To Nintendo that's a giant risk for them to take. What if they released Pokemon yellow on the iOS platform? Then they'll expect another one and another one and so and so on. All of this on the iOS platform. This will attract less people to the 3DS. "Whaf do I need a 3DS for? I can play these games on my iPod touch/iPhone/iPad."
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Arstechnica jumps on the 'Why no pokemon on iphone!?' bandwagon
- Thread starter markot
- Start date
To Nintendo that's a giant risk for them to take. What if they released Pokemon yellow on the iOS platform? Then they'll expect another one and another one and so and so on. All of this on the iOS platform. This will attract less people to the 3DS. "Whaf do I need a 3DS for? I can play these games on my iPod touch/iPhone/iPad."
As mentioned, Nintendo is missing the boat on not using mobile phones for what is essentially a marketing platform using what would essentially be shareware apps. Though the idea of just throwing all of its IPs onto the platform is questionable at best; you're asking a company to essentially marginalize its hardware business in order to boost the popularity of another company's because of *potential* profit gains and increased popularity for an IP? Really?
That having been said, this article isn't even really advocating Nintendo throw everything onto iOS, it's just tacking a question onto the main subject which is actually copycat apps. No need to get all fired up here.
That having been said, this article isn't even really advocating Nintendo throw everything onto iOS, it's just tacking a question onto the main subject which is actually copycat apps. No need to get all fired up here.
You want Nintendo games, you buy Nintendo hardware. It's what I do and what I will always do.
People saying "they'll play it on iOs and then want the new version when it comes out on 3DS", isn't it just as likely that they'll say, I paid $5 for this and loved it, but why should I fork out $40+ and the cost of a new console when I can just wait a few years and it will be released on here for $5......
People saying "they'll play it on iOs and then want the new version when it comes out on 3DS", isn't it just as likely that they'll say, I paid $5 for this and loved it, but why should I fork out $40+ and the cost of a new console when I can just wait a few years and it will be released on here for $5......
Think is: why should they do that? They could release classic pokemon on their platform with DD and get 100% money and make the 3DS even more attractive. People who want to play it go to a Nintendo system. But I doubt they even do that. By (constantly) releasing cheap pokemon games Nintendo creates a market for people who think cheap pokemon games are good enough and not too old to be worth playing. Won't happen.
People that are satisfied by replaying pokemon red on ios arn't going to go out and buy a 3DS and Grey to begin with.
A better question would be what is the average earned by each developer, not the total. Since we're saying how much a developer (Nintendo) is not making by doing IOS. You're talking about 4 billions shared by a thousand developers at least. And we have obvious outlier like Angry Birds.
I believe last time, it was Epic games that said themselves that the average earnings for a developer was about 500 dollars. Of course Nintendo would certainly make much more than that, but whether it would be worth it is the question.
Haunted
Member
1,000 developers? There are like 140,000 active publishers on the US App Store right now. http://148apps.biz/app-store-metrics/
edit: although that number includes apps that aren't games as well.
The revenue number includes non-game apps as well, not sure why the distinction needs to be made.
I don't think that's allowed.
True. Didn't even think of that.
Not that there appears to have much monitoring on the app store
TheContact
Member
I saw that Pokemon Yellow in the app store, then saw like 70 something reviews of 1 star saying it crashes and they can't get it to work. Now, it's not even on the App Store anymore.
Would not buy it even if it had Super Gameboy palette
Yeah, advertising outside of the framework/stuff Apple gives is very dicey. The best Nintendo could do in that hypothetical is point out that the game is a "Lite version" or something to that effect and hope the consumer can put two and two together.
clay_ghost
Member
Nintendo should do a free club Nintendo app(do it for 3ds now ! 
).
Make sure to highlight the fact that to get coins you must buy Nintendo games on 3ds and wii.
Free promotion for 3ds and wii etc. lol
).Make sure to highlight the fact that to get coins you must buy Nintendo games on 3ds and wii.
Free promotion for 3ds and wii etc. lol
Original mode or bust
Hcoregamer00
The 'H' stands for hentai.
I don't want to beat a dead horse by chiding the idiocy of the article, so I will offer a slightly different viewpoint.
Instead of offering a pokemon game, they could still do some branding by offering a pokemon calendar or maybe a digital walkthrough of the newest release. Instead of competing with it, they are creating a complimentary product that enhances the 3DS sales.
Instead of offering a pokemon game, they could still do some branding by offering a pokemon calendar or maybe a digital walkthrough of the newest release. Instead of competing with it, they are creating a complimentary product that enhances the 3DS sales.
They should ... this is port begging =P
I present you N.O.V.A.
and Shadow Guardian
So maybe Gameloft can make their own Battle Monsters
Actualy this makes some sense ... but then again change "mobile" to "vita" or "psn/live arcade" and this stuff starts to sound like crazyness
But i admit that would be HILARIOUS if companies starts to use downloudable services from competitors to give people a demo or a taste of titles avaliable on their own hardware
They already did.They should ... this is port begging =P
I present you N.O.V.A.
and Shadow Guardian
So maybe Gameloft can make their own Battle Monsters
Actualy this makes some sense ... but then again change "mobile" to "vita" or "psn/live arcade" and this stuff starts to sound like crazyness
DSiWare ?
