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[Booker.DeWitt]

Gaffers,

I was thinking yesterday about the future of Nintendo. It seems the NX will not be very powerful, probably less robust than scorpio and Neo. Some people are saying it will be compatible with regular xboxone/ps4.

That will probably be a bad thing, since it might not attract a lot of 3rd parties or ports once the next generation kicks in in 3 years.

Unless they have something unique game-play wise that will attract the casuals back, there is a high chance it will flop just like wii u, since the Nintendo hardcore fan base will not be enough (see wii u sales)

If that happens, what Nintendo would do? Will they stop making hardware, and focus on software only for other companies (or focus just on portable gaming)? Or they will go back to the drawing board and try a different hardware with more horsepower and less gimmicks (gamecube era)?
Will Nintendo ever have the 3rd party support back ?

Thanks

 

[SinCityAssassin]

It will be devastating. And they will try again.

 

[Herne]

They'd try again. They're not exactly hurting for money.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

I honestly think they'd just try again.

 

[Interceptor]

We will get 500 What if Nintendo threads until they make a new hardware. And they will still make a profit. Repeat.

 

[Rncewind]

They'd try again. They're not exactly hurting for money.

yeah im sure investors be like "k"

We will get 500 What if Nintendo threads until they make a new hardware. And they will still make a profit. Repeat.

yeah like the wii u made profit

 

[cw_sasuke]

Nothing, they will be doomed anyway no matter if its a success or another flop.

 

[Portugeezer]

Nintendo would go third party.

 

[z0m3le]

It will be devastating. And they will try again.

and for the question about that flop, Smart phones and possibly some PC releases, I don't think consoles will stick around and I don't think Nintendo would have the same vision as Sony or Microsoft.

Nintendo would go third party.

Simply wouldn't work for Nintendo, they would have to let go most of their employees, hardware is a big part of Nintendo and the majority of their output is because they have to support that hardware, you are looking at a slim Nintendo with less overhead and probably focus entirely on Smart Phones with the possible PC release.

 

[Thejackburton]

It will be devastating. And they will try again.

How many times can they try though? Sega tried twice.

 

[Eolz]

They're not going third party if that's where you were going to.

 

[LordOcidax]

I think i saw this thread the month...

 

[killatopak]

Probably go all in on handheld.

 

[Interceptor]

How many times can they try though? Sega tried twice.

15 times.

 

[TheMoon]

If that happens, what Nintendo would do? Will they stop making hardware, and focus on software only for other companies (or focus just on portable gaming)? Or they will go back to the drawing board and try a different hardware with more horsepower and less gimmicks (gamecube era)?
Will Nintendo ever have the 3rd party support back ?

Thanks

No they wouldn't stop making hardware. They'd just try something different again.

Third parties come if a thing sells, leave if it doesn't sell. See Wii. Everybody was on board, just not with the types of games the GAF-crowd usually likes. But they were there. Then they went away again when Wii U moved no units.

Either way, pointless discussion kind of. Like most NX discussions without knowing anything about it. ^^

How many times can they try though? Sega tried twice.

They have the cash reserves. Remember, with the Wii U/early cycle 3DS combo debacle it was the first time in company history that they ever lost money.

 

[DrWong]

I think i saw this thread the month...

Saw this thread last decade.

 

[SinCityAssassin]

How many times can they try though? Sega tried twice.

You can technically say they tried 4 times after the 32x and Sega-CD.

I'd give Nintendo a least a 3rd time's the charm.

 

[Revolutionary]

I would hope that they just go third party so I can stop buying their shitty hardware and still enjoy their games.
But realistically they'd just try again with another gimmick.

 

[Earthpainting]

If they have a bad launch, we'll have to put up with five more years of people predicting that the NX is being abandoned, and the next system is right around the corner with all the games of your dreams available at launch.

 

[Booker.DeWitt]

No they wouldn't stop making hardware. They'd just try something different again.

