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[Stumpokapow]

So i wrote that for the other thread that was closed... (about how Nintendo could quickly change the situation)

There is still the VR ...

Nintendo is good at doing good and going mainstream with cheap. Oculus is still beta, Sony and Microsoft are slow, but we do know vr has a great potential. Especially, this is a thing that would create curiosity among the male demographic that don't want nintendo consoles anymore.

Of course, it's a little late if they have to start from scratch, but what if they managed to have some R&D going for years, since the VB and even the rumored on.

I feel like if Nintendo set themselves 100% to VR, they'd still execute worse than Oculus. Right now everyone in the VR space is working together, sharing tech, reporting stuff publicly, iterating. Hell, look at Oculus' model--send out development kits to hobbyists and devs alike BEFORE you even have a consumer product. I feel like Nintendo's model of developing in secret would basically guarantee that they had no external developer buy-in and their hardware would be more half-baked than what's being worked on right now.

Look at Valve's approach. Valve built a best-in-class multi-thousand dollar VR prototype and said "We don't plan to sell this, we plan to work with people in VR to make sure everyone builds towards a better future" and then they released an API for using VR for free to a bunch of developers and said "Enjoy". I don't see Nintendo competing with that.

This is in part why I think Nintendo's problem is partially to do with its corporate culture and refusal to engage with competitors. It's possible if you lock yourself in the room, you'll come up with something everyone else missed. But it's probably more likely you'll miss something everyone else came up with.

(Not to take away from the spirit of your idea, which is that Nintendo should seek new avenues that they can compete in. I totally agree with that.)

 

[RE_Player]

Time to buy Nintendo stock or can it go lower?

 

[pulsemyne]

Holy crap.

Shareholders have to pissed right now. This could be an excellent buying opportunity however.

Shareholders have been going mental for nintendo shares over the past few weeks. All today has done is reverse the big gains that had been made.

 

[Amir0x]

Nintendo is good at doing good and going mainstream with cheap. Oculus is still beta, Sony and Microsoft are slow, but we do know vr has a great potential. Especially, this is a thing that would create curiosity among the male demographic that don't want nintendo consoles anymore.

Even if this was a good idea for Nintendo, it's really too late. Sony is extremely far along now in building their VR tech. There'd be no way for Nintendo to catch up with the R&D Sony has done, and likely Microsoft too given their "road to Fortaleza" stuff. (Edit: Stump's explanation is also much more eloquent, as always)

That's a common theme with Nintendo these days - they're always too late. So many things they're "finally" doing on Wii U were nice, and I appreciated them, but they were too late to change the perception. And even on Wii U, we have things that they should be doing that other competitors had done since the beginning of last gen. It's just really sad how Nintendo refuses to adapt even in the ways that make sense for them to, just because they want to go their own path. Sometimes that is admirable, and sometimes it's the whole thing that makes them appealing... but the problem with them as a company is they never seem to know when it's good to dance to the beat of their own drum and when it's good to meet industry standards.

Honestly, I think Wii U is beyond saving. I cannot think of a strategy that would change what has happened, no amount of Zelda's or Mario's are going to be enough. The market is simply not interested right now in large numbers.

But for the next console? If I were them, I'd be willing to put anything up for grabs. Nintendo's most appealing facet right now is the memories people have of them, which are always positive. Maybe they could do something revolutionary with their retro lineup? Like how PC emulators have ways to play old SNES games with friends, they could perhaps build a system infrastructure that is capable of playing their old catalogue online? And they'd have a smartphone/tablet app that you could transfer any game you've purchased on your Nintendo system to your phone or your tablet. The goal would be to get the system in at $149.99 or less, and carve out your own niche... that of family reintroducing their kids to the classics of the past. That would be the whole marketing angle. They could create new game in "retro styles" - Gamecube generation style games, NES generation style game, SNES generation style games, Gameboy generation style games. Those games would be under the "Generations" label, giving people a clear indication of what they're getting. Retro is chic. Not only would that appeal to retro sensibilities, but it'd allow them to pump out games at a much faster rate - it's cheaper to produce games from those generations, and it's clear Nintendo had trouble adapting to the HD gen. That's not to say the system wouldn't be HD, it would, but that would not be the focal point.

