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What if the Switch fails and Nintendo closes shop?

Not really. Nintendo is in a far better situation than Sega was, whether Switch fails or not. They're far wealthier, they're more diversified, and they have much more valuable IP.

As many have already said, Nintendo is wealthy enough to weather another failed console. Though if Switch fails, I'm sure they will expand their mobile efforts.

You will never see Nintendo go third party and make games for Playstation or Xbox.

Never is a long time.
 
I'd quite happily see the Switch fail because it could mean Nintendo will try to compete with the big boys again which is what I want. Time will tell.
 
Would be a sad to see Nintendo go, they make some neat games, especially when they make actual new IP like Splatoon vs. just more of X series with some gimmick that only sometimes works.

I'm not sure if it would effect me that much though. I'm only really into Smash Bros, Splatoon and some of their 3d platformers like Mario Galaxy 1-2. Indies, and any new teams that form from Nintendo's ex-employees, would likely fill the gap enough for me.
 
We already got a sneak peak, WiiU forced them to close down Nintendo of Taiwan and fire/let contracts end on 200 people from NOE.
Switch failing means more cullings, snowball effect.

MH comments and Level 5 wanting The Snack World (not Nintendo exclusive) to replace/be bigger then Yo-kai, times will be difficult
 
I'd quite happily see the Switch fail because it could mean Nintendo will try to compete with the big boys again which is what I want. Time will tell.

Investor pressure would probably push Nintendo toward mobile software development as opposed to developing costly hardware in a mature market that's on the decline in their home country, but yea time will tell.
 
Not really. Nintendo is in a far better situation than Sega was, whether Switch fails or not. They're far wealthier, they're more diversified, and they have much more valuable IP.

As many have already said, Nintendo is wealthy enough to weather another failed console. Though if Switch fails, I'm sure they will expand their mobile efforts.

You will never see Nintendo go third party and make games for Playstation or Xbox.

Yeah, the problem with Sega is that they wasted a lot of money in the 90s and then proceeded to run out.
 
Probably for the best. Get Nintendo games on platforms we already own, that are better. Wouldn't have the Zelda downgrade situation we have. Imagine steam nintendo releases.
 
There's no way to know unless you really look at their books. a lot of that money that they had before in cash could've been paid out in dividends they could've put it into other resources such as buildings or divested to other Companies. No one usually sits around with $10 billion in capital doing nothing unless your Apple. And they're holding onto that for when everyone get sick of them being brave they actually have to start spending more money.

A concrete example is the $1.1B buyback of Yamauchi shares.

Why do people always get so pissed when people talk about Nintendo going third party?

I think it's pretty obvious by now that Nintendo is sub-par at making hardware.

Seriously, what is there to win with Nintendo hardware? I'd be glad to just have one console that does everything I need. Now I need a separate quirky one just for Zelda

If all you want to do is play Zelda, sure - but you're kinda missing the bigger picture. The "win" is having a key player in driving to challenge the foundations of user experience, starting already at the hardware layer. Alan Kay once stated (perhaps most famously quoted by Steve Jobs) that "people serious about software should make their own hardware". It's such a great quote, and one that applies to many facets of product development. Nintendo could not have accomplished that which they have, without their own hardware. Wii Sports, for instance, would not have been the huge phenomenon that it was.

For me, it's interesting to have Nintendo around because I tend to appreciate clever and/or unique product design more than anything else. I also tend to appreciate when core ideals (such as dual-stick controllers and the presence of a TV) are being re-evaluated. Even for speculation, it's more fun.
 
Well if we ignore brand loyalty and how that would alone probably prevent that from happening, they can always focus on making mobile experiences and do something like go back to supporting the 3DS until they come up with a new plan.

I mean yeah the 3DS is old and all but it probably still have enough fire in it for enough people to help Nintendo rebound from that bomb if they really needed to in order to work on R&D for a new console, which again seems unlikely since they could probably all in on the Switch, have it fail and still be able to push out a new platform afterwards before they really would have to consider something like going third party let alone close shop.
 
Does Nintendo ever really lose money on it's consoles though? I think even the Gamecube turned a profit and that certainly didn't set the market on fire.
 
Nintendo is in no danger of shutting down, they have far too many valuable assets for that to happen. The worst case scenario is them abandoning hardware, but even that is unlikely.
 
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What If indeed.

The console hasn't even come out yet, let alone the January event. People are really in a flap over nothing at the moment, hypotheticals, man. Let's just all be cool and chill, not that long to wait.
 
Don't they make a fuck ton of money from their handheld market alone?

Didn't the Wii make them enough money, where Wii U could fail, and so could Switch?

Also, Pokemon? They own some percentage of Pokemon, right?
 
I know it is the holidays and all, but I can't help up be a little salty here...

I'm noticing a trend in the threads you are making OP - there is very little room for a "dialogue" with how you phrase your topics. It is like you want there to be an echo chamber. The last one about the PS4 is particularly egregious imo. It feels as though you have a clear agenda with how you phrase these conversations...

The Switch hasn't even been announced for 3mo, let's just wait and see what the future holds, eh?
 
