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[Riki]

This far into the thread, I'm surprised we don't have an over/under on a $200 Wii U sans gamepad (Pro controller instead) arriving before Fall.

I think we'll see this happen as soon as Nintendo can come up with a way to at least patch out Gamepad functionality from its own games.

Not happening.

 

[Mpl90]

About next handheld again, if they launch it in Fall 2015, looking at how multi releases fared on next gen, I'd say they should totally launch it with Pokémon X2 and Y2, multi with 3DS. At the right price, the console would certainly have a big launch, and they could manage titles like 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Pikmin, Fire Emblem, etc.etc. far better the year after.

I mean, Pokémon X2 and Y2 for 2015 is inevitable, right?

 

[Cygnus X-1]

http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASHD1700Y_X10C14A1000000/

Iwata was quoted at the press conference today saying that he feels responsibility for the poor business performance at Nintendo, and he is sorry to all shareholders. He says the most important thing is to revigorate Nintendo's business as quickly as possible. He will NOT resign, but stay in office to carry that through.

How stubborn a man can be?

I wonder what could happen if Minoru Arakawa decides to impose his will with the shares his wife inherited.

 

[SparkTR]

This far into the thread, I'm surprised we don't have an over/under on a $200 Wii U sans gamepad (Pro controller instead) arriving before Fall.

I think we'll see this happen as soon as Nintendo can come up with a way to at least patch out Gamepad functionality from its own games.

From a business stand-point I guess it makes sense, but as a Wii U owner my favourite thing about the system is the gamepad and the functionality it provides (or can potentially provide). Neutering it would make me less interested in buying Wii U games in the future.

 

[Mpl90]

How stubborn a man can be?

I wonder what could happen if Minoru Arakawa decides to impose his will with the shares his wife inherited.

Could you share more infos about Minoru? His story, his ideas,...

 

[JoeM86]

About next handheld again, if they launch it in Fall 2015, looking at how multi releases fared on next gen, I'd say they should totally launch it with Pokémon X2 and Y2, multi with 3DS. At the right price, the console would certainly have a big launch, and they could manage titles like 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Pikmin, Fire Emblem, etc.etc. far better the year after.

I mean, Pokémon X2 and Y2 for 2015 is inevitable, right?

The next main games? Absolutely. On a brand new console? No. They wouldn't split a generation like that.

 

[Sandfox]

Why are people taking the 66m 3DS SW and lining it up with the LTD HW sales? I don't even think its possible to sell that little software unless like half the people who own a 3DS have zero games.

 

[Duxxy3]

But then they'll be making a significant loss with each sale. Can't see that happening.

Take a risk and hope people buy software, or do nothing for three years, pay for shelf space, and sell less software.

Risky move, so they probably won't do it.

Rant time...

We all know that the Dreamcast is considered a failure. Sega took huge risks with little money, and that knocked them out of the market. But Sega gave it everything they had. An incredible forward thinking machine along with an amazing software lineup and at a good price.
Today the Dreamcast is remembered very fondly. It was the candle that burned twice as bright. If a system is doomed to fail I would rather see the company give it its all. The wii u on shelves right now is a candle that burns twice as long, half as bright.

 

[gogogow]

How people think a Nintendo hardware can compete with PlayStation or Xbox is beyond me. The argument that the latter are "made of PC parts, and Nintendo could just use the same logic" is just straight out silly. The market is saturated, and the existing network, infrastructure and ecosystem Nintendo has build over the past two generations makes them incompatible with the audience Sony and Microsoft aim for. If they changed their policies, they would essentially make a new entrant in the industry -- it wouldn't be very different from Sega returning in the hardware game. That's not viable.


Nintendo's big strengths are their game-design-first logic, their communication with their customers, and their low price strategy. Those are the sectors they should focus on; especially when it comes to restoring the latter two. It's no coincidence that all the big problems in their history all have arisen from relatively pricey systems. As gaming becomes a more mainstream hobby, if they can succeed in making a 30% of gamers adopt one of their products (and this is why they should only offer only one, affordable product -- so that none suffers from redundancy), they can be considered prosperous.

