JesseEwiak
Member
Companies dies, while other rise to fill the place. That's the market.
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How can Nintendo win back marketshare with their next home console?
- Thread starter CurseoftheGods
- Start date
Companies dies, while other rise to fill the place. That's the market.
effective marketing can change the perception that Nintendo is for kiddies. they did it with the N64.
also, nintendo never went above $200 until the wii, which launched at $250. then the wii u launched at $350. who's to say they can't drop a $399 console next gen? PS4 did it and they're in pretty good shape. PS4 became profitable at $399 faster than Wii U did at $349.
It's so not.
The Japanese console market is essentially dead, and the traditional games market in general (as in, non-mobile games) is slowly dying as well.
JesseEwiak
Member
So? People in Japan are still playing video games. They're just on mobile, created by companies that aren't a hundred years old. That's fine. Sega and Capcom don't get to exist forever because they made games you liked when you were nine.
This would actually work.
This is a sobering statement.
The next few years may determine if Nintendo has the ability to not become the next Atari or Sega over the course of the next decade or fifteen years or whatever.
As a home owner, you have certain rights, certain guarantees. Yet also many responsibilities. As a renter, you have a lot of other advantages, but fewer rights and guarantees.
That's a poor analogy I know, but all I could think of at this moment.
Why would Apple agree to that? Unless they got royalties from the games, which Nintendo wouldn't accept.
Why wouldn't they accept royalties? You want to make free profit over the Apple infrastructure?
No, they should give up their pride and do what the other can't because they are multimedia companies. Nintendo has nothing to lose as a videogame company.
AusRoachman
Member
As someone who owns ps4 and Xbox and have only a mild interest in mario I'm not sure what Nintendo can do to win me back. Then again I have never been a huge fan since the snes days.
most kids resonate more with minecraft instead of mario and that ship has already sailed for them now that ms has brought it.
They desperately need to get online though, everyone is used to games just working online now.
But yeh I would have no interest even if they won back third parties since I can just play them on the box I own.
Would pick up if it's fairly cheap just as a family games box but beyond that I'm not sure why I would bother.
most kids resonate more with minecraft instead of mario and that ship has already sailed for them now that ms has brought it.
They desperately need to get online though, everyone is used to games just working online now.
But yeh I would have no interest even if they won back third parties since I can just play them on the box I own.
Would pick up if it's fairly cheap just as a family games box but beyond that I'm not sure why I would bother.
Because it's Nintendo. They are proud. It won't happen.
There aren't that many mobile-only game companies doing well in Japan, either. These "100-year-old companies" employ more people than a mobile-only industry can support. Fewer jobs means a shrinking industry and fewer college graduates willing to fill that void. It's not so simple as "well, someone will replace them". Regional markets, when they shrink, do not typically recover. See: the Japanese consumer electronics industry.
EventHorizon
Member
I don't think there exists a market larger than the Wii U for a Nintendo console at this point. At a lower price point they'd have to compete with tablets and phones, and they can't win that battle. Those devices offer more services than just games, and the games they do have are good enough and cheaper.
At a higher price point they'd be competing with the Xbox and PlayStation which will already have a huge install base lead over them. In addition the market is maturing. The hardware is becoming a commodity. All Nintendo could offer is a me-too console with anemic third party support.
Another problem for Nintendo is that even if they could come up with another gimmick like the motion control for the Wii, both Microsoft with HoloLens and Sony with Project Morpheus have their own gimmicks. It's highly unlikely that Nintendo could come up with something better than those offerings so even that wouldn't help them.
Dropping the Wii and going software only for the console market is their only viable option. They aren't going to make any money on selling the hardware and since few third parties will support them they won't even make much money from licensing. Limiting their games to the smaller install base of their console will have the added effect of hurting their software sales.
At a higher price point they'd be competing with the Xbox and PlayStation which will already have a huge install base lead over them. In addition the market is maturing. The hardware is becoming a commodity. All Nintendo could offer is a me-too console with anemic third party support.
Another problem for Nintendo is that even if they could come up with another gimmick like the motion control for the Wii, both Microsoft with HoloLens and Sony with Project Morpheus have their own gimmicks. It's highly unlikely that Nintendo could come up with something better than those offerings so even that wouldn't help them.