All i can say is that i hope Nintendo will be here for a long time to come.
Their games are usually top notch. When i think of what fun the WiiU provided for my girlfriend and my son and for me personally. Some of the best games i've played this gen were Nintendo games. Not JUST Nintendo games. But a lot of them were.

I'll never forget the laughing faces of my parents and my parents in law playing games on the Wii. It's a shame gaming didn't stick so much with the new crowd they targeted.

Sure, we know the Switch will be an underpowered home console. But hey, we can play Zelda WiiU quality on the fucking go. That's worth something to people who love great games like Zelda (and Other Nintendo games).

I will buy this new Nintendo machine out of pure principle. It will bring me joy.

As gamers i think we should encourage Nintendo to keep trying to be different from the rest. Do we really want another platform fighting for the same multi-plats?
 
They won't close shop they'll go exclusively mobile. I can see them getting out of hardware sometime in the future tbh.
 
Could I just add to the Nintendo are going nowhere replies? They may well be out of the HW game in a generation or so, but they've been around longer than Disney and have an IP portfolio to match, if not better.

PS didn't see reply directly above before posting, clearly not the only person thinking the same.

ABSOLUTELY NOT.

Take a look at what Disney actually owns sometime. Nintendo is not close to Disney at all.
 
As gamers i think we should encourage Nintendo to keep trying to be different from the rest. Do we really want another platform fighting for the same multi-plats?

Agreed so hard and this is why I don't understand people giving Nintendo shit for trying something different. Like thank god they do because if they didn't the console competition would be flavorless and honestly boring as fuck lol.
 
A long, long time ago, the earth was ruled by dinosaurs. They were big, so not a lot of people went around hassling 'em. Actually, no people went around hassling 'em because there weren't any people yet. Just the first tiny mammals. Basically life was good.

Brontosaurus: You know, it just don't get no better'n this.
Triceratops: Yeah.


Then somethin' happened. A giant meteorite struck the earth! Good-bye, dinosaurs.

...But what if the dinosaurs weren't all destroyed? What if the impact of that meteorite created a parallel dimension where the dinosaurs continue to thrive and evolve into intelligent, vicious, aggressive beings, just like us?

And, hey!

What if they found a way back?

 
Never is a long time.

OK, let me qualify that:

"You will never see Nintendo make games for Playstation or Xbox so long as any of the longtime figureheads of the company are still there." That includes Miyamoto and anyone he's closely associated with, and if they're gone it's not really Nintendo anymore anyway.
 
The hyperbole from both sides here oh my...

Not really. They're worth about $13.5b, give or take. Even if they spent Microsoft R&D levels of cash on the Switch and made nothing, it'd still be way less than half of their total valuation. It's actually probably less than 20%. They'd be hurting and they would probably need to do some drastic downsizing and refocusing of products - but it's nearly implausible that it would cause them to close the company completely.

Nintendo actually makes enough money from IP licensing, merchandising and software to keep the company in the black.
 
As gamers i think we should encourage Nintendo to keep trying to be different from the rest. Do we really want another platform fighting for the same multi-plats?

This is what I don't understand about the two decades' worth of gamers demanding Nintendo conform to the rest of the market. You have two consoles already that are doing the dull, predictable "more powerful" thing. Why do you want a third? It's not like your needs aren't being met elsewhere, and nothing is preventing you from owning one of those consoles and seeing what unique stuff Nintendo dreams up.

The AAA games industry is stagnant enough as it is.
 
Nintendo is already third party, they are on iOS and Android. If you mean they are going third party on console? Never going to happen. They would be more likely to start their own distribution system (a la steam) and just sell on PC, even that in very very very unlikely. The singular purpose of being on mobile is to keep the brand out there to the millions of smartphone and tablet users and to keep the brand relevant.

If the switch fails? Nintendo will go further into third party, by that I mean make more games on iOS and android. Then they will keep on trucking for a very long time to come. Then they would look at their strategy and recalibrate their direction, and build another home and portable console.

Nintendo will not close shop, they will just look at their current direction and adjust accordingly.
 
The only thing at risk if the Switch is at WiiU levels of failure is Nintendo's stance as console manufacturer. Nintendo's gonna be fine regardless. The Switch could be Nintendo's last console though. I do think that. It must sell at least GC levels to not be considered a horrible failure.
 
Can you imagine a world with no more Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Kirby, etc?

Easily, the only Mario games I really played were Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario World, the last Zelda I played was Twilight Princess, the last Metroid I played was Prime 1 and Zero Mission, and I never cared for Kirby. I wouldn't feel the loss, since the last time their IP were relevant to me was the GameCube, but I'd also have a lot of games I've never played to get through if I ever decided to play them. I'll gladly take more Zelda(without mandatory motion controls), but the rest haven't interested me in a long time.

Excited for the Switch not for the series developed by Nintendo, but for the hopes of playing the games of all the other developers who mostly jumped ship to handheld post PS1/PS2(Atlus) or stuck with them for the Wii/Wii U/were bought by Nintendo(Monolith Soft).
 
IP can be sold and designers can work elsewhere to make spiritual successors like Tear Ring Saga and Fire Emblem. Mario especially can earn a high price.
 
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