Support NeoGAF

RedSwirl · Apr 26, 2012

As expected with Nintendo's fiscal loss we got a least one more article asking them to switch over to iOS gaming. Some analyst in Japan even suggested that it'll happen in two years when the Wii-U inevitably fails. My question throughout all this is: where the hell are the profits?

Yeah Angry Birds, Zynga, and PopCap are huge, but does anyone else make it big in that space? Do the ports of old games like GTAIII, Max Payne, and Chrono Trigger actually move anything significant? Do any of those games make anything close to what Mario, Mario Kart, and Call of Duty make?

And on the subject, is there any reasonable way to get these investors and the people who write articles about them to realize why Nintendo doesn't switch over to mobile? And why aren't they asking the same thing of Sony, a company that's been getting its ass kicked financially? I mean, we talk shit about these people on forums, but none of it ever reaches the news sites publishing these articles.

hardcastlemccormick · Apr 26, 2012

Nintendo's ability to sell hardware is dependent on their powerful IP's. The less potent those become, the harder Nintendo's job becomes. Thus, there is no reason for Nintendo to chase after smartphone revenue that would offer them what is essentially peanuts to their financial numbers while weakening their brands.

Criminal Upper · Apr 26, 2012

This thread is not doing it for me and is loosing my interest when compared to mobile gaming and tablets.

Please shut down any future plans you have on posting, and re-release your thread ideas on iOS.

Only then will I listen.

But seriously though, I have a few friends working on iOS games, and they barely break even when all is said and done. If they had released stuff much earlier on, they'd be making a killing, but the store is filled with such an overwhelming tide of crap nowadays, nothing gets noticed.

GCX · Apr 26, 2012

RedSwirl said:
And why aren't they asking the same thing of Sony, a company that's been getting its ass kicked financially?

Well Sony is doing that Playstation Suite thing.

UncleSporky · Apr 26, 2012

Criminal Upper said:
But seriously though, I have a few friends working on iOS games, and they barely break even when all is said and done. If they had released stuff much earlier on, they'd be making a killing, but the store is filled with such an overwhelming tide of crap nowadays, nothing gets noticed.

Yeah. Some level of curation is important. See Steam.

SmokyDave · Apr 26, 2012

I don't think we have sufficient data to draw any conclusions.

Criminal Upper said:
But seriously though, I have a few friends working on iOS games, and they barely break even when all is said and done. If they had released stuff much earlier on, they'd be making a killing, but the store is filled with such an overwhelming tide of crap nowadays, nothing gets noticed.

Yeah, that 'Draw Something' definitely passed everyone by.

The app store has more decent stuff on it today than ever before.

lucius · Apr 26, 2012

Trying to address the why don't they ask Sony to switch to iOS there big games wouldn't translate as well as Nintendo games would. Not saying Nintendo should go iOS but understand why some analyst might suggest it.

bede-x · Apr 26, 2012

RedSwirl said:
Do the ports of old games like GTAIII, Max Payne, and Chrono Trigger actually move anything significant?

There's so many thousand titles on there that I think the average game can't make much, but with that said there are a lot of ports released all the time and why do that if they don't make money?

And it's not just popular games like GTA, but also niche titles like Crimson Gem Saga, Vay, Shin Megami Tensei.. Why would developers pick a mobile platform like iOS if they'd make more money elsewhere?

grimshawish · Apr 26, 2012

Nintendo switiching to iOS is a hilarious idea.
iOS certaintly is not a 'fad' but fact is a large amount of game developers have tried and failed on the platform. You don't just stick a brand on a different device and expect it to do as well!

In the end they might do well to think about the old Mario games, and the side scrolling games. But generally the mark-up is far far better through other systems not to mention THE ONE YOU OWN. The only cost for Nintendo is in making the game (and recently selling the system, but as they acknowledge those costs are set to fall)

In iOS Nintendo would struggle, the fact is games come and go and generally we'll see a downward trend in the amount people are buying over time (people always point out how they are a quick distraction/addictive - which means there isn't much brand growth)

A lot of the sales come from new adapters and people across the world buying games on a massive market! Nintendo however sells hardware and games.