Dropping the Wii and going software only for the console market is their only viable option. They aren't going to make any money on selling the hardware and since few third parties will support them they won't even make much money from licensing. Limiting their games to the smaller install base of their console will have the added effect of hurting their software sales.
Maybe then Iwata goes
Nahhh he made the wii and DS a success give him another chance
JesseEwiak
Member
And yet, more people play video games in Japan every day than at any point in history. It's almost like Japan belongs to a global market where people can play games from anywhere. If Japanese companies aren't good enough to compete in the global market, than they don't deserve to exist. If there are fewer jobs, that just mean graduates should find another career path then.
Exit the console business and focus on handhelds?
eddievanclaylen
Member
If the new Nintendo console didn't use an ipad with buttons on it as a controller, I might be interested.
- Android as secondary operating system in an isolated enviroment (to prevent hacking) on the console, with certain system features on it. Access to the play store.
- Virtual amiibo offered as per game DLC for 0.99, offers players the functions of any amiibo without requiring someone to own a figuret, restricted to one game.
- Purchasable DLC that unlocks features, in order to offer players the option to pay instead of playing in order to unlock everything.
- Backwards compatibility to the Wii and select WiiU titles.
- Full shareplay capabilities across the board including Virtual Console games.
- Modest specs that only slighty move away from the WiiU, in return slim design, low power consumption and great portability options.
- Additional game content unlocked by owning other games, offered as 3.99$ DLC as well for the people who don't want to buy a whole game for that content, but ultimately this would steer purchase decisions positively torwards having one expand their library and receive awards by getting additional game content in doing so.
ecosse_011172
Junior Member
You should try one and you're realise how ridiculous your post is.
They can't. Sorry that's just how it is.
The NIntendo fanbase is shrinking and is as insular as ever, and there's no one coming in. They can't get third parties on their side because of a history of treating them like second or third class citizens, and even if they did manage to secure some, it matters little.
That's because to the world, Nintendo is not the place to play these games, nor is it the place for anyone outside of Nintendo's circle of influence. Even the fans of Nintendo feel that way, they don't even buy anything that isnt Nintendo on the consoles enough to make any sort of dent in that notion.
Even on handhelds, 3DS is nowhere near DS levels...and their next handheld wont be near 3DS levels, the fanbase is leaving them.
Unless Nintendo just continues to strike blindly at a Wii type miracle, they will have no choice but to further recede from the marketplace.
The NIntendo fanbase is shrinking and is as insular as ever, and there's no one coming in. They can't get third parties on their side because of a history of treating them like second or third class citizens, and even if they did manage to secure some, it matters little.
That's because to the world, Nintendo is not the place to play these games, nor is it the place for anyone outside of Nintendo's circle of influence. Even the fans of Nintendo feel that way, they don't even buy anything that isnt Nintendo on the consoles enough to make any sort of dent in that notion.
Even on handhelds, 3DS is nowhere near DS levels...and their next handheld wont be near 3DS levels, the fanbase is leaving them.
Unless Nintendo just continues to strike blindly at a Wii type miracle, they will have no choice but to further recede from the marketplace.
Roberto Larcos
Member
Look at Kinect 2.0 after it became an optional extra - very, very few games make use of it. Nintendo are struggling to get devs to develop for the GamePad even when it's the main controller bundled with all consoles - if it became optional, nothing.
Agree with the rest of this, especially the unified accounts. I'd probably get the next Nintendo console if it had a decent football game (FIFA or Pro Evo), a decent racing sim-like (Project Cars 2 / Assetto Corsa - Xbox and PS4 have Fords / GT). As it stands, lack of third party support doesn't make it a viable option, and having digital games tied to a console? Nope.
Stilton Disco
Member
I do have to laugh at the people swearing blind that Nintendo can't possibly compete directly and come out on top. It really seems to be a case of Nintendo having repeated the lie often enough that it's become fact for a lot of people.