No. Some people are saying Nintendo doesn't have the ability to create a PS4-like console. Yes, they have the money and the ability.

Can they compete with the PS4/XO with similar HW? That is a entirely different matter.

And no, Nintendo shouldn't only offer one product. They are a videogame company. They don't do offer anything outside that. No movies, no insurance, no music, no camera's, no TVs, no soundsystems etc.. If that one product fails, they are done for the generation. With two products they can always fall back to the one that is doing well.

 

[AniHawk]

Huh? The projection is 66M units of software. Are you talking LTD?

yes. i don't know who takes yearly software sales and puts it up against a continually-growing userbase. i've never seen that measure. this year the tie ratio is going to improve by about 1.3 games per system over last year.

the system's on track to have a pretty normal tie ratio for a handheld. the game boy, gba, and psp all ranged between 4:25:1 and 4.5:1. the ds's tie ratio of something over 6:1 is the oddball.

i don't have vita numbers because sony

 

[Yoshi]

How stubborn a man can be?

I wonder what could happen if Minoru Arakawa decides to impose his will with the shares his wife inherited.

What if Arakawa actually agrees with Iwata's plans? Iwata must have an idea of what he wants to do next and considering Nintendo's state I would not try to replace him if I mostly agreed with what he wants to do.

 

[Yawnier]

Horrible numbers. Simply horrible. This misses everyone's most pessimistic expectations for operating income expectations by $400M+ USD and baseline estimates by over $650M+ USD. No one seriously thought they were going to hit $1 B USD in operating profits. Most people were seeing Nintendo hitting 30% of the target as a baseline. That they are expecting a loss for the year of $350M USD is mind-boggling.

Only four things can explain these losses IMHO:

1. Nintendo's gross margins on software must have shrunk dramatically. Meaning that they are barely making any money on their own software much less third party software which has all dramatically dried up on both of their platforms globally. This bodes very badly for Nintendo in general - even if they were able to go third-party and hypothetically sell 2-3X the number of games (which I very much doubt) - what this shows is that Nintendo has lost its pricing power at retail - people aren't ready and willing to pay the Nintendo premium.

2. Nintendo bled money at retail trying to push hardware - far more than anyone expected - they must be eating close to a $100+ loss per Wii U sold right now or more - not just because of manufacturing cost - but because they are literally having to compensate retailers to provide them with shelf space and having to eat the price drop at the same time. This is horrible - because even if they take that much of a loss - the low gross margins on their own first-party games isn't sufficient to help them break even.

3. Nintendo isn't going to get Mario Kart or Smash out by early April - otherwise they would have been able to book orders under the current fiscal year. It looks like both games are going to be delayed well into the summer or into the Fall now. I am almost 100% positive that if it were even possible to get the games out by April or May - Nintendo would have done everything in their power to do so. It looks like Nintendo still hasn't effectively transitioned to HD development - not because of capability - but because they want to preserve gross margin based on their lower expected revenue numbers - and it's compromising their ability to get projects out the door on-time.

4. Nintendo is playing shell games with their accounting - booking contractual payments to Intelligent Systems and their other closely related entities as operating losses for tax purposes but which are effectively asset purchases - it means that they are dramatically restructuring their teams and it's going to be far more expensive than we thought.

If these estimates hold up - Nintendo will have generated a $1 B+ operating loss over the past three years. Here's the kicker though: Nintendo is still sitting on over $1 B+ in inventory that they haven't impaired yet (the IR report makes no mention of it). There is a good chance that over 80% of that is Wii U hardware which means that it's going to continue to be a drag on earnings over the next twelve months.

In any case, I don't foresee any major changes for Q3 happening. Nintendo is still going to engage in a buyback of 5% - which is going to drain their cash by another $1 B USD.