Nintendo and other developers make much more money through £30 games, than iOS developers do. Not to mention moving to iOS leaves a gap in the market in the main marketplace which WILL be filled. The demand is there.

iOS games will crash and is currently being propped up by the growth of the hardware. Thats going to slow as google/others get involved.

Nintendo would do better to grow their own online store, and they've done more on the e-shop for 3ds at least in the last year than they have in their companies history online imo.

Certainly Brain Training would be a good adpator to iOS. I suppose, thats the one thing I'd look at. Nothing else stands out.

specialguy · Apr 26, 2012

RedSwirl said:
As expected with Nintendo's fiscal loss we got a least one more article asking them to switch over to iOS gaming. Some analyst in Japan even suggested that it'll happen in two years when the Wii-U inevitably fails. My question throughout all this is: where the hell are the profits?

Yeah Angry Birds, Zynga, and PopCap are huge, but does anyone else make it big in that space? Do the ports of old games like GTAIII, Max Payne, and Chrono Trigger actually move anything significant? Do any of those games make anything close to what Mario, Mario Kart, and Call of Duty make?

And on the subject, is there any reasonable way to get these investors and the people who write articles about them to realize why Nintendo doesn't switch over to mobile? And why aren't they asking the same thing of Sony, a company that's been getting its ass kicked financially? I mean, we talk shit about these people on forums, but none of it ever reaches the news sites publishing these articles.

I dont believe so. The revenue just isn't there on 99c or 2.99. There's a few ultra smash hits that everybody knows about, but nothing much else.

Basically if iOs became standard, companies like EA or even Epic with a lot of employees would cease to exist, because mobile just cant support that kind of manpower.

creid · Apr 26, 2012

RedSwirl said:
As expected with Nintendo's fiscal loss we got a least one more article asking them to switch over to iOS gaming. Some analyst in Japan even suggested that it'll happen in two years when the Wii-U inevitably fails. My question throughout all this is: where the hell are the profits?

Yeah Angry Birds, Zynga, and PopCap are huge, but does anyone else make it big in that space? Do the ports of old games like GTAIII, Max Payne, and Chrono Trigger actually move anything significant? Do any of those games make anything close to what Mario, Mario Kart, and Call of Duty make?

And on the subject, is there any reasonable way to get these investors and the people who write articles about them to realize why Nintendo doesn't switch over to mobile? And why aren't they asking the same thing of Sony, a company that's been getting its ass kicked financially? I mean, we talk shit about these people on forums, but none of it ever reaches the news sites publishing these articles.

Did you not hear how popular the fake "Pokemon Yellow" app was? You don't think Nintendo games would be million-seller, blockbuster hits on iOS devices? They aren't asking the same thing of Sony because Sony doesn't make Mario games. The iOS audience would not give a shit if a Ratchet & Clank game came out.

RedSwirl · Apr 26, 2012

Criminal Upper said:
This thread is not doing it for me and is loosing my interest when compared to mobile gaming and tablets.

Please shut down any future plans you have on posting, and re-release your thread ideas on iOS.

Only then will I listen.

My thread ideas are already universal:

Dreamwriter · Apr 26, 2012

The big thing about iOS is its huge audience. As of a year ago there were 108 million iPhones sold, 40 million iPads, and 60 million iPod Touche, all able to run the same games. Admittedly, a lot of those are older devices that are no longer being used, but device sales have been increasing every year, so the majority of those are newer devices.

With that huge audience, any game that has a huge company backing it has the potential to make a lot of money, even if the highest price anyone will ever pay is $12. That's why you have big companies like EA, Capcom, and Square doing iOS development. For little indie games it's a lottery, but for the big recognizable games by companies that can advertise, it's a very viable platform.

grimshawish · Apr 26, 2012

Criminal Upper said:
But seriously though, I have a few friends working on iOS games, and they barely break even when all is said and done. If they had released stuff much earlier on, they'd be making a killing, but the store is filled with such an overwhelming tide of crap nowadays, nothing gets noticed.