Instead, look back over their past for a moment:
Gen 3: NES comes into the market and blows the fucking doors off with a low cost, high powered, and easy to use system with a boatload of exclusives. Markets the system perfectly as an entertainment device/boys toy so as to sell in the US and in doing so regenerates that entire market. Easily the winner if the generation.
Gen 4: Sega tries to take the crown with the Megadrive, markets itself as the more edgy alternative system, and more third party friendly policies. Chips away some of the market share, but ultimately fails. The SNES is the undisputed winner of the generation, having at least the joint best hardware, more exclusives and better, more popular titles.
Gen 5: This is where they begin to stop competing. Playstation enters the race with a far better third party support system and policies, CD drives, and markets itself to a wider, more mature audience. Nintendo refuses to compete, sticks with outdated carts, aiming at children, and with the old draconian third party policies. Has greatest success in the US, where NOA had free reign to make deals and produce games aimed at a more mature audience. Overall second place, but still a damned sight better than Sega and the rest of their competitors, with the likes of Atari et al leaving the industry entirely.
Gen 6: Still mostly refuses to compete, crippling themselves with low storage capacity proprietary discs, a non standardised controller layout, and no multimedia capabilities. Worse, they gut NOA, killing off even the possibility of fostering a stable of games that would continue to appeal to the western game enthusiast. All but hands the American market to new comer Microsoft, that swoop in to grab the public mind share of being the 'Shooter console'. Inspite of all this, and the bottomless pockets of MS, only barely sell less than the Xbox 1, have a system with almost as much power, far more than the PS2 infact, sell for a far smaller price, and unlike MS's lost billions, turn a healthy profit in doing so.
Gen 7: Refuses to compete at all, but lucks out with the lightning in a bottle that is the Wii. It prints money. However in doing so they completely kill their relationships with third party Devs/publishers and worse, game enthusiasts. When the Wii bubble bursts, they do nothing to try and keep their new audience engaged, and completely ignore the emergent threat of the mobile industry. Pyrrhic victory at best.
Gen 8: Refuses to compete with either Sony and MS or iOS and Android. Out of date tech, low powered, terrible marketing, no attempt to appeal to anything other than their hardcore fanbase or the lost casual market. The latter of which has gone to mobile and is never coming back. Sales track at sub Dreamcast levels.
The same this is shown with the handheld market. The Gameboy out competed everyone that challenged it. The DS trounced the PSP. The 3DS refused to compete with mobile, and is getting annihilated, but is curb stomping the PS Vita that it is actually competing with.
So year, fuck the 'but they just can't compete!!!' bollocks that even Nintendo spout. If they stopped navel gazing, and tried providing what the market wants, rather than refusing to incorporate anyone else's innovations or desires into their products, actually tried to change their public perception and target audience, and fucking well tried competing like they used to, they'd at least have a chance at doing better than they are now, because history shows us that the most successful Nintendo is down to either market savvy competitiveness, or blind luck, and you can't run a business based on luck.
Instead, look back over their past for a moment:
Gen 3: NES comes into the market and blows the fucking doors off with a low cost, high powered, and easy to use system with a boatload of exclusives. Markets the system perfectly as an entertainment device/boys toy so as to sell in the US and in doing so regenerates that entire market. Easily the winner if the generation.
Gen 4: Sega tries to take the crown with the Megadrive, markets itself as the more edgy alternative system, and more third party friendly policies. Chips away some of the market share, but ultimately fails. The SNES is the undisputed winner of the generation, having at least the joint best hardware, more exclusives and better, more popular titles.
Gen 5: This is where they begin to stop competing. Playstation enters the race with a far better third party support system and policies, CD drives, and markets itself to a wider, more mature audience. Nintendo refuses to compete, sticks with outdated carts, aiming at children, and with the old draconian third party policies. Has greatest success in the US, where NOA had free reign to make deals and produce games aimed at a more mature audience. Overall second place, but still a damned sight better than Sega and the rest of their competitors, with the likes of Atari et al leaving the industry entirely.
