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How Can Nintendo Recover?
Nerval's Lobster writes "Nintendo's revenue and profits are tumbling faster than Mario into a bottomless pit. Company executives recently suggested the next-generation Wii U console would sell 2.8 million units between April 2013 and March 2014 — significantly below the 9 million units predicted in previous estimates. Contrast that with Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One, which sold 4.2 million and 3 million units, respectively, in their first six weeks of release. In lowering its hardware and software estimates, Nintendo also expects to take a loss by the end of its fiscal year in March. Nintendo's attempt to carve a niche for itself as an ecosystem for casual gamers has also run into a massive obstacle in the form of smartphones and tablets, which quickly developed into popular gaming platforms. Nintendo is reportedly considering a 'new business model,' according to Bloomberg, with its CEO telling a gathering of reporters in Osaka: 'Given the expansion of smart devices, we are naturally studying how smart devices can be used to grow the game-player business. It's not as simple as enabling Mario to move on a smartphone.' While Nintendo could probably made some good money off legacy gamers by bringing its (much loved) portfolio of older titles to iOS, Android, and other platforms, that move to mobile might further weaken its hardware sales. So what do you think? If you were in charge of Nintendo, how would you turn it around?"
is doing fine.
Just keep pumping out decent games and don't fuck up the next major console. The 3DS is their lifesaver until the next refresh.
wii/u is seriously underpowered.
Seriously. Nintendo needs to get out of the hardware business ASAP and start developing for iOS. The next generation of Apple TV will soon be an iOS console complete with game pads. With the iPhone or iPad, you can already do AirPlay mirroring which flings the video/sound to your TV. Effectively, it's a console know. Unless Nintendo gets off its ass, Apple could brand the next AppleTV as the Pippin redux.
Life is not for the lazy.
I'd enable Mario on a smartphone.
I'd advise Nintendo to get out of the console business and focus on the hardware. So many companies have learned this in the past. Atari, Coleco, Sega, Cybiko. The real money is in software.
Sony buyout in 3.. 2.. 1..
Sometimes its better to end things while the goings good than to die a horrible death. If the company sells its assets now they'll be worth something still. If they sell later they may get less than the companies worth. Desks, chairs, buildings, vehicles, etc can depreciate in value. I mean really. When your the core of the town and you go under nobody's buying your buildings for what they are worth. Sell out your own company now and the shareholders at least go home happy. Personally I'd sell to Microsoft. Let Microsoft be left holding the shell of the company and cost it huge $$$$.
Its overpriced. Nintendos market is for those who want a cheap and cheerful video game system for the kids
not the people who want to pay $60 a game. If they had released something like an updated wii with a regular controller
for $100 less it would have sold like crazy. Basically their target market wanted an updated WII not the montrosity that
was the wii U.
1. Stop treating your consumers like dirt
2. Stop making mario based games
3. Put real money into innovative game design instead of money into CEO profits.
4. Stop using lowest/cheapest bidders to produce the next console, provide quality and gamers will appreciate it.
5. Don't overhype your achievements only to be not what was promised. If/when a Game/console is great, gamers will do all the hyping for you.
I would promote the Wii U as a game console as the only game console out their( say that the other two are living room computers). I am thinking a large MMO animal crossing or Pokemon game would do it well. Somthing along the lines of Pokemon DX.
Ask the board of directors at Sega what to do and then do the opposite.
A sleek, multi-channel, wireless headset that monitors your brain activity and translates EEG into meaningful data you can understand.
Seriously Nintendo, upgrade your compilers! We're sick and tired of CodeWarrior.
Stop making shitty games based off of 80s IP.
If Nintendo want to get bigger they should eat some of those red and white mushrooms!
I thought everyone in the entire world already had all of their NES and SNES ROMs on droid since the cupcake days?
Where I once saw kids play Mario on a Nintendo DS, today I see kids play Minecraft of iPads.
Apple crushed Nintendo by creating iOS devices and opening up it's platform to indie devs for a minimal fee. If I wanted to start coding for Nintendo.... how would I do it, and how much would I have to pay in licensing? I have no idea, and I wouldn't know where to look.
It would seem easier to go for the tablet ecosystem that most people have and is more easily accessible. I think not only did Apple destroy the Nintendo casual market with iOS devices, but also through leeching potential developers.
Also, if I were Nintendo, I would be grovelling to get Mojang to port Minecraft over (Mojang says that they're "too busy"). So far..... nothing... and it's so stupid as to why not because the game is really something Nintendo should have been able to create, and it's a perfect fit for the system. It's just a shame too that with all Nintendo's game dev talent, this something as much fun hasn't eventuated from them, and it's been Mario after Zelda after Donkey Kong.
Nintendo is also locked itself out of the hardcore market for this gen too. So unless they want to make a Super-Duper Nintendo like in the 16-bit war days and compete again, they're going to lose gamers there.
All Nintendo has left is good game devs and some great IP.... and perhaps more trust with parents than the Apple kids-ingame-payments-debarcle has done to Apple's platform.
READY.
PRINT ""+-0
Nintendos market is for those who want a cheap and cheerful video game system for the kids not the people who want to pay $60 a game.
Nintendo's problem is that this isn't Nintendo's market anymore; it has become the App Store and Google Play market. The big advantage of a 2DS/3DS over an iPod touch or iPad mini is that iPod touch and iPad mini ship with only the positional control (a multitouch screen), not directional or discrete trigger controls (the Circle Pad, Control Pad, and buttons). And not everyone wants to buy a $40 Bluetooth controller that clamps onto a tablet just to play a $10 or cheaper game.
I would buy nvidia
odnetniN.
Short term #1 slash the price of the WII-U down to $149 with a AAA pack-in game. #2 Launch a monthly sub service as a sort of virtual Netflix/game fly You get X game credits depending on price of sub running from 5.99 to 29.99 a month. The credits can be used to rent games from everything that can get licences form and emulate nes all the way to current WII-U titles. nes games being low # creidts and WII-U games being so many that a user needs to be on one of the higher tier plans to get even one. Once you "Rent" the game its your till you release it that unlocks the credits to be used again with say a 1 week min timeframe to keep people from constant cycling and to make the higher tiers worth wild. Nintendo pays the publishers a % of the sub fees depending on how many rentals are active at a time. Nintendo will louse money on hardware but will make it up in sub fees in theory and people will buy disks of WII-U games the want to keep long term (or just buy like current e-store works) Long Term Accelerate work on the next gen. aim for a 4-5 years for now for the next Home console. Work with EA, and other game devs to make a machine they want to work on. The next Xbox PS are 6-7 years away most likely So in 4-5 years would be a great time to keep a jump on the cycle. Aim for 60+FPS and 4k. 4k is showing promise now we already are looking at sub 1 grand 4k tvs now in 4-5 years they should be generally adorable and will make 720p/1080 Xboxone and PS4 look like dog food by then.
Upgrade the processor and general specs of the Wii but keep it cheap. That way the casual gamers that don't want to spend $$$ on MS and Sony consoles will go for it. This means get rid of the expensive tablet/controller. Lower price point means not competing with MS and Sony and offers a far better alternative.
Then also integrate it with the popular 3DS/2DS platform. Nintendo can be creative here. Use as a controller? As separate screens in a game running on the Wii? Share games between the two devices? These are the obvious ideas but Nintendo has creative people that know how to make fun games, and I'm sure they can think of something more inventive.
They need to pull out all the stops and embrace all the platforms they can (Android, iOS, DS, Wii) and create a unified multiplayer gaming ecosystem that is kid friendly / safe, the core of which would be built on their game franchises (Mario, Zelda, etc). Imagine firing up Mario Kart on Android and racing against players on Wii U or iOS. One of the goals is to keep from losing 100% of their revenue when a customer migrates from a DS to an Android or iOS device. If they can offer the same games, and probably more importantly, the same profile / avatar / achievements, on other open platforms, at a good price, then the younger crowd (and the parents that control access and the cash flow) would be inclined to stick with Nintendo.
Nintendo is a very trusted brand for kid friendly / kid safe gaming, and they need to leverage that (man I hate using leverage as a verb but it frigging fits here) on other platforms while their brand is still strong.
If they open up that multiplayer / profile system to 3rd party developers (like me), so we can easily have cross-platform profiles and game state saves without having to worry about user validation or get in bed with the evil one (Facebook), then it would be even more ubiquitous. Then Nintendo could do an end-around on Facebook, by providing a single Facebook app for sharing achievements and possibly game invites, so that individual developers don't have to mess with that convoluted mess, it would be very popular (assuming Facebook can't prevent that in their terms of service or whatever).
Better known as 318230.
Wait until apple offers a buyout. They have clearly been interested in gaming for years and have the cash to allow developers to keep working while the total fail that is wii u fades into memory. Nintendo just completely missed the mark. They had college students on the internet working on controller-less games that used the wii and instead of embracing the idea they let Microsoft hire these students to create the kinect and wasted their energy on a fat ugly tablet that is limited in function. If they were smart they would go after a kinect type controller-less system and offer a free app for iphone to act as a supplemental controller. The phones would make a great controller as they already have accelerometers, speakers, mic, etc in them and allow the full "family gaming experience" nintendo was shooting for originally.
Get a web developer
Virtual Reality.
Marketing is where they failed horribly with the Wii U. I wasn't even entirely clear on if the Wii U was a brand new system or some new add-on up until recently. The idea of *why* anyone needs this in their home is being entirely ignored it seems. I love the Nintendo brand and I'd hate to see them go the way of Sega. However....that time seems to be quickly approaching.
Sell or partner with Sony. Sony blows at handhelds and Nintendo blows at consoles. They can blow together or rule them all.
Stop treating your consumers like dirt
And your developers, allegedly. The 1- to 3-man home-based family businesses that helped Apple's App Store eat away at much of the casual market are something Nintendo wouldn't even consider courting three years ago. Only very recently did this begin to change, and unfortunately, my citation about this ("Tales from the trenches: how Microsoft is losing the battle for indie developers" by Ben Kuchera, March 2013) has become a dead link.
Stop making mario based games
That'd be like telling Hasbro to stop making My Little Pony based toys.
Quite simply, they NEED to expand that software to other hardware and devices.
They need to become a software producer for other platforms as well.
There are no rules that say you can't release your stuff for other consoles too. In fact, they'd likely welcome it. (or are there? If there are, that'd be stupid as fuck)
If they brought out older content for new systems, that would strengthen their sales considerably.
Direct ports, no additions.
But also release the newer games as well.
They need the strong software sales to make up for the lack of hardware.
The handheld is pretty much the only thing keeping them afloat.
The Wii was a complete fluke that came at exactly the right time for exactly the right type of audience.
But a sequel is never going to go anywhere with them, these people are casuals, they treat the Wii as they would a TV, something they'd buy new maybe once every 7-15 years, depending on the family.
There is no rush for these people to get anything new. They have a bunch of great games that they maybe play every so often. Why would they need even more?
If you take the Wii out, the jump from Gamecube to WiiU is more or less expected, there are no surprises. The Wii should be ignored in any estimates because it is an anomaly in every sense of the word to their entire traditional business.
