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[BlackTron]

People seem to have a tendency to confuse their own desires for wise business decisions especially when it comes to Nintendo.

Edit: but it's actually refreshing how many guys in this thread realize it would be a suicidal move. Usually it's just endless port begging and complaining that they're stupid for not doing it.

 

[Danjin44]

People keep saying this and yet Nintendo is doing just fine....so basically another port begging.

 

[SmokedMeat]

They make more money having a single platform to themselves because they get a cut from every game. PC will need to have trillions of players to make up for that loss.

The biggest loss is selling physical games through retailers.

Nintendo is the only hardware maker who I think could get away with doing their own PC Store, provided they supported it well.

 

[bitbydeath]

240.93 billion in debt vs. 86.7 billion cash on hand. They couldn't pay all of their debt without having to sell off more than 30% of their assets after using up all of their cash. I'm sure they would survive, but they wouldn't be the same company.

They’d still be worth trillions though, even with selling a small percent.

 

[Banjo64]

The richest company in Japan with $11b in cash.

 

[BlackTron]

lmao both Sony and MS have been porting their games on PCs the last few years, it didnt save either company.

If anything, it slowed down their console sales while Steam concurrent users and pc hardware sales keep going up making Gabe and Jensen billions in the process.

If Nintendo ports their games to PC they will see the same fate as Sony and Microsoft. lagging hardware sales, layoffs, studio shut downs, cancellations and a complete reevaluation of their business. Good luck.

Falling for short term profits and the trap of having to show more growth...this quarter. Nintendo is focused on the long game, which is why they have so much goddam money.

 

[Fermbiz]

Microsoft should've bought them...

 

[Hudo]

I can guarantee that Nintendo has people calculating that shit and doing market research on a regular basis. And if they report that significant amount of additional profit is to be made with such a move, they'd done it by now.

 

[Moses85]

If I was a shareholder, I'd be all over Nintendo to start supporting the PC platform.

Can you imagine a game like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom releasing on PC? Mind boggling.

Have they commented previously about why they don't support PC?

It's hard to process the money they're missing out on.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Nintendo only sells hardware at a profit and doesn’t make 300M dollar games. They don’t need it. But their games will continue to be played on PC anyway.

 

[PropellerEar]

Microsoft should've bought them...

 

[LectureMaster]

Sackboy adventure is probably the most Nintendo'ish game Sony put on PC and it sold 60k. You think PC gamers will buy those console ports, they don't.

 

[Pharaoh 117]

So, the company that have all their current and past games easily emulated on PC (let's not even talk about piracy) should not provide a way for people to directly pay money to them to access their games? It's funny how the arguments people come up with are only valid for Nintendo but not for Sony or MS.

 

[BlackTron]

The biggest loss is selling physical games through retailers.

The option exists to buy Switch games digitally. Zelda being exclusive, physical or not, means you

1) also have to buy a Switch
2) may also want/need other Switch hardware like a controller
3) may also want/need Switch accessories
4) once you are in on Switch, may want other Switch games.

Something tells me Nintendo doesn't have a problem with having a relationship with retailers.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Sackboy adventure is probably the most Nintendo'ish game Sony put on PC and it sold 60k. You think PC gamers will buy those console ports, they don't.

Bro really just compared Saccboy to nintendo 1st party

 

[SmokedMeat]

Sackboy adventure is probably the most Nintendo'ish game Sony put on PC and it sold 60k. You think PC gamers will buy those console ports, they don't.

Comparing Sackboy to Nintendo’s output? Sackboy?

 

[MisterXDTV]

Usual delusions of PC Master Race

The minute Nintendo puts their games on another platform, their hardware sales collapse...

They are not that stupid

 

[BlackTron]

Bro really just compared Saccboy to nintendo 1st party

Indeed funny as that is. And as mediocre as some other Sony game sales are (wasn't Ratchet & Clank poor?) Zelda and Mario would sell en masse.

Thing is that's not the same as saying it's a good idea to port. It would also destroy their business lol

 

[Rentahamster]

They make more money having a single platform to themselves because they get a cut from every game. PC will need to have trillions of players to make up for that loss.

What loss? People buying on PC instead of Switch?

 

[Madonis]

I haven't bought any Nintendo games on console since the end of the GBA era, so...yeah, pretty much.

Nintendo could make millions and millions out of their own exclusive PC store, at least as long as it's reasonably functional (ie: better than Epic's).

No need to deal with Steam if they're afraid of losing on the margins. Perhaps one day they will take that step. In the meanwhile...there's always emulation.

 

[Gaiff]

If Nintendo made their games natively on PC and on their own (shitty) store, they'd be contestant #1 for most pirated games of all time.

They already are lol.