Gen 6: Still mostly refuses to compete, crippling themselves with low storage capacity proprietary discs, a non standardised controller layout, and no multimedia capabilities. Worse, they gut NOA, killing off even the possibility of fostering a stable of games that would continue to appeal to the western game enthusiast. All but hands the American market to new comer Microsoft, that swoop in to grab the public mind share of being the 'Shooter console'. Inspite of all this, and the bottomless pockets of MS, only barely sell less than the Xbox 1, have a system with almost as much power, far more than the PS2 infact, sell for a far smaller price, and unlike MS's lost billions, turn a healthy profit in doing so.
Gen 7: Refuses to compete at all, but lucks out with the lightning in a bottle that is the Wii. It prints money. However in doing so they completely kill their relationships with third party Devs/publishers and worse, game enthusiasts. When the Wii bubble bursts, they do nothing to try and keep their new audience engaged, and completely ignore the emergent threat of the mobile industry. Pyrrhic victory at best.
Gen 8: Refuses to compete with either Sony and MS or iOS and Android. Out of date tech, low powered, terrible marketing, no attempt to appeal to anything other than their hardcore fanbase or the lost casual market. The latter of which has gone to mobile and is never coming back. Sales track at sub Dreamcast levels.
The same this is shown with the handheld market. The Gameboy out competed everyone that challenged it. The DS trounced the PSP. The 3DS refused to compete with mobile, and is getting annihilated, but is curb stomping the PS Vita that it is actually competing with.
So year, fuck the 'but they just can't compete!!!' bollocks that even Nintendo spout. If they stopped navel gazing, and tried providing what the market wants, rather than refusing to incorporate anyone else's innovations or desires into their products, actually tried to change their public perception and target audience, and fucking well tried competing like they used to, they'd at least have a chance at doing better than they are now, because history shows us that the most successful Nintendo is down to either market savvy competitiveness, or blind luck, and you can't run a business based on luck.
Don't think they can even if they made it more powerful than PS4. Gamers will stick with PlayStation or Xbox. Loyalty to brand, friends, trophy's, exclusives etc. Then third party developers won't support it due to lack of sales and people don't want to play Nintendo exclusives on home consoles anymore as shown by Wii's demise later in it's gen and the Wii U sales.
Great, so there will be 3 $400, $500 or $600 almost identical consoles.
What's going to happen? A situation like the one currently. One of them sells. The other(s) go down hard.
Do you really think that there is a large audience for 2 or more highly expensive consoles?
It's funny that people forgot how badly Sony flopped with their PS3 last generation. Or how badly the Vita flopped all around the world. A Nintendo PS3 / Vita would probably be the dream of quite a few GAFfers, but would do extremely badly. Who the hell would buy such an expensive console for let's say a 10 year old? Almost noone. Would even most GAFfers buy it? Of course not. They would say "sure, it's powerful, but I already got my PS4 and $400, $500 or $600 is simply too expensive". "A handheld for $300, effectively $400? Are you fucking kidding me?". Just as they currently do - "150pounds for a Wii U? Nope, that's too expensive. Will wait for it to be 50pounds." (and they are saying that while the PS3 is STILL 200pounds)
Let me remind you of the original Xbox. Way more powerful than PS2, but at the same time also more expensive. And it flopped.
It was actually a mistake to release the Wii U at a $350 price point. It was already way too expensive. Some parts of the Wii U are extremely high-tech (the gamepad tech), but this didn't help at all. Wii back then was actually the perfect price.
That wasn't Nintendo's fault. Plenty of third parties simply wanted to create HD HD HD AAA games and then an insane amout of those studios were closed down. They could have chosen to do less expensive projects on Wii - the best selling console last gen -, but nope.
The market in general was not ready for HD at that point. That's one of the reasons why the Wii made so much money. Because most people simply didn't give a shit about a $599 HD console. That's the truth and those third parties simply ignored the market. And many of them paid the price. Last HD gen was a mass grave.
Back then those 3rd parties laughed about the Wii, ignored the market and then were even stubborn to not make proper games for Wii. And that's Nintendo's fault now?
Excuse me? If you call yourself game enthusiast and didn't own a Wii, then you are not really a game enthusiast. Wii had so many gems, lots of hidden gems by third parties too. There were so many classics. So many original games. Wii was the PS2 of its generation.
