombiePlatypus
Member
Let's see what they actually roll-out. It's all still very vague, but already sounds better than straight-up making cellphone shovelware.
BoboBrazil
Member
A little off topic, but it was idiotic for them to release that game the time of the year they did. It's still a great game though.
Exactly what I was thinking. Nintendo can dip its toes in the mobile waters without abandoning dedicated hardware and hopefully luring some mobile users TO their dedicated hardware.
Also, Stumpokapow's real life picture should be a picture of a dog. When I see his name without that Mario 3 sprite, my brain can't reconcile what I'm seeing. It is messing me up Stump!
Captain Tuttle
Member
Man, it's gotta be tough to be a Nintendo fan these days, so many unknowns.
2014 is going to be an interesting year
2014 is going to be an interesting year
7DollarHagane
Banned
Nintendo will never derive revenue in any meaningful way from the smartphone market anyway. Why invest more than a few thousand dollars of their marketing budget into it?
Going to where the kids are, which seems to be smart phones makes sense. Just like advertising on Saturday morning cartoons and early afternoon TV blocks did back in the 80s and 90s.
Nintendo even did cartoons themselves back then. I think that's very similar to what you will see here. Nintendo in the late 80s didn't strive to make money off their cartoon shows, they used them to drive kids to the NES and SNES.
Sammy Samusu
Member
Emergency Direct
Isn't NSMB U the most sold Wii U game?
weevles
Member
The Wii was just a fad. It hit the right elements at the right time. Wii U was never going to succeed and was a simple case of Nintendo thinking they could coast on Wii's success.
Now everyone has moved on to smartphones and tablets, and thanks to that market's insane freeware/microtransaction model, it's killed the casual market's interest in anything beyond the lowest common-denominator Candy Crush/Temple Run stuff.
The only thing that will work in Nintendo's favor regarding mobile is if they developed companion apps to Wii U and 3DS games that are based on this same microtransaction crap model the public has been successfully brainwashed into.
Want to get the secret levels in Super Mario 3D World 2? Download our mobile app to earn extra coins! Want to unlock the special Mobile-Only characters in the newest Wii U Smash? Download the Smash on the Go app to earn more points!
Fuuuuuuuu~
Now everyone has moved on to smartphones and tablets, and thanks to that market's insane freeware/microtransaction model, it's killed the casual market's interest in anything beyond the lowest common-denominator Candy Crush/Temple Run stuff.
The only thing that will work in Nintendo's favor regarding mobile is if they developed companion apps to Wii U and 3DS games that are based on this same microtransaction crap model the public has been successfully brainwashed into.
Want to get the secret levels in Super Mario 3D World 2? Download our mobile app to earn extra coins! Want to unlock the special Mobile-Only characters in the newest Wii U Smash? Download the Smash on the Go app to earn more points!
Fuuuuuuuu~
Along the lines of what many suspected. Using smartphones for advertising of various games that are only available on Nintendo owned hardware. Redirecting people to the eShops and the Wii U and 3DS themselves. Not actual games being released for purchase. Which would be a completely self-destructive and suicidal move for their hardware business. The rumored mini-games might very well just be interactive advertisements as well.
Maninthemirror
Banned
A good idea is to develop demos on smartphones where it ends saying play the full game on nintendo 3ds or whichever. This way they create a free exposure on smartphones and customers realise these demos are worth getting a dedicated handheld. All they need is exposure and that is perfect. Dont create a full game, rather a demo of how it would play
Well I dont know how many downloads the smartphone game got before the console game was released but yes even if Nintendo released a Mario Runner for instance or other games I really dont believe these will make people then go and buy a 3DS or Wii U to play 'the real game'.
The majority of people will just be happy to play there smartphone runner and be done with it.
Because they wanted Nintendo games on iOS.
TheBaronOfNA
Banned
The mobile business isn't about valuable ip. It's about volume and making the buck and riding the hype and hitting the next fad. It's a throw a bunch of stuff at the wall and hope stuff sticks. That most likely will change as the platforms mature. The arcades and early Atari days were like that. I just don't think the mobile market can support Nintendo coming in and releasing Nintendo quality games at a price that can support a company the size of Nintendo. I don't want Nintendo gettting in on the Mobile F2P market which is predatory and bad for consumers. I would love for someone to come in and push the mobile games market out of the gutter and make it more honest.