That means in three years Nintendo's war chest will have been depleted close to $2.5 billion USD from inventory impairment, operating losses, and share repurchases. Another $500M USD is going to be gone for asset / real estate purchases and capital investments. Their next hardware projects are going to require about ~$1.5 B USD in capital reserves at a minimum that are going to be tied up in the next two years as they wind down their existing platforms, and I don't see third-party licensing revenue coming back in a big way to offset declining gross margins on their first-party software.

Basically that means Nintendo could burn through ~$4 B in cash throughout this entire cycle and in anticipation of the next, with a very high cost structure intact. Like Sony, they will have effectively wiped out cumulative years of profit.

If we assume that Nintendo keeps building up human resources this coming year to meet their hiring targets, they are probably going to break-even in terms of operating profit for the next fiscal year or make a slight profit - but I'm even second guessing my own ability to understand Nintendo's gross margins now - someone at NOA or NOE is effectively writing giant checks to retailers to keep the channel alive - and that's really not good at all - Apple was in this same position in the late 90s and had to create their own retail stores to stop bleeding money to major retailers. Nintendo isn't going to have the investor support to launch a giant retail project in the US and EU, particularly when they no longer have proven pricing power which would be the primary argument to go that route.

Difficult time to be a Nintendo shareholder.

If you are right about this, wow.

 

[hongcha]

This far into the thread, I'm surprised we don't have an over/under on a $200 Wii U sans gamepad (Pro controller instead) arriving before Fall.

I think we'll see this happen as soon as Nintendo can come up with a way to at least patch out Gamepad functionality from its own games.

I think this could happen as early as April. Rename it the Wii HD, sell the U Gamepad as an accessory in different colours. It is what they should have done from the start. If they can strip out the 3D from the 3DS and rename it the 2DS, they can do this.

 

[Riki]

Why are people taking the 66m 3DS SW and lining it up with the LTD HW sales? I don't even think its possible to sell that little software unless like half the people who own a 3DS have zero games.

yes. i don't know who takes yearly software sales and puts it up against a continually-growing userbase. i've never seen that measure. this year the tie ratio is going to improve by about 1.3 games per system over last year.

the system's on track to have a pretty normal tie ratio for a handheld. the game boy, gba, and psp all ranged between 4:25:1 and 4.5:1. the ds's tie ratio of something over 6:1 is the oddball.

i don't have vita numbers because sony

The blood lust to see Nintendo fail makes people crazy.

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

How stubborn a man can be?

I wonder what could happen if Minoru Arakawa decides to impose his will with the shares his wife inherited.

Iwata has gotten arrogant or delusional. One of those because some of the stuff he has said just makes little sense. There was article that highlighted some of the crazy stuff he would say and later apologise for and its eye opening.

 

[MisterHero]

Could you share more infos about Minoru? His story, his ideas,...

Someone told me he helped found Tetris Online, Inc. publishing Tetris and a couple other games for Facebook and iOS

Tetris Online, Inc. is a video game developer and publisher based in Honolulu, Hawaii. The company is the exclusive online licensee of Tetris in North America and Europe.[1] Founded in January 2006 by Nintendo of America founder and former president Minoru Arakawa, video game designer and publisher Henk Rogers and Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov, Tetris Online, Inc. is the developer of social games Tetris Battle and Tetris Friends. In March 2013, it was revealed in a Honolulu Star Advertiser article that Tetris Online had laid off 40% of its staff.[2]

I like Arakawa but I don't know why everyone is resorting to him.

 

[gogogow]

I think this could happen as early as April. Rename it the Wii HD, sell the U Gamepad as an accessory in different colours. It is what they should have done from the start. If they can strip out the 3D from the 3DS and rename it the 2DS, they can do this.

If you seriously can't see the difference between something that alters graphics and something that alters gameplay then I have no words.