Instead they should be learning from it and seeing exactly what they need to see: they have a huge market they could get more huge profits from if they could learn to adapt their business models to fit them, and that is cheaper games, simpler games, more fun games, familiar games, familiar interfaces, ease of use, multiplayer. Hell, may as well throw in expansion packs. Hopefully Nintendo won't go down the route of abusive expansion packs like a huge chunk of DLC has the past 5 years. Seeing stuff like a "weapon pack" for any major unit of currency is downright insulting.
Many of their fans left for smartphones and the other consoles. They need all the help in the world.
Phones/Tablets right now don't have a standardized controller. I know it is a stretch for Nintendo to make a classic controller like XBox or PS has, but if they did make controllers for tablets/phones, they could then make a series of games for Android/iOS. Then phones would have a standardized controller for other people to develop on too.
Most Nintendo game IP doesn't need expensive hardware to run, so cell phone/tablets is fine to go to. Phones/tablets can even be plugged into televisions to work like a console. The only thing missing is a standard controller. I haven't got a Nintendo since the SNES mostly because I find the controllers strange. Stop treating the game hardware like a toy in itself, go standard hardware minimum requirements and make your games good.
Now not everyone will be carrying a phone/controller around outside, but for the home, it is doable. If you work on manufacturing, you can get your controllers cheap. Then you're just selling people games.
God spoke to me
I'm a casual gamer 'dad' interested in fitness with several home schooled kids. I'd expect my family to be the ideal target demographic for the WII U - and indeed, we purchased one since the playstation/xbox were essentially banned - we don't want to feed FPS and junk games to our kids.
Still, what does WII offer us in terms of quality games?
- Wii Fit Plus (just a modest bump over the older wii fit, should have been better).
- Wii Sports Club - OK, took forever for them to release it, some of the sports (e.g. bowling) do not simulate as well as they should. The best game seems to be golf...but come on, it isn't that much better than the old wii sports game.
- Legend of Zelda - Finally released, kids are interested in it...we'll see.
- Mario Junk...no, not interested
- Not much else...
So, basically, the WII U is a decent platform hampered by a lack of quality games for its target market, and the few good games took forever to be released...
I might feel better if I knew Nintendo worked well with third parties and was planning to release a large set of good games over the next year....but I think Zelda and Wii Sports Club have been taking nearly all their resources and it doesn't seem like the relations with third party devs are that good at the moment...
The Wii was successful because it wasn't terribly expensive and just about everybody's grandmother had one because it appealed to non-gamers. However, unlike real gamers that will go out and buy almost every console of every generation, non-gamers just don't see a reason to move on. They don't need fancy graphics, they are fine with what the wii can do. However, for the rest of us, we want high-performance machines that can support insane AI, lots of mobs, amazing physics and other features that enhances the overall game and immersion, particular those that love to play racing games and FPS / FPRPGs. But, the Wii U while it is better than the PS3, and it can be much better depending on how well developers tame it, the game lineup isn't appealing to those that really love to play quality games. The wii was full of party games, mini-games, and things that pretend to be games (like games based on a movie). Sure, that exists on every system but the Wii was the ideal platform for this since it had simplicity in mind. But that audience is gone, and Nintendo has to accept that non-gamers really don't care about the next console. They don't care about a touchscreen controller, they just cared about the motion controller and acting silly around their friends and family. Wii U is "too complicated" for non-gamers, even the original mario bros is too complicated for most of them. Nintendo will have to make a serious decision soon and I'm pretty sure they might decide to focus on a handheld gaming market instead of console because there is little that they can do unless they turn the Wii U into a badass system that even hardcore gamers would want to get their hands on. The concept is neat, but it doesn't sell. But if they move into mobile they will have a lot of serious competition with the rest of the mobile market. Even the 3DS is having issues competing.
Pretty much a Playstation phone, but not retarded. Let's say....slide-down joypad, 1080p 3D screen, the latest quad core ARM64, etc. I can see them fucking this up really badly by attempting to include DRM. I honestly think that's their only holdup: they can't port their software portfolio AND have the stranglehold on publishing like their current business model dictates. (Remember, the money off of console sales doesn't come from consoles (except for the rare exception like the Wii) but from licensing fees held to each & every title). My ideal dream phone would pretty much be the above, with EOMA-68-like modularity.
Dr. Mario Vs. Proctologist Simulator 2013
It's a winner no matter which way you look up it.
Silence is a state of mime.
Remove the requirement for the in box touchpad for the wii u, release an iPad app that does the same thing and sell the Wii U console for $100 less. Couple that with some first rate AAA titles and you'd have yourselves a turnaround
iOS has a custom controller API now.
Nintendo could thrive by turning an iPhone/Touch into a game-boy like device with kick-ass controls, and software tailored to work with their own controllers.
It would let Nintendo focus on what they do best, control hardware and games. It would keep them in hardware which is what I think a lot of gamers would love to see, and it would bring in a ton of revenue.
Add in a rechargeable battery into the controller that keeps the device topped up and you have a device that every gamer on the planet would seek to own.
Nintendo could probably with some ease also support some top-tier Android devices too (like Samsung).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Stop making Consoles and put your games out on other platforms and make Billions.
I would argue that Nintendo's problem isn't that its market has moved to mobile, the problem they face is that the market they want and need (console gamers) has moved on without them. I can't think of a single third-party developed game on a Nintendo console that excited me since Capcom put a bunch of Resident Evil games out on the GameCube. Nintendo itself owns a nice catalog of IP but you can only make so many Mario and Zelda games before the golden goose stops laying eggs. They need other developers making new titles, and good ones. They need a 'killer app.' People stopped buying Nintendo consoles for Mario after the GameCube and quit buying them for Zelda after the Wii. Nobody has bought an N console for a third-party game since the '64. Frankly, the last one I owned was a Super and now I play the remakes of the great games of that console on Sony and Microsoft systems, or emulate the originals on my PC or mobile. Nintendo is not Sony or Microsoft; their problems will not go away eventually by propping up their game division losses with profits in other sectors. They need good games or they are done in a few quarters of bad losses.
Didn't even realize that Wii U was substantively different from Wii. In fact, based on this story and the context here, still can't tell.
What would have been wrong with "Wii 2" which offers a much clearer indication that it's a next generation console? (If, in fact, it is a next generation console.)
First thing that comes to my mind with "Wii U" is that it's the educational version of the Wii.
STOP . AMERICA . NOW
Nintendo should make an Android powered smartphone focused on gaming, meaning with controls for gaming. Who wants to carry an extra gaming device when your smartphone gives you access to millions of great games.
Sega's mistake was not having good hardware, it was having too much hardware. They were told that the Genesis was great, a few years later it was the Sega CD, then almost immediately after that was 32X, then almost immediately it was the Dreamcast. Customers who liked Sega had the original Genesis (not talking Master SYstem), but then two quick updates then a new console. Frankly, Sega broke the bank on the DreamCast by asking their customers to buy too much too fast. Too much hardware. That is a good reason for the Big N to stick with the U for a while, develop it, make it cheaper than the PS4 and the XBox One, still get 1080p @ 60fps, release some exclusives, wait several years in order not to burnout their core client base like Sega did. They can't bail on the U for financial reasons and for the games already in the pipe, and they can't make a U2 because it will burn current customers. Once Mario Kart, Zelda, Smash Bro, etc come out, it will be comfortable again... you doubters and haters
It Worked for Nokia.
The fact that a vocal segment of the gaming community believes that the best way to play games are using tools designed to drive spreadsheets and word processors means that maybe the common wisdom isn't so wise.
Just focus on building something amazing.
Alan Kay once said, if you're serious about software, you build your own hardware.
This applies double for gaming.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
I think it's time they dump the whole Japanimation thing. The Japanese-themed content is stale, and a relatively tiny niche of worldwide console players. I think it's time to jettison the whole Japanese-themed content and move towards something a bit more appealing to the world at large. I look at Nintendo, as a lifelong game player, and most of the content doesn't appeal to me at all.
I don't respond to AC's.
I think the biggest problem Nintendo has faced with the Wii U was a lack of direction. The system is basically a Wii with a better processor/graphics, and then this add on controller that nobody knows what to do with. The idea of having 1 controller be different than the other 4 was a bad move. They were also lacking clear direction on launch. The biggest titles for Nintendo have always been Mario & Zelda. With the Wii U I have no idea what the "flagship" mario game is supposed to be, Super Luigi Bros/Super Mario 3D Land? Are they just a bunch of secondary knockoffs? Zelda didn't even get it's own release yet. Windwaker HD is coming out, but it's a revamp of an old game, and it took how long to even make the announcement? I also agree that Nintendo needs to develop new properties besides Mario & Zelda, but both of these should have had clear release announcements before the console release. The innovation was lacking for this console, and the upgrades don't quite seem to justify a new console (yes 1080p is cool, but graphics have never been the driving force for nintendo games)
For me, a new Wii (not U) owner (thank you Santa), all the Wii V has to do for me to buy one is to have better graphics and keep the family-friendly games rolling in, add Amazon Instant Video, and not screw this up: I want to play it with my 6 year old and my wife, so don't give me a tablet as a controller, do the same thing better, smaller and at a much lower price than an XBox/PS4. For cooler stuff, I can use my Xbox360.
... as a 27 year old kid at heart, i would buy nearly all of my old youth games... from Pokemon to Zelda to Mario, to Metroid to a number of games I dont even remember the name of, if Nintendo ported them over (would need a bit of a GFX upgrade sure) to the Android ecosystem... thats just me... for nostalgia...
While i dont have kids, I would also grab them for my kids, as it is, i spend a good amount on games for my nieces and nephews for their Android Tablets (80% learning apps/movies/books and 20% games), so I could see getting it for them as well
Nintendo, there IS a market, you have the IP... MAKE SOME MONEY!
(Bought all the Sonic games so far and FF games... NEED MOAR CLASSICS!)
One of the goals is to keep from losing 100% of their revenue when a customer migrates from a DS to an Android or iOS device. If [Nintendo] can offer the same games, and probably more importantly, the same profile / avatar / achievements, on other open platforms, at a good price, then the younger crowd (and the parents that control access and the cash flow) would be inclined to stick with Nintendo.
Good luck controlling Smash Bros. on a touch screen and not losing to every single 3DS player.
It's time that Nintendo start porting their properties to other consoles. I'd love to play the next Super Mario game on my Xbox One. I'd love to play Mario Kart on my PS4. Don't even license out the games, create/produce them the same way you've been doing for years, but just start porting them to other platforms and get out of the console business.
It's better to burn out than to fade away
Once Xbox came to be, they filled the void once occupied by Nintendo. There isn't room for a 3rd player in the home console field - or at least I don't think Nintendo could even make a dent versus Xbox and Playstation.
OK but if I wanted to save Nintendo.. (hang on, I have to look up what a WiiU is - omg it looks like total shit)
I'd go back to the roots. Create games reminiscent of what worked in the 80s and early 90s, but with a little more flashiness and multiplayer. Not everybody wants 3D (personally I was over it after I played super mario 64)
Well, one thing that I always felt was missing from Nintendo's disc-based consoles is the ability to play DVDs and/or Blu-rays. I mean, it doesn't make much sense to buy a device you can put a disc into that can only be used to interact with a VERY limited number of discs.