I don't know. I am really just throwing out steam. But I hope they come up with something.

 

[Interfectum]

It's possible if you lock yourself in the room, you'll come up with something everyone else missed. But it's probably more likely you'll miss something everyone else came up with.

That's a beautiful statement and sums up Nintendo almost perfectly. Wow.

 

[Majukun]

I'm not sure I follow. Nintendo is the biggest of all publishers, so big that were they 3rd party we'd speculate about whether or not they would make their own hardware. But publishing small Japanese titles is not really for a large company like them, that's for the Nippon Ichi's and Xseeds of the world.

well,the majority of the big japanese titles are self-published (capcom,namco,sega etc..),and nintendo lacks the connection to penetrate the western market (maybe as a publisher the situation will be different,but at the moment their relationship with western third parties are at a minimum)where we have already ea,activision and ubisoft as the big three console publisher.
that's why i suggested to start small by take control of the publishing market in japan,and build from there

 

[EmCeeGramr]

Please enjoy the Nintendo VR Experience, with high-res 400x240 screens for each eye.

 

[Pie and Beans]

Revising forecasts
This revision should have definitely occurred last quarter. Most analysis observed at the time that failing to revise the forecast was asinine as it was obvious they wouldn't hit their targets. Even noting that the holiday quarter is by far the biggest sales driver, when you're half-way through the year and less than 10% of the way towards your expected forecast and nothing that would materially change the forecast during the holiday quarter, it's time to revise. In the last quarter, Nintendo had Pikmin 3 and TW101's second quarters and Super Mario 3d World. There was no reason to assume based on past sales that 3d World would have sold materially better than NSMBU. Donkey Kong Country was delayed to cover gaps in the release calendar, which is sort of shocking in and of itself. So either way, every single person here would have told you the 9 million wasn't going to happen. I had expected a revision to 4-4.5 million prior to now--was it just a case of Nintendo preferring to do one enormous guidance revision rather than two smaller ones?

Iwata
It's not clear to me that Iwata stepping down would be productive. Who would you replace him with within Japan? It's true Nintendo could easily poach a GREE executive, but I think the single biggest structural problem Nintendo faces is a misunderstanding of the global market, and while pivoting towards (not entirely!) Japanese mobile concerns might help make investors feel better, I don't think it's a long-term solution to Nintendo's woes.

Home market
- Short term Wii U: Wii U is not going to reach any kind of lofty goals. As a result, it makes sense to concede this instead of stringing people along by saying "We expect <our next title> to help significantly drive hardware". I don't think there's a need to kill the system and I don't think any new system being launched would work any better. I also don't think dropping the GamePad would really benefit them. I don't think a price drop would materially change demand at this point. So I think set modest forecasts, work on software that's going to sell big, work on global instead of Japanese-focused software, use outsourcing to plug holes in the release calendar. In terms of third parties, it's a write-off at this point. I'd focus on securing Wii U's niche for stuff like Skylanders, LEGO games, dancing and fitness games. It's not a good sign to me that Just Dance is still mostly on Wii, and that Xbox 360 and Xbox One appear to have inherited the rest of the audience rather than Wii U. If the war chest is big enough to start working to secure
- Medium term Wii U: Try to pump internal money into aggressive cost-reduction plans on Wii U. I recognize Nintendo's in a worse position to cost-reduce than Sony or Microsoft because they have no internal production at all, relatively little engineering capacity, and lower scale with fabrication plants. But I still think they could probably reduce cost quickly if they made it priority 1. It's better to be in a situation where you're selling 5 million units of hardware a year but making a profit on each. This also takes some pressure off software performance.
- Long term Home Market: Consider not replacing the console. Sunset it within 5 years of release or so (end of 2017). Look to low cost, globally focused solutions for future hardware. Look into how network services are driving profit for a lot of companies. Look at the needs of individual markets beyond Japan. Don't make anything a hardware design priority that won't lead to global success--"it fits well in Japanese living rooms" is absolutely not something that matters at all. If hardware doesn't make sense, don't do hardware. It's healthier to have a company that shrinks but is more sustainable than preserving the size of the company at all costs.