The specific problem is that iOS is NOT for corporations. Its for individuals to continue developing and one day have a hit.

Sure some companies form under iOS, but generally no ones 'moved' there.
The best model so far has been micro-transactions (see Valve, we have data on that and its been a massive success story) so Nintendo should instead think about:
- Mario Kart - customisation (Microstransactions for designs - then DLC maps)
- Mii/Wii - customisation (Microtransactions for additional things)
- Mario 3D Land (Again DLC maps)

Nintendo have a lot to draw on (the points system online for purchases also makes microtransactions something the market will quickly take on!) in terms of profit, but iOS is a very LAZY conclusion. Its actually idiotic and based on little else than some analysts all shouting together - when did we last see this? The internet bubble!

(btw the bubble doesn't mean people are not buying - just the profits will never make back the investments some fools will make - and the owners get rich on 'wages' off the investments)

So yeah I'd say follow Valve. They are similar companies imo. Valve uses its games to sell steam, and thus more of its games. Nintendo uses theres to sell hardware and thus more of its games.

Micro-Transactions WORK. iOS? Not so much.

hardcastlemccormick · Apr 26, 2012

creid said:
Did you not hear how popular the fake "Pokemon Yellow" app was? You don't think Nintendo games would be million-seller, blockbuster hits on iOS devices?

Without a doubt, that would be the case. And yet the revenue from such a venture would be far less than anything Nintendo would consider worth pursuing that the entire thought experiment is a massive waste of time.

The big third parties pretty much only make smartphone apps for promotion (with a few genuine experiments, yes), because pretending there's a market there that's relevant to the big-budget games industry is ignoring the reality of the situation.

BigDug13 · Apr 26, 2012

SmokyDave said:
I don't think we have sufficient data to draw any conclusions.

Yeah, that 'Draw Something' definitely passed everyone by.

The app store has more decent stuff on it today than ever before.

I'm willing to bet that if Draw Something wasn't specifically a 2 player game with direct Facebook link-up, it would not have caught on like it did.

A good game that doesn't have the Facebook advertisement possibility can go unnoticed.

Interfectum · Apr 26, 2012

So much ignorance in this thread.

Nintendo would make an absolute killing if they released a Mario or Pokemon on iOS.

Ulairi · Apr 26, 2012

Interfectum said:
So much ignorance in this thread.

Nintendo would make an absolute killing if they released a Mario or Pokemon on iOS.

So much ignorance in this post. Nintendo already makes a killing releasing Pokemon or Mario on their own platform.

lucius · Apr 26, 2012

I think something like the older Super Mario Bros games would sell good considering how little it would likely take to port it. I doubt it would negatively impact their Virtual Console sales. Some older Metroid and Zelda games might translate well also and sell great, but they likely won't do it.

Wiktor · Apr 26, 2012

There's nowhere near enough money in iOS for a company as big as Nintendo to survive on it.

I don't think most people realize just how little those mobile games are making. Angry Birds is worldwide phenomenon, the most popular smartphone games of all time..and yet since 2009 all games from the series merely made about 100 mln dollars on revenue.

To give you some perspective: Minecraft alone made only a little less (20% less to be precise) than the whole Angry Birds line.

Heck, I think latest Pokemon made more profit for Nintendo than the whole Angry Birds line.

jcm · Apr 26, 2012

grimshawish said:
The specific problem is that iOS is NOT for corporations. Its for individuals to continue developing and one day have a hit.

You don't have any idea what you're talking about.

Edit: Here's some context for you:

Mobile application analytics company Distimo has released a new mobile gaming trends report, noting that just 10 publishers account for more than half of all downloads in the top 300 most popular paid games for iPhone.

The success or failure of the iphone game I knocked up in my free time is in no way indicative of the money being made on the app store.

RedSwirl · Apr 26, 2012

bede-x said:
There's so many thousand titles on there that I think the average game can't make much, but with that said there are a lot of ports released all the time and why do that if they don't make money?