They could also release apps for Android/iOS to allow phones and tablets to be used as a controller of some sort, or at the very least to interact with the consoles.
A whole other direction could be to let go of the hardware market; they do have some pretty successful names that would probably do very well on the app stores. If they really wanted to keep the hardware, they could make side-games that influence the console titles with accomplishments on other devices.
I think their biggest problem is the way they've isolated themselves from all other media/devices. They just can't survive alone, they need to realize that it's better to embrace others than it is to fear them.
See the sales figure of the game console ?
Instead of tens of million of consoles, Xbox one only sold 3 million, Sony's PS4 only sold 4.2 million and the much disappointing figure for Nintendo.
If we take a step back, the larger picture that we see is that the game console is no longer a hot item, and it's in a decline similar to the decline of the desktop PC.
It's all because the change of the demography - a brand new generation of customers are coming to the market with a different expectation, different outlook and different taste.
Just like Facebook is becoming passe, many things else are heading to the wastebasket of civilization - and game consoles, I am afraid, are included.
When I grew up there was no game console. When I reached the West all I saw was pinball machines, and only later, with the introduction of video games we got Pong and Pac Man and very very much later, Super Mario.
Since I never grew up with the video games, it is relatively easy for me to take a step back - and I am seeing the change as is happening right now.
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
One thing that consoles get right is cost per player. A family can buy three gaming PCs and three accounts for each game. Or a family can buy one or more low- to mid-grade laptops with integrated graphics, one console, a couple extra controllers, and games that support split-screen multiplayer (such as Mario Kart) or non-split shared-screen multiplayer (such as Smash Bros.). Which costs less?
If I wanted to start coding for Nintendo.... how would I do it
The official word is on warioworld.com and scedev.net, but I've been repeatedly told that you should first make and self-publish three successful games for Windows, iOS, or Android before companies like Nintendo will even give you the time of day. That's what Robert Pelloni found out when he wanted to start a home-based business to develop and sell his RPG Bob's Game for DS.
I wouldn't worry so much about Nintendo, as the 3DS has outpaced all current gen consoles and handhelds combined. Sony and Microsoft would have been in real trouble by now if they didn't have their other profitable divisions to fall back on.
A few suggestions: -Phase out the touchpad controller--it scares people off. The Wii remote was much more approachable (though somewhat uncomfortable to use classic-style).
-Rebrand the Wii U, since the name confuses people.
-Create an iTunes-style account system for the Virtual Console. Who wants to re-buy retro games every 5-6 years??
-Firmware update: launch straight to the title screen of whatever game is loaded. All the OS fluff can be accessed as needed, but power-on straight to the game.
-Figure out a way to re-create the Nintendo Power experience, admittedly a challenge in the Internet age. That magazine was brilliant marketing strategy and exposed millions of kids to hundreds of different games. Websites don't quite provide the same experience, especially for kids 8-12. I think it is an underrated part of Nintendo's 80s-90s success.
-Reassign Aonuma (who has ruined the Zelda series) and Sakamoto (who has ruined the Metroid series).
-Assign Retro Studios to re-boot Metroid.
-Develop Super Mario Bros. 3 II. Don't include any music with a chorus singing "bah bah."
-Company policy: don't treat your customers like idiots ("Hey!" "Listen!" "Hey!" "Listen!" "This is a rupee! You can use it to buy stuff!" x100)
-Company policy: Intros and tutorials should be no longer than 2 minutes, and should be fully skippable. Most people don't care much about stories, and you could put it in the manual or on the title menu. Most people want to start doing something right away.
Nintendo's advantage over emulators on phones and tablets is that apart from Xperia Play and some obscure JXD models, phones and tablets tend not to ship with a directional control and discrete trigger buttons. I have Nesoid on my Nexus 7 tablet, and I've loaded some homebrew NES platformers like STREEMERZ: Super Strength Emergency Squad Zeta, Driar, and I Wanna Flip the Sky onto it. Now these games control wonderfully on my NES when I load them on my PowerPak, but on the flat sheet of glass that is a tablet's input device, the control is anything but precise. Because my thumbs can't feel where the edges of the on-screen buttons are, I tend to keep pressing the wrong button or "whiffing". Playing emulators on Android without carrying around a Bluetooth controller is even worse than trying to play with the much-maligned Triax Turbo Touch 360 controller; at least that one has normal A and B buttons and ridges inside the directional touchpad area to guide the thumbs.
Nintendo blew it, big time. Too late for a comeback at this point IMO; I'll never buy their products again. They had an enormous opportunity with the Wii and the small developer/ 3rd party development that was going on, organically, behind their cool first to market motion enabled hardware platform. But instead of embracing it and incentivizing it, which would have helped grow a large base of hardcore, loyal fans in addition to producing apps and content that people actually wanted, they snuffed out their most loyal users by shutting down 3rd party development avenues. They modified their hardware and software continuously to lock out "unauthorized" developers, pushed for federal charges against mod chip sellers, and did just about everything imaginable to push put their most loyal customers, leaving only the expensive ($10,000+ and an impossible amount of paperwork) 1st party development route. By the time they realized how quickly apple's $100/year anyone can develop model caught on and reversed course, it was far too late.
As Ballmer famously said... developers, developers, developers, developers. The Mario franchise can only do so much on its own. Without "killer apps", and loyal developers making them, your platform will never gain critical market share. And at that point, it's too late to reverse the downward spiral.
Stop making the same Mario game over and over and over and over..... Make some new games.
I like playing on my big screen with my kids, our handheld devices don't facilitate family interaction. Nintendo effed up.
"How can Nintendo Recover?" Build a better, more innovative, more powerful, open, cheaper and socially acceptable platform that will allow all humans to benefit. Not just gamers. CEOs, people in third world countries. They need to build the iPhone of game consoles.
The Blade Itself
I would promote the Wii U as a game console as the only game console out their( say that the other two are living room computers).
One of the other three (Steam Machine) is a "living room computer", as was the fat PlayStation 3 prior to 3.21. But I don't see how PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are "computers" in any sense that usefully contrasts with a "game console". For example, they can't run word processors or spreadsheets because the console maker chooses not to sign LibreOffice.
I am thinking a large MMO animal crossing or Pokemon game would do it well.
Pokemon already has trading and PvP with strangers and friends, even if the game itself is entirely instanced so that it can run locally. I don't see Animal Crossing going MMO, or even letting strangers visit your town, because of the potential for vandalizing another player's town, disclosing PII, or other kinds of griefing. I know certain vocal gamers dislike friend codes, but there's a reason for them.
My parents are playing games on iPads, my brothers in law, my sisters, niece .. the market is exploding because people aren't having to buy custom hardware.
The Nintendo name stll has a whole shedload of trust and their game designers are really very good at innovating. Quit worrying about canabilizing hardware sales and start focussing on software sales. The hardware ship has long since sailed and Nintendo missed the boat.
Failing to accept that reality and trying to push hardware will only lead them down the monopolistic failure route of Kodak. Too little, too late.
Firmware update: launch straight to the title screen of whatever game is loaded. All the OS fluff can be accessed as needed, but power-on straight to the game.
That won't happen because lawsuits. Several parents didn't discover that their children were photosensitive until they seized while using a Nintendo product, and then the parents lawyered up.
The Nintendo war chest is billions. They can afford to sit back and milk the handheld market this gen.
I was considering wanting a wii u for christmas (to replace my stolen wii), but in the end I asked (and got) a second hand wii - seems new wii's are really hard to come by these days.
The tablety thing really doesn't do anything for me; I guess in a few years I may consider getting a wii u, it also depends how easy it is to hack and install the homebrew channel equivalent and run all my existing wii games off a USB hard drive.
-- Fuck Beta
I think you overestimate how quickly consoles sell. You point to the 4.2 million and 3 million figures as evidence of declining console sales, and yet, the PS4 and Xbone had the best launches in the history of the industry.
If you can't convince them, convict them.
They are trying to compare the second year numbers of the Wii U to the first year numbers of the XBox One and PS4. Those numbers don't really make a lot of sense to compare. Nintendo can turn the Wii U numbers around quickly if they can get some good titles out for it - both of thier own design as well as from third parties - they just haven't offered a great incentive for current Wii owners to upgrade yet. If they can get EA Sports (amongst others) back on board for the Wii U they can get things going in the right direction again.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
Right.
1. they want simple easy downloads via DRM laden app stores because their nanosecond attention spans prohibit them from using zip files or setup utilities.
2. they don't care about publisher indian giving (no control over the product)
3. they don't care about challenge in their games.. they want interactive movies.
4. they want it fed to them through a needle.. they don't care about mods/maps or any community development.
I hope these people stop buying consoles. It'll force game devs and publishers to mend their ways.
And schools are feeding this full-force, many schools are moving away from computers to iPads in the USA (Lucky Apple and schools, because it isn't moving to tablets but specifically iPads).
Nintendo always had games very well targeted to children.
The current crop of kiddies see tablets as part of their identity and there isn't any reversing this for Nintendo. It is over for Nintendo.
The XBox is a different story because it is a "serious" casual gaming machine and not being devoured by such a market change. [But will probably succumb to a future market change, in 3 years or less smartphones will happen to have full-fledged game console capabilities, many efforts underway even 2-3 years back heading that direction particular with Android.]
In the end, only one device can win and it was always destined to be the smart phone due to portability --- laptop/desktop sales are falling very quickly which is a bit disturbing (Tablets +69%, computers 14% drop in units sold).
Priest: "Universe from nothing, no laws of physics, sped up time"+ huge discrepancies. Creationism? No. Big Bang Theory
Wii U is too expensive. It just seems to be jam packed with stupid shit.
Everyone just wanted an Wii HD but instead we got an overpriced box with all sorts of unnecessary fluff.
I'd go one step farther, and say that what's killing Nintendo is their tight-fisted control over their platform. If Nintendo made it easier and cheaper to develop for their platform, as opposed to (reportedly) charging thousands of dollars for an SDK under NDA, they'd be in much better shape right now.
All those potential developers who they've turned down over the years have moved on to develop games for iOS and Android, and are now Nintendo's competition. It's what I've been saying for years—the strength of a platform is entirely dependent on the size and vigor of its third-party developer community. If you don't have that, you don't have anything.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
I agree Nintendo should support multiple platforms. But Android is the wrong one. They have a lot of marketshare, but not at all with devices that can play games well, and Nintendo would find it hard to keep up the expected level of excellence from more than a handful of Android devices.
There are two ways to go for them to support other platforms:
1) Kindle Fire exclusive. Sort of Android, but at least Nintendo has a fighting chance to ensure quality.
2) Samsung Exclusive. Same kind of deal.
3) Windows Mobile. That might seem crazy but if Nintendo supported Windows Mobile instead of Android, it would be a HUGE boost to that platform. Heck, I myself would think about buying a Windows Mobile phone in that case...
