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[andthebeatgoeson]

They have improved. But to keep piling up losses, you have to wonder how long they keep Iwata. I wouldn't have given it thought but the response to the bad sales hasn't been inspiring.

Do something new.

 

[Tomohawk]

Q2 is going to be a huge decrease for Wii U imo. Not only is it the slow summer months, but they have fuck-all for software in Q2. July: nothing, August: nothing, September: Hyrule Warriors (yawn - and it doesn't release til Sep 26th in NA - barely making it in the reporting period). It's very, very wishful thinking that MK8 alone can carry momentum from Q1.

The momentum caused by mario kart 8 is already gone in japan. Its pretty much guaranteed to be a dry summer.

 

[pvpness]

They shouldn't be arrogant enough to think they can get away with letting their competitors have the first crack at the biggest gaming phenomenon of the last few years. Minecraft has probably sold more Xbox 360s than Wii U has sold LTD.

I don't think it has anything to do with arrogance. I just don't think Nintendo is good at reaching out, which is why I think they should plan to rely on their own products first. Even if they get better at reaching out (which I think they have this gen) I don't think they can do it as well as their competitors for a bunch of reasons. Building a plan around shit you can't control usually ends in failure.

@veritassin Yeah, I'm actually pretty anxious to see what the platform unification strategy looks like. Shouldn't be much longer now.

 

[LegendofLex]

I don't think it has anything to do with arrogance. I just don't think Nintendo is good at reaching out, which is why I think they should plan to rely on their own products first. Even if they get better at reaching out (which I think they have this gen) I don't think they can do it as well as their competitors for a bunch of reasons. Building a plan around shit you can't control usually ends in failure.

It is absolutely arrogance. Nintendo has shown they can do a fine job of reaching out to Japanese developers to pad out their release schedule, but they have consistently written off Western games/games that originated on PC as irrelevant ever since the N64 vs. PSX days.

 

[SweetDonuts]

Damn, they really need to go all out for Smash and Amiibo.

Really interested in seeing what they do with their next handheld/console, and the QoL product, there's a lot riding on that.

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

I don't think it has anything to do with arrogance. I just don't think Nintendo is good at reaching out, which is why I think they should plan to rely on their own products first. Even if they get better at reaching out (which I think they have this gen) I don't think they can do it as well as their competitors for a bunch of reasons. Building a plan around shit you can't control usually ends in failure.

I'm pretty sure that this is what they are still doing And I will doubt to call the improvements significant (if it was, the WiiU hardware would have been another diferent beast)

 

[Tomohawk]

It is absolutely arrogance. Nintendo has shown they can do a fine job of reaching out to Japanese developers to pad out their release schedule, but they have consistently written off Western games/games that originated on PC as irrelevant ever since the N64 vs. PSX days.

Getting niche japanese games like bayo 2 and devils 3rd is different from getting huge western games like minecraft. I think its arrogance to assume nintendo would be arrogant enough to think they don't need western 3rd parties, when they have stated they want games like GTA V and minecraft on wii u on several occasions.

 

[Kinan]

Ok, as promised the graph update:

X1 error bars are between sold 0 units last quarter(x360 1.1) and sold 1.1m (x360 - 0). The point is in the middle (i.e. they both sold equally). As you see in any case dynamics is similar to that of wiiu in-between of holiday seasons.

 

[jcm]

From what they've said about their future console/handheld. They can't suddenly change the current hardware.

The unannounced, unspecified hardware shows they're on track? That seems like a ridiculously premature assessment.

 

[Randolph Freelander]

They have improved. But to keep piling up losses, you have to wonder how long they keep Iwata. I wouldn't have given it thought but the response to the bad sales hasn't been inspiring.

Do something new.

His board re-election percentage increased just a couple of months ago. Everyone is content with going down with the ship.

If Nintendo investors are satisfied with this continued abysmal performance, who am I to criticize. (It should be noted that Nintendo is a component of a fund I am invested in, so I guess a small percentage of me is positively outraged.)