Third parties come if a thing sells, leave if it doesn't sell. See Wii. Everybody was on board, just not with the types of games the GAF-crowd usually likes. But they were there. Then they went away again when Wii U moved no units.

Either way, pointless discussion kind of. Like most NX discussions without knowing anything about it. ^^

I think it is safe to say the hardware will be weaker compared to neo and scorpio, right? Even Reggie changed the subject when asked that question

 

[Kouriozan]

I read somewhere that Nintendo can suffer a few flop until they run out of money, so they'll probably try again in a few years.

 

[- J - D -]

Hopefully it means one step closer to having new Mario games on ios/android phones with touch movement controls. The way it was always meant to be played.

 

[SinCityAssassin]

I think it is safe to say the hardware will be weaker compared to neo and scorpio, right? Even Reggie changed the subject when asked that question

Reggie clearly uses red ocean terminology to say they aren't competing in the Neo/Scorpio arms race. So it's fair to say the NX was always meant to duke it out with the base models.

I read somewhere that Nintendo can suffer a few flop until they run out of money, so they'll probably try again in a few years.

They have no debts, only surplus. Theoretically they can go on that surplus for a few decades if they did nothing but release systems and games.

 

[Joey Ravn]

I think it is safe to say the hardware will be weaker compared to neo and scorpio, right? Even Reggie changed the subject when asked that question

As long as the hardware is on the same level as the PS4 and Xboxe One, it'll be fine. Remember that neither Neo nor Scorpio will have "exclusive" games. So developer will have to work with two versions of the game at the same time no matter what.

 

[Linkyn]

I think it is safe to say the hardware will be weaker compared to neo and scorpio, right? Even Reggie changed the subject when asked that question

To be fair, given how centralised Nintendo is, the amount of actual knowledge Reggie has is an entirely different discussion.

To answer the original question, they are more or less profitable on the whole at the moment and they have substantial cash reserves, so they can basically keep churning out commercial flops for the foreseeable future.

 

[AmyS]

I hope NX flops a lot ... I MEAN has a lot of flops. TFLOPs.

Spoiler

TeraFlops!

 

[Interceptor]

I would hope that they just go third party so I can stop buying their shitty hardware and still enjoy their games.
But realistically they'd just try again with another gimmick.

It was a good post but then you used the stupid word. :/

 

[OneUh8]

That should be the signal for them to move to software only company. I mean, what is the point of releasing hardware no one wants, but a ton of people do want the games.

 

[Rellik]

Mario & Sackboy at the Olympics


Real answer: They'll probably just try again, and again, and again. Until something sticks. If it ever does again.

 

[KratosEnergyDrink]

I think it is safe to say the hardware will be weaker compared to neo and scorpio, right? Even Reggie changed the subject when asked that question

Of course it will be weaker than Scorpio, that thing is a monster. Neo seems to be only a little upgrade like the New 3DS.

NX will be somewhere around PS4/XOne level.

 

[Servbot24]

Nintendo could make a console more powerful than Scorpio and Neo combined and they would still be shunned by 3rd parties. The idea that 3rd parties are held back by Nintendo's power is simply a myth. Look at DS - woefully underpowered, unconventional layout that made simple ports impossible, and it had the best 3rd party support of maybe any Nintendo system.

3rd parties simply don't like working with Nintendo. Ninteno has to carry their own weight or go 3rd party themselves.

 

[Interceptor]

Of course it will be weaker than Scorpio, that thing is a monster. Neo seems to be only a little upgrade like the New 3DS.

NX will be somewhere around PS4/XOne level.

6TF at the end of 2017. "Monster"

 

[Shpeshal Nick]

If we assume the worst, I'd say worst case scenario is that they focus on handheld/mobile/amiibo. Leave home console space.

But NX is a hybrid anyway so they already have one foot out of the home console space just in case anyway.

 

[Interceptor]

If we assume the worst, I'd say worst case scenario is that they focus on handheld/mobile/amiibo. Leave home console space.

But NX is a hybrid anyway so they already have one foot out of the home console space just in case anyway.

It's not a hybrid.