 

[th4tguy]

You have to start thinking of consoles as glorified store fronts. Nintendo makes great money from their exclusives but they make multitudes more from license fees, selling games for their system.
Exclusives drive hardware sales. Each system is a Nintendo storefront.
Nintendo would make more money from selling their exclusives on pc from sales of just that game but would sacrifice many more by stealing people away from their system.
You are trading a strong long term investment for a short term cash out.
It’s not worked for MS. Xbox brand is a shell of what it used to be. Sony knows and is trying to avoid it by delaying releases.
Not like pc gamers would be happy with official releases anyways. The games are not graphical powerhouses and Nintendo would not be selling their games at pc prices. They would match console prices, which would anger pc gamers. Nintendo is not experienced with pc releases and unless they sold on steam, pc gamers would still bitch and complain.

 

[bitbydeath]

What loss? People buying on PC instead of Switch?

People leaving Nintendo for PC.
The same disastrous losses we’ve seen across Microsoft and Sony, albeit a lot worse for the former than the latter, but that can be easily attributed to launching day one on PC.

 

[Chastten]

Short term? Sure. They'd sell a few million copies extra of their biggest games.

Long term it would be pretty disastrous for the brand though, as people would stop buying Nintendo hardware for Mario and Zelda. And that would leave Nintendo without 2 of their biggest revenue streams, all for a few quick sales in the short term.

For what it's worth, I feel like Microsoft's and Sony's recent efforts on PC are pretty much disastrous for Xbox and PlayStation as a brand as well, and will hurt them financially in the long term.

But yeah, we've had this topic at least a 100 times already in the past few years, and the results are always the same, no one's gonna agree on anything and we all want Zelda in 8K 240fps

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

I hope they do. If I have to suffer then so should the Nintendo fanboys

 

[Gaiff]

lmao both Sony and MS have been porting their games on PCs the last few years, it didnt save either company.

If anything, it slowed down their console sales while Steam concurrent users and pc hardware sales keep going up making Gabe and Jensen billions in the process.

If Nintendo ports their games to PC they will see the same fate as Sony and Microsoft. lagging hardware sales, layoffs, studio shut downs, cancellations and a complete reevaluation of their business. Good luck.

Again with that bullshit narrative?

I’m sure Sony cutting off 900 positions is because of the 10 games they ported to PC 2-5 years after the console version.

 

[MisterXDTV]

Again with that bullshit narrative?

I’m sure Sony cutting off 900 positions is because of the 10 games they ported to PC 2-5 years after the console version.

With PS5 that will probably outsell PS4 when the gen is over

SonyToo™

LOL

 

[SmokedMeat]

The option exists to buy Switch games digitally. Zelda being exclusive, physical or not, means you

1) also have to buy a Switch
2) may also want/need other Switch hardware like a controller
3) may also want/need Switch accessories
4) once you are in on Switch, may want other Switch games.

Something tells me Nintendo doesn't have a problem with having a relationship with retailers.

Noone's saying they should stop making their bread and butter consoles. Just that extending to PC would bring in additional money. I remember when people scoffed at the thought of them putting their ip on mobile, but it happened.

Hypothetically I think Nintendo would be successful running their own PC store, where they’d collect a full cut of each sale.

When it comes to physical retail, that’s where hardware makers receive the smallest cuts.

 

[EnzoArt]

She's right! It's not all about money. It would indeed earn millions of dollars, but at the price of removing the brilliance of Nintendo consoles" exclusivity (see the PlayStation and Xbox as becoming unnecessary by sharing the exclusive rights to their games).

 

[Del_X]

Their hardware has actually been integral to the experience unlike the other "PC in a dummy-proof box" competitors. Maybe they could bring their back catalog to PC but I'm generally more OK with them keeping things on their own hardware.

 

[SmokedMeat]

lmao both Sony and MS have been porting their games on PCs the last few years, it didnt save either company.

If anything, it slowed down their console sales while Steam concurrent users and pc hardware sales keep going up making Gabe and Jensen billions in the process.

Console business has been stagnant for generations.

It’s exactly why Sony and Microsoft are changing how they do business.

 

[Gaiff]

With PS5 that will probably outsell PS4 when the gen is over

SonyToo™

LOL

And Ragnarok, Spider-Man 2, and HFW are all outpacing their predecessors. Dude is in every thread blatantly bullshitting and every time he gets called out, he posts a laughing emoji. At this point, I assume it's a troll act.

 

[Chastten]

Console business has been stagnant for generations.

It’s exactly why Sony and Microsoft are changing how they do business.

Neither comparison is appropriate though.

Xbox has been doing terrible for over a decade, and Sony, while selling well in absolute numbers, has unhealthy razorthin profit margins.

Nintendo, in the meantime, is selling well in absolute numbers but also has almost Apple/Nvidia-like profit margins.

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

Nintendo is a toy company. They like to control the hardware. Nintendo liked the idea that they can tailor the hardware for their personal needs. This was from an interview a decade ago.

They tried releasing games on phones, it didn't work out. They are not a software company, thus selling software on PC just isn't in their wheelhouse.

 

[SlimySnake]

Console business has been stagnant for generations.

It’s exactly why Sony and Microsoft are changing how they do business.

Nah that’s false. There was a chart posted of their revenues and they have doubled if not tripled since 2016. Let alone since 2006.

Sony made more profit in one year in 2020 than they did in the entire ps2 generation. They are just being greedy cunts. Nintendo has shown that you don’t need to whore out your games to make a profit.