 

[pvpness]

It is absolutely arrogance. Nintendo has shown they can do a fine job of reaching out to Japanese developers to pad out their release schedule, but they have consistently written off Western games/games that originated on PC as irrelevant ever since the N64 vs. PSX days.

I typically don't view companies through that lens. I would speculate that their disconnect with the west is largely due to their very insular culture/philosophy that's guided their company for a long time.

Though it does make me smile to think of a shadowy Iwata declaring, "to hell with the inferior West! They aren't fit to lick our boots."

@TheBaronOfNA I dunno. I was pretty surprised to see them go to the GamePad instead of enhancing the Wii remote. The seemed western influenced. Then they trot EA on stage to talk about how close they are. Seemed like they were a lot more into pleasing western third parties with the Wii U than they should have been, imo. They weren't willing to go all the way and it all fell apart.

The improvements I was thinking of were the inclusion of unity licenses and easing the requirements to dev for their system. We never would have seen something like The Letter on any other N system.

 

[The Boat]

It is absolutely arrogance. Nintendo has shown they can do a fine job of reaching out to Japanese developers to pad out their release schedule, but they have consistently written off Western games/games that originated on PC as irrelevant ever since the N64 vs. PSX days.

Arrogance seems to be a go-to criticism, but I don't see a lot of foundation for this. They even gave a big part of the spotlight to 3rd party releases prior to Wii U's launch and they're actively seeking indie devs. Miyamoto and Takahashi even said the game would be a great fit for their platforms.

They're simply incompetent at catering to 3rd parties.

 

[Aroll]

The momentum caused by mario kart 8 is already gone in japan. Its pretty much guaranteed to be a dry summer.

To be fair, Hyrule Warriors releases in Japan in just two weeks time. They get it a full month and a half before the west, and Dyanasty Warriors sells decently well in Japan. Thus, it may actually boost Wii U sales more than MK8 there, which might help numbers for Q2. As for the 3DS, that boost will come with Smash and Pokemon. They have had a consistent release of games this year for the system, but few blockbusters.

 

[InsaneZero]

I'm pretty sure that this is what they are still doing And I will doubt to call the improvements significant (if it was, the WiiU hardware would have been another diferent beast)

The failure to reach out to third parties is really most naivety and ignorance rather than any actual arrogance or malice, imo. Either way, the single biggest hurdle in repairing this problem is that Nintendo has problems with the primary target demographics that third parties are reliant upon.

His board re-election percentage increased just a couple of months ago. Everyone is content with going down with the ship.

If Nintendo investors are satisfied with this continued abysmal performance, who am I to criticize. (It should be noted that Nintendo is a component of a fund I am invested in, so I guess a small percentage of me is positively outraged.)

Maybe you should take that up with the people managing your funds.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

Pretty abysmal results, 3DS is not gonna hold until 2016, at that time, they can say goodbye to the portable market for good.

Wii U is still a joke, even accounting MK8 sales.

Hard times for Nintendo ahead.

Arrogance seems to be a go-to criticism, but I don't see a lot of foundation for this. They even gave a big part of the spotlight to 3rd party releases prior to Wii U's launch and they're actively seeking indie devs. Miyamoto and Takahashi even said the game would be a great fit for their platforms.

They're simply incompetent at catering to 3rd parties.

Sony and MS are actively seeking indie devs, Nintendo barely just started opening the gates.

In terms of 3rd party relationships (indie and mainstream), Nintendo is always a few steps back. And like it or not this goes back to the Yamauchi era, it left a permanent scar on NIntendo that still haunts them today.

And I love the spotlight mention, they bundled one of their Nintendo games and released one of their strongest IP at launch, way to give spotlight to 3rd party games...

 

[Mpl90]

Sony and MS are actively seeking indie devs, Nintendo barely just started opening the gates.

In terms of 3rd party relationships (indie and mainstream), Nintendo is always a few steps back. And like it or not this goes back to the Yamauchi era, it left a permanent scar on NIntendo that still haunts them today.

