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Nintendos Sad Struggle for Survival (The Atlantic)
- Thread starter entremet
- Start date
wonderful103
Member
I think I found the author.
I want PS4 games on actually good hardware like my PC ¯_ಠ_ಠ_/¯
Herb Alpert
Banned
Is this Ninjablade true identity?
The Atlantic unpaid intern is that you?
ElectricBlanketFire
Member
How so?
SinCityAssassin
Member
40 million downloads is more of a PR get than anything because it both demonstrates an awareness of Nintendo and Mario on the mobile market and of its awareness as a whole to modern audiences.
Last I check, and it's mostly an estimate from Sensor Tower, sold downloads were at 2.1 million in less than a week. Which would roughly be around $15 million after platform fees. Which was SuperData's revised estimate that it would take Mario Run to make for the rest of December.
Orakio Rob
Member
While the title is awful, the article is actually pretty good.
Diprosalic
Banned
It was a good run!
I will remember them fondly.
I will remember them fondly.
Father_Brain
Banned
I've said this before, but I'm guessing that at least 95% of the people currently insisting that Nintendo will never, ever exit the hardware business would have said the same about Nintendo developing for mobile prior to March of last year.
We'll see how the next few years play out, of course, but if market conditions and their shareholders demand it strongly enough, it'll happen.
We'll see how the next few years play out, of course, but if market conditions and their shareholders demand it strongly enough, it'll happen.
And how much do Nintendo get of that once Niantic and the Pokemon Company get their share?
TheGreatMightyPoo
Banned
Then at least it's on topic.
wonderful103
Member
If Nintendo exits the hardware business soon, it will be solely (solely) to mobile, and it will be because they're tanking as a company and have fired 3/4 of their staff to stay solvent. Not the wet dreams many here want of playing their games on low end paywalled PCs masquerading as consoles.
If (when) Nintendo exits the hardware business long term, it will be around the same time that everyone else does the same. Since everyone is setting up for the service-only platform future already.
I don't think it's unrealistic for shareholders to want Nintendo to use mobile to both produce revenue and enhance awareness of their other products. It's not how Nintendo makes money because they haven't been on mobile before. It could definitely be how Nintendo makes money now.
you expect too much from shareholders, they just want they gatcha nintedo games on mobile, they dont care for anything else
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
Nintendo's delve into mobile was the best thing that happened to them to counteract their embarrassing collapse in the home console sector and severe decline in the handheld sector. Unfortunately, they need to monetise better.
SinCityAssassin
Member
Direct profit from Pokemon Go would be less than 150 million if the app grossed more than $1 billion total. The much more profitable aspect of Pokemon Go for Nintendo was the increase in brand awareness. Pokemon merch and retail games were very much up YoY after Pokemon Go released, it even helped moved Omega Ruby and Sapphire to sell over a million copies for the year, and those games were released in 2014.
Ian has a pretty good take on the state of Nintendo. Their future is in conflict. Any choice they make in iOS or the console business is flawed and another decline.
Nintendo taking a half-step is missing the business model of smartphones.
This has been my question with Nintendo and iOS. Nintendo is a company that's entire philosophy is based on control, the platform, and premium pricing.
The premium pricing model for software is what makes Nintendo a very wealthy company. I don't know how they can adapt to a market selling these free to start games while trying to still sell $50 Mario games.
Mario will be diminished from a pricing standpoint and the pricing measure taken by the iOS release is a half-step designed to resemble the norms of mobile without completely tanking their traditional software business. It's almost an impossible strategy to maneuver through.
Nintendo taking a half-step is missing the business model of smartphones.
This has been my question with Nintendo and iOS. Nintendo is a company that's entire philosophy is based on control, the platform, and premium pricing.
The premium pricing model for software is what makes Nintendo a very wealthy company. I don't know how they can adapt to a market selling these free to start games while trying to still sell $50 Mario games.
Mario will be diminished from a pricing standpoint and the pricing measure taken by the iOS release is a half-step designed to resemble the norms of mobile without completely tanking their traditional software business. It's almost an impossible strategy to maneuver through.
There are probably a lot of businesses that would like to "fail" like Nintendo does. Single SKU 3DS games at the top of the NPD sales list, their 6 year old handheld console sold out everywhere, their experimental toe-in-the water mobile ventures downloaded millions of times, millions of revenue from amiibo's, and stand-in-line high demand for their retro NES product.
