Everyone knows the Nintendo story.
They were this company that was doing alright until Yamauchi came in, this brash kid with business acumen to the moon, and struck a deal to put Mickey Mouse on Hanafuda cards. To some degree, Nintendo's always been chasing that same miracle move - the thing that just changes the entire world around them and they can ride off to success. Mario, Pokemon, the Wii, etc. It is why Iwata has always said that one game can change everything. It can't (long-term), but it's why he believes it.
I think this collaboration with DeNA is the same thing, but this time with the old school sense of business that helped them out in the first place. As Nirolak explained before, this is a win-win for both companies. DeNA has something to gain, they now have their Mickey Mouse on Hanafuda cards moment here. Nintendo is giving them Mario to put in games. So let's talk about what DeNA gains from this.
DeNA is big, but big isn't enough. They need to grow to have a public perception of constant growth, because stagnating is the first step in dying. What they got here is a strong, well-known library of IPs to use to push forward that growth. I don't think recognition of Nintendo IPs has waned significantly over the years, but the desire and willingness to pay significant amounts of money for them definitely has. The base that will pay $60 for a new 2D Mario has shrunk from 30 million to probably less than 5 million now. DeNA also recognizes this and is taking advantage (smartly) of Nintendo's weakening ability to leverage their IPs in a safe place.
For Nintendo, this gets their IP in front of a 100 million person market who will pay to see those IPs. It is a marketing dream, where you're spending money on production but then people are giving you that money back, and then some, to essentially watch your advertisements. This doesn't just dovetail back to the game business, it also helps Nintendo's other expansions into different media markets. The Zelda TV show, the Mario movie, if those things end up existing, reminding the world they're still relevant is a smart way to drum up interest. It keeps the shareholders off Iwata's back, too. Plus, I imagine the Appstore cultivators are going to make a big deal about this. Mario's going to be at the front of the Apple Appstore, the Google Playstore, etc. Apple might even mention it during a reveal event, which would skyrocket downloads of whatever it is.
The uneasy pit everyone has in their stomach isn't because what this news actually is, but what it represents. It is Nintendo's acknowledgement that Mobile has eaten the handheld space's lunch. It is acknowledgement that Nintendo is in a weaker position than they were eight years ago. I think people need to realize that, too, since Nintendo already has. You can tell Nintendo also fears gamer reaction to it, because the NX announcement is so strange - not that Nintendo is new to strange console announcements, the 3DS was announced via a badly-scanned PDF late at night after Mainichi Shimbun leaked it beforehand. But this just seems...confused. They desperately wanted to assure gamers that this was merely one tentacle of Nintendo's future operations.
I don't think that part worked so well. Granted, there is no way to make it work. You show anything, then all your current systems are dead. Or deader, in the case of the Wii U. You don't show anything, all your current systems are still going to be dead, but people will be questioning every single game release as "Yeah, but why isn't this on the next one?" Not to say they handled it well, just that Iwata picked a fist fight with the ocean and it's kind of no surprise he's covered in seawater.
The optimist in me says all of this is merely the labor pains of a Nintendo that understands their problems and needs to just push to get the baby out. That's the ideal scenario. But how well any of this works is going to rest solely on execution and they have to know that, if they don't, then none of this even matters. If the mobile games aren't good, and they could very well not be, then there's only so long people are going to care. If the next console, which we don't even know if it's a handheld or a set-top console or both, fails to catch on like the Wii U, then they've done nothing but moved from one failure to a more expensive failure.
Nintendo's in a weird position where they've decided that enough hens have gone missing and they're asking the wolf to watch the henhouse and figure out why. It's the best move they can make, but they're never going to get those missing hens back.
Nintendo just shot themselves in the foot.
I don't know how much the rest of you know about Nintendo fan culture (I'm an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like EA where you can become successful by being an asshole. If you screw over a Nintendo fan, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.
What this means is that Nintendo fans, after hearing about this, is not going to want to purchase Nintendo games for mobile, nor will they purchase any of Nintendo's games. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but Nintendo has alienated an entire market with this move.
Nintendo, publicly apologize and cancel your mobile games or you can kiss your business goodbye.
Not sure if DeNA has made anything for Windows Phone. I imagine they'll stick to iOS and androidInwas thinking on mobiles, Windows phone with W10. But I don't think they to sell anything on MS' gaming platforms.
This means no more handhelds right ?
IMO, Vita should be Sony's last handled while Nintendo can stand to try one or two more times.
Nintendo just shot themselves in the foot.
I don't know how much the rest of you know about Nintendo fan culture (I'm an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like EA where you can become successful by being an asshole. If you screw over a Nintendo fan, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.
What this means is that Nintendo fans, after hearing about this, is not going to want to purchase Nintendo games for mobile, nor will they purchase any of Nintendo's games. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but Nintendo has alienated an entire market with this move.
Nintendo, publicly apologize and cancel your mobile games or you can kiss your business goodbye.
Please also note that, even if we use the same IP on our dedicated video game systems and smart devices, we will not port the titles for the former to the latter just as they are. There are significant differences in the controls, strengths and weaknesses between the controllers for dedicated game systems and the touchscreens of smart devices. We have no intention at all to port existing game titles for dedicated game platforms to smart devices because if we cannot provide our consumers with the best possible play experiences, it would just ruin the value of Nintendo’s IP.