PS3/360 in comparison were full of black+grey 3rd and first person cinematic shooters. And really buggy games everywhere.
Gameboy was worse than its competitioners. It had a great battery life and had the best games. That's why it won. But it wasn't the most powerful handheld out there. It wasn't even powerful hardware at all.
DS beat the PSP, but it was way less powerful than the PSP. It simply has the best games.
3DS same story.
I don't see your point. What I actually see is that most powerful hardware almost never wins a generation.
the wii and the ds weren't luck. that was nintendo finding an answer to a tough problem. poised with other tough questions, they came out with far worse answers with the wii u and 3ds.
nintendo's not getting the market that microsoft and sony have built. they seem to have no desire for it. what they can do instead is try to find their own audience. they can do this by forming relationships with independent developers who make games in the style they think benefits their ecosystem, and partner with bigger publishers who do the same. nintendo should also continue to try and reach out beyond their core audience, but not to the markets sony and microsoft have, or even the ones apple and google have. they need to find some sort of spark that gets people who aren't traditionally interested in games interested in them.
changing their target audience would probably be a loss of morale within the company and definitely a loss for the market at large. we all lost something when sega's arcadey first-party platforms were dispersed among the wider market and never found a foothold. that kind of consolidation and fanbase gives way to new and different experiences that have the potential to inspire. who knows what the marketplace would look like now with a first-party sega still doing business.
geordiemp
Member
In the days before social media marketing could do a lot of things. You don't need to tell consumers the hardware specs and people will go wow what a powerful hardware.
Today its not going to happen, Sony and MS hid their specs, so did Nintendo, but every body knows the relative power of each console.
No way can N release a console, tell everybody its powerful in marketing if its less powerful than Ps4. Neogaf would know probably 6 months before release its estimated TF.
Today is more fair in some ways, consumers know what they are getting. If Nintendo release a console that's more powerful than Ps4 and can do 1080p60 on more multiplats, then it would get many console converts.
Many multi console owners play multiplats, especially single player, on the strongest console. Marketing makes NO difference.
Ultra Numb
Member
They could get everything right next time and still nobody is going to say "I'm going to get Call of Duty on the Nintendo system" - Nintendo just can't win.
Caddywompus
Member
Timing was a big issue with both the 3DS and Wii U. Had they introduced a 3D handheld at the height of Avatar and other 3D movies while it was still new and fresh or if they hadn't waited for the Wii to be on life support when they introduced the Wii U once everyone and their Mom already owned a tablet, things might have turned out different. That's not to say both weren't overpriced at launch or lacked the first party title worth owning either new system. The take away is Nintendo didn't learn anything from the first failed launch to prevent the second failure. Hopefully the third time is a charm.
Jeff Gerstmann has been advocating that direction for them recently, and I think it would make sense. One platform, big-screen capable and portable. Superior mobile experiences compared to phones and tablets, but not a hardware horse-race versus MS and Sony (which they would lose anyway).
They would need to up their game in other areas as well of course, third-party relations could definitely use some fresh blood.
Loyalty doesn't seem to be that big of an issue judging from the beginning of this generation: we see so-called "core" demographic switching from 360 to PS4 in the blink of an eye.
But that doesn't matter anyway, because I really can't see Nintendo going to compete directly against MS/Sony.
Though, Nintendo is admittedly quite unpredictable so who knows, maybe they will; after all, theoretically speaking, a powerful Nintendo box which is also able to run big AAA productions, has good online and a decent account system is something that 99% of players should be quite interested in.
Stilton Disco
Member
Bollocks.
If they were that insightful and forward thinking they wouldn't have completely lost the Wii audience by gen 7's end, shown such utter incompetency with the design and marketing of the WiiU and it's software, or been so completely fucked over by the mobile market.
They had the right ideas at the right places and times to make a killing, they got unimaginably lucky, to the point it's easier to believe they knew what they were doing, rather than just getting two turds to stick to the wall in consecutive throws.
There fall in sales that's completely in line with their steadily increasing failure over the years if you take the Wii and DS out of the equation, that's Nintendo without blind luck.