All of that goes along with custom made Nintendo controllers, an absolute must if Nintendo is to support mobile devices with the level of quality we all expect.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Allow me to create an account, with which I can buy games and virtual console games and then play those games on any Wii/Wii U/3DS/supported device I might own. Much like iOS, PSN, or any other decent account. Preferably give me at least 10 devices I can have registered at once, that should cover say 2 Wii's/Wii U's, and a 3DS for each gamer in the house. If one breaks, I should be able to, without calling support and without any other major hassle deregister that device and register the replacement, and immediately have access to all my games again.
My household would immediately begin purchasing Nintendo products.
Until this one thing is fixed though? There is -nothing- they can do. I simply will NOT purchase games that are locked to a single piece of hardware forever.
It doesn't matter what new hardware they put out, what gimmick they have, what franchise or game they release until their online accounts are properly implemented.
Arguably Nintendo's most disruptive hardware successes have been the Gameboy and Wii; respectively, these introduced portability and gesture interfacing to the masses. Sega and Sony followed suit on portability and eventually mobile phones caught up in computing power. Likewise, MS and Sony followed suit on gestures, throwing their massive, multi-industry capacity at the problem in a way that Nintendo can't overpower or outdo.
The solution, as I see it, is for Nintendo to continue to be revolutionary in its application of hardware. If they can deliver a pocket-sized device that runs Android or iOS using a combination of gamepad-like keys and a touchscreen, then they can go back to their bread-and-butter: fun games derived from some of the most rock-solid gaming IP that has ever existed. They don't have to invent the assembly line or the automobile, they have to make it accessible. Lots of people would kill for access to their old stuff, and a glorified Galaxy III competitor that cost 60% as much and came with a 6 month Netflix-esque subscription to their legacy library(to get people hooked) seems like it would do wonders for the company where trying to out-muscle Sony and MS in hardware will never win them anything but the kinds of losses both of those companies took on some of their major console launches.
Ninendo have around $5 billion in cash assets and a further $5 billion in stocks. A $240 million loss for a year (or 10) is easily survivable. Even if the Wii U completely bombs they have plenty of cash reserves to try again next generation and learn from their mistakes.
Wii U needs freaking A games. As long as Nintendo doesn't give a shit about the console why should gamers give a damn about it ? It's as simple as that. Start making fucking A Mario, fucking Mario Kart Racing, fucking Mario Golf, fucking Metroid, etc... and then see gamers flock to the system. And for christ's sake, make online a viable possibility.
seriously, the 3ds has everything it needs to make calls and send texts except for the cellular chips and a bit of software. it would be awesome to have the best handheld game library and be able to communicate with only one device in my pocket.
pokemon 4g
Allow Oculus rift to be plugged into a 3DS or release your own clone with similar capabilities.
Create some kind of infinite space illusionary thing you walk on and call it a power pad.
What difference does auto-run make in that scenario? A seizure is a seizure, whether it happens right after you hit the power button or a few seconds later after you tell the device to start the game.
When the Wii is powered on or resumed from WC24 sleep (amber power light), Wii Menu displays a health and safety warning screen, directing the player to the console's manual, to cover Nintendo's behind. (When started by closing a game or channel, Wii Menu instead briefly displays a grid of gray rectangles on a black field in the shape of the channel grid.) If the player presses A on that screen, Nintendo has a defense that the player reasonably should have read the warnings in the manual.
I can think of a few possible things that could help the Wii U through its life cycle. 1. Universal Nintendo Account and eShop. 2. 3DS player for Wii U, to play the 3DS library on the big screen/tablet. 3. More great titles, and more 3rd party incentive. 4. New IP.
The 3DS does. It is about the only system available that really does real time hand held multiplayer.
The answer is adult content.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
What Nintendo does better than any other system is make games that pre-teen kids want to play. Mario/Kirby/Pokemon are all powerhouses that Xbox and PS4 do not have; if Nintendo can release a QUALITY game from one of those IPs every 6-8 months they will be fine. Fixing the social aspects and tying everything together through the 3DS would take them from "surviving" to "thriving".
As I pointed out earlier, it is not. http://android.appstorm.net/ro...
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
just kidding
READY.
PRINT ""+-0
(1) Accept dominant standards (Tablets, smartphones) and don't create a proprietary subpar version (The Wii U "tablet") - Think MS Smartglass app.
(2) Cater once again to both children and hardcore gamers, and develop something on the bleeding edge of technology, like the NES was at the time. Try to beat Sony and MS at their own game, rather than settle for a casual and kid's gaming niche.
(3) Keeping 1 and 2 in mind, get some brilliant industrial designers, marketers, and gaming types together to do something truly innovative - as disruptive as the NES was to the state of the art in 1985.
Nintendo needs an iPod, iPhone, Steve Jobs type comeback similar to the Apple of the past decade. They need to do this fast while there is still money in the bank, unless they want to end up more like Sega!
The answer is simple -
1) Bet the company on a Wii version of TuPac holograph3D gaming hologram projector, people
2) Make it small
3) Make a sub-company that markets 3D holo p0rn
4) Count money
So what you're saying is:
DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS!
It's you, isn't it Steve?
Nintendo has a kill app waiting to be made and it's called Pokemon MMORPG.
Be seeing you...
Lets take a trip down memory lane, there once was this company called Sun Microsystems who made some amazing products. Once upon a time their products were a lot more expensive than competing "commodity" offerings, but were worth it to a lot of companies because of how much better they were than those commodity offerings. Fast forward a decade or so and Sun is STILL making amazing products for premium prices, but the difference now is the commodity offerings are not that much worse. Sun is still better, but fewer and fewer companies are willing to shell out the extra cash for the tiny advantages Sun had over their competition. As we all know Sun gets bought out by Oracle who guts a lot of what Sun was once offering.
Now look at Nintendo, and we see a lot of similarities. Nintendo was once the only game in town in terms of portable/console gaming, and even when they had competitors, esp. in the portable arena, Nintendo was able to best them. That was of course back in the days where if you had a cell phone, and if that cell phone had a game, it was a copy of Snake. Now fast forward to present day and we see much like Sun, Nintendo still offers a superior portable gaming experience when compared to cell phones, but also like Sun fewer and fewer people are willing to pay the "premium" both in terms of cash and convenience(having to remember to charge the thing and bring it with you is a pain whereas you always have your cellphone).
Nobody (sane) is arguing that cell phone gaming is better than console gaming, it isn't, but for most people a "good enough" copy of pac-man is worth not having to tote around an extra piece of hardware. An ok action-adventure game is no Zelda, but that also means you don:t have to plunk down $150+ for a console. Much like the Sun case, people are willing to settle for slightly less in order to save money. And much like Sun I think its only a matter of time before Nintendo gets bought out. Hopefully by a better company than Oracle...
Monstar L
WiiU does not really innovate that much over the Wii, it is too expansive for the market which is more or less kid game (yeah I know there are a few "adult" one, but let us get real, that's nothing compared to PS/XBOX/PC), it isn't as easy for indy to develop on, and it is concurring with cheap ipad kid game etc... They essentially cut their own throat with their own political economic decision.
they have everything they could to push the hardcore gamers away, and lo-and-behold what happens when the casual market disappears. The only thing nintendo has is pokemon, which hasn't changed in 20 years, but is still selling, at least.
as a Wii U exclusive.
Nintendo has to bite the bullet and start writing games for other platforms and concentrate on the gaming side instead of the hardware... Steam is a great platform that runs on most pc's and will let people buy and review games from many developers and even test out new demo's to see if a new game will be viable, so maybe Nintendo can take a look there, sell there wares and sell the wii controllers and other nintendo joypads to pc owners...
Zelda, Metroid, Kirby, Excite Truck, Mario, Kid Icarus, Dr. Luigi, etc are not Japan-themed, and the only series that looks like anime is Fire Emblem and Pokemon, but the market seems to love those, especially Pokemon, and it has an actual anime attached to it! I think your theory is more than a little off.
Twinstiq, game news
The Secret Developers talk about how difficult it was developing a title for the Wii U.
No sig for you! Come back one year!
simply is that their console is seriously underpowered, hence they lost all third party support for the next generation. You cannot bring core gamers into a console without serious third party support.
Nintendo should align with the rest of the consoles by moving to X86 and then bring out a powerhouse of a console and call it a day for the Wii-U.
(Btw. I have a Wii-U, it is a fine console nevertheless, but I do not expect to much support outside of Nintendos lineup)
You might want to reread. The GP is right and you, unfortunately, are wrong.
The PS4 can't even play DVD's & CD's...Xbox was *nearly* required a persistent internet connection to play any game
Nintendo has plenty of room to improve the hardware department. Sony & M$ have given themselves over to the 'feature bottleneck' revenue plan and their designs reek of user manipulation at every turn.
Nintendo has always been better than that.
Some other points:
> It's not a single-console world. Most casual gamers have two consoles now. Nintendo doesn't have to destroy the competition completely to be a success
> Nintendo has revolutionized gaming with its hardware before & is wililng to take risks and innovate.
> Nintendo needs to embrace indie gamers: go Valve. If nintendo started its own version of valve, and let indie game makers use their SDK to make games downloadable for Nintendo hardware it would flatten the whole industry in less than a year and have the other companies on their heels
Nintendo can definitely rule the gaming world once more.
Thank you Dave Raggett
Or even better, build a phone on top of a decent controller, even the old NES was good enough. Mobile gaming will never have any depth until there's a good controller available, the touchscreen is no enough. They can bring Mario to phones all they want, but it'll be pointless without a good controller.
--
Stay tuned for some shock and awe coming right up after this messages!
If I had a phone with a Nintendo logo on the back...
Build the Nintendophone. Install every nintendo game from history on it in ROM and
partner it with a similar styled controller. Bring it out in bright Nintendo colours and character designs,
add a HDMI port and sell for USD400.
License Beemo from Adventure Time. Build him. Awesomeness ensues.
I think the smartest thing that Nintendo can do right now is to give up on the idea of a "console". This will be difficult for a number of reasons (ie Japanese tradition), but I think if they can be the first to do so, it can be incredibly lucrative.
There was a time when a Console, mobile or not, was the only affordable way for many people (especially kids) to play games - you needed purpose built hardware. That is no longer the case. Modern consoles are simply proprietary, locked down PCs that limit users and developers for reasons of control and monetization. This is incredibly evident in the latest generation of the PS4 and XboxOne, but also to some degree touches on the Wii U as well. There is no technical reason that every single game on modern consoles couldn't instead be on open, PC platforms. There have been tons of success stories for indies and big developers alike who bring a version of their game to PC (often, via Steam) and make a greater profit while selling the item at a lower cost, than what they used to do on consoles! In my opinion, it is time for "consoles" to die off, in favor of gaming on whichever open platforms a user may choose instead; better for users, better for developers, better for everyone save those middlemen who want locked down, proprietary hardware they can control and charge for the pleasure of using!