Portable Market
- Short term 3DS: Given that most of the 3DS' major software has been depleted, much of it at a significant decline from DS highs (although not all! Yay Fire Emblem!), I think the short term plan means recognizing that 2012 and 2013 were high years and there's no immediate strategy to replicate them through software. Getting software costs down so that there's a broad reason for buy-in is probably a good move. $20 and $10 software would really help the hardware pick up, I think. Make software as easy to buy as possible.
- Medium term 3DS: Start moving internal teams into smaller, more agile configurations making quickly iterated games. This pays dividends in two ways. First, if you ever do need the escape hatch for Mobile, your teams are more ready. Second, you can lower effective software pricepoints to be able to compete with and head off Mobile. You should also get used to the mobile style of releasing a product and constantly updating it in order to keep attention on it.
- Long term Portables: Future hardware will probably need to be always-connected (both for software benefits and for hardware usage benefits). If this means you need to make a phone, then you need to learn how to make a phone and how to partner with various countries telecom firms. If this means it's not a phone but something more like a tablet, then your OS and software situation will be way behind and you should have a plan for catching up that relies on actually understanding competitors. If this means getting out of hardware, your company will get massively smaller and you should be prepared for that.

Overall company
- Short term overall company: Transfer as much power as possible out of Japan to make the company more global. More autonomy for regional divisions. Look to Sony and Sega as model companies that are still very Japanese but that have recognize that this market sector might benefit from control and power being vested outside Japan. Start looking at what competitors are doing, because when you're an iconoclast and successful everyone loves it, but when you're an iconoclast and failing and confused as to why, everyone else has an answer for you. What are other companies doing that you're not? What assumptions have you internalized?
- Medium term overall company: Minimize burn rate so that the loss of the hardware business would not cause as much of an immediate system shock or massive layoffs. Lower software prices to reflect structural erosion in value of software.


I think investors want to see mobile, rightly or wrongly. I think it would be an error if Nintendo became a MORE Japanese company by eventually giving in to investor demands by focusing on GREE type situations. I think it'd be more sustainable to operate on a more global basis. I think if they do choose to participate in Mobile, it shouldn't be in the extremely limited Japanese context. But I think being able to see with a more global horizon requires a more global company. So to me, Nintendo's #1 challenge going forward is becoming a more global company.

Sombre, but it feels like you can see the writing on the wall for Nintendo's hardware business with all the long term outs you've proposed and I agree with. A few pointers:

- WiiU Price Cut through means of GamePad removal. Many cry foul whats the point, and really the only one is whether they ever want to make a home console again. A 3rd place console survives its twilight years by reaching the impulse "oh why not" extra-console buy.

The GamePad is the obstacle to that right now, but then in kind theres no doubt Zelda U is going to be so all up in the GamePad's functions it may be impossible to cut. Essentially the WiiU's failure has written off the entire home console future for them one way or another. Theres also no chance of third parties buying the same line for the 3rd or 4th time and show up on another.

- Globalisation. This is something that absolutely needs to happen, but is probably also the most expensive beyond hardware. Iwata can't be fired right off, but he should have a timer placed on him on setting the new team up in a years time that includes a totally freshblooded Japanese arm, and an independant and equally executive powered western arm. Essentially they have to do what MS/Xbox is doing right now in a way and poach a high level western CEO, and re-create an autonomous Nintendo America again. I'm not sure who that is, since a couple years ago was the time to pick up skeleton western crews across the globe and build from there (Nokia, Blackberry before it was terminal, etc) and even companies like Amazon are absorbing more game world talent.

-Software. Push new internal japanese teams cut free from Miyamoto legacy. Koizumi team needs to be allowed to make his own "Mario", "Zelda", or whatever.

I wholeheartedly agree Mobile and GREE isn't the way to go, even though thats the only idea in investors head right now. They absolutely must get dedicated handheld prices down because I can't bring myself to pay £30 for 3DS games and e-Shop is a joke. They need to create their own subscription service steeped in a ritualistic celebration of what videogames used to mean and make themselves totally inseparable from that movement.

The "unwrapping" of e-Shop items is like the tiniest baby step of what I mean, and Miiverse too, but it needs to be all encompassing and massively exciting. Stop selling roms for £6 a pop, and start using them as weapons. Animal Crossing used to have NES games to incite as 'rewards', why not tie your Achievement/Stamp system to earning weird, rare, unsellable in their unfinished state stuff like Starfox 2, the satellaview versions of Zeldas and so on. StreetPass is... sort of on the right track, just needs to be for the internet and not ridiculously limited broadcast range of portables.