And I just see this kind of attitude as synonymous with Nintendo's biggest flaw in a nutshell, along with the reason they killed NOA's independence seemingly out of spite: Nintendo's Japanese management would rather drive sales into the ground, possibly even go under entirely, than accept the notion that someone else's ideas and strategies might be better.
It has to be their way, their ideas, their desired audience. They can't just look at the market that has existed for decades, or their prior success when they did things differently to today, the world has to conform to what they want it to be, and they'll happily give the vast majority of their current potential costumer base the finger and look for a new audience, rather than just try and be less contrary and give people what they obviously want.
Every generation, millions of former fans have got tired of Nintendo trying to be a unique creative snowflake that has to be different and won't conform to what tier more successful competitors are doing. I'm one of the few that have stuck with them through thick and thin, but I'm not going to delude myself to the fact that they're a bunch of fucking idiots half the time, and easily their own worst enemy.
Infact fuck not being able to compete with Sony and MS, the real thing they can't compete with is their own ambition.
Pop-O-Matic
Banned
I think the fact that so many people were willing to jump ship from Xbox to Playstation this generation is proof that this is a load of crap.
It's going to be hard. Wii U had a head start and an actual library yet the PS4 launched and sold at a higher rate just on promise alone. The Nintendo brand has lost some of its relevance with gamers because of some of Nintendo's own choices. I don't think there are simple bullet points that can rectify that.
Anyway, it will definitely help if Nintendo's next machine is technically on par with its rivals. However, if Nintendo lauches first, which seems likely, there will still be the expectation that their competitors' machines will be more powerful. Still, if they're close, that will make 3rd party ports easier.
I don't necessarily agree with "no gimmicks". The baseline console functions should be well made but Nintendo should have features that set its console apart. PS4 and Xbone have "gimmicks" too. It's just that the term carries a negative connotation and gaffers prefer to call exclusive functionality that they like "features".
I like the Wii U gamepad and can't imagine the WiiU without it (I'm using it right now) but I wonder if it was worth the opportunity cost. It hasn't attracted casual players as well as the Wiimote did whereas such a technically complex controller certainly limited the budget for other aspects of the hardware. Would beefier core components have benefitted Nintendo more than the gamepad?
Imo, Nintendo is still paying the price for decisions dating back to the N64 era. The Wii was a timely and well executed outlier that appealed mightily to a new casual audience but did little to woo the kind of people who ignored the gamecube back. Since the majority of the Wii's audience has not upgraded to the Wii U, Nintendo is back at its expected position.
I don't think we can expect Nintendo to take huge financial risks when it can be conservative and profitable. Case in point, NA isn't getting a model of 3ds hardware and Wii owners literally fought for already-developed games to be released for the aging, software-starved console. So I only expect Nintendo to be Nintendo with their next console while taking a few baby steps to address some concerns with the Wii U
Anyway, it will definitely help if Nintendo's next machine is technically on par with its rivals. However, if Nintendo lauches first, which seems likely, there will still be the expectation that their competitors' machines will be more powerful. Still, if they're close, that will make 3rd party ports easier.
I don't necessarily agree with "no gimmicks". The baseline console functions should be well made but Nintendo should have features that set its console apart. PS4 and Xbone have "gimmicks" too. It's just that the term carries a negative connotation and gaffers prefer to call exclusive functionality that they like "features".
I like the Wii U gamepad and can't imagine the WiiU without it (I'm using it right now) but I wonder if it was worth the opportunity cost. It hasn't attracted casual players as well as the Wiimote did whereas such a technically complex controller certainly limited the budget for other aspects of the hardware. Would beefier core components have benefitted Nintendo more than the gamepad?
Imo, Nintendo is still paying the price for decisions dating back to the N64 era. The Wii was a timely and well executed outlier that appealed mightily to a new casual audience but did little to woo the kind of people who ignored the gamecube back. Since the majority of the Wii's audience has not upgraded to the Wii U, Nintendo is back at its expected position.
I don't think we can expect Nintendo to take huge financial risks when it can be conservative and profitable. Case in point, NA isn't getting a model of 3ds hardware and Wii owners literally fought for already-developed games to be released for the aging, software-starved console. So I only expect Nintendo to be Nintendo with their next console while taking a few baby steps to address some concerns with the Wii U
To be fair, I bet most of those jumpers, had jumped from PS2 to X360 in the previous gen when the PS3 was so expensive, and now they are jumping back.