Honestly, I'd say they're seeing notable improvements in courting indie developers in this gen. And I'd actually say they're better than MS now in this (mainly due to no stupid parity clause).

 

[The Boat]

Sony and MS are actively seeking indie devs, Nintendo barely just started opening the gates.

In terms of 3rd party relationships (indie and mainstream), Nintendo is always a few steps back. And like it or not this goes back to the Yamauchi era, it left a permanent scar on NIntendo that still haunts them today.

Nintendo has been extremely open with indies ever since Wii U launched, they've been giving indie games plenty of spotlight and the conditions for development are reportedly very good. I see plenty of indie games getting released regularly for Wii U, it's natural that we don't see even more considering the install base.

I agree with everything else you say of course.

 

[diablos991]

Tough news for Nintendo.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

Honestly, I'd say they're seeing notable improvements in courting indie developers in this gen. And I'd actually say they're better than MS now in this (mainly due to no stupid parity clause).

Which they already gonna change and improve, see, MS can changes directions very fast, meanwhile on Nintendo is as slow as a elephant.

 

[Tomohawk]

To be fair, Hyrule Warriors releases in Japan in just two weeks time. They get it a full month and a half before the west, and Dyanasty Warriors sells decently well in Japan. Thus, it may actually boost Wii U sales more than MK8 there, which might help numbers for Q2. As for the 3DS, that boost will come with Smash and Pokemon. They have had a consistent release of games this year for the system, but few blockbusters.

Its possible since I assume the demographic that buys dynasty warrior games hasn't already gotten a wii u, but I'm not optimistic.

 

[Longsword]

Ok, as promised the graph update:

X1 error bars are between sold 0 units last quarter(x360 1.1) and sold 1.1m (x360 - 0). The point is in the middle (i.e. they both sold equally). As you see in any case dynamics is similar to that of wiiu in-between of holiday seasons.

The trends for XB1 and WiiU are not promising based on this, while PS4 has a Wii-like pattern. Each launch is unique of course, but if I was MS or Nintendo I would move Heaven and Earth to avoid staying on this trajectory.

 

[Randolph Freelander]

Maybe you should take that up with the people managing your funds.

No need, the "outrage" was in jest (and it's indexed, not an actively managed fund). In reality, the small bit is a tiny, tiny percentage, almost but not quite entirely invisible. (It's 0.09% of the fund, and the fund itself is only 9% of my holdings.) Nintendo could go belly up tomorrow, that percentage of the fund could be wiped out entirely, and I'm not sure anyone would notice, particularly not me, except for how it might ripple through the sector and market in general.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

Nintendo has been extremely open with indies ever since Wii U launched, they've been giving indie games plenty of spotlight and the conditions for development are reportedly very good. I see plenty of indie games getting released regularly for Wii U, it's natural that we don't see even more considering the install base.

I agree with everything else you say of course.

Not saying otherwise, but whatever how you look at it, there seems to be still a few steps behind, considering Vita great selection of indies which even worse sales, you can see the difference...

Maybe is because a combination of problems, rather than a single one, but you can see that is not the same...

 

[The Boat]

Not saying otherwise, but whatever how you look at it, there seems to be still a few steps behind, considering Vita great selection of indies which even worse sales, you can see the difference...

Maybe is because a combination of problems, rather than a single one, but you can see that is not the same...

That's different from saying they're just barely opening the gates to indies instead of actively seeking them. If you're saying they're late to the party, I'd agree though.
I don't know why that's the case pertaining to Vita, maybe becauseof the stigma that 3rd parties don't sell on Nintendo platforms or maybe it's because Vita lives almost exclusively on ports, so it seems like a good place to port your indie titles.

And I love the spotlight mention, they bundled one of their Nintendo games and released one of their strongest IP at launch, way to give spotlight to 3rd party games...

So what should they do? Not release 1st party games? You should remember that 1st party releases took a backseat during 3DS' launch and that failed.