- Hardware. Try one more time, all in on a dedciated handheld (Vita level) with an HDMI out and a cheap extra controller with touchpad and see if they can reverse fortunes and go from a potentially 70 mill 3DS back up to a system that can sell 100 mill with all the eggs in that basket.

No they can't make a phone, no they can't make a tablet with an OS unless they merge with HTC, Asus, or someone else. No I dont think they have the money or tech nouse to popularise VR before everyone else. I think theres one more "maybe we can make a go of this hardware thing" before earnest and real moves to going third party/subscription only. They could probably push out a low-rent 5DS as a final hurrah legacy lap if a 4DS doesnt achieve what it must (say it aimed for 100 mill, only hit 40-50), but only while they were also mobilising on transitioning out of the hardware game entirely.

 

[ArchedThunder]

Please enjoy the Nintendo VR Experience, with high-res 400x240 screens for each eye.

My poor retinas

 

[CSX]

Please enjoy the Nintendo VR Experience, with high-res 400x240 screens for each eye.

And touch screen functionality with your eyeballs!

 

[Taker666]

Let the Wii U die, move current projects to next gen console(3rd party), re-focus on mobile(2/3DS) and move some legacy stuff to phones and tablets. Profit as much as possible and maybe compete in the console market space next gen.

I don't think that would make much financial sense to be honest. The cost of the getting up to speed on those other platforms (where they have zero experience) would be pretty high.

Frankly it would make more sense for them to downscale their Wii U games to the 3DS. If Nintendo dropped out of the home console race I'm not convinced they'd make games for other home consoles.

 

[OryoN]

What about all the billions they made under him?

Yeah, most people who want to burn the man at the stake will ignore that fact.

Still, the fact that such a ridiculous forecast was co-signed by him, shows how freaking out of touch he and the company is. If this doesn't wake them up out of their generation-long slumber, nothing will.

 

[Hiccup]

Please enjoy the Nintendo VR Experience, with high-res 400x240 screens for each eye.

I would very much enjoy it, thank you.

 

[Omikaru]

Please enjoy the Nintendo VR Experience, with high-res 400x240 screens for each eye.

When people say it's "sharp", they literally mean the aliasing looks like it will cut them.

 

[Ecotic]

Time to buy Nintendo stock or can it go lower?

No, not now. Bad news like this usually has a one-two punch. The shock the first day, then the toxic shroud of malaise that sets in and surrounds the company until a new earnings report or forecast revision changes the paradigm. It could drop to $12ish soon, which acted as the bottom last year and will probably be so again.

 

[Interfectum]

I would very much enjoy it, thank you.

Just set the bar low, huh?

 

[evilromero]

It would be so easy to remap those games to not utilize the controller. I really didn't like playing 101 with the gamepad either. I would try and do the swipes on the screen but the joystick was so much more consistent.



A 199 SMG3 machine would be pretty tempting for the market I think. I agree that overall they are never saving this system.

Forget Galaxy. Move onto a Mario 64 sequel that just blows our ass out of the water. Nintendo needs ambition.

 

[Mysterious]

Wonder if it'll be possible that they get a highly qualified external person to replace Iwata as President of Nintendo Co., Ltd. I wonder if it's even possible that it be a Western person due to the fact the large majority of Nintendo's sales potential is in the NA/EU regions. This new leader could help expand Nintendo globally to have a stronger presence in South America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, South Africa, India, China, South East Asia (Vietnam, Thailand, etc), which could potentially drive up install bases significantly. They need to work out innovative pricing schemes for these regions however (except probably the Middle East), as costs are a crucial factor in purchasing habits in these countries.

Also, out of curiosity: Does NCL even have a CEO? Iwata is Global President, Nintendo Co., Ltd. and Chief Executive Officer, Nintendo of America, Inc/

 

[Mikey Jr.]

Dropping their expectations of the wiiu from 9 million to 2.8 is embarrassing....

 

[GSG Flash]

Nintendo cannot kill off the Wii U unless they risk burning everyone who already invested in it. If they did that then the majority would probably ignore the next system at launch just in case Nintendo decides to burn them again.