I don't like their ultra-conservative low supply-high demand hardware sales model, but that's some serious disconnection from reality to suggest they're on a trajectory towards failure or market irrelevance.
Anecdotally, all of my kids are actively playing Pokemon Sun/Moon on their own 2DS/3DS, and so are many of their friends from elementary school to middle school. Their parents already know what a Switch is because their kids are already talking about it. And they're talking about it for different reasons.
I don't like their ultra-conservative low supply-high demand hardware sales model, but that's some serious disconnection from reality to suggest they're on a trajectory towards failure or market irrelevance.
Anecdotally, all of my kids are actively playing Pokemon Sun/Moon on their own 2DS/3DS, and so are many of their friends from elementary school to middle school. Their parents already know what a Switch is because their kids are already talking about it. And they're talking about it for different reasons.
Lord of Ostia
Member
People saying Nintendo wouldn't get into mobile were ignoring the writing on the wall and the nature of the market.
People saying Nintendo won't get out of the console market is not the same. Nintendo as we know it is a platform holder and console manufacturer. The day they get out of consoles/handhelds is the day they stop being Nintendo as we know it. A company like Nintendo cannot continue to operate like it does without being a platform holder and console manufacturer. If they abandon the console market as a hardware manufacturer, expect a massive downsizing of their software development teams, localization teams, and business side as well.
ElfArmy177
Member
Noone gets it.... No Nintendo won't go out of business because they have the most iconic characters in gaming. They make money to survive off other aspects of the company. However has a hardware developer, they are fucking terrible and they really should quit. This is coming from a HUGE Nintendo fanboy. I've purchased their consoles because I adore their franchise games... And it sits there..
As a fan, I hope switch fails miserably and they lose a ton of money so they can finally get it through their thick skulls they are a third party developer and don't have the skill, or the obvious brain capacity to understand they suck at making consoles and noone wants their underpowered ancient POS hardware anymore with ignorant gimmicks.
This is why I play your games on PC Nintendo, so they don't look like dog shit. Get it through your head for once.
/Rant... Sorry... Tired of this every 4-5, years Nintendo releases shitty hardware.
As a fan, I hope switch fails miserably and they lose a ton of money so they can finally get it through their thick skulls they are a third party developer and don't have the skill, or the obvious brain capacity to understand they suck at making consoles and noone wants their underpowered ancient POS hardware anymore with ignorant gimmicks.
This is why I play your games on PC Nintendo, so they don't look like dog shit. Get it through your head for once.
/Rant... Sorry... Tired of this every 4-5, years Nintendo releases shitty hardware.
NinjaCoachZ
Member
Yeah, this is what the issue with the article is.
That's right that it's impossible to write an article without being biased, so that in itself isn't the issue. The thing is there's "bias" and then there's the article pretty much getting hung up on two subjective points to make its thesis (NES Classic proving Nintendo's dependence on nostalgia rather than new ideas + Mario Run being an act of desperation = Nintendo is losing the plot when it comes to mainstream mindshare) while ignoring about a dozen other points that would poke holes in it (active attempts to gain mainstream mindshare with Universal parks, Switch and Zelda getting a ton of attention, most of the buzz from NES Mini not actually being from Nintendo, downplaying Pokemon Go and ignoring S&M breaking series records).
It's completely possible to write an objective article that notes Nintendo's attempts to improve while also looking critically at where they've messed up or should do better. This article uses a lot of words but there's just not enough substance to it.
mocolostrocolos
Member
Correct, I should've said "that's not how Nintendo wants to make money (so far)".
perfectchaos007
Member
I'm going to cynical GAF your post.
Wii was the highest selling console of the generation. Still more than 50 million units shy of the PS2
Biggest game on a phone ever that created a media storm.. And that game was dead in a month
7 games that sold over 20 million copies. None of which were on the Wii U
Biggest launch of a game on the App Store ever. It's $9.99 but without In-App purchases, does it even matter?
Amiibo's were so popular they were selling out everywhere. And they are all on clearance now, with retailers scrambling to get rid of them.
NES Mini has sold hundreds of thousands and still in demand. Only 200,000 in the US. Could have sold over a million units if they were just competent and released enough units to satisfy demand.
Was the mascot at the Olympic closing ceremony to begin Japan's turn in 4 years. Yeah because putting a guy in a PS4 costume would have looked weird.
Opening Nintendo themed areas at Universal Studio. I guess they need a theme to be in the shadows of JK Rowlings Potter World.