Also, there was a Zombi U bundle at launch and their E3 before launch focused a lot on third parties and their Directs show indie games regularly. Hell, one of their points about Wii U pre-launch was that they were targeting 3rd parties. Clearly it didn't work though.

 

[InsaneZero]

No need, the "outrage" was in jest. In reality, the small bit is a tiny, tiny percentage, almost but not quite invisible. (It's 0.09% of the fund, and the fund itself is only 9% of my holdings.) Nintendo could go belly up tomorrow, that percentage of the fund could be wiped out entirely, and I'm not sure anyone would notice, particularly not me, except for how it might ripple through the sector and market in general.

I was only half-joking also, since I doubt that any sane person would actually invest heavily in a company with an uncertain future. Maybe on rumors of Nintendo's next product platform announcement using resources I was willing to blow on Vegas anyway.

 

[diablos991]

I was only half-joking also, since I doubt that any sane person would actually invest heavily in a company with an uncertain future. Maybe on rumors of Nintendo's next product platform announcement using resources I was willing to blow on Vegas anyway.

Vegas will probably give you better odds if Iwata is till heading the ship when that time comes.

 

[QaaQer]

Depending on how the engine is coded and the capabilities of the ARM processor, possibly yes. The PC version will already be running on an abstraction layer - DirectX and/or OpenGL - and I doubt that the cosole versions will be coded "to the metal" either.

cheers. I hope it is also 'probable'.

the question is who they would be able to get. western support is pretty much a nonstarter outside of indies. it leaves their current relationships with sega, koei tecmo, bandai namco, capcom, and atlus. of those you have to look at who would benefit off major consoles and the investment related to developing for that. they may be swayed by the lesser costs associated with nintendo making a somewhat traditional video game hardware versus wholly going mobile (which i believe is the inevitable conclusion given how inadequately the ps4 and xb1 serve those companies).

I really don't know.

Still, Nintendo does limit their potential customer base by not having AC/GTA/FIFA/BF/etc. I read somewhere that the active console player base in the US is 40 million, & since I don't have a source for that it's kinda worthless. But if it is close to being true:

 40 million - (people who require AC/GTA/FIFA/BF/etc on console of choice ) = ?

 

[BY2K]

In better news, it sounds like Iwata is recovering steadily from his surgery.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-30/success-of-new-mario-game-fails-to-revitalize-nintendo.html

 

[Nikodemos]

The trends for XB1 and WiiU are not promising based on this, while PS4 has a Wii-like pattern. Each launch is unique of course, but if I was MS or Nintendo I would move Heaven and Earth to avoid staying on this trajectory.

I'm generally crap at charting progress, but it seems to me the PS4 will slow down, given that it's somewhere around 9 million now (according to rumours and the fact that Sony hasn't come out to announce 10 million sold-through yet, which they will likely do somewhere in late August - early September). It looks to me that the PS4 will trend closer to its predecessor.

 

[The Maverick]

Will the 3DS hit 60 million?

 

[Pifje]

No proper Mario, no proper Zelda, no attractive pricing and/or value on the console. Shitty name, shitty marketing overall, disregarding the developers, not listening to customers. Just pissing in the wind.

Great job, Nintendo.

 

[Chindogg]

No proper Mario, no proper Zelda, no attractive pricing and/or value on the console. Shitty name, shitty marketing overall, disregarding the developers, not listening to customers. Just pissing in the wind.

Great job, Nintendo.

You'll go far here.

 

[Mpl90]

Guys, one thing: going deeper in seeing the financial report, I saw what's probably the biggest component of this year's losses: foreign exchange.

In Q1 FY2013, they had 16,934 foreign exchange gains, with no losses. This resulted, together with other elements, in 20,269 for total non-operating income --> due to 526 of total non-operating losses, considering 4,924 of operating losses --> it resulted in 14,817 ordinary income.

In Q1 FY2014, instead, it certainly had bigger operating losses (9,470), but this also happened --> Only 4,897 non-operating income, with no foreign exchange income --> 5,392 non-operating losses, with 5,045 being foreign exchange losses --> all resulted in an ordinary loss of 9,964.