So close, but so far =|
As I said before, a DEMO (and only a demo) of Mario Galaxy on PSN and Live Arcade would be Master Trolling .... too bad they would need lots of money to port to make this trolling possible =/
TheFightingFish
Member
Honestly I think that I'm in the camp that thinks this could actually work out well for Nintendo. When you start talking about things like "brand dilution" things start getting into the realm of guesswork even for people in the know. But is seems to me that while there are plenty of good new titles on iOS (I don't have one myself) many of the really big sellers are games that target the nostalgia of lapsed gamers that are now smartphone only owners.
As such, I could see not only an old Pokemon being a bit hit saleswise, but any amount of "brand dilution" or lost VC copy sales would be offset by the wave of overall brand awareness that comes along with a new hit iOS game. A few folks who don't really game anymore might pick up Yellow on the iOS, enjoy it, and actually now consider grabbing a 3DS to play the latest and greatest Pokemon on it.
As such, I could see not only an old Pokemon being a bit hit saleswise, but any amount of "brand dilution" or lost VC copy sales would be offset by the wave of overall brand awareness that comes along with a new hit iOS game. A few folks who don't really game anymore might pick up Yellow on the iOS, enjoy it, and actually now consider grabbing a 3DS to play the latest and greatest Pokemon on it.
TheContact
Member
Of course they can
crazygambit
Member
Right, because kids love to wait years for the stuff they want now, now, now!
If that's the thought process of that particular customer, he was never gonna buy a 3DS or $40 games in the first place. At least you made $5 of him (well $3.50) when you would have made $0. He's also clearly not gonna buy Nintendo hardware to play 10+ year old games, so you might as well make some money out of him.
However there's a huge amount of potential customers that could become hooked on the franchise and begin buying Nintendo hardware for them.
That's what Christmas and parents are for.
On March 2, 2011 Apple announced they had sold 100 million iPhones worldwide. As of March 31, 2011 Nintendo DS, Lite, DSi, and XL had sold about 146 million. I think iPhone sales are at something like 183 million now (can't find solid numbers anywhere) and the DS family is at 151 million as of December 31, 2011. Add 15 million 3DS' as of December and now you're at 176 million Nintendo handhelds.
Pokemon anything will be infinitely more profitable on a Nintendo console than the app store. Even little teaser games designed to up sell to the full experience will only serve to dilute the pool of buyers. Sure, there will be people who might never know they love Pokemon without an iOS game, but there will be a lot more who used to buy the real thing and are now completely satiated with the less profitable iPhone alternative.
SquiddyCracker
Banned
I think Nintendo wouldn't make as much money selling Pokemon at 10 dollars on the iDevices as they currently are selling the game for 30-40 dollars on the DS/3DS.
MisterHero
Super Member
iOS developers probably haven't thought about this much, but they shouldn't want Nintendo to compete with them in their native environment.
In this instance, the status quo is preferrable
In this instance, the status quo is preferrable
TheChewyWaffles
Member
Or maybe he's got a point...
You forgot iPod Touch and iPad. There are about 300 million iOS devices. And every year they have been selling more than the previous years combined.
titiklabingapat
Member
The bigger question is, why are there no clones yet?
Still graaaaasping for those major major franchises. I think theres a very distinct reason we always see these articles begging for stuff from Nintendos handheld behemoth franchises. Folks need to give it up and look for something that will generate the profit/revenue that Pokemon makes from one of the already hundreds of thousands of mobile devs.
This constant wishing for something Nintendo both wont do, and would make more money from by doing on their own download services just reeks of desperation to validate smartphone gaming. Yet the people doing the constant moaning and begging are quick to assure you that no validation is needed. Its a little tough to take this stuff seriously as the 3DS rushes past the pace of even the DS and Wii's blazing start in terms of userbase growth.
There are clones. But it takes more than just copying to achieve the success that the Pokemon franchise had amassed.
This constant wishing for something Nintendo both wont do, and would make more money from by doing on their own download services just reeks of desperation to validate smartphone gaming. Yet the people doing the constant moaning and begging are quick to assure you that no validation is needed. Its a little tough to take this stuff seriously as the 3DS rushes past the pace of even the DS and Wii's blazing start in terms of userbase growth.
There are clones. But it takes more than just copying to achieve the success that the Pokemon franchise had amassed.
EatinOlives
Member
Best part is that I'm pretty sure they wouldn't agree at all if we were to apply their logic to other mediums of entertainment. "I already have mental challenges in my day to day job, why should I have to think and be intellectually challenged when I watch movies/read literature/listen to music?"
There are already a ton of easy games, games with easy modes, and countless of professional and fan-written game guides at any time we want. Video games have never been easier. To whine and bitch that they don't outright play themselves now makes me shake my head. Here's to hoping the industry doesn't at all listen to a single word in that article or those comments.
But I digress. Let's go back to laughing at the original article
(And here I thought for a second that Ars was BETTER off without Kuchera...)