Nintendo is in a great position to be the first of the "big 3" to realize this. They have a beloved stable of 1st party content, a ton of partner developers (ie GameFreak), and a huge back catalog of great game from the past. However, there have been many a time that I've thought "You know, why can't I play Fire Emblem and Legend of Zelda on my existing Android devices, instead of a 3DS. Why can't I play Xenosaga, LoS: Skyward Sword, and the new Smash Bros WiiU on PC instead of a Wii or Wii U?" If Nintendo could stop thinking in the hardware platform mindset, they'd have a chance to rocket to the top. They don't even have to give up developing hardware, entirely - just switch to peripherals. Make peripherals for the PC market - controllers and the like! You have a great idea for motion control - great! Don't limit it to a single platform, use some open technologies and write some drivers for them. Hell, this is a reason that Microsoft's Xbox360 controllers are used so frequently on PC! Atop that, create games exclusively for the PC market (not just Windows either, but Linux too!), and then put that Nintendo marketing genius to work. For instance, what about a Pokemon MMO? Super Smash Bros Kerfuffle for the PC, sold via Steam? Hell, partner with Valve and not only sell Mario PC on Steam, but make it a pack-in download code for every Steam Box purchased! On the mobile side, develop for Android, FirefoxOS and the most open mobile platforms around! Of course, the huge Nintendo back catalog could be made available for sale on mobile and PC alike, introducing them to a whole new audience. Some of the "iPad kids" have never played various SNES titles - make them available for $1.99 and watch their quality soar above average "app store" drivel!
I can see a new world for Nintendo that is better for the consumer, better for developers, and overall fantastic - but only if Nintendo can look beyond seeing consoles as their primary venture.
Nintendo's problem is that they have tried to be the Disney of videogames without actually studying Disney's business model. It makes sense to a point to have a family trusted brand, but that's only a small part of the pie. Nintendo need sub-brands and partners, the freedom to release M-Rated games without risking their wholesome name, and to be able to release premium hardware without fragmenting their market. They tried so hard to earn parents' trust and now the kids don't want their product. 3DS is a great device until you're reminded that Nintendo think you are a child. They need to build a gamer brand, maybe even consider one that's cross-platform, and find a way to sell product to adults buying for themselves and not just looking for something safe.
Halo 4 was also the highest and fastest selling Halo.
It's also the fastest declining Halo in online population, ever. Someone did a post about it elsewhere.
It always depends on what window of data you want to use.
Time to update your information. Nintendo is massively subsidizing development for indie developers since a couple of months after the Wii U's launch. They'll even give you the Unity SDK for free - another multiple thousands of dollars in savings. Essentially, if you've made a game in Unity on PC, you can make a Wii U version with near zero cost.
They've also removed the requirement to have an office. You can get a Wii U devkit and put it in your bedroom/office inside your own house.
Please keep your information up to date.
Honestly I don't see any console lasting too much longer when PC gaming is the way to go. My PS I can play games watch some movies and a few other things my PC I can game, do my taxes, do my shopping, download whatever I'm in the mood for, mess with Photoshop and countless other software, fuck with AutoHotkey, need I go on? My gaming rig is hooked to every TV in my house and it's not like it's 1995 anymore when PCs were relatively rare, even my grandma who is 81 has a PC she lives on Facebook and bejeweled blitz.
Nintendo cannot even compare with PS4 or XBox One let alone a PC. I bought a PS4 for the kids and it's pretty nice on the graphics end but my PC is still better in the graphics dept. Don't get me wrong I love console gaming I grew up in the Nintendo Era but I just don't need a console to play games anymore. My Wii has been collecting dust for two years now except for the remote which I modded for my PC thanks TED! Nintendo should start producing some PC games because they actually do make some very good games that would be awesome on a PC without having to run Dolphin. I don't have no issue buying games to support creators that make kick ass shit. Make it and I will buy it : )
One of the first things I did when I jailbroke my iPhone was download a Gameboy emulator so I could play old Pokemon games. Why the fuck isn't this available on the app store?
It's easy:
open an online app store.
Propose a cheap devkit so that small companies could develop cheap games. For example, they could propose a cross-platform game's library for that.
Then track the best teams and offer them to develop larger games, with exclusivity on their platform.
This way, you train new developers on your platform for free (out of 100 developers, one will be really great), and you embrace new creative concepts (which seem to be lacking at Nintendo).
Of course, Nintendo will never do that, since they want to keep control on "their" market.
I don't think that "doing a Sega" is the answer for Nintendo. There's certainly plenty of evidence that it wasn't the answer for Sega themselves.
I think there might, however, be something of a middle way for Nintendo here; but to get to that you've got to look at the company's strengths and weaknesses.
Nintendo is a poor console manufacturer. I don't necessarily mean that it makes poor hardware (though the Wii-U would seem to imply their powers here are in decline). Rather, I mean that they are poor at doing the other things that a console manufacturer needs to do. They are terrible at building industry links; while you can blame the lack of third party support for the Wii-U on the poor installed base. But the Wii? With its vast installed base? That was almost entirely because Nintendo are just plain nasty to deal with for other parties. Their licensing fees are high, their certification process is difficult (and often ineffective) and they don't make life easy for people they as in competition with their own first party titles.
Nintendo is a middling games developer. They do have some valuable franchises, but with the exception of Pokemon (which bizarely remains a handheld-only experience), these have a fairly narrow appeal. And contrary to popular belief, that narrow appeal isn't aimed at kids; it's more at the jaded 40-ish "ex-gamer" market (a market which does include a lot of game-reviewers). However, in many genres, their games are no longer really top of their field (hate to break it to you, but Mario Galaxy 2 isn't a patch on Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time). Without the benefit of being "the only thing on their platform worth playing", I'm not sure that Nintendo games would be all that successful commercially (the company has almost certainly lost a lot of money on Mario 3d World in the last couple of months).
What Nintendo are extremely good at is making toys; hardly surprising as they've been making toys for much longer than consoles or games for them. Their biggest successes - the Wii Mote and the handful of titles that accompanied it, the 3DS stylus, the odd peripherals they used to do back in the Gamecube generation - have basically been toys. Fun in short doses, able to be sold with a high mark-up and with a short-lived mass appeal. When they deviated from this with the Wii-U gamepad (which is absolutely not a toy), they went horribly wrong.
So perhaps the future for Nintendo is to work with platform holders (one or more of MS, Sony and Valve) to develop a series of mini platform-within-a-platform experiences. Relatively small scale agglomerations of a handful of games based around quirky and different toy-like peripherals.
By the end of the Wii's lifespan, everybody was heartily sick of motion controls (the Wii was wildly popular for its first 2-3 years then essentially stopped making money). But a shorter-lived, cheaper mini-platform based around the Wii-mote technology, compatible with both the 360 and the PS3? That might have been a more appealing proposition.
That would cause a major scar on the brand, a touch based game would not live up to the standards of the other games and would tarnish the opinion of the series.
The 3DS is saving them right now, its clear the idea that a serious gamer (and its a significant market) will move wholesale to touch devices is not true. People will buy a whole extra device to play good games, they would be mad to destroy that market. Strangely Nintendo was right on the one thing everyone thought was obvious, the iPad/iPhone is nothing like the threat the gaming press/analysts made it out to be.
However they are getting destroyed by Microsoft, Sony and Steam on the big screen experience. One option i see is for them to double down on the the price difference. Sony has been making steps in that direction with the Vita TV. Although Sony's motivation seems to be the opposite, to boost Vita software sales and make that a more attractive platform for developers.
Nintendo needs to beat Microsoft and Sony significantly on price with an Apple TV size device, and here is they key: a top class streaming service. Nintendo has a back catalog of IP to rival Disney and they need to be using this in more than just a few Virtual Console releases a month.
There is the opportunity for them to become the Netflix of gaming, and Sony again has a head start with Playstation Now. Of course they continue to make traditional games that run on the local system, but they must bring something else to set them apart.
All this is possible for their next console, a "Wii HD" can be crammed into a tiny well priced box, and Sony is testing the waters on streaming. The big question is can Nintendo pull off the technology platform required?
Wannabe nerd.
Building a Steam Box would benefit Nintendo by avoiding most of the engineering costs they incur developing a new console. And it avoids the clutches of Microsoft and Sony if they abandon ship and develop for the competing consoles.
Nintendo releasing Mario, Animal Crossing, etc. for the Steam Box would cement the platform as a viable contender.
We are the 198 proof..
just like with M$ and Xbox, and sadly with SimCity, only a fan outcry of epic proportions forces companies to unlock feature bottlenecks:
http://www.theverge.com/gaming...
so you downloaded the patch? were you one of the ones who had to lobby the company to let you do it?
exactly my point of the whole example in relation to why Nintendo can rule the console industry again
Thank you Dave Raggett
The games on the Wii were not very impressive either - but you could put the Wii controller in someone's hand and say "swing it like a tennis racket/golf club/baseball bat/whatever" and that was its killer feature. The "in depth" games never sold the Wii much except to Mario/Zelda fans. The only good thing about the Wii U is assymmetric gaming, like one player hides and the others seek. Many of the games to show of the new controller I totally hated, it's like I got a 60" TV here so why am I looking at a 6.2" controller that's smaller than a tablet in a single player game? If I wanted that, I got a smartphone that isn't thetered to my TV...
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
2. they don't care about publisher indian giving (no control over the product)
Why, you insensitive clod...
Yea crapware on the appstore. Good point.
In order to not become another Nokia, I would have embraced Android and gained that development support in the process (as well as a far newer version of Opera for parent poster). Then made a Wii Too console with a custom app store and original Wii style controls. Instead of the Wii U tablet, Nintendo would make a Wii Too App you can install on any Android tablet for multi-screen action as well as allowing you to take a game you bought via the Wii Too with you on the road (easy since the Wii Too console itself is Android).
From today they should make the Wii SDK produce "fat" binaries with X86 aswell as PPC code and plan for a migration to the same AMD CPU/GPU(GCN) architechture that the Xbone/PS4 is already using in 2 years (But with better specs at a possibly cheaper price point).
That way they can remain a target for "AAA" developers and then put their differentiator as smaller/chilfriendly controllers by default and Mario/Zelda games, if they did right now and added forward compability with WiiU games they'd not upset anyone at that point (since the SDK would produce X86 code today and they could re-use most Wii U games until then on he new console).
Finally give us a 3DS with TWO analogue sticks. The idiots.
Yes, I saw the figures. Did you not get the memo that the PS4 is the fastest selling game console at launch ever? 7.2 millions consoles were sold IN SIX WEEKS. Let me put it another way. They each sold more consoles in less than two months what nintendo sold in one year time.
they already got the software - i'd shell out 300 for the wiiU in a heartbeat if i'd get a huge library of vintage games for free. and then get talking to third party devolopers about downloadable software - wiiU and 3ds don't need multimillion $ AAA titles where they can't compete in terms of hardware with ps4/xboxo/pc anyway. but they good enough to compete with smartphines & tablets, they even got the physical controller as an advantage (sure you can buy a clunky controller for your ipod - but it's probably not widely supported, and drives the cost far beyond a dedicated gaming device like the 3ds - as lomg as you don't take cheaper software from e app store i to account)
I have a PlayStation2. I did not buy a PS3, nor do I intend to buy a PS4, or Microsofts competing products.