 

[Mpl90]

The next main games? Absolutely. On a brand new console? No. They wouldn't split a generation like that.

I mean the sequels to X and Y, like Black and White 2 were the sequels to Black and White. Not the whole new gen.

It would be an amazing launch game, think about it. Even if it's not the brand new generation. They did something similsr with Zelda, and it worked fantastically (also because Wii concept was too amazing, but still, Zelda sold with MarioU-esque tie ratio compared to console sales in US).
Heck, I'm not even saying they should do X2 for 3DS and Y2 for the next gen...



...even if...remember the first Mystery Dungeon?

 

[The Maverick]

The fact that the 3DS has nowhere to go but down from here and those Wii U numbers is the wrap right there. They brought this on themselves.

 

[Roshin]

I'll miss you Iwata. The Year of Luigi was your swan song.

The Curse of Luigi spares no one.

 

[AniHawk]

Okay, I think I'm actually more confused about what the mass-market handheld is then. You said there's a focus on Nintendo's handheld hits but the games that have made their handhelds successful are games like Mario and Pokemon, which are supposedly going to be on the other system. So what is the "mass market system"? You mentioned NES Remix and games that are more casual but what does that entail? I'm getting the impression that it's mainly games similar to what's on the 3DS E-Shop right now, and I'm not sure if that could really carry a system.

i'm thinking of something far more pick-up-and-play. instead of pokemon and mario, i was thinking of tetris and nintendogs. the little one could have its own mario game too, but designed differently so the 'nsmb3' or whatever feels more traditional while the other is like a super mario land.

 

[JoeM86]

I mean the sequels to X and Y, like Black and White 2 were the sequels to Black and White. Not the whole new gen.

It would be an amazing launch game, think about it. Even if it's not the brand new generation. They did something similsr with Zelda, and it worked fantastically (also because Wii concept was too amazing, but still, Zelda sold with MarioU-esque tie ratio compared to console sales in US).
Heck, I'm not even saying they should do X2 for 3DS and Y2 for the next gen...



...even if...remember the first Mystery Dungeon?

No, the same generation of main games should be on the same console. For them to put it on a whole new one will create a load of issues in both connectivity and association

The fact that the 3DS has nowhere to go but down from here and those Wii U numbers is the wrap right there. They brought this on themselves.

Or, shockingly, it could get higher?

 

[Griss]

This far into the thread, I'm surprised we don't have an over/under on a $200 Wii U sans gamepad (Pro controller instead) arriving before Fall.

I think we'll see this happen as soon as Nintendo can come up with a way to at least patch out Gamepad functionality from its own games.

I bought my Wii U this Christmas from a major retailer for $200. There were stacks of them there, unsold, on the 30th of December. If it doesn't sell WITH the gamepad for $200, why will it sell WITHOUT it?

The thing is just not a saleable product.

 

[SmokyDave]

yes. i don't know who takes yearly software sales and puts it up against a continually-growing userbase. i've never seen that measure. this year the tie ratio is going to improve by about 1.3 games per system over last year.

the system's on track to have a pretty normal tie ratio for a handheld. the game boy, gba, and psp all ranged between 4:25:1 and 4.5:1. the ds's tie ratio of something over 6:1 is the oddball.

i don't have vita numbers because sony

First things first, this has nothing to do with the Vita.

Second things second, I just don't feel that the 3DS is shifting much software. 66M for the biggest software year they'll ever have, on the install base that they have, just doesn't seem that good to me. In fact, it seems bad. I can dig your disagreement though.

I just can't wrap my head around predicting my users will buy one and a half games each over an entire year, and then being happy with that.

 

[Toski]

I'm sick of people screaming "fire Iwata" left and right without saying anything about who should replace him..

If what tehrik says is true, Iwata should be using the weekend to compose his resignation letter, although he said he won't resign.

