What Nintendo will try to achieve in the next 10 years is a platform business that improves peoples QOL in enjoyable ways. This definition includes, of course, dedicated video game platforms. While we will continue to devote our energy to dedicated video game platforms, what I see as our first step into a new business area in our endeavor to improve QOL is, the theme of health. Of course, defining a new entertainment business that seeks to improve QOL creates various possibilities for the future such as learning and lifestyle, but it is our intention to take health as our first step. Please note, however, that rather than simply setting health as our theme, Nintendo will also try to expand it in a new blue ocean.
As a core gamer I am mildly alarmed by the interest in pursuing health and lifestyle in another "blue ocean" strategy. To me this just screams "Expect a lot more brain training and wii fit crap that no one cares about any more."
Sony and
Microsoft are selling truckloads of consoles almost as fast as they can be made. They are doing that because they have a lot of games now and in the near future that people are really excited to play, not to mention offering compelling online services that people genuinely enjoy. I'm looking at you PS+.
Wii was only a colossal success in the US, with the other major countries falling far short of US' numbers. The blue ocean strategy worked here because the console itself was 1) Radically cheaper than its competitors, and 2) Extremely different from its competitors. Over the course of its lifespan though, I can probably name the truly killer, must-have games on one hand.
Any time you reference Wii from this point forward, people are going to have a "been there done that" attitude towards it. "Oh Wii U? I got one of those years ago to play with my family/parties/
horse riding enthusiasts."
Christ, Nintendo just launched spit-shined versions of Wii Sports and Wii Fit, and no one batted an eyelash. Those were fads. They passed. It's time to create something new. If you intend to capture non-gamers all over again, you need to do something COMPLETELY different that won't confuse them into thinking that your new thing is just your old thing.
I think Nintendo really needs to buck this nasty habit of pursuing innovation for the sake of innovation. Not everything needs to be innovated. I'm perfectly satisfied with someone taking a working formula and refining the experience.
I think we need to wipe away all of the crap, and ask ourselves "Why do people like Nintendo? How are they most successful?"
Let's look at a few notable success stories, platform-wise. The SNES. It had fantastic first party games, and a billion different 3rd party games from casual to hardcore. The SNES didn't innovate anything really above and beyond the NES. It didn't need to. A new controller with a couple more buttons that made sense, and better graphics/sound. That's it, moving on.
The 3/DS. On paper, the inferior system. Not the best control scheme, and the specs were far worse than the competition. But it did bring something unique to the table which was starting to get really big. Touch. Sure there were a handful of touch-based smart phones and other devices but they didn't spell it all out like Nintendo did, if they even supported games at all. Then a metric ton of third party support again. Everyone got on the 3/DS train. Aaaand guess what. When you have a lot of people making lots of diverse games for your system, it sells well because it appeals to a broad palate.
I see that Nintendo is hoping to capture some of the DS' appeal by allowing you to play them on Wii U... My favorite part of portable games is being forced to play them tethered to a console in the living room...Said no one ever.
Christ, its like Nintendo just dug around in a hat of suggestions and grabbed and ran with it.
I really, truly, madly, deeply hope that Nintendo is taking this whole experience to heart. I know we have heard the "We promise not to do X when we launch Y and there won't be a drought for Z months," a lot.
But seriously, I don't think the message could be any clearer. Developers are telling you what they need out of a console. Gamers are telling you what they want out of their software. What is the fucking problem.
I really feel like Nintendo screwed the pooch on this one. I don't see how they can possibly interest third parties to develop on their home consoles moving forward. A new handheld, sure, because it's nearly a guaranteed success. Console? I think you'd have to be something really remarkable.
I give up.