*numbers being millions of Yen.

Just a question: anyone with an idea of what actually happened here, why the change from exchange gains to losses?

 

[Farmboy]

I had to laugh at the suggestion that Nintendo superfans shilling for the Wii U hurt Nintendo's chances of recovery. Nintendo is a business, run by adults. They see the results, they're noticing the bottom line. They know the Wii-to-Wii U transition is one of the most dramatic negative turnarounds in the history of videogames.

In all likelyhood, they have as least as firm a grasp of what went wrong as the armchair CEO's on NeoGAF (and I'm not even saying the armchair CEO's on NeoGAF are completely wrong either: some of the mistakes made are obvious for all to see). Fanboys posting how great Mario Kart 8 is on Miiverse won't deter Nintendo from making massive changes for the next generation any more than vocal PlayStation 3 fans deterred Sony from doing so for the PS4.

Apart from common sense, there's also some concrete indication that they know the Wii U is a failure in Kyoto. One hint is the way none of their big games since Pikmin 3 have used the GamePad in a significant way. This is at the very least tacit admission that the concept hasn't worked out the way they hoped. And it could even be an indication that they're already readying for a backwards-compatible/rerelease-friendly successor that lacks a GamePad.

Few companies in this industry have shown the staying power of Nintendo, nor their uncanny ability to turn it around when things look dire. From Donkey Kong to Super Mario Bros. to Pokémon to Wii Sports, Nintendo has come up with new, industry-redefining hits again and again. Perhaps Amiibo will be their next hit (it'll likely be more stop-the-bleeding measure though). Perhaps the integrated console/portable/tablet Iwata has hinted at (with, at last, a fully stocked and full-featured Virtual Console store) will be it. Perhaps QOL will.

Or perhaps they'll keep flailing for a while. At least they can afford to do so for a bit longer.

 

[Outtrigger888]

The Mario Kart 8 sales must have been a huge disappointment for Nintendo.
What a failure of a game. The sequel to a game that sold 30 million copies on Wii can't even manage to sell any Wii U hardware.

Did mk wii sell hardware, or was it a game that everyone bought when there was already 10s of millions of wiis out there?

 

[vinnygambini]

Guys, one thing: going deeper in seeing the financial report, I saw what's probably the biggest component of this year's losses: foreign exchange.

In Q1 FY2013, they had 16,934 foreign exchange gains, with no losses. This resulted, together with other elements, in 20,269 for total non-operating income --> due to 526 of total non-operating losses, considering 4,924 of operating losses --> it resulted in 14,817 operating income.

In Q1 FY2014, instead, it certainly had bigger operating losses (9,470), but this also happened --> Only 4,897 non-operating income, with no foreign exchange income --> 5,392 non-operating losses, with 5,045 being foreign exchange losses --> all resulted in an ordinary loss of 9,964.

*numbers being millions of Yen.

Just a question: anyone with an idea of what actually happened here, why the change from exchange gains to losses?

Post 81 from yours truly

[A] restructuring charge and an exchange loss of 15 million and 50 million respectively is not helping things. The EURJPY is currently standing at an average of 136 and so another exchange losses will most likely be booked.*

*Nintendo planned an average of 140EUR

 

[Darius]

Ok, as promised the graph update:

X1 error bars are between sold 0 units last quarter(x360 1.1) and sold 1.1m (x360 - 0). The point is in the middle (i.e. they both sold equally). As you see in any case dynamics is similar to that of wiiu in-between of holiday seasons.

Too bad that PS4s most recent sales aren´t added yet.

The trends for XB1 and WiiU are not promising based on this, while PS4 has a Wii-like pattern. Each launch is unique of course, but if I was MS or Nintendo I would move Heaven and Earth to avoid staying on this trajectory.

The PS4 graph is missing the most recent months that weren´t as good as the previous launch-hype months, despite the spike due to PS4 launch in Japan in its fourth month, the curve is already looking flatter and streams will be crossed soon. The same goes with PS2, PS4 will fall behind quite soon, right now it only has the advantage that PS2s launches were pretty much staggered and for quite some time Japan exclusive.