The danger with that is they are putting all their eggs in one basket. If it fails they don't have another strand to back it up.
Personally I think multiple systems using the same OS is the way to go.
Essentially working like a range of PC's...the handheld being the minimum spec machine, the console being the top end. The handheld is 540p/720p..the console 1080p/4k..the handheld has low quality textures/basic effects etc, the console high quality textures/high quality effects etc.
A hybrid sounds nice in theory....
..but if you want a handheld that can output a decent HD image on tv.....you're looking at a price far higher than any Nintendo handheld or console has ever been.
Of course I suppose with a cross platform OS there's nothing to stop them releasing a 540p handheld at $179, a 1080p/4k console at $249..and a high end hybrid at $399.
Pop-O-Matic
Banned
Still, I think it shows that most will choose whichever system they feel is best rather than just choosing based on brand loyalty/their friend list/e-peen measuring sticks/etc.
The Bookerman
Member
That would require a lot of money that nintendo can't spend. That would be a gamble for sure. Video games are their only buisness at this time and they can't rely on anything else if they fail.
1) They're not going to sell hardware at a loss since they're not making a lot of money off 3rd party licensee's game sales.
2) The WiiU userbase is growing slowly but the attach rate for some software is incredibly high.
A) Expect the next console to be very efficiently made. I would not be surprised if we lost BC.
B) Expect it to launch with a big flashy Nintendo game. Their new ability to keep existing customers engaged with dlc updates instead of new games might help them to transition development teams more efficiently. Imagine, for example, Sm4sh dlc near the end of the Wii U lifespan when most teams have moved on to Wii Tu projects.
2) The WiiU userbase is growing slowly but the attach rate for some software is incredibly high.
A) Expect the next console to be very efficiently made. I would not be surprised if we lost BC.
B) Expect it to launch with a big flashy Nintendo game. Their new ability to keep existing customers engaged with dlc updates instead of new games might help them to transition development teams more efficiently. Imagine, for example, Sm4sh dlc near the end of the Wii U lifespan when most teams have moved on to Wii Tu projects.
toddhunter
Member
That is only proof that the best way for Nintendo to win back marketshare, is for Sony and Microsoft to make a complete mess of it.
It could happen.
That's because the jump from Xbox to PS or vice versa isn't that much of a change for a gamer. That subset of gamers views Nintendo in a completely different light, after years of conditioning people don't associate AAA games with Nintendo hardware, even when they're there and they aren't going to buy a Nintendo console to play the next COD just because the hardware is on par with the competition. If Nintendo wants that crowd, they're going to have to offer them the games within the genre they want that they can't get on another console. Nintendo will need to have their own shooters, adventure games, racers etc and I don't see that happening.
It's their best shot. Microsoft very nearly made a complete mess of the xbone. I think Nintendo should stay in the console business as long as its profitable. Why should Nintendo stop playing just because it's not #1 right now. If they weren't planning for a new console even while gc was struggling the Wii phenomenon wouldn't have had a chance to happen. Stay in it. I like options.
I thought I'd summarize the main reasons why it isn't advantageous for Nintendo to compete with Sony/MS directly since a lot of people don't seem to give the argument much consideration.
1. There's no more growth in the young male 'gamer' demographic that Sony/MS occupy. All of the growth is elsewhere. That means for Nintendo to get in there, they have to push someone out. MS has demonstrated they're willing to spend money to stay in no matter what. Sony might not have the same resources but they're entrenched pretty well and won't let Nintendo just come in and steal their audience.
2. Nintendo doesn't make the right kind of games to compete with Sony/MS. Nintendo doesn't do big budget IPs with realistic graphics. This isn't the N64 era anymore; Mario and Zelda don't cut it. The gamers who play on PS and Xbox have moved away from the kinds of games Nintendo makes. To go after this market doesn't play to Nintendo's existing strengths. It might even cause resignations at the company if they were to massively change up the kind of games they make.