I'm of the opinion that Nintendo (like Microsoft) needs an outsider as CEO, and the only good candidate I can think of is Andrew House at SCEI. A European Westerner who speaks Japanese is probably what Nintendo needs, but they won't take it.

 

[Azure J]

I think this could happen as early as April. Rename it the Wii HD, sell the U Gamepad as an accessory in different colours. It is what they should have done from the start. If they can strip out the 3D from the 3DS and rename it the 2DS, they can do this.

Introducing further brand confusion at a time like this with a brand name tarnished by the last 4 years worth of ambivalence and consumer apathy?

Why not?

Real talk, I definitely feel like Nintendo has to sleep in this shit stained bed of theirs for another year or two, but realistically speaking (and I'd prefer an EatChildren, Aquamarine, or tehrik tier post), they don't have a chance of pulling that off and remaining truly healthy do they? Hemorrhaging all of this money, brand power/relevance and consumer good will can't be the thing to do, even if they get all their plays in order.

 

[Sandfox]

I mean the sequels to X and Y, like Black and White 2 were the sequels to Black and White. Not the whole new gen.

It would be an amazing launch game, think about it. Even if it's not the brand new generation. They did something similsr with Zelda, and it worked fantastically (also because Wii concept was too amazing, but still, Zelda sold with MarioU-esque tie ratio compared to console sales in US).
Heck, I'm not even saying they should do X2 for 3DS and Y2 for the next gen...



...even if...remember the first Mystery Dungeon?

They wouldn't do that because it would force them to do more worth than it is worth for a 3rd version type entry.

 

[Canis lupus]

Did they really not see this coming? It looks like they didn't and waited until after the Holiday sales period to see if Wii U and 3DS sales would pick up. It's crazy how Iwata held hope for so long when most saw this coming last summer.

 

[Mpl90]

No, the same generation of main games should be on the same console. For them to put it on a whole new one will create a load of issues in both connectivity and association



Or, shockingly, it could get higher?

And I'm saying X2 and Y2 should be on 3DS as well. Not that they should do it only-next handheld. And...connectivity problems? If PSP and Vita can do cross-gen online, what would be the problem for 3DS and next handheld? And...Pokémon Bank will solve problems in terms of storing Pokémons too.

 

[Griss]

About next handheld again, if they launch it in Fall 2015, looking at how multi releases fared on next gen, I'd say they should totally launch it with Pokémon X2 and Y2, multi with 3DS. At the right price, the console would certainly have a big launch, and they could manage titles like 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Pikmin, Fire Emblem, etc.etc. far better the year after.

I mean, Pokémon X2 and Y2 for 2015 is inevitable, right?

Software scheduling is one of their biggest issues right now. Whatever they do, they need to make sure that the most impressive games they have are ready for launch of the new systems. If that's pokemon on handhelds and Zelda at home, then that's what you do. Delay them, rush them, do whatever the fuck it takes to have these games ready for launch.

The 3DS and Wii U launches were utterly pathetic. The Wii launched with a new Zelda and Wii Sports. They need to make sure their next console launches like the Wii rather than the last two.

 

[Batigol]

It's a shame, but it's good in a way. Still have my Wii, but Wii U is going to be dirt cheap soon with a ton of games and that's great

 

[Log4Girlz]

Nintendo has many, many financial quarters ahead of it before a successor for Wii U is released. Boy, investors won't be happy.

 

[spekkeh]

This far into the thread, I'm surprised we don't have an over/under on a $200 Wii U sans gamepad (Pro controller instead) arriving before Fall.

I think we'll see this happen as soon as Nintendo can come up with a way to at least patch out Gamepad functionality from its own games.

That wouldn't make sense in light of what the Wii U is trying to do. The idea of the Wii U isn't selling, but at least once you buy it you understand that it does have an idea. The Wii U needs a stronger message, not an even more diluted one.

Wii U will never sell well because the hardware is undercooked, even at lower prices there's no reason to own it unless you reeaally like Mario.