 

[MisterXDTV]

For Nintendo it would even be even worse than other console makers

You would see their games at 4K 120hz on PC with their weak hardware stuck at 1080p/30...

Who would buy the much inferior version of their games???

 

[existensmaximum]

Wow, why didn't Nintendo think of that?

Seriously, this idea has been discussed countless times on this forum. It would be suicide for Nintendo. Insanely stupid.

 

[SaintALia]

Good thing you aren't a shareholder and badgering them about that in shareholder meetings then. There's a reason why no one really asks this at shareholder meetings.

But yeah, they aren't
'leaving millions of dollars off their books not supporting PC'

The only real reason to get Nintendo hardware is Nintendo software and going multiplatform doesn't necessarily translate to more sales, even if it's just PC. They control the hardware, the store and prices.

And this is speaking as a person who's primarily a PC gamer. But if I was a shareholder, them going PC is the last thing I'd want and would be cause for concern unless I hear some type of air tight plan for the pivot(and even 'air tight' plans for pivots mostly fail).

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

They are but why does it matter? They’re also “leaving millions of dollars off their books” by not supporting Playstation. Or Xbox. Or Apple Arcade.

And I think we can all agree we will never see Mario on PlayStation, in our lifetime. So, why is this an interesting discussion? Lol

We’ll also never see Last of Us on Nintendo.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I think that if there is one company that could create their own app/launcher on PC and be massively successful, it is Nintendo.

Nintendo screws up UI and implementation massively, though.

Sony would have far better success on PC, leveraging third parties and first parties along with their ecosystem of services

That said, PC gamers are all talk. They will click multiple launchers if needed to play the games they want

 

[FMX]

They make their money selling games and underpowered hardware. Why eliminate one of those sources?

 

[jshackles]

Everyone saying this would collapse Switch hardware sales - why not exclude current-gen titles completely? If Nintendo opened a Steam-like PC storefront and just sold older games individually (like the old Wii U style retro stuff on the eShop) they'd sell gangbusters.

$19.99 for Ocarina of Time, or $29.99 for the Double Pack that includes Majora's Mask = $$$
$29.99 Super Mario Origins Trilogy (1, 2, 3) bundle deal = $$$
$9.99 Super Metroid = $$$
$29.99 Metroid: Other M =

 

[BlackTron]

Noone's saying they should stop making their bread and butter consoles. Just that extending to PC would bring in additional money. I remember when people scoffed at the thought of them putting their ip on mobile, but it happened.

Hypothetically I think Nintendo would be successful running their own PC store, where they’d collect a full cut of each sale.

When it comes to physical retail, that’s where hardware makers receive the smallest cuts.

You missed the meaning of my post, which is that being exclusive means you have to buy a Switch. I never contended that your meaning was to discontinue console production.

 

[AngelMuffin]

Wow, just wait til it gets it’s firs official price cut.

 

[bitbydeath]

And I think we can all agree we will never see Mario on PlayStation, in our lifetime.

They could if they port their games to PC and collapse their business.

 

[Woopah]

They haven't spoken specifically about PC specifically I don't think, but they have spoken many times about the importance of their hardware and software integration.

Regular, meaningful exclusives drive platform adoption, generating profit from hardware, subscriptions and third party royalties. While strong platform adoption allows first party software to be sold at a premium for the long term.

Maybe one day they'll go to PC, but not while things are working so well.

 

[Ozzie666]

Wow, the OP doesn't get Nintendo at all. The mystic, the control and the reason to buy their hardware. Going PC and using store fronts woudl take their control awya from pricing. Nintendo games hold their value for a reason, it's great for those who buy physical and trade in. I hate it, but I get it. But Nintendo is a crown jewel of Japan and business.

All Nintendos licensing efforts have been subpar at best with Mobile being the best. They print money as it is this generation.

The mighty Gorilla is going toe to toe with Sony and Microsoft, they don't need PC, as nice at that would be.

 

[bender]

Everyone saying this would collapse Switch hardware sales - why not exclude current-gen titles completely? If Nintendo opened a Steam-like PC storefront and just sold older games individually (like the old Wii U style retro stuff on the eShop) they'd sell gangbusters.

$19.99 for Ocarina of Time, or $29.99 for the Double Pack that includes Majora's Mask = $$$
$29.99 Super Mario Origins Trilogy (1, 2, 3) bundle deal = $$$
$9.99 Super Metroid = $$$
$29.99 Metroid: Other M =

Because they have a retro subscription service and remakes/remasters in their own ecosystem.

 

[Raonak]

100% profit of first party games + 30% profit of ALL 3rd party purchases provides substantially more money than the extra sales that PC provides.

All platform holders know this. They only go full 3rd party when their own platform has failed (sega, MS)

 

[dragonyeuw]

Nintendo wants you playing their games exclusively through their (hardware) portal. You've seen how they treat emulation, yeah? They want 100% control over every aspect of distributing their games in league with pushing hardware, and they'd probably call it quits on gaming and sell Mario lollipops with mini Amiibos inside before going to PC.