 

[Pie and Beans]

Everyone will make excuses for another generation that Nintendo games can only be special on Nintendo hardware for incredibly arbitrary reasons.

It's weird to think about where consoles will be in another 5 years after the Neo and Scorpio happen though. I'm not even sure what the landscape becomes as Xbox is slowly absorbed into the biomass of Windows 10.

 

[MarioHead3]

yeah like the wii u made profit

3DS and amiibo both did pretty well for them. Not to mention toys and other merchandise.

 

[Bots are better than you]

1. A hopefully in-depth analysis of what went wrong AGAIN this time
2. Lesson learning
3. More mobile games to grab cash
4. Double down on the handheld part
5. Move on to the next system
6. Countless "Nintendo doomed" cries and "Nintendo 3rd party"-beggars

Not sure about the timing in the list, but that should sum it up.

 

[Spring Drive]

Not change anything

 

[Patrick Young]

In five years they'll make another weak console with a new gimmick.

 

[ScientificPizza]

How many times can they try though? Sega tried twice.

A lot more times than Sega ever could

 

[lherre]

I hope NX flops a lot ... I MEAN has a lot of flops. TFLOPs.

Spoiler

TeraFlops!

https://twitter.com/yosp/status/212393696979730432

 

[Yonafunu]

They'd try again. The money isn't the problem here.

It's Nintendo's continued loss of mindshare in the console business that's the issue. The Wii U already did a huge amount of damage, having another flop would be very bad.

 

[formasymphonic]

If it happens, I'd like to see Apple buy Nintendo. I always thought the two would complement each other well and would work as one company.

As much as I know everyone would love to see Nintendo go third party, I think 3 platform providers+ PC is best for diversity in the industry.

It will never happen though.

Realistically, depending on how much of a hit their finances take, they will just try again.

 

[Gamezone]

They have enough money to deal with it, but they might have to go third party.

 

[Theanine3D]

Assuming they make the console affordable and not higher-spec than their competitors, it won't hurt them too much. They can try again. Their fiscal conservatism is what has kept them running for over a hundred years.

There would probably be BIG changes inside the company, though. Some that many people won't like.

 

[marmoka]

Probably third party.

It would be really bad for Nintendo, but probably not that bad for gamers. This way we wouldn't have to buy 2 consoles (like Wii U and PS4) to enjoy different games.

 

[……forgetit]

They'd try again. They're not exactly hurting for money.

Not how business works. They have to make money, not just "have" money. Two major duds in a row would probably have them switch strategies in a major way. Maybe that comes on the form of focusing on core, maybe they transition their hardware business to something else and go third party, maybe they start making game watches again, I don't know, but it will be radically different from what they're doing now.

 

[FLEABttn]

They'd try again. They're not exactly hurting for money.

They have the cash reserves. Remember, with the Wii U/early cycle 3DS combo debacle it was the first time in company history that they ever lost money.

I read somewhere that Nintendo can suffer a few flop until they run out of money, so they'll probably try again in a few years.

They have no debts, only surplus. Theoretically they can go on that surplus for a few decades if they did nothing but release systems and games.

To answer the original question, they are more or less profitable on the whole at the moment and they have substantial cash reserves, so they can basically keep churning out commercial flops for the foreseeable future.

A lot more times than Sega ever could

Just because Nintendo can survive more flop consoles doesn't mean they would keep trying again until they have another success. Eventually you're just throwing good money after bad. Why would Nintendo burn their cash on hand on something they're no longer good at?

 

[DXB-KNIGHT]

No body really knows but the common fact here is

 

[Sorcerer]

1. A hopefully in-depth analysis of what went wrong AGAIN this time
2. Lesson learning
3. More mobile games to grab cash
4. Double down on the handheld part
5. Move on to the next system
6. Countless "Nintendo doomed" cries and "Nintendo 3rd party"-beggars

Not sure about the timing in the list, but that should sum it up.

7. Hear Reggie tell us once again that Nintendo doesn't care about power, it's about games.