Koroviev
Member
Not surprised. Ars has seemed suspiciously Apple-friendly for a while now. I'm actually not sure whether or not it survived on my RSS feed after Steve Jobs died, when all the tech sites wouldn't shut the Hell up about the "brilliant inventor" (i.e. the guy who was really good at selling shiny objects to play with in a walled garden).
Anyway, as everyone has already said, Nintendo is a hardware company. They develop quality software (i.e. Pokemon) to move hardware units. Plus, Apple doesn't need Pokemon. They already have that Angry Birds tripe.
Anyway, as everyone has already said, Nintendo is a hardware company. They develop quality software (i.e. Pokemon) to move hardware units. Plus, Apple doesn't need Pokemon. They already have that Angry Birds tripe.
You're right to include them but the quote I was responding to specifically said iPhones.
I do think it's worth noting that an iPad owner is likely to be an iPhone owner as well. I'd actually be interested to know the % of overlap. Also how many DS and iPhones are still functional and in some kind of use.
There are a ton of iOS devices, no doubt, but some of those 300M are obsolete by this point.
Empyrean Heaven
Member
I read this article 5 times over.
Honestly, I can see no other message from the author other than "Nintendo sucks and I want to see them suffer."
I mean, this is seriously becoming a problem in the gaming media. The amount of hate (and that's what it is, pure unadulterated hate) towards the company I have seen recently has been downright sickening. There would be no advantage for anyone (except perhaps Apple and consumers) if this was to happen. Not for Nintendo, not for the industry.
Seriously, sometimes I think that the gaming media writes this shit because Nintendo fanboys are notoriously loyal and they love to have angry discussion about anything that tears apart their favorite company in the sligh....oh. Like what we're doing right now.
Touche, ArsTechnica. Touche.
Honestly, I can see no other message from the author other than "Nintendo sucks and I want to see them suffer."
I mean, this is seriously becoming a problem in the gaming media. The amount of hate (and that's what it is, pure unadulterated hate) towards the company I have seen recently has been downright sickening. There would be no advantage for anyone (except perhaps Apple and consumers) if this was to happen. Not for Nintendo, not for the industry.
Seriously, sometimes I think that the gaming media writes this shit because Nintendo fanboys are notoriously loyal and they love to have angry discussion about anything that tears apart their favorite company in the sligh....oh. Like what we're doing right now.
Touche, ArsTechnica. Touche.
And so are old 1st generation Nintendo DSes. I believe he was just talking about sold to date.
I dont think its a Nintendo hate thing. I dont think they put that much thought into it. I just think people would like to have everything on one device. Everything. And I personally would like it too. The thing is, its not going to happen, and there are some people that realize that and move on. And others that sort of refuse to deal with it, and instead carry on as if making money on your own hardware, software and as an extension 3rd party software on an ecosystem Nintendo owns 100% isnt a better idea than packing up shop on everything the company is built on, and everything the company is currently and had been profitable on, for the sole purpose of making another ecosystem owned by someone else more robust.
I mean:
That line is just crazy. The answer is because they will continue to make money hand over fist, to an order of magnitude greater than the entire profit generated by the Appstore game sales by staying on the path they are on. It would be like Apple jumping out there to license out iOS to run on other phones just for the sake of taking back some OS marketshare. Really really fucking stupid, and the outcome wouldnt be worth the effort. Sure, technically short term the OS marketshare would benefit from it, but cmon, you cannot possibly be that shortsighted to not see the risks. Nintendo has zero reason to bother with something like this. They are better off making their legacy titles all available on their own e-shops.
Lool, Nintendo would first release there own phone/handheld series before they would ever touch the iphone and release a full game on it.
And consumers would be like... holly molly... I can buy a phone that I could use for a few years, as much as portable console generation. I have no need to buy new phone every year or two, so that I could play all the latest games in all there glory. I have no need to buy a new phone because my one brakes as fast as the warranty ends.
And other phone producers will be like... so.. tell me.. how do we deal with this?
And consumers would be like... holly molly... I can buy a phone that I could use for a few years, as much as portable console generation. I have no need to buy new phone every year or two, so that I could play all the latest games in all there glory. I have no need to buy a new phone because my one brakes as fast as the warranty ends.
And other phone producers will be like... so.. tell me.. how do we deal with this?
Everyone wants to be the guy who sees the future trend and says "See, I was right--I wrote this article years ago!". The future is pointing towards smartphones and tablets. Nintendo's stance towards this trend makes them an easy prey to those trying to be "visionaries".
I think, for the most part, people screaming for Nintendo games on the iOS systems got caught up in the whole "iOS systems are the future and everyone will go third party" hype, and are now discovering that this just isn't the case. Now they're frustrated because they can't buy Mario and Pokemon and this and that.
You want Nintendo games, buy Nintendo hardware.
You want Nintendo games, buy Nintendo hardware.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
bigtroyjon
Member
Hard to be more wrong than this, Nintendo is a software company that makes hardware in order to better serve their software.
Nintendo would still exist if they stopped making hardware tomorrow, they wouldn't exist if they stopped making software tomorrow.
And I can see no other message from you other than "I'm insane."