This.

There's a reason why companies keep supporting under-performing products, no matter how much money it's losing them. If they don't support it then they set a precedent for abandoning their userbase when it suits them, which creates a lot of hostility against the company. No one wants to buy products from a company that has a huge dark cloud hovering above them.

 

[Pie and Beans]

NTDOY down 19 points so far today. :O

Glad that I sold my shares last week...

That 16k/Jan 10th high really was the dump point I feel, unless some big drastic horrible "WE'RE MAKING IOS GAMES" forced announcement created false hope.

Aqua, Aqua, Aquamarine, what is your plan

 

[Screamapillar]

This is what I think would alleviate Nintendo's woes in the short-term, and increase the Wii U install base enough that there is a solid base to release large volumes of software and accessories on. Purely from a business standpoint, and not from "This is what I want to play right now as a gamer":

1) Drop price immediately to $249, and have two 32GB SKUs - one with NSMBU, and one with Nintendo Land. Include a Pro controller in each SKU, so every new Wii U owner has a GamePad and a Pro controller out of the box.

2) As soon as Mario Kart 8 launches, and some momentum is restored, and the sales trajectory is noticeably improving, release a "Nintendo Selects" line of Wii U software. Drop Pikmin, NSMBU, Wario, Wii Party, Sonic LW and 3D World all to $29.99. This will immediately increase software sales, and Nintendo can still make at least some money from them. Maybe 3D World could be $39 or $49 instead of $59, if $29 seems low. Whatever. The immediate goal is to increase software sales and generate as much interest as possible for the Wii U. This will have the added benefit of helping to bring back third-parties who have been burned by low Wii U sales ever since launch.

3) Completely overhaul the Wii U Virtual Console. Add the major NES and SNES games that are still missing, and add N64 games to the roster. Have straight N64 ports, and then offer premium N64 games for $19 or $29 each that have enhanced textures and character models, similar to WWHD, but perhaps not quite as much of a production. Make a big splash with the digital offerings. Go absolutely nuts. Make people say "Alright, I really need to go onto the eShop and check some of this stuff out. Nintendo's got a lot of good stuff on there."

4) All the while, as #1, 2, and 3 are happening, begin re-designing the Wii U and the nature of it's connection with the GamePad. Make the GamePad smaller, less expensive, and keep the screen the same size. Make it optional, instead of forcing you to have it turned on when you're playing with the Pro Controller. Make it more a tablet, and less a huge, heavy, bulky controller. Keep the buttons and sticks, but toss the giant plastic molding. It's been over two years since that thing was finalized, it can be done. Battery life needs to be doubled, while they're at it.

5) Allow the 3DS to be used as a Wii U input device. Design a way for the 3DS to output video to the Wii U, that lets you use your 3DS to play games on your television, through the Wii U. A.K.A = The natural evolution of GameCube's GameBoy Player, for a new generation of handheld and console. Allow for the GamePad to act as a 3DS while the 3DS is outputting to the Wii U, so you can use the GamePad to play 3DS games on your TV.

And allow the 3DS to be a controller for Wii U titles that don't require dual analog. If there are any. Basically, give players as much freedom and choice as you can. As I said earlier, go nuts. Don't hold back. No reason Smash Bros for Wii U can't be played with a 3DS connected to the Wii U. As an optional controller.

6) The pace of software released needs to be managed better. 3D World couldn't carry Wii U by itself through November and December. 3D World coupled with DKC Tropical Freeze may well have been enough to tip the scales and create much stronger momentum. We'll never know. That's in the past. What I'm saying is, big titles need to be released closer together, and at that point, momentum grows and the system takes off. But releasing one game every 3 or 4 months results in the system bottoming out before the next release, and then you're just clawing back instead of building momentum. Iwata is right about one thing: Momentum is extremely important in the console market. The problem is, having the software ready to make it happen.

7) Assuming all of the above has helped the Wii U to recover and it's managing 8-10 million units per year instead of 2.8, it is time to announce the successor you've been working on since 2013. No idea what it could or should be, but obviously it can't be more than $299, and it needs to have strong launch software ready to go day one. If the software isn't ready, then don't release the system until it is. In other words, do the exact opposite of what you did with the 3DS and Wii U launch.