Both companies have been working hard to take all the disadvantages from the PC, and move them to the consoles. Installing games to the hard drive. Copy protection schemes requiring an internet connection, thus ruling out putting it in the living room with the TV. Updates that break things that used to work (Other OS is an example of this).
I already have PC. My PC has Steam. If I want to play games in my bedroom, that need to be installed and neet an internet connection, I'm not buying a console, I fire up Steam. I bought a console because I wanted a hassle-free experience. Turn on TV, insert disk, play game.
Only Nintendo still cares for the living room market, the other two are more interested in competing with the PC market.
For these reasons, my next console may very well be a Wii or Wii-U.
It's the cheapest home console of the generation. And it is just a Wii HD. It even plays Wii games and uses Wii controllers.
Born to Play
Virtual reality.
It's finally time. The Oculus Rift is happening, and Sony, Microsoft, and Apple are asleep at the virtual wheel. Nintendo should already be considered a VR pioneer - the Virtual Boy is a historical part of VR's image problem, and its commercial failure on largely technical grounds is probably a big part of why Nintendo has never really revisited the concept. The funny thing about Nintendo is it generally produces its genre-defining stuff only when it is backed into a fiscal corner, when pursuing a "crazy" business strategy can only speed its looming insolvency. Nintendo needs to steal the idea of building a wireless, self-contained HMD built around some decent ARM CPUGPU, re-imagine its core first-party franchises as VR content, and get imaginative with the gameplay mechanics and input controllers. There isn't a bank big enough to hold all the money they'd make if they got it right this time.
But how selective are Nintendo when it comes to deciding whether you can have a devkit and play in their ecosystem or not?
If you want to play in the Apple ecosystem all you need is a Mac, an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad and $99 and you can develop for and publish on iOS. Android is even easier (you can do it on a PC, there is a bigger range of device options and IIRC you dont need to pay any costs to publish on Google Play)
requiring an internet connection, thus ruling out putting it in the living room with the TV
If only there was some way devices could communicate wirelessly. It could be given a cool-sounding name like Redfang or Wiffy.
No colour or religion ever stopped the bullet from a gun
There are "standard" controllers from a couple different companies, and "standard" libraries for interacting with them, available for Android (and to a lesser extent, iOS). Two that come to mind are Sony and NVidia, but it's also worth considering that Wii and PlayStation wireless controllers use Bluetooth, which means they can connect to a phone as well as a console or PC (I've written a PC game that used a Wiimote via a standard BT interface and a provided library; it was pretty easy). Part of the problem is, in the classic style of standards, there are too many of them!
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
It means Nintendo would have to scale down as a company.
Very few companies are able to do this voluntarily, especially when stock holders are involved.
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
In other words the manufacturers and sellers have got better at taking pre-orders and meeting day 1 demand, but it's still far too early to tell how the numbers will look over even the first year, let alone the console's lifetime. The PS4 isn't even out in Japan yet.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
... glad to see you know the correct pronunciation of WiFi...
Dump hardware, sell your massive game portfolio on all gaming platforms, be happy.
ha ha ha ha ha....you don't have a Wii yet!!!
smh
Android is even easier (you can do it on a PC, there is a bigger range of device options and IIRC you dont need to pay any costs to publish on Google Play)
The SDK is open source. You can basically use it on any computer, though I imagine it would be easier on an x86-derivative.
The platform is also open-source. If you wanted to you could make an Android-based console of your own - like a tablet with a controller built in. Android even works without a touchscreen (though I'd hate to use it that way, and ever since they stopped putting trackballs in them I'd shudder to think about whether most app devs really test accessibility).
But, yes, just about every computing platform out there from MS, Google, and Apple and others is far more open than Nintendo. I imagine that XBox is somewhat painful to license a game for, but for that you can at least target your code at Windows to get started and port it over, and have a consolation prize if MS doesn't let you in.
>2. they don't care about publisher indian giving (no control over the product)
/. this morning. The other being some idjit that didn't know what he was saying when he said something was a "gyp."
/. is getting dumber by the day, but this seems like a sudden decline.
This is the second bigoted comment from an ignorant person I've seen on
I realize that
Nintendo need to try VR again
In particular, games which make use of their nifty controllers?
I really enjoyed:
- Wii Sports Resort, (viewing it as a tech demo)
- The Conduit / Goldeneye 007 (viewing them as a First Person Shooter done right)
- Red Steel 2 (finally fulfilling the promise of verisimilitude in pretending to use a sword)
- Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword (continuing to make good on that fulfillment and really enjoying it as my first Legend of Zelda game, though I was disappointed that the balance board wasn't used for the tightrope walking sequences)
I managed to play through:
- Dragonquest Swords (but was very disappointed w/ how poorly the sword tracked)
- Xenoblade Chronicles (but wished that the gameplay was more involved)
- The Last Story (but raged every time I had to aim the crossbow using the joystick)
and was very disappointed by the glitch in Pandora's Tower
Give me a full-fledged RPG w/ downloadable content, on-line play and immersive motion controls and I'll be sleeping on the couch when I'm too exhausted to play the game ('cause I'll have bought the game and the console w/o consulting the finance committee).
To balance it w/ people who prefer traditional controllers, provide for an alternate playing option which makes use of the tablet as the controller, say to control a magic-wielding character --- I could see using the tablet as a spell book working out really well (of course, co-operative play w/ both controllers would be great as well).
William
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
Actually, shareholders are often quite happy to see down-scaling from an under-performing company. In the West, where we tend to have more activist shareholders these days (in part a reaction to Enron, but also driven by other shareholder movements like the one that ousted Eisner from Disney), Nintendo would be getting a lot of visible pressure right now to shed the loss-making parts of its business.
That would almost inevitably mean the home console hardware.
Nintendo's problem with the Wii U from the beginning is they delivered a mediocre console and demanded a premium price for it. The price was and is the main problem. If they can slash the price (and there is no reason they can't) then they might boost sales. Also, they'd be better off going after markets like China and India where a cheaper console might see greater success.
I can't imagine it would be too hard to port some things to iOS or Android. I recently got a Galaxy S4 and would love some good RPGs to play when I've got no Wi-Fi and I don't want to use data. Square Enix got it right when they brought over a load of Final Fantasy RPGs to Android. What's keeping Nintendo from porting a couple Zelda games over in order to have some profit to fall back on? Honestly, I wouldn't pay for a console like the Wii U or a handheld like the 3DS or 2DS.
At this point its a little late for this, but in the first year Nintendo released the Wii U they had it all to themselves but the single biggest problem was marketing. It was practically non-existent! Being a gamer I knew of its release but even so I barely knew it was released when it first came out. I talked to people almost a year later about it and most non gamers never even knew Nintendo released a new system. Take that on top of the fact that its named so similar to the original Wii and people also just think it was a newer updated Wii and not a new system. Then what I heard from others that did get one they lacked games for a very long time and even some features promised at launch didn't come out as well.
Basically in my eyes they got very lucky with the Wii. I was always shocked that people wanted such a gimmicky device. It was fun and worked and was super cheap which increased profits for them exponentially. They should have seen that this generation was no longer about those gimmicks and really developed something with more power this time around. Marketing was still the biggest downfall of the system but looking at it from all perspectives it really didn't do a lot of things right this time around. Hopefully they don't get to discouraged and still have the funds to create something new for next time because a world without a Nintendo system is not a world I want to live in! Also for the fact that the same games coming out for PS4 and Xbox one will get old after a while (I guess steam will fit into this category soon as well).
As it is commonly known, the Wii seems to be a great system for children. I have many extended family members who bought the Wii just for their kids. While most of my family knows the difference between the Wii and Wii U, they refuse to upgrade. The biggest reason? The tablet screen. The screen appears frail and prone to braking. It gives the Wii U an anti-child accessory attached to a system whose biggest market is for children.
If it gets broken, they will sell you a new one. But it is not available for general purchase.
... glad to see you know the correct pronunciation of WiFi...
Much like the Siffy Channel.
Nintendo needs to partner with Valve. Together they have an impressive catalog of titles, and the hardware that is more than just a console.
http://james.nontrivial.org
Until the Wii, my only Nintendo product was a GameBoy. We had only Tetris and Super Mario World to play on it. My family could not afford more games.
We never got an NES or SNES or N64 or Gamecube. Somebody gave me a Wii as a present and that became the first Nintendo console I ever owned. I don't know how much actual play time I had on it (already in the past tense) but that thing went from oh cool to oh geez in a pretty quick time. Bought games for it. eBayed them hardly opened. Bought online games through it. Never played them. The little icons dancing just reminded me I spent money on something I never used.
That Wii went into disuse immediately and a storage until not long after. It may have been thrown away entirely by now. Don't remember. Don't care.
So my point is that Nintendo has almost zero meaning to me. Never played Zelda. Don't care. Never played Superman 64 but I love watching videos of people trying to play it. ha Nintendo as a hardware company ... well, I'm not going to buy a Nintendo console. It seems safe to say, ever. But I do buy things for my tablet and smartphone. So if Nintendo ever wants to sell something to me, that's where I am.
Do you seek adventure beyond the treacherous waterfalls? Do you seek the mythical being the dwells in this unreachable place? If you do, then you must first find me.
Sig for hire.
You missed my point about the big screen too? The Wii's biggest issue is computing and graphics power. Everybody I know that owns a Wii just wishes that Nintendo had released an update with a faster processor and better graphics. I knew Nintendo made a mistake the first time I saw the Wii U. They are know at the point were they need to start targeting other platforms to survive as the result of their shortsightedness.
It's already a device created for casual games, both specifically for it and those developed on the Android market.
So...what you're saying is: Developers! Developers! Developers!
Every Smart-TV manufacturer should buy a "Nintendo License". Wii controllers get bundled with every TV. The money comes because _every_ TV sold would have this built-in.
Nintendo has 3 huge advantages: brand name, game franchises, and inexpensive, great controller hardware. These are all assets that can be licensed to TV manufacturers.
Nintendo can get further income with additional controllers, games, and subscription services. It's dead-easy for low-tech consumers because it would require no wiring/installation; your TV already has the Nintendo host inside.
-Ben
I'd have to fully agree with you. Nintendo's stregnth has more or less always been creating a new technology for a console, and then tossing out a line of first party titles to demonstrate how to proporly utilize the technology. Quite simply I do have to say it is very probable that in the event that they do not produce the gadgets, their games will lose their appeal, as you mentioned, sega is a pretty clear demonstration of what could happen to nintendo. Sega went from an era of which the dreamcast was worth the purchase for many, even with pretty much nothing but sega's first party titles to show for it (yes the dreamcast sold poorly, but I would say few if any who purchased it, felt it was a bad purchase). To the sega of today, in which the only ones of their games that are even worth purchasing, are the re-released dreamcast games. With that I must say I really don't want to see nintendo go that route. Your insights make sense though, if nintendo did something like create the wiimote for the PS3, have the hardware bundled with super mario galaxy etc... (this is a time travel hypothetical scenerio, if the wii never existed, then there wouldn't be a move), That may have been a functional direction to go, and perhaps similar could happen. Nintendo would need to produce just enough "hardware" to keep the developers feeling as they are developing on their own territory.
