Father_Brain
Banned
Would Nintendo be assured of success as a third party? Hell no.
Are they more likely to succeed as a third party than to produce another successful dedicated platform, given their history, core competencies, and the extent to which they've been beaten on both the Sony/MS end and iOS/Android end of the market? I would say yes.
Thing is, even if it remains at its current size, I don't think the base of loyal Nintendo fans is large enough to sustain a company NCL's size.
I agree that QOL is supposed to be the backup plan, but that faces a very difficult road ahead given the volume of competition in the fitness/lifestyle market.
Are they more likely to succeed as a third party than to produce another successful dedicated platform, given their history, core competencies, and the extent to which they've been beaten on both the Sony/MS end and iOS/Android end of the market? I would say yes.
It's sort of the HBO philosophy.
Anyway, I don't think Nintendo cares about competing with Sony and Microsoft. They've been very explicit about, actually. I also don't think they care about going after casuals after the Wii/DS fallout.
At this point, their goal appears to be to build a base of Nintendo fans that will remain loyal for years or decades, and that they can consistently make money off of. They'll look to grow this base slowly over time through partnerships with other media companies -- ie, some kid watches the Zelda Netflix show, decides to buy a Nintendo console.
They'll go for a Steam-like system, eliminating discs in favor of digital games bound to an account playable across a wide range of Nintendo hardware, with backwards compatibility extending basically forever. They'll look to lock you into the Nintendo digital platform this way, as once you've bought X number of games, it becomes hard to leave (the strategy Apple/Google have used with apps/books/etc.). They'll further monetize the Nintendo platform with things like Amiibo.
They'll grow their business with other ventures. The "post-wearables", and all that.
Thing is, even if it remains at its current size, I don't think the base of loyal Nintendo fans is large enough to sustain a company NCL's size.
I agree that QOL is supposed to be the backup plan, but that faces a very difficult road ahead given the volume of competition in the fitness/lifestyle market.