And it's not just popular games like GTA, but also niche titles like Crimson Gem Saga, Vay, Shin Megami Tensei.. Why would developers pick a mobile platform like iOS if they'd make more money elsewhere?

Yeah, games are being ported, but virtually all of them are games that came out more than 10, and sometimes 20 years ago. Do we know how much those are selling?

creid said:
Did you not hear how popular the fake "Pokemon Yellow" app was? You don't think Nintendo games would be million-seller, blockbuster hits on iOS devices? They aren't asking the same thing of Sony because Sony doesn't make Mario games. The iOS audience would not give a shit if a Ratchet & Clank game came out.

I have no doubt that Nintendo's games would rise to the top of iOS charts, but how much would that theoretically make? How many people bought that fake Pokemon Yellow?

I'll even admit that it sucks that no one has made an iOS strategy game that steps up to Fire Emblem or Advance Wars. And Pokemon kinda would be the shit on my iPHone.

Dreamwriter said:
The big thing about iOS is its huge audience. As of a year ago there were 108 million iPhones sold, 40 million iPads, and 60 million iPod Touche, all able to run the same games. Admittedly, a lot of those are older devices that are no longer being used, but device sales have been increasing every year, so the majority of those are newer devices.

With that huge audience, any game that has a huge company backing it has the potential to make a lot of money, even if the highest price anyone will ever pay is $12. That's why you have big companies like EA, Capcom, and Square doing iOS development. For little indie games it's a lottery, but for the big recognizable games by companies that can advertise, it's a very viable platform.

It definitely makes sense for third parties to port their old games onto iOS. I guess the people writing these articles don't understand what a "first party" developer is.

GCX · Apr 26, 2012

Interfectum said:
So much ignorance in this thread.

Nintendo would make an absolute killing if they released a Mario or Pokemon on iOS.

But "making a killing" on iOS would still only mean pocket money for a company of Nintendo's size. Would that be enough for Nintendo to risk the appeal of their own hardware by releasing games on other platforms?

UncleSporky · Apr 26, 2012

Dreamwriter said:
The big thing about iOS is its huge audience. As of a year ago there were 108 million iPhones sold, 40 million iPads, and 60 million iPod Touche, all able to run the same games. Admittedly, a lot of those are older devices that are no longer being used, but device sales have been increasing every year, so the majority of those are newer devices.

With that huge audience, any game that has a huge company backing it has the potential to make a lot of money, even if the highest price anyone will ever pay is $12. That's why you have big companies like EA, Capcom, and Square doing iOS development. For little indie games it's a lottery, but for the big recognizable games by companies that can advertise, it's a very viable platform.

Well, that's the question of this thread, isn't it? Everyone's going around calling it a viable platform and nobody's posting numbers or evidence that it really works.

Large game companies releasing yearly iterations/sequels on the platform would be a good sign, but it still wouldn't be the same thing as proof that they're making a killing. Could just mean that porting stuff over is easy and they want some representation on the platform.

Interfectum · Apr 26, 2012

Ulairi said:
So much ignorance in this post. Nintendo already makes a killing releasing Pokemon or Mario on their own platform.

Oh look who it is.

Nintendo could release games on both. I'm never going to get a 3DS but I would buy a Mario game on iphone without hesitation.

hardcastlemccormick · Apr 26, 2012

legend166 said:
Total app store revenue in 2011: $3.6B - http://9to5mac.com/2011/07/07/apple...5b-downloads-425000-apps-nearly-3-6b-revenue/

Total Nintendo revenue in 2011: $12B - http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/41/41877.html

Stolen outright from another thread.

As it has been said: any App Store revenue is a joke compared to what Nintendo currently juggles. They're pushing hardware. Anything that lowers the value of their hardware is detrimental to the above figure. This includes ports and games to other platforms.

wsippel · Apr 26, 2012

About $100 on average if I remember correctly. I'm not kidding.

SmokyDave · Apr 26, 2012

BigDug13 said:
I'm willing to bet that if Draw Something wasn't specifically a 2 player game with direct Facebook link-up, it would not have caught on like it did.