Over $10 billion in the bank and enough to run a $250 million loss each year for nearly 40 years. Nintendo RIP 1889-2056
SinCityAssassin
Member
And I don't get tired of laughing, I'm afraid. It seems like we're cursed to perform this endless ritual.
I'm not saying that's not the case for the average shareholder, but there's definitely an argument for Nintendo trying to do both. Using mobile as just a way to lift their other products only works if their other products are viable and the Switch is a complete unknown right now. If that thing launches at 300, all the mobile intros in the world aren't going to make it a runaway success.
Okay your anecdotal evidence does not mean that the term is not used by casuals or rather used by mainstream media to illustrate the type of game it is to the general public.
Here are some more links of the term being used in mainstream media.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/post...-dont-the-characters-in-my-apps-look-like-me/
http://time.com/4602086/super-mario-run-review/
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/dont-stop-the-game-that-conquered-smartphones
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Run
Also, it is such a weird/minor thing to harp on. In an article that has so many other assumptions that are worth discussing and analyzing.
EatinOlives
Member
The article spends a ton of time describing why Nintendo must stop looking at the past, then proceeds to criticize Mario Run for making fundamental changes to the formula.
The article also makes an incredibly dumb argument about how other runners have "something" that the player runs from, a curse, a UFO invasion, etc. seemingly criticizing Nintendo for not having that for Mario Run? How is it a bad thing?
Baffling article. Decent coverage of the history of the company and the NES Mini, but you can tell the author was trying really hard to be critical of Nintendo with Mario Run without really having anything concrete to criticize in the first place.
The article also makes an incredibly dumb argument about how other runners have "something" that the player runs from, a curse, a UFO invasion, etc. seemingly criticizing Nintendo for not having that for Mario Run? How is it a bad thing?
Baffling article. Decent coverage of the history of the company and the NES Mini, but you can tell the author was trying really hard to be critical of Nintendo with Mario Run without really having anything concrete to criticize in the first place.
Outrun
Member
Or Nintendo has evolved into a higher existence where TFLOPs and GDDR are left behind. Nintendo's biggest competitor is themselves and their past towering achievements.
clevbrowns94
Member
Uh, no. This is just more Nintendoomed crap. They have actually been doing well lately and diversifying and expanding the brand with mobile, Amiibos, Universal Studios, etc. There are certainly bumps along the way like the NES Classic supply debacle, but things will really come down to how well the Switch does. They seem to actually have third party support, but we've seen that at launch before and fade away. Still, the Switch's prebuzz seems to be much better than the Wii U's, Breath of the Wild and other games look great, and Nintendo is not doomed.
Trouble? Oh, quite the contrary.
With the recognition of their franchises, the sky is the limit. I don't know why everyone laughs at the prospect of them leaving the console business all together, but when you read about the amount of money something like Pokemon GO makes in a day, you would have to imagine investors want more of it... Even if it's 10% as successful, you're still looking at tens of thousands of dollars a day. And if you have a loyal playerbase, that can last for years. How many traditional console games can boast success like that?
entremet
Member
Off topic, where are you getting your numbers about PS3 outselling the Wii worldwide?
That's not verified anywhere? Are you talking about the 360?
Edit: I'm dumb, I get what you mean now.
... No, no it doesn't.
Clearly, they have proven that they're sitting on franchises that can flourish on the mobile market. They don't need the Switch to be successful at all.
Lord of Ostia
Member
Nintendo's identity as a software developer/publisher and a console manufacturer are inextricably intertwined with one another. You can't axe one and keep the other, at least not as we know Nintendo today. If Nintendo gets out of the console business, it will be unable to sustain all of the development teams it has accumulated over time. It will be unable to fund development of games from other developers and publishers. It will be unable (or lack the incentive) to localize as many games as the company does now. The ramifications on the company would be significant, as well as the ramifications on their software output. If you are going to ask for this, you need to understand what you are actually asking for.
ElectricBlanketFire
Member
No more weird than getting hung up on my post about people I know in real life, not articles/Wikipedia entries about video games.
IamDodongo
Member
it's like clockwork
Sephiroth_VII
Member
SinCityAssassin
Member
Most likely meant to say PS2 in comparison to the Wii sales.
LordRaptor
Member
I'm running into Poes Law here
Proustian madeleine ... 😂
entremet
Member
Haha. PS2 was at 151M. Gonna be hard to beat that. Especially with shorter generation cycles. Or iterative gen cycles, which is the future.