 

[jcm]

Guys, one thing: going deeper in seeing the financial report, I saw what's probably the biggest component of this year's losses: foreign exchange.

In Q1 FY2013, they had 16,934 foreign exchange gains, with no losses. This resulted, together with other elements, in 20,269 for total non-operating income --> due to 526 of total non-operating losses, considering 4,924 of operating losses --> it resulted in 14,817 operating income.

In Q1 FY2014, instead, it certainly had bigger operating losses (9,470), but this also happened --> Only 4,897 non-operating income, with no foreign exchange income --> 5,392 non-operating losses, with 5,045 being foreign exchange losses --> all resulted in an ordinary loss of 9,964.

*numbers being millions of Yen.

Just a question: anyone with an idea of what actually happened here, why the change from exchange gains to losses?

Foreign exchange gains and losses are due to changes in the JPY-denominated value of cash they're holding in foreign currency. When they report earnings they translate the dollars, euro, and pounds into yen for the report. If they have $1000 in a savings account, that would have been 103,236.50 JPY JPY on March 31, 2014. On June 30, 2014 that same $1000 was worth 101,314.70 JPY. That's a foreign exchange loss of 1,921.80 JPY.

It's not the biggest component of the losses, though, because it's excluded from operating income, and the operating income was a loss. The biggest component of the loss is right there in plain English in the release: "total selling, general and administrative expenses including fixed expenses exceeded gross profit". Their income isn't covering the cost of running their business.

 

[Father_Brain]

Q2 is going to be a huge decrease for Wii U imo. Not only is it the slow summer months, but they have fuck-all for software in Q2. July: nothing, August: nothing, September: Hyrule Warriors (yawn - and it doesn't release til Sep 26th in NA - barely making it in the reporting period). It's very, very wishful thinking that MK8 alone can carry momentum from Q1.

If Nintendo could pull off a near-simultaneous worldwide release for MK8, I'm completely baffled as to why they can't for Hyrule Warriors or SSB 3DS. I just don't get it.

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

The failure to reach out to third parties is really most naivety and ignorance rather than any actual arrogance or malice, imo. Either way, the single biggest hurdle in repairing this problem is that Nintendo has problems with the primary target demographics that third parties are reliant upon.

Generally speaking, naivety and ignorance are negative aspects that can be traced.

 

[Mpl90]

Post 81 from yours truly

Foreign exchange gains and losses are due to changes in the JPY-denominated value of cash they're holding in foreign currency. When they report earnings they translate the dollars, euro, and pounds into yen for the report. If they have $1000 in a savings account, that would have been 103,236.50 JPY JPY on March 31, 2014. On June 30, 2014 that same $1000 was worth 101,314.70 JPY. That's a foreign exchange loss of 1,921.80 JPY.

It's not the biggest component of the losses, though, because it's excluded from operating income, and the operating income was a loss. The biggest component of the loss is right there in plain English in the release: "total selling, general and administrative expenses including fixed expenses exceeded gross profit". Their income isn't covering the cost of running their business.

Thanks a lot.
@jvm: you're right, yeah. It's not the biggest component of the losses. Still, it is an important component of the losses.

 

[InsaneZero]

Vegas will probably give you better odds if Iwata is till heading the ship when that time comes.

Rather than looking at Iwata specifically, I'd rather focus on several other factors:

- How much influence does Miyamoto have in Nintendo EAD in regards to driving the direction of development? It cannot be stated enough just how badly he dropped the ball in regards of managing the development of launch titles for the 3DS and the Wii U. At this point, I'd be comfortable if he delegates more autonomy on lower level management and just putting his stamp of approval on what they put out. Maybe only checking every so often to make certain that a game isn't fundamentally flawed.
- How much did Nintendo learn from the failures of the 3DS and the Wii U? Both were built with the fundamental purpose of reaching out to demographics that their predecessors did not have while trying to retain to existing audiences. The result ended up being products that was unfocused and appealed to no one. While the QOL product is not necessarily a gaming device, it should provide good insight into their current hardware philosophy.
- How quickly does Nintendo respond to the abysmal digital adoption rates? They stated a while back that they were going towards a hardware-agnostic one account management system like any other company on this planet. They should've already started reshuffling development priorities towards accelerating to this vision closer to yesterday. Reorder that user story backlog and push out a barebones web application for Nintendo Network account management that allows users to do whatever they needed customer support to accomplish at the very minimum before the end of summer. Promise more functionality and a mobile version later, just pull together whatever they have to give the appearance of giving users more control of their content.

There's also other concerns of equal importance like how well their initiative to allow usage of their IPs, but I need to get back to work and compiling a full list of things I need Nintendo to do for me to have full confidence in them will probably be never ending anyway.

 

[jcm]

Thanks a lot.
@jvm: you're right, yeah. It's not the biggest component of the losses. Still, it is an important component of the losses.

1) It's not any part of the operating losses, which is what we normally look at (or should be looking at, anyway). The reason is that ordinary and net income include things like foreign exchange gains/losses, which obscure the health of the business. Operating income (usually)* tells us if they're making money selling video games.
2) I'm jcm. jvm is the smart guy from Gamasutra

* I say usually because Sony counted the sales of their buildings as operating income. I'm not an accountant, so I can't explain why they were allowed to do that. But in general operating income should tell us how much money a company is making in their actual line of business.

 

[Kinan]

Too bad that PS4s most recent sales aren´t added yet.

There no official data afaik, only 9 million rumour from a ~month ago.

 

[outunderthestars]

You'll go far here.

No worse than knowing who the top posters would be before even opening the thread.....

 

[CrimsonCommie]

Hopefully they can make a profit by the holidays. It's a shame they've messed up so much this gen they've released some amazing games. But it seems like all console manufacturers have been struggling to make profits recently.

 

[LegendofLex]

How much influence does Miyamoto have in Nintendo EAD in regards to driving the direction of development? It cannot be stated enough just how badly he dropped the ball in regards of managing the development of launch titles for the 3DS and the Wii U. At this point, I'd be comfortable if he delegates more autonomy on lower level management and just putting his stamp of approval on what they put out. Maybe only checking every so often to make certain that a game isn't fundamentally flawed.

I'll let you in on a sad truth: what you suggest seems to have already happened. The problem is that the managers he groomed for the individual teams haven't been doing a good job at leading their studios in the proper direction.

 

[Game Guru]

The PS4 graph is missing the most recent months that weren´t as good as the previous launch-hype months, despite the spike due to PS4 launch in Japan in its fourth month, the curve is already looking flatter and streams will be crossed soon. The same goes with PS2, PS4 will fall behind quite soon, right now it only has the advantage that PS2s launches were pretty much staggered and for quite some time Japan exclusive.

Yeah, I think there has been a collapse of the console and handheld markets. It's hard to look at how Nintendo and Microsoft did in this quarter and not say there hasn't been a collapse. There were 2.5 million hardware sold from both Nintendo and Microsoft combined this quarter, and we know that both PS3 and Vita has collapsed as well which leaves the PS4 as the only system with any hope of being successful this quarter. The fact that it is so early in the generation and 3DS, Wii U, XB1, and Vita are in such a state is bad for dedicated devices for gaming. I think the PC and mobile market has eaten up a good chunk of sales from consoles and handhelds respectfully.

 

[Chindogg]

No worse than knowing who the top posters would be before even opening the thread.....

Very true.

 

[LegendofLex]

I think the PC and mobile market has eaten up a good chunk of sales from consoles and handhelds respectfully.

Honestly, to know that, we'd need to see how PC + mobile stack up cumulatively against the entire console umbrella. That's not to say that I doubt that PC and mobile have swelled due to migration away from conosles - PC and mobile gaming are now much cheaper than console gaming for what seems like the first time - but I'd be curious to see how much of it is actual cannibalization.