The only way to sort of salvage it is to capitalize on what makes it different; give people the idea that okay this thing does something interesting, might as well try it out as a secondary console. Facebook and deviantart integration with Miiverse is for instance long overdue.

 

[Maidenpool?]

Take a risk and hope people buy software, or do nothing for three years, pay for shelf space, and sell less software.

Risky move, so they probably won't do it.

Rant time...

We all know that the Dreamcast is considered a failure. Sega took huge risks with little money, and that knocked them out of the market. But Sega gave it everything they had. An incredible forward thinking machine along with an amazing software lineup and at a good price.
Today the Dreamcast is remembered very fondly. It was the candle that burned twice as bright. If a system is doomed to fail I would rather see the company give it its all. The wii u on shelves right now is a candle that burns twice as long, half as bright.

That's what I said a while back. Say what you want about the Dreamcast, but Sega tried hard to be the best but unfortunately they couldn't overcome their past decisions. Nintendo on the other hand currently resembles Randy Moss when he quit on the Vikings... all the talent in the world but too much of an ego to ever succeed.

 

[Sandfox]

Software scheduling is one of their biggest issues right now. Whatever they do, they need to make sure that the most impressive games they have are ready for launch of the new systems. If that's pokemon on handhelds and Zelda at home, then that's what you do. Delay them, rush them, do whatever the fuck it takes to have these games ready for launch.

The 3DS and Wii U launches were utterly pathetic. The Wii launched with a new Zelda and Wii Sports. They need to make sure their next console launches like the Wii rather than the last two.

The 3DS actually didn't have a bad launch and their next console will probably launch with something that was originally planned for the Wii U from one of their bigger franchises along with something developed from the ground up like the Wii did.

 

[AniHawk]

First things first, this has nothing to do with the Vita.

i never said it did. i wanted to include it in 'normal for a handheld' but i can't because sony doesn't release numbers for the system. i just don't know, but i also didn't want it to look like i was discounting the vita for not being a handheld or whatever.

Second things second, I just don't feel that the 3DS is shifting much software. 66M for the biggest software year they'll ever have, on the install base that they have, just doesn't seem that good to me. In fact, it seems bad. I can dig your disagreement though.

like i said, it's pretty standard for a handheld. actually, the 3ds is set to outpace the gba in a similar timeframe. there were 183m gba games sold from 2001-2004 versus the 170m nintendo is projecting for the 3ds from 2011-2014. that was after the gba had mario kart, pokemon, and all that jazz too.

edit: well not outpace. i was only looking at the non-japan side of things. it's pretty similar though.

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

That's what I said a while back. Say what you want about the Dreamcast, but Sega tried hard to be the best but unfortunately they couldn't overcome their past decisions. Nintendo on the other hand currently resembles Randy Moss when he quit on the Vikings... all the talent in the world but too much of an ego to ever succeed.

So now Nintendo's job is to take the top off the defense?

 

[SmokyDave]

i never said it did. i wanted to include it in 'normal for a handheld' but i can't because sony doesn't release numbers for the system. i just don't know, but i also didn't want it to look like i was discounting the vita for not being a handheld or whatever.

Cool. I'm just used to people expecting everything I say to have some relation to the Vita. Which is fair enough, I guess.

like i said, it's pretty standard for a handheld. actually, the 3ds is set to outpace the gba in a similar timeframe. there were 136m gba games sold from 2001-2004 versus the 170m nintendo is projecting for the 3ds from 2011-2014.

Don't you think that 'set to outpace the GBA' is an incredibly low bar though? The games market has exploded since back then, it ought to be way ahead already.

 

[gogogow]

Don't you think that 'set to outpace the GBA' is an incredibly low bar though? The games market has exploded since back then, it ought to be way ahead already.

What about the introduction of smartphones that ate in into Nintendo's marketshare? All things considered, the 3DS is doing pretty good.