 

[maquiladora]

Quite a large drop so far today.

 

[mantidor]

Please enjoy the Nintendo VR Experience, with high-res 400x240 screens for each eye.

And touch screen functionality with your eyeballs!

This kind of crazy logic baffles me, just because Nintendo doesn't go for bleeding state of the art in graphics doesn't mean they go the same for everything else.

It's all about user experience, if the level of actual, decent VR is there they would do it, but I don't think VR is something the mass market will get.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Wonder if it'll be possible that they get a highly qualified external person to replace Iwata as President of Nintendo Co., Ltd. I wonder if it's even possible that it be a Western person due to the fact the large majority of Nintendo's sales potential is in the NA/EU regions. This new leader could help expand Nintendo globally to have a stronger presence in South America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, South Africa, India, China, South East Asia (Vietnam, Thailand, etc), which could potentially drive up install bases significantly. They need to work out innovative pricing schemes for these regions however (except probably the Middle East), as costs are a crucial factor in purchasing habits in these countries.

I think getting a global leader would be a net good thing, and especially working on EMEA stuff where Sony demolishes them and Nintendo has no presence... but I think the problem is you can't just put a token westerner at the head of a Japanese company. I think it'd be easier to shift the company's emphasis out of Japan with a Japanese leader than get a non-Japanese leader and then try to shift the company's emphasis out of Japan.

Stringer's tenure at Sony (despite SCE's pretty smoothly executed pivot to the west) he basically said "I couldn't get shit done because Japanese companies are impenetrable". I think that is a word of warning. There needs to be buy-in within Japan to focus the company on other countries.

Edit: Hell, EMEA long-tail sales probably contributed 50 million to PS2, and it's obvious how they're helping Sony with the PS3.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

No they can't make a phone, no they can't make a tablet with an OS unless they merge with HTC, Asus, or someone else. No I dont think they have the money or tech nouse to popularise VR before everyone else. I think theres one more "maybe we can make a go of this hardware thing" before earnest and real moves to going third party/subscription only. They could probably push out a low-rent 5DS as a final hurrah legacy lap if a 4DS doesnt achieve what it must (say it aimed for 100 mill, only hit 40-50), but only while they were also mobilising on transitioning out of the hardware game entirely.

Why they couldn't make a phone or a tablet? They can use Android, so no need to develop a messy OS. They can use off the self parts and reduce R&D costs greatly instead of coming up with custom designs. Way smaller companies are making phones and tablets.

Google lets you set your own store. Work with other companies like HTC or Samsung to come with new controller for games (Samsung is releasing their own controller, so they sure are ineterested in that market opportunity), put your own storefront in many devices.

Is the less painful way to transition to mobile, while keeping your own identity and hardware.

 

[Mpl90]

If they want to do a phone/console hybrid, here

Similarly to Dell Inspiron Duo, the center of the front part rotates around its horizontal axis. Thanks to that, when closed, just by rotating the central part, it becomes a phone. When you open the console, there's the DS/3DS setup and, by rotating the axis, here's the top screen with the camera.

Moreover, by rotating the conjunctions (and L & R), you can have the tablet form of the device. And, with just a pressure, L & R comes out with a little stand, like for ZL and ZR buttons on Wii U GamePad, in order to handhle the console as well as possible.

Probably you noticed the bad quality of my sketches, I did them in 15-20 minutes, also using the DS and 3DS design as default, so not even an original design.

I thought about many possibilities for such an idea: they could sell first the model "phone-console", where there's just the rotating top part, then the "tablet-console", and then the "phone-tablet-console".
Moreover, this would allow to have just a camera for the device, since it's in the rotating top part. And, when you shoot photos to other people, the top rotated screen could be useful for who is being photographed, to see if they're in the right positions and something like that (who's shooting would use the bottom screen).

Look at this. No need for foldable OLED screen, and something certainly different. Look at this, Iwata. Please. Think about it. But remember to put still great games in first place

 

[Father_Brain]

I think its too late to be honest. Over the last 2 decades they have cultivated a fanbase that now largely ignores 3rd party games on their home consoles, because of their insistence on treating 3rd parties like garbage and in turn 3rd parties ignoring their hardware. I'm not sure how you can fix that, and its going to be extremely difficult to bring those types of consumers back to their home consoles to buy 3rd party titles when said types of consumers have long been entrenched in the Xbox/PS/PC markets.