How does one go about becoming an expert in "Nintendo fan culture"? And does it pay well?
I will wait to see what they deliver on mobile first, but I'm apprehensive of this direction and what it could mean for games on other Nintendo platforms.
How does one go about becoming an expert in "Nintendo fan culture"? And does it pay well?
DeNA has been porting PC games. Premium, no IAP. They recently released And Yet It Moves on IOSThe only thing they'll be selling are IAPs. If Nintendo was going to release premium mobile games, they wouldn't need DeNA. Mobile premium games are a niche and no, they don't usually sell in enough volume to make up for the lower pricepoint and 30% Apple/Google fee.
Mark my words, Nintendo is going for F2P, online, games-as-a-service market, the one that actually makes money in mobile-land. That's what they really mean when they say they aren't going to port any games and build games designed for mobile.
Yeah I'm definitely out. I'll still play retro games and whatever actual games Nintendo still releases but from this point I'll stop following the industry, have fun ppl.
How does one go about becoming an expert in "Nintendo fan culture"? And does it pay well?
Yeah I'm definitely out. I'll still play retro games and whatever actual games Nintendo still releases but from this point I'll stop following the industry, have fun ppl.
"Nintendo is making mobile games! The horror, oh the horror! The industry will die and wither like a vampire in the midday sun. Why have you forsaken us, gods of gaming?"This
i'm a little surprised that so many people are expecting this to be the 'beginning of the end' as it were. i guess it's because you could see this sort of thing coming for over a year now... and at least since iwata's statement at the january 2014 investors meeting. he likened digital to 'a sort of platform' and statements of the next nintendo systems being 'brothers' made me believe the new nintendo system would be more of a shared library, with different hardware units specializing certain features and games. and that seems to be exactly what's happening]/i].
the biggest surprise, kinda, is the support of smartphone from internal developers, but i'm going to take a bit of a wait and see approach to that. something tells me super mario galaxy 3 isn't happening there, but i can totally see mario maker being in the works for this service/platform. i just doubt there's going to be a lot of super high end games for mobile/pc, at least early on. maybe after next gen is over, in the 2020s.
You really think that because Nintendo is dipping its toe into the mobile market means their entire console output of Mario and Smash and Mario Kart and Zelda and more will suddenly crash and burn? I mean, you did agree with the guy who phrased it as "whatever actual games Nintendo still releases"Did you say something?
Yeah I'm definitely out. I'll still play retro games and whatever actual games Nintendo still releases but from this point I'll stop following the industry, have fun ppl.
LOLThis
there were people who though that with the wii, nintendo was killing gaming, or at the very least, had quit gaming. and that's despite a wealth of evidence to the contrary.You really think that because Nintendo is dipping its toe into the mobile market means their entire console output of Mario and Smash and Mario Kart and Zelda and more will suddenly crash and burn? I mean, you did agree with the guy who phrased it as "whatever actual games Nintendo still releases"
You know, Sony also got into the mobile market and released a few games. They even released CounterSpy on IOS. And yet, last I checked, Bloodbourne is one of the most anticipated games on GAF. Their console output didn't suffer.
if they were just going mobile all day every day, yeah then they would have gone fourth party like sega. but they're doing something more like what valve is doing with steam and steam machines, except more control on the dedicated hardware front, and less on the digital front. i said it in other threads, but i think these kinds of digital libraries are the gaming platforms of tomorrow. the wild west of the 70s and 80s will be replicated in the coming years as the once traditional market fades into something just for collectors and hobbyists.I think the same as you and am very surprised about Shocking Alberto´s post too.
Its not like they are making games for PS4, they are basically going mobile on their own terms.
Well they did release the Wii with Red Steel as a launch title. I would have lost all hope toothere were people who though that with the wii, nintendo was killing gaming, or at the very least, had quit gaming. and that's despite a wealth of evidence to the contrary.
Excite Truck, thoughWell they did release the Wii with Red Steel as a launch title. I would have lost all hope too
Investors are in for a reality check. I'm still not sure why so many people think Nintendo + mobile = automatically Supercell numbers.I guess this explains the sudden rise in Nintendo's stock....
no one can account for ubisoft ubisofting it upWell they did release the Wii with Red Steel as a launch title. I would have lost all hope too
Eh, we may have Pokemon titles through this, but no way we will get a real Pokemon game.
HOLY SHIT I just though about something!! Nintendo can now make VR games! :O
yes, there are several slides stressing that purchases are going to be tied to hardware.So I have an iPad and a Galaxy phone. I'm guessing that even if everything is purchased through some kind of Nintendo app, I'm still going to have to buy two separate copies of a game, right?
Yup. AFAIK, no game so far has been cross-buy between Android and iOS.So I have an iPad and a Galaxy phone. I'm guessing that even if everything is purchased through some kind of Nintendo app, I'm still going to have to buy two separate copies of a game, right?
yes, there are several slides stressing that purchases are going to be tied to hardware.