For gaming would be for Nintendo's hardware division to die and for them just to be a publisher/developer. Their first party software is the best in the business and there's no reason to chain it to shitty under-performing hardware that no one wants.
Find a way to communicate between the next Wii and smart phones, perhaps via Bluetooth. Create an app that lets the phone act as a touch screen controller for games. Perhaps have settings and preferences that can be stored on the device so people can keep their settings when they visit friends to play. Perhaps use LAN TCP/IP protocols instead of Bluetooth if you want to make the software workable on sub-$100 tablets. (Because what adult lets their 5 year old nephew repeatedly drop an iPad?)
The Wii U's big appeal is if you don't like the PS/XB traditional shooters& racing games. The wii u actually offers interesting game play. I think the biggest problem they have is marketing. I don't know anyone outside gaming circles who knows that its a new console from Nintendo.
Nintendo has 3 assets that can be easily licensed to TV manufacturers: the recognizable brand name, great game franchises, and great inexpensive hardware controllers. Every Smart TV should come with Nintendo as a service. And the box should include one or more Wii controllers. The license fee can be quite small because "every" TV comes with it, regardless of whether the customer is a gamer. Nintendo can follow up with online game downloads and additional controllers. TVs could even have a slot for DS game cards.
It's not just the console that's over priced, but the games. Nintendo a few years ago figured out that they don't make more money by dropping the price of games to $20 and less after a year, so they put a stop to the practice. This may have worked in the short term on their spreadsheets, but it lead to a permanent situation where consumers (like me) expect games to stay expensive, and to choose more carefully about what to buy. I have a pile of old Gamecube games, and earlier Wii games particularly from Nintendo, but never really built up a big library in that second half of the generation on Wii.
Now I expect Wii U games to continue the trend. With the confusing name (Wii U - is that just the tablet? - many consumers think so, they don't understand it's a new HD console), and the relatively high price, and you have a poor value proposition.
Case in point = Zelda: Wind Waker HD is $50! It should have been $20. They are killing themselves with this pricing scheme, and they don't even know it, because it doesn't show up on their spreadsheets.
http://www.unfocus.com/
Just to illustrate:
http://www.gamestop.com/browse...
Also note the mere $2 difference between the new and used version of that fairly old game.
http://www.unfocus.com/
They're far more selective.
Apple's is just an entrance fee. You buy the devkit (Mac) and you can code away. If you want to test on devices and whatnot, you need $99, which also gives you publishing controls.
Android is easier, though their store really stinks (can someone explain to me how searching for an app name can somehow NOT return the app as the top hit, but dozens of clones? I thought Google was king of search...).
PC is easier still, as long as you're willing to do the marketing/sales/payment thing yourself. (It's HARD to get into Steam. Of course, once you're in, things are golden, but getting in is quite difficult).
Nintendo/Microsoft/Sony are much harder comparatively. They're all striving for the "Apple" form for development, but not quite there yet. Nintendo's opened up a bit, but Microsoft's seems to be most "open" with ID@Xbox and lots of examples of how one can enable devkit functionality on a retail Xbone. (Alas, they got rid of XNA, which was probably the easiest way to get in...). Sony? Supposedly they've got a system for it. probably being freer with the devkits, I guess, while ID@Xbox is more they give you 2 devkits, you have to buy retail units to have more, sort of thing.
Separate teams for 'hardcore' and 'softcore' gaming, or get rid of the hardware aspect all together.
Start developing games for the mobile market, specifically games that are tailored for offline online again connections. co-op play offline and online. Android and iOS
If keeping the hardware aspect, make the hardware the total entertainment console, modular PC components (this has been talked about in the PC industry for awhile now) that will allow easy upgrading of the console. Nintendo's unique OS that allows media through LAN, Nintendo online play and play via DVD/blueray discs. Bluetooth, RF mouse kb, Nintendo's image sensor, and an uplink from it's handhelds.
The updated console will be competitive with Sony and Microsoft, plays the latest fps and has the hardware for all the latest titles. But it can play all the Nintendo handheld and new mobile title games.
Nothing compares to Nintendo ©
If Nintendo used the tablet as a centerpiece for board games you could recreate the physical fun of board games without the mess and on a big screen TV. They also need to push for 3rd party developers and give them the ability to cheaply make 2d games. I think if Nintendo focused on old school game types they could draw more players in.
Way better than that stupid 720p (1280x720) stuff... and laughing in the face of 1080p (1920x1080) as well by giving us 1280x1280 1:1 square displays.
Although I think you make a few good points, I find it ironic that you use Apple as a counter-example to Nintendo's zealous lawsuit culture.
The Wii Controllers, Balance Board and new low cost activity trackers could keep them in the hardware and software business if they make them compatible with the various smart TVs, TV boxes and smart phones out there.
Think Wii Fit or other Nintendo games on an Apple TV, Boxee or Steam run. Or using Wii Fit and the Balance board and running though your exercise routines on a phone.
Also a Zelda game that I could play on transit and then move to my TV when I got home would be very much appreciated (Cloud progress sync).
Bigger games could be chunked into smaller segments at lower prices - pay (and download) as you go. Free to play the first few levels - see if you like the game.
One of the things that Nintendo does so very well is write games that people can play together in the same room - it is a shame to see their efforts not reaching more people. My kids have such a blast with their friends on the Wii U - playing old Wii games ;-)
This isn't even close to the bottom for Nintendo, they can turn this around with one serious console. But they're going to need to take ample notes from Sony/Microsoft/Valve when creating their next system because a platform that engineered with less powerful specs just so that they can keep a fat profit margin ain't gonna cut it. This is their Sega Saturn, next one better not be their Dreamcast.
in my original post I said DVD's & CD's but I should have said **mp3's** & CD's
also: CD's nuts
Thank you Dave Raggett
In order to really fix things requires going back in time. They either should have released the Wii U a year or two earlier, or they should have made it much more powerful. A year or two earlier and a Wii that was effectively on par with the PS3 and 360 would have seemed great. Coming out just a year before the much more powerful PS4 and XBOne made it seem pretty weak. On the other hand if they could have gotten it at least into the same ballpark as the PS4 and XBOne in terms of specs they might have been okay. The PS2 was the weakest console of its generation in terms of power, but it was "good enough" and it was the earliest of the surviving consoles to come out so got a big head start.
Of course the only way they could have aforded to do that however would be to ditch the Wii U tablet controller, which is consuming far too much of the cost per console. It's an interesting idea, and there are some cool things you can do with it, but the evidence seems to indicate that it just wasn't worth it. The Wii was revolutionary when it came out, and everyone else copied Nintendo. With the Wii U it was pretty clear that now Nintendo was the one doing the copying.
Maybe there's some other gimick they could have come up with which would have re-created the Wii frenzy all over again, but a pseudo-tablet wasn't it.
And overarching all of this, they need better third party support. They've needed better third party support since the N64 days, and if anything the problem has only gotten worse. People keep telling them they need better third party support, and occasionally they admit they need better third party support and announce some plan to get better third party support, and yet somehow it never gets fixed. Part of the problem is that they've gotten themselves stuck in a viscious circle, no one expects good third party games on Nintendo consoles (as opposed to handhelds) so no one buys third party games, so third parties judge that making games for Nintendo consoles isn't profitable, so no on expects good third party games... But of course Nintendo isn't helping with their often counter-productive approaches toward third parties. I ahve no idea what Nintendo could do to dig them out of the pit they've gotten themselves into in this regard.
Unless things turn around on the Wii U really soon, the best they can possibly do is have a short generation. About three years from now release the Wii U 2, with better stats than the PS4 and XBOne. (Releasing it two years from now would be better, except they'd risk really pissing off everyone who already bought a Wii U, cf. Dreamcast. A 4 year cycle is short, but not unreasonable.) Make it backwards compatible with the Wii and Wii U, but don't include the tablet controller. The only new gimick i can think of that _might_ go over well would be a VR type system, but then they'd be going up against Oculus Rift. (I'm also not convinved that a VR system would be good for gaming. On the other half i didn't think the Wii motion controller or Wii U tablet controller would be good for gaming, so as far as the market is concenred i'm running about 50/50 on my predictions.)
TLDR: For once actually do _something_ to fix relations with third party developers and release a simple but powerful console three years from now.
Actually, here's another idea. When they announce that future console, make it a joint project with Sega. Even if Sega only had a small share (say, 10%) the news that Sega was getting back into the console business would generate a ton of PR. But that's even less likely to happen than Nintendo getting the next console right on their own.
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
I'd say the failure of the Wii U isn't so much about the games, but the goofy controller. I applaud Nintendo for their creativity, but not everything is going to work (virtual boy, power glove, robot).
You must be new here.
Probably wouldn't happen, but it could get them back in the game with a competitive console. They make their money off of games, not consoles, so if they brought their portfolio to the Steam platform, they would be competitive again and fairly quickly.
The PSP Vita TV is is ¥9,480 The Wii U is ¥26,250
create uber-apps for iOS and android --- nintendo gamecenter, a combined set of emulators and a store for buying legacy nintendo games. people are stealing their ROMs anyway, they might as well make some $ themselves. they could license one of the many existing emulators, utilize in-app purchases on both platforms and have the whole thing up and running for cheap.
The platform is also open-source. If you wanted to you could make an Android-based console of your own - like a tablet with a controller built in.
OUYA was supposed to be that, with the same CPU and GPU as the Nexus 7 tablet, but it appears to have fizzled for some reason.
I imagine that XBox is somewhat painful to license a game for, but for that you can at least target your code at Windows to get started and port it over, and have a consolation prize if MS doesn't let you in.
The consolation prize might be useful for single-player and for genres where players tolerate online-only multiplayer, such as first-person shooters. But it's not so useful for genres where players expect to share a screen, such as fighting games. I've been told that not many people are willing to buy a second Windows PC to put next to the TV, to carry a Windows PC back and forth between the PC and the TV, or to plug in two to four USB game controllers and crowd around a desktop monitor, just to play one game that the console makers turned down. If you have evidence to the contrary, I'd like to see it.
They should focus on the market that they own, handheld. Start making their prime games for the other next gen consoles, and maybe even PC. Imagine if they produced a game for Xbox and PS which had The Legend of Zelda, Link's Awakening, Link to the Past, and both N64 versions. That would sell millions of copies on day one. Do those types of discs, call it the "classic" series or something catchy and they would make millions in the first month or two.
(It's HARD to get into Steam. Of course, once you're in, things are golden, but getting in is quite difficult).
Is it harder to get into Steam than into ID@Xbox?
Ah Red Fang... great band.
"Mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent present in every electron." -Freeman Dyson
Nintendo should go back to its roots and produce arcade cabinets. I'm thinking booth style, 2-4 player arcade units that would be placed in malls and 7/11s and such. Nintendo has a great history of making fun arcadey games, like Mario Party, Smash Bros, Mario Kart, Warrio Ware etc. Especially because Nintendo games often appeal to kids who don't have much money, but might have a dollar to play some Nintendo Arcade games while they're waiting for their mom at the mall.
