EricBall's Tech Projects

I wonder how long it will be before Nintendo goes the way of Sega, and becomes a software company for other platforms?

I wonder how long it will be before Nintendo goes the way of Sega, and becomes a software company for other platforms?

 

Sega made the jump to software (although they still make arcade machines) after 4 years of losses. Nintendo is still profitable so is unlikely to change in the near future.

 

However, the 3DS and Wii U aren't anywhere near as successful as their predecessors (although Pokemon is finally coming to the 3DS which should boost sales). Plus the continued pressure from the Xbox/PS/PC on the console space and iOS/Android on the handheld space means Nintendo doesn't have a guaranteed winner for the future. Unfortunately, the pressure of "free-to-play" and lower price digital downloads means Nintendo can't assume they could release Mario/Zelda etc on another platform at their current price point (not to mention the piracy problems some of those platforms have).

 

So might Nintendo go the way of Sega? They could, but I'm not certain they would be any better for it. I think there's a market for a "family friendly" console & handheld, but each year it becomes more difficult to stand out from the competition and the number of competitors is far greater today than in the past.

I think handhelds are going to take a huge hit once officially-supported snap-in controllers become available for the iPhone/iPod Touch. At that point, you'd have a full-on portable game console with proper controls, with a massive game library. I've already relegated my PSP to the shelf. I can't imaging ever buying another dedicated portable, unless there was some unbelievable killer app for it. Even then, they're bigger, clunkier, and I don't want to carry around yet-another device with me. The question for Nintendo is - are there enough killer apps left for the 2DS/3DS to keep sales up?

I think handhelds are going to take a huge hit once officially-supported snap-in controllers become available for the iPhone/iPod Touch. ... The question for Nintendo is - are there enough killer apps left for the 2DS/3DS to keep sales up?

I suspect iControllers will have the same problem as almost all add-ons - not everyone has one so game creators avoid requiring them. So I don't think iControllers will have much of an impact on handhelds beyond the damage they are already doing.

 

Pokemon X/Y will be a good indication of a how well a "killer app" can do.