Yep. If their new goal is multiplatform parity with Sony/MS, they needed to start making a serious effort with their sixth console. As I see it, their only options are to go third party, find a hardware partner, or produce a console/handheld hybrid that can be carried entirely by first-party software.

 

[Hiccup]

Nintendo and Sony should team up.

Nintendo creates software for Sony's console.
Sony creates software for Nintendo's handheld.

 

[Arc]

This kind of crazy logic baffles me, just because Nintendo doesn't go for bleeding state of the art in graphics doesn't mean they go the same for everything else.

It's all about user experience, if the level of actual, decent VR is there they would do it, but I don't think VR is something the mass market will get.

I think you missed the point. Nintendo is always behind.

And yeah, a VR resolution of 400x240 would be give me a headache instantly. I mean seriously, the 3DS screen is already painful to look at.

 

[Asd202]

The Wii U's fate was sealed at e3 2013 when it was revealed that Kingdom Hearts 3 and Final Fantasy XV would be skipping Wii U in favor of the PS4 and even the Xbox One. How do you secure Kingdom Hearts 3D for your handheld, but not KH3, which was arguably the most hyped up game reveal since Zelda Twilight Princess.

Wait are you serious?

 

[Pie and Beans]

Why they couldn't make a phone or a tablet? They can use Android, so no need to develop a messy OS. They can use off the self parts and reduce R&D costs greatly instead of coming up with custom designs. Way smaller companies are making phones and tablets.

Google lets you set your own store. Work with other companies like HTC or Samsung to come with new controller for games (Samsung is releasing their own controller, so they sure are ineterested in that market opportunity), put your own storefront in many devices.

Is the less painful way to transition to mobile, while keeping your own identity and hardware.

Nintendo is struggling to compete in the 5-7 year cycle upgrade market of hardware, and behind all their competitors. The smartphone tablet is even more of a shark pool. So their way "into" phones is what, buying HTC for however much? Thats about as risky a move as they could ever make, and I'll stake theres just no competing with Apple, Samsung, and even Sony at this point.

Also say they went as an Android layer. Kinda opens the door to gigantic piracy for any other handset capable of it once its cracked, hacked, rom'd and transplanted. Oops.

 

[Baleoce]

I'm guessing share prices are going to go down again after this news. Probably be some sell-offs when the market reopens (I believe it's closed atm). I wonder how drastic that response will be?

 

[tipoo]

It's funny that most gaming enthusiasts would have come closer than Nintendos own predictions. I'm not sure what they were thinking with the initial estimate.

 

[MaDKaT]

I don't think that would make much financial sense to be honest. The cost of the getting up to speed on those other platforms (where they have zero experience) would be pretty high.

Frankly it would make more sense for them to downscale their Wii U games to the 3DS. If Nintendo dropped out of the home console race I'm not convinced they'd make games for other home consoles.

True. Porting to the PS4/Xone(or even PS3/X360) may be too taxing. My point was more for them to just cut their losses and do what they can to salvage current projects. If they can scale down some games for the 3DS then by all means they should move them to that platform or maybe even the Wii. Other games could be too big and for those they could either shelve or try their hand at non Nintendo environments.

 

[outunderthestars]

Nintendo is a toy company, competing in a tech company space.

The sooner they understand that, the sooner they can start making fundamental changes to their business plan.

 

[Mysterious]

I think getting a global leader would be a net good thing, and especially working on EMEA stuff where Sony demolishes them and Nintendo has no presence... but I think the problem is you can't just put a token westerner at the head of a Japanese company. I think it'd be easier to shift the company's emphasis out of Japan with a Japanese leader than get a non-Japanese leader and then try to shift the company's emphasis out of Japan.

Stringer's tenure at Sony (despite SCE's pretty smoothly executed pivot to the west) he basically said "I couldn't get shit done because Japanese companies are impenetrable". I think that is a word of warning. There needs to be buy-in within Japan to focus the company on other countries.