Very disappointing. They should have introduced the console at $250, ditched the "basic" concept all together, and by this point lowered the price further to $200 (199.95) I think that was the price points people expected because "it's a wii" and maybe by this point they'd be operating in the positive. Also, it should have upscaled the existing Wii games to 1080p (dolphin emu can do it, don't know why Nintendo could not.) as well as repackaging a few such as Zelda with enhanced tablet controls. Essentially releasing it for the price of the original wii, with all the games of the original wii only better, and a more than small handful of at least nominally console exclusives. I'm sure the last action would have earned some scorn, but it also would have headed off some of the "but it doesn't have enough games!" critics.
I have a wiiU and a PS4. I love the PS4, but the wiiU is by far my favorite, and has racked up more purchases. I'm also more excited about the games already announced for the WiiU than those for the PS4, but with the debacle of the chrismas sales figures I know the good old days will soon be behind us :(
I for one am not excited about Mario and Zelda on my iPad or iPhone. While fun and always available, the controls are a poor substitute for a gamepad, even the 3ds's flattened controls are far, far superior as they are more comfortable and accurate than bluntly jabbing at a screen, covering part of the screen with your thumbs.
This is FUD. May have been truth to this difficulty/lack of contact with Nintendo before the hardware/APIs were finalized, but the information is several years out of date.
What port?
The post probably wrote it wrong, it's Bayonetta 2.
Not a port.
In fact, if I remember correctly, it's an exclusive.
You can use wii-remotes all right with the wiiU
In fact, the wii u can use only one player with a tablet (there were talks about two but I have never seen it)
So it's 5 players. Cheap if you already have the remotes from the previous wii (with motion plus though).
Nintendo has been making most of their profit by producing last gen hardware along with consistent innovations in gameplay. Why not make one game system, buck the trend and go all out with the latest next gen mobile processors, sell at a loss if necessary but make something more powerful than the Wii U. Now they leapfrog the main issue by having a system that can be played anywhere including wirelessly connecting to your HD TV. It's what the Wii U should have been, although perhaps it would have been slightly before the tech was available. Keep innovating with gameplay, that is the core of who they are. Don't water down the brands by releasing anything on other hardware, especially since it would be an extremely subpar experience to play Zelda on a touch only device. They should also step up their IP development rate; Mario and Luigi are great but gamers are feeling an artificial sense of stagnation because they are using all their new ideas under those brands. They will probably also have to adjust their prices to a lower price point, not 99 cents but perhaps split the difference. Cater to hardcore gamers, we felt under appreciated during the Wii years.
[quote]
Most Nintendo game IP doesn't need expensive hardware to run, so cell phone/tablets is fine to go to.
[/quote]
There goes iOS. $650 for a phone or $500 for tablet does not inspire confidence. $230 for an iPod Touch is also too expensive.
This is kind of why I doubt people who say the iPhone will replace NDS. It's cheaper to buy an NDS and a pre-paid phone than an iPhone.
Try not to suck so hard
1: Stop ignoring the audience that grew up playing Nintendo. You know the ones, they have the wallets these days.
2: Stop trying to be cute, give the gamers what they actually want.
3: Profit
with the exception of Pokemon (which bizarely remains a handheld-only experience)
There have been pokemon games on non-handheld consoles but it seems like they never managed to figure out how to make the process of finding wild pokemon work in a 3D environment. Colleseum and XD worked arround this with shadow pokemon and poke-spots which kinda worked but were very different from the normal pokemon experience. Battle revolution didn't bother to provide the player with a means of collecting pokemon at all other than a handful of pokemon available for transfer to DS carts through unlocking items in an in-game store (and got terrible reviews because of it).
It will be interesting to see what happens if and when they release a pokemon game for the wii-u.
note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
This is the way of the future. Give the consoles away and stream in-game adverts. Look at the revenue just from those crappy facebook "games", can you imagine what they could get from Grand Theft Auto streaming live adverts... people saying things like "Hey man, I love Coca-Cola" and stuff like that.
I didn't miss it. I just had nothing to add on that subject. You enjoy playing games on the big screen with your kids. Me too.
OK, there appear to be a few real time multiplayer games. They are pretty few and far between, and then they require network connections. Nintendo still completely crushes phones in this area.
They don't provide Unity for free, they provide it for no additional cost. You still have to pay them $2500 and run an actual business. I could save $1000 by just buying Unity Pro directly and publish games on PSN, Xbox Live or PC without any developer setup cost.
No one will read this, but it will sit on /. so I can eventually point to it years later and say "I told you so".
They've already messed things up royally with the Wii U. Some things they can easily fix, some things are difficult, and some will just have to be ugly warts. The 3DS is going strong so there's nothing here that applies directly to it.
1. Win back the hardcore fans! This is going to be hard as Nintendo has been actively attacking their customers for some time now. We understand that sometimes you need to protect your trademarks but don't go overboard. Yes, some people may not buy your game if they see it on YouTube but many more people will due to the free advertising. There's no need for you to demand ad revenue from those vids because it doesn't belong to you. Also stop with the limited uses counter in demos as that stops people from even bothering with them. It's just not possible for multiple people to demo a game when the use count is per system... which brings me to the next point.
2. Improve the eShop store. Nintendo has the worst store out of all three console manufacturers. Seriously, try searching for something sometime. Fix the UI, make it universal, and make it usable available online through a browser. Also, purchases need to be tied to the console (for any user) and the account. Take a page from Xbox Live on how this is done. Purchases should also be cross platform compatible if it is an option; Virtual Console games should be the easiest of these to "port". Convert those Wii VC games so that users don't have to run them in Wii Mode and in doing so add them to the users eShop account. Start doing Steam style sales... but more on this later.
3. Win back the developers. This is a hard one, and a lot of those triple-A devs are gone and not coming back. Focus on the indie devs and put out a devkit that anyone can download and use. I don't care if it's sandboxed, it just needs to be in people's hands. Work with them. Fund them if needed. Feature them in the advertising, including the TV ads. Get some games on your system right now. You cannot compete with the PS4 and the Xbone. Your only chance here is to be a better OUYA. Also, whatever obstacle is in the way on getting Minecraft on the Wii U needs to go away as soon as possible even if that means licensing it and developing it in house.
4. Go big or go home. If you intend on keeping the Wii U around, you're going to have to spend some significant money to get it into people's minds, and once they purchase it, make sure that they still turn it on. The Steam style 'price drastically slashed' sales need to happen. Give games out to users each week or give a few games out each month and announce that in the commercials. You need a pack in set of games and simple, but useful, utilities that every Wii U sold will have. I figure that that is what Nintendo Land started out as but somewhere things went wrong. Get these things developed and out there immediately. It'd help if they were killer apps, but those can come later as long as they are always part of the core apps.
So start there. I'll leave with a few odd questions like: Why doesn't the OS have some sort of "working" icon? It tends to be painfully slow and appears to be locked up and many people especially kids are impatient. Why isn't there an off switch on the Wii U Gamepad? Why didn't you use the DSi/3DS power supply for the Gamepad? Oh and when is the next good Metroid game coming out?
It's like ABC, NBC, and CBS. Right now NBC is fail, and in the past it's been CBS and ABC. So right now, Wii U is sucking in sales. In the previous generation of consoles, it was PS3. Nintendo has been the loser and the winner in previous console wars, and their handheld business remains strong. They might slog along through this round, but they'll be back on top again, and one of the other big names will be the laughing stock.
Go back to the older Nintendo consoles. Modern Nintendo sucks.
http://gamehacking.org/vb/threads/12747-nensondubois-codes http://twitter.com/nensondubois_
I find it humorous that in your protest, you yourself do exactly the same thing while insulting those who can't speak.
A large issue Nintendo has with the Wii U (which MS is suffering) is naming. Why is a Wii U better than a Wii, or an Xbox ONE better than an Xbox 360? This doesn't include the inconsistent naming after the SNES/SFamicom. If they did a simple normal name such as Wii 2, Super Wii or hell NES6 where it was something people know it's better they probably wouldn't have such an issue. There are enough first party titles out there to support the machine but their gimmick system makes them have a separate ecosystem than the other two major platforms causing cross-platform a pain. As for the 3DS, firstly there is the 2DS, 3DS and 3DSXL. When you add the amount of colors and game packs available you cut into profits by causing less popular skus to collect dusk and increase in cost of production. Microsoft learned this in the early days of the 360. This isn't even mentioning power or capabilities of the system.
Sega's mistake had nothing to do with what you've written in your post. But it had everything to do with what you haven't written in your post.
The Sega Saturn.
There were four years (and an entire console generation) between the 32X and the Dreamcast. Consoles didn't last a decade in the mid 90s. Software was moving ahead too fast for the hardware to cope.
The Dreamcast flopped because Sega was already dead and buried outside of Japan.
Wedding is a time to create a whole new bridal experience for the enthusiastic and sophisticated bride. It is the possibility for the bride to experience a unique one stop location for bridal gowns. It is essential that a wedding dress is practically a living, breathing entity. It requires special care, both before and after our wedding.
and do it well
Kids want quality games. My son (age 11) very much wanted a Wii U for Christmas, and got what he asked for, in part because he had so many Wii games for the original system. Unfortunately, he was disappointed with the Mario style games that came with his unit and the other new games because: 1) They were too cartoonish and not much of a "Visual effects" improvement, cf the gaming possible in the iPhone 5; 2) The ideas in them were old hat and most of the "new" games seemed liked releases for the Wii hastily repackaged and modified for the Wii U. 3) Nintendo does not seem to be making games that are different enough to hold his interest. Nintendo's Mario and all of the originals even with new levels and powers are too much of the same old thing. Those who grew up with them may find them nostalgic but today's kids have no sense of nostalgia. They want a sense of reward for their gamesmanship and most of the games don't give you that. Further, Nintendo made a huge mistake when they did not make his Wii Mii's transferable and useable with new games. Yes, he can use them with his old Wii Games but why couldn't they figure out that kids who had spent hours customizing 50 or more Mii's might not want to use them on a supposedly superior system. That's really what turned him off at the start. What a no-brainier too! That's the problem with a gaming system designed by grandparents who think the same old thing will do. I'd bet some young guys at Nintendo brought some of these things up and were shouted down. Or worse. But it's not all bad, it's the only TV remote control we have that's too big to lose! And it's rechargeable!
- I can't help punning, I'm the product of a Jesuit Education. -
you managed to forget the saturn
yes, sega did so much hardware, niggas straight forgot about consoles
Here is what I would do: 1. Release Zelda and other Nintendo only brands on other platforms, but with characters like Disney Infinity. 2. Make a Zelda movie series. Seriously epic movies, like Lord of the Rings. Or 1. Convince Microsoft or Sony or some other company (Amazon, Apple, Google, Netflix, Tivo, etc...) to buy you. Microsoft is imagining the XBox being a Video and Game Console. Your whole media center. Someone else who wants that market could snatch up Nintendo.
I say if Nintendo could create a home experience for pokemon on the Wii U, that would just might make me buy one. Just think a free world game where you don't get in gang fights but pokemon battles, instead of fighting through the ranks of gladiatorial arenas, you have the pokemon gyms. I would buy it and all dlc.