A good game that doesn't have the Facebook advertisement possibility can go unnoticed.

The fact is, it did catch on.

Look at MvC2. Released to no fanfare, many iOS gamers panned it and yet it went straight to number 1. Do I think Capcom will port more titles? Yes, yes I do. Do I think they'll sell well, possibly regardless of quality? Why yes, yes I do.

wsippel said:
About $100 on average. I'm not kidding.

So disingenuous. That figure is ancient and includes every fart-app, wallpaper browser etc..

Wiktor · Apr 26, 2012

Interfectum said:
Oh look who it is.

Nintendo could release games on both. I'm never going to get a 3DS but I would buy a Mario game on iphone without hesitation.

You might never want 3DS, but plenty people do and they might not get it if they can get the games on their phone. The pennies they would get by releasing it on iphone simply aren't worth the risk of lowering their hardware sales.

Ulairi · Apr 26, 2012

Dreamwriter said:
The big thing about iOS is its huge audience. As of a year ago there were 108 million iPhones sold, 40 million iPads, and 60 million iPod Touche, all able to run the same games. Admittedly, a lot of those are older devices that are no longer being used, but device sales have been increasing every year, so the majority of those are newer devices.

With that huge audience, any game that has a huge company backing it has the potential to make a lot of money, even if the highest price anyone will ever pay is $12. That's why you have big companies like EA, Capcom, and Square doing iOS development. For little indie games it's a lottery, but for the big recognizable games by companies that can advertise, it's a very viable platform.

Even at $12, Nintendo would get $8.40 from that. Nintendo does better because they can charge $50 for their Wii, $60 for their WiiU, and $40 for their 3DS games. The revenue is better on those and development costs for a Mario or Pokemon would not get smaller on iOS unless the games were simpler like iOS games that charge a lot less money for.

RedSwirl · Apr 26, 2012

Here's what I see possibly happening: Nintendo goes full-blown with apps on the Wii-U. Turn the thing into a complete multimedia hub in the livingroom - the one area Apple has yet to completely conquer. That's precisely why I don't think smartphones and consoles are the same market yet.

Given that though, you have to wonder why they haven't gone full-blown with apps on the 3DS yet. Can Nintendo possibly encourage an app ecosystem even approaching what Apple has built?

Ulairi · Apr 26, 2012

SmokyDave said:
The fact is, it did catch on.

Look at MvC2. Released to no fanfare, many iOS gamers panned it and yet it went straight to number 1. Do I think Capcom will port more titles? Yes, yes I do. Do I think they'll sell well, possibly regardless of quality? Why yes, yes I do.

So disingenuous. That figure is ancient and includes every fart-app, wallpaper browser etc..

The problem with games like Draw Something is that very few iOS games keep selling. Nintendo will keep selling Super Mario Brothers 3D Land for the life of the 3DS and it will continue to be sold at $40. Most iOS games get hot and then drop for the next fad.

jcm · Apr 26, 2012

hardcastlemccormick said:
Stolen outright from another thread.

As it has been said: any App Store revenue is a joke compared to what Nintendo currently juggles.

Right, because comparing hardware + software revenue to software revenue is very illuminating. How about you throw a margin comparison in there, too?

wsippel · Apr 26, 2012

SmokyDave said:
So disingenuous. That figure is ancient and includes every fart-app, wallpaper browser etc..

Not that old and it's probably even less by now, considering the selection of games grows way faster than the revenue increases. And yes, of course it includes everything in the gaming section.

Ulairi · Apr 26, 2012

jcm said:
Right, because comparing hardware + software revenue to software revenue is very illuminating. How about you throw a margin comparison in there, too?

Nintendo sells both. When you have iCultist wanting Nintendo to drop their own hardware to sell iOS games it is very relevant.

Derrick01 · Apr 26, 2012

Interfectum said:
Oh look who it is.

Nintendo could release games on both. I'm never going to get a 3DS but I would buy a Mario game on iphone without hesitation.