People's minds can be changed about what games they want. Instead of trying to mimic the competition, they can simply convince people that they should be interested in Nintendo games instead. That just means building hardware and software that is attractive to consumers. It doesn't have to have all the third parties or win the console war. It just has to be an appealing product that makes people want to buy it for whatever reason.
1. There's no more growth in the young male 'gamer' demographic that Sony/MS occupy. All of the growth is elsewhere. That means for Nintendo to get in there, they have to push someone out. MS has demonstrated they're willing to spend money to stay in no matter what. Sony might not have the same resources but they're entrenched pretty well and won't let Nintendo just come in and steal their audience.
2. Nintendo doesn't make the right kind of games to compete with Sony/MS. Nintendo doesn't do big budget IPs with realistic graphics. This isn't the N64 era anymore; Mario and Zelda don't cut it. The gamers who play on PS and Xbox have moved away from the kinds of games Nintendo makes. To go after this market doesn't play to Nintendo's existing strengths. It might even cause resignations at the company if they were to massively change up the kind of games they make.
People's minds can be changed about what games they want. Instead of trying to mimic the competition, they can simply convince people that they should be interested in Nintendo games instead. That just means building hardware and software that is attractive to consumers. It doesn't have to have all the third parties or win the console war. It just has to be an appealing product that makes people want to buy it for whatever reason.
- Excite the general public with an appealing novelty which is quickly understandable and easy to market.
- Don't rely on consolidated big publishers, just focus on first-party software.
- Focus on catering to independent developers for the digital store.
- Create a good balance between value perceived and price.
- Hasten the internal development process by sharing the base architecture between console and handheld (no, I'm not saying Nintendo should unify the hardware, just the development tools).
- Don't rely on consolidated big publishers, just focus on first-party software.
- Focus on catering to independent developers for the digital store.
- Create a good balance between value perceived and price.
- Hasten the internal development process by sharing the base architecture between console and handheld (no, I'm not saying Nintendo should unify the hardware, just the development tools).
Oswen
Member
I don't think they can.
They will *need* to capture lightning again and find a niche that wont get stolen by the next big thing some years later.
Traditional gamers have written them off for good, I find interesting how Nintendo is still quite relevant despite the many big mistakes made since the N64, many companies would have crashed and burned for much less.
3DS successor will be the most interesting thing to see to date, it could very well confirm the end of handhelds or be something totally different, designed to survive in a post-smartphone era.
4DS and WiiU2 won't make them any good and I think Nintendo knows that, the next coming years will be interesting.
They will *need* to capture lightning again and find a niche that wont get stolen by the next big thing some years later.
Traditional gamers have written them off for good, I find interesting how Nintendo is still quite relevant despite the many big mistakes made since the N64, many companies would have crashed and burned for much less.
3DS successor will be the most interesting thing to see to date, it could very well confirm the end of handhelds or be something totally different, designed to survive in a post-smartphone era.
4DS and WiiU2 won't make them any good and I think Nintendo knows that, the next coming years will be interesting.
Stallion Dan
Member
Unless they find some successful gimmick like with the Wii and not a failed one like Wii U, I don't think they can.
Clearly their own games don't sell consoles anymore, so they either get a lucky gimmick or Sony and MS both have to cock-up royally somehow.
Clearly their own games don't sell consoles anymore, so they either get a lucky gimmick or Sony and MS both have to cock-up royally somehow.
- share platform with handheld
- non gaming apps (that also work on console & handheld). Devkits for these apps is cheap (150 euro or so), anyone can develop for it.
- not too expensive (249 launch)
- moderate but up to date specs
- gamepad can be used optional (as an incentive to current wii u owners who like offtv play), handheld can also be used instead of gamepad
- improve on the last hurdles nintendo has with online (concerning account and voicechat)
- non gaming apps (that also work on console & handheld). Devkits for these apps is cheap (150 euro or so), anyone can develop for it.
- not too expensive (249 launch)
- moderate but up to date specs
- gamepad can be used optional (as an incentive to current wii u owners who like offtv play), handheld can also be used instead of gamepad
- improve on the last hurdles nintendo has with online (concerning account and voicechat)
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