 

[GhostTrick]

Cool. I'm just used to people expecting everything I say to have some relation to the Vita. Which is fair enough, I guess.


Don't you think that 'set to outpace the GBA' is an incredibly low bar though? The games market has exploded since back then, it ought to be way ahead already.

In what world 90M units sold is low bar ?

 

[Riki]

What about the introduction of smartphones that ate in into Nintendo's marketshare?

Or the fact that even with the launch of two new consoles the game market is shrinking.

 

[Mpl90]

They wouldn't do that because it would force them to do more worth than it is worth for a 3rd version type entry.

Look at Pokémon X and Y, their style is already great. Think about a next handheld version with better resolution, 60fps, better models (and R&D reorganisation could help in that) and some little improved touches there and there. Done.

 

[AniHawk]

Don't you think that 'set to outpace the GBA' is an incredibly low bar though? The games market has exploded since back then, it ought to be way ahead already.

i misspoke because i was only looking at the outside japan segment. the gba's ahead by about 13m or so. regardless, we're talking about an industry eaten away by mobile. the gaming explosion seems to have been canceled out by erosion.

the tie ratio is actually slightly higher on the 3ds because the 3ds is also slated to sell about 5-6m less than the gba in the same timeframe.

actually with the vita taken into account, i wonder if it neatly fills in that gap to match the gba on both hardware and software. would be kinda cool if true. the market returning to its previous state, now split between two pieces of hardware. hm. i like this theory.

 

[Riki]

Look at Pokémon X and Y, their style is already great. Think about a next handheld version with better resolution, 60fps, better models (and R&D reorganisation could help in that) and some little improved touches there and there. Done.

You're not familiar with Pokemon Company, are you...

 

[Roshin]

I really like Iwata, and think he really understands what Nintendo is and needs to be.

I know it's popular to hate on him and blame him for the short term losses like this, but I honestly am not confident that there is anyone better suited to lead than him.

I think it would be a huge misstep, and a massive blow to Nintendo to remove Iwata.

Honestly, I don't think losing Iwata would accomplish much. That said, I would like to see Iwata seriously trying to identify the problems and doing something about them, rather than just hanging on and pretending everything's fine.

 

[goomba]

Shocking news.

It's good to see Nintendo acknoledge the reality of the WiiU's situation.

Maybe they will go full panic mode?

 

[Cygnus X-1]

Could you share more infos about Minoru? His story, his ideas,...

I don't believe I'm the most suited person to explain his life thoroughly. However, the Gamecube's story pretty much highlight his personality and his influence.

http://www.dromble.com/2014/01/07/dolphin-tale-story-of-gamecube/

Also, you can get some information form here - it's a 2003 biography, but nevertheless that's an year after he retired, so there isn't any newer information about him from 2003 onwards on the internet.

http://www.n-sider.com/contentview.php?contentid=221

It would be nice to have some personal feedback from some members here that had the opportunity to meet him personally.

 

[dark_prinny]

Expected. Iwata era must end ASAP.

He's time has come, he is just Nintendo's crazy Ken now.

 

[Graphics Horse]

i misspoke because i was only looking at the outside japan segment. the gba's ahead by about 13m or so. regardless, we're talking about an industry eaten away by mobile. the gaming explosion seems to have been canceled out by erosion.

the tie ratio is actually slightly higher on the 3ds because the 3ds is also slated to sell about 5-6m less than the gba in the same timeframe.

Do those sales include downloads, virtual console etc?

 

[BowieZ]

This far into the thread, I'm surprised we don't have an over/under on a $200 Wii U sans gamepad (Pro controller instead) arriving before Fall.

I think we'll see this happen as soon as Nintendo can come up with a way to at least patch out Gamepad functionality from its own games.

This needs to happen now. They're already selling GamePads separately. Just bring out a Wii U with Wii Remote Plus for $149/£149/¥14,800, and a patch that provides basic Wii Remote functionality for the eShop and maybe improving functionality for the Home Menu.