Nintendo doesn't care about you. They're not going to risk their platforms to satisfy the 5 people who aren't going to buy a 3DS anyway to play Mario. They're worried if they do that then everyone who has both will just go to ios, harming the 3DS in the long run.

They make more than enough money on their own. Much more than the appstore as a whole let alone whatever paltry amount most individual devs make.

hardcastlemccormick · Apr 26, 2012

RedSwirl said:
Given that though, you have to wonder why they haven't gone full-blown with apps on the 3DS yet.

They know they cannot compete in the portable space.

RedSwirl said:
Can Nintendo possibly encourage an app ecosystem even approaching what Apple has built?

No. But as we have seen, "good enough" will still hit the mainstream pleasure centers, so if it's at least a good facsimile of an app ecosystem, it could manage something. But this is all very hypothetical.

jcm said:
Right, because comparing hardware + software revenue to software revenue is very illuminating. How about you throw a margin comparison in there, too?

It matters because it highlights what Nintendo's focus is. They're not trying to make a killing on software. They are trying to make their hardware more valuable. It also shows that even if Nintendo was able to get into a fraction of that app store revenue, it still wouldn't stack up to anything worth what they do now.

SmokyDave · Apr 26, 2012

Ulairi said:
The problem with games like Draw Something is that very few iOS games keep selling. Nintendo will keep selling Super Mario Brothers 3D Land for the life of the 3DS and it will continue to be sold at $40. Most iOS games get hot and then drop for the next fad.

Could you make your data available for the rest of us to peruse?

wsippel said:
Not that old and it's probably even less by now, considering the selection of games grows way faster than the revenue increases. And yes, of course it includes everything in the gaming section.

Can you provide the source for the $100 figure? Maybe for the games increasing faster than the revenue too?

Basically, in the absence of any useful figures, people are just going to suggest whatever they 'feel' is correct. I will suggest that revenue is shrinking in the console and handheld space and growing in the mobile space. Why not, I don't need to prove it.

Haunted · Apr 26, 2012

Much like on Facebook, a select few strike it big, a handful more make solid income to work on their next title and a vast majority are busts.

That's what an open marketplace gets you. A few big winners and lots of losers.

Interfectum · Apr 26, 2012

RedSwirl said:
Here's what I see possibly happening: Nintendo goes full-blown with apps on the Wii-U. Turn the thing into a complete multimedia hub in the livingroom - the one area Apple has yet to completely conquer. That's precisely why I don't think smartphones and consoles are the same market yet.

Given that though, you have to wonder why they haven't gone full-blown with apps on the 3DS yet. Can Nintendo possibly encourage an app ecosystem even approaching what Apple has built?

Apps work on iPhone/Android because it's a device that's with you 24/7. That, coupled with the fact that these smartphones sell tens of millions allow the app ecosystem to exist. That will never take off on a game console like 3DS. There simply won't be enough incentive to support it. People buy 3DS to play Nintendo games and to try out the 3D. They won't have any interest in having their banking app or weather app on the system as they probably already have those things on their phone.

Alexios · Apr 26, 2012

hardcastlemccormick said:
Stolen outright from another thread.

As it has been said: any App Store revenue is a joke compared to what Nintendo currently juggles. They're pushing hardware. Anything that lowers the value of their hardware is detrimental to the above figure. This includes ports and games to other platforms.

Woah... Maybe Nintendo should have these numbers handy for when their silly investors make such suggestions...

Was really sad to see great real iOS games like Ravenmark weren't doing so hot (iirc the devs commented in the GAF thread).

Erethian · Apr 26, 2012

SmokyDave said:
Yeah, that 'Draw Something' definitely passed everyone by.

The app store has more decent stuff on it today than ever before.

The difficulty in getting your product noticed is a pretty consistent criticism of the app store, though.

Ulairi · Apr 26, 2012

SmokyDave said:
Could you make your data available for the rest of us to peruse?

Can you provide the source for the $100 figure?

Basically, people are just going to suggest whatever they 'feel' is correct. I will suggest that revenue is shrinking in the console and handheld space and growing in the mobile space. Why not, I don't need to prove it.