Edit: Hell, EMEA long-tail sales probably contributed 50 million to PS2, and it's obvious how they're helping Sony with the PS3.

There's absolutely no excuse for Nintendo to not sell the Nintendo DS and Wii in these regions, coupled with a Nintendo Selects budget line of high profile games. They could even outsource a few marquee titles to be the killer application for these regions, such as Wii Cricket in India and Wii Football (Soccer) for South America, Middle East and South Africa. Wii was not a huge product in these regions, and the argument of "mass media has left for Apple" is not really applicable in these regions either.

 

[udivision]

It's funny that most gaming enthusiasts would have come closer than Nintendos own predictions. I'm not sure what they were thinking with the initial estimate.

I know we're not supposed to think that we know more than the company, but that 9 million prediction really made it feel like Nintendo were the only people who didn't have a clue.

 

[Effect]

Nintendo cannot kill off the Wii U unless they risk burning everyone who already invested in it. If they did that then the majority would probably ignore the next system at launch just in case Nintendo decides to burn them again.

Without a doubt. They'd be crazy to do this. There isn't a positive outcome of any type that I can see if they were to do this. As a result they need to rid this out. However they have to use that time wisely and come out with guns blazing on a new system. There would need to be a near complete culture change if that system to is to succeed. Not win against the other but be comparable in sales, etc. They must for once think globally from the very start.

 

[Wolfgunblood Garopa]

Nintendo and Sony should team up.

Nintendo creates software for Sony's console.
Sony creates software for Nintendo's handheld.

They should make the ultimate portable console, the WiiStationDS, and you could install SteamOS on it.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

Nintendo is struggling to compete in the 5-7 year cycle upgrade market of hardware, and behind all their competitors. The smartphone tablet is even more of a shark pool. So their way "into" phones is what, buying HTC for however much? Thats about as risky a move as they could ever make, and I'll stake theres just no competing with Apple, Samsung, and even Sony at this point.

Also say they went as an Android layer. Kinda opens the door to gigantic piracy for any other handset capable of it once its cracked, hacked, rom'd and transplanted. Oops.

It dosn't need to be a "phone", but building their own tablet/android device (with thier own controller if needed) and working with other companies to have their own store in other Android devices. Maybe Sony wouldn't like it, but Samsung definetly is interested in any kind of market opportunity in the Android space. And only being on Samsungs devices is a very big potential market alone.

There's also no need to keep upgrading their hardware at the rate of phone makers. A revision every 2 years or so is more than enough.

 

[Plinko]

I've got to buy some of this stock ASAP.

The moment they announce they're putting games on mobile that price will skyrocket.

 

[outunderthestars]

I know we're not supposed to think that we know more than the company, but that 9 million prediction really made it feel like Nintendo were the only people who didn't have a clue.

Sadly every single one of the people who either said or believed that the Wii U would sell 9 million units will still be working for the company tomorrow.

 

[Justzisguyukno]

If they want to do a phone/console hybrid, here





Look at this. No need for foldable OLED screen, and something certainly different. Look at this, Iwata. Please. Think about it. But remember to put still great games in first place

If Nintendo were to go into the mobile department, this is what I would want from them, but I just don't see it ever happening, or being successful

 

[cafemomo]

Anyone selling?

 

[Kyzer]

Cant wait for the next direct!

 

[injurai]

so much for being bigger than sony

 

[Pie and Beans]

It dosn't need to be a "phone", but building their own tablet/android device (with thier own controller if needed) and working with other companies to have their own store in other Android devices. Maybe Sony wouldn't like it, but Samsung definetly is interested in any kind of market opportunity in the Android space. And only being on Samsungs devices is a very big potential market alone.

There's also no need to keep upgrading their hardware at the rate of phone makers. A revision every 2 years or so is more than enough.

What you're proposing is Nintendo going third party, but for the smartphone tablet market before they'd do so for the home console and PC market. Samsung and Sony and so on need no "help" in making hardware, all they'd want from Nintendo is their lucrative IP games.

 

[GenericUser]

I've got to buy some of this stock ASAP.

The moment they announce they're putting games on mobile that price will skyrocket.

Thinking the same, how low will it go ?

 

[Justzisguyukno]

so much for being bigger than sony

Unless I'm mistaken, Nintendo is still 2.5B ahead.