Go look at the app store. read the iOS gaming threads. go read apple blogs. Apple gives us no data so my extrapolations are just as valid as yours. The console space is also 7 years old at this point when the regular cycle is 5 years, that couldn't possibly be it though...nope no sir no how. Nintendo drove a lot of the revenue for the gaming industry and the Wii dropped off a cliff due to Nintendo mismanaging the system.

SmokyDave · Apr 26, 2012

Haunted said:
Much like on Facebook, a select few strike it big, a handful more make solid income to work on their next title and a vast majority are busts.

That's what an open marketplace gets you. A few big winners and lots of losers.

Thank goodness it's nothing like that in the console space!

Ulairi said:
Go look at the app store. read the iOS gaming threads. go read apple blogs. Apple gives us no data so my extrapolations are just as valid as yours. The console space is also 7 years old at this point when the regular cycle is 5 years, that couldn't possibly be it though...nope no sir no how. Nintendo drove a lot of the revenue for the gaming industry and the Wii dropped off a cliff due to Nintendo mismanaging the system.

Eh, I'll just watch the constantly growing support and draw my own conclusions.

Erethian said:
The difficulty in getting your product noticed is a pretty consistent criticism of the app store, though.

Oh definitely, as with XBLA / Indies and even the eShop, barren though it is. Content organisation seems to be tough.

Aaron · Apr 26, 2012

Haunted said:
Much like on consoles, a select few strike it big, a handful more make solid income to work on their next title and a vast majority are busts.

That's what an open marketplace gets you. A few big winners and lots of losers.

It's true about all areas of gaming.

beril · Apr 26, 2012

To answer the question with a completely irrelevant example, Gunman Clive has made close to 10 000$ in it's first three weeks of sales on iphone. I bet Nintendo is really jealous of that kind of money; still decent enough for me though

Erethian · Apr 26, 2012

Haunted said:
Much like on Facebook, a select few strike it big, a handful more make solid income to work on their next title and a vast majority are busts.

That's what an open marketplace gets you. A few big winners and lots of losers.

I think it was Mark Rein who said that inevitably what's going to happen is that the big publishers will eventually muscle out the smaller iOS players through marketing alone.

Mondriaan · Apr 26, 2012

AdrianWerner said:
You might never want 3DS, but plenty people do and they might not get it if they can get the games on their phone. The pennies they would get by releasing it on iphone simply aren't worth the risk of lowering their hardware sales.

I think the problem with this argument is that it seems to state that Nintendo systems are not particularly competitive except for the exclusivity of some games whose experience could be replicated on competing platforms.

It could be argued that if it's not Nintendo that's making money selling those types of games on those other platforms, it will eventually be someone else.

Ulairi · Apr 26, 2012

Interfectum said:
Oh look who it is.

Nintendo could release games on both. I'm never going to get a 3DS but I would buy a Mario game on iphone without hesitation.

Do you know how daft what you just posted is? The App store has shown no ability to support a $40 game. None. Unlike you, Nintendo views portable gaming to be of value and not a disposable time waster. Nintendo, like many posters on this forum, are against the devaluation of games. Apple couldn't care less about gaming as a hobby and are perfectly happy to devalue gaming to the point that it kills studios and the entertainment form because it helps them sell devices.

Foffy · Apr 26, 2012

Alextended said:
Woah... Maybe Nintendo should have these numbers handy for when their silly investors make such suggestions...

Was really sad to see great real iOS games like Ravenmark weren't doing so hot (iirc the devs commented in the GAF thread).

People will still complain and say Nintendo's losing to phones. Or they'll never mention it again, thinking it doesn't exist. Not many investors are talking about the 3DS at all anymore as it no longer fits the picture they wanted, that iOS and other smartphones were killing it.

Support NeoGAF

How Much Money Do We Think iOS Games Actually Make?!

Junior Member

Banned

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Banned

Member

Junior Member

Member

Banned

Banned

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Junior Member

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Banned

Member

Member

Banned

Junior Member

Banned

Member

Banned

Banned

Banned

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Banned

Similar threads