Is Nintendo Going In A New Direction?

[Mendon]

I've noticed that Nintendo has made some recent changes to their way of doing business:

 

1) After many, many years at the same headquarters, Nintendo has decided to relocate to a different city. And this move is costing them some well respected, long term employees (Harrison, Kaplan, etc) and Nintendo doesn't seem too concerned.

 

2) After publishing Nintendo Power for many years, Nintendo decides to quit the magazine and turn the writing and distributing over to Future Publishing.

 

3) After years of having forums on their website, Nintendo decides to close them down with somewhat "cryptic" messages: "For more than four years, these NSider Forums have fostered engaging, robust debates, a strong community and friendships. While their future remains uncertain, in the interim we invite our fans to build on the spirit of community by starting their own Nintendo discussion sites. " and "We'll see you soon elsewhere on the Web.".

 

By removing the website forums and getting out of magazine publication, is Nintendo trying to distance itself from its customers? Is the headquarters move a way to better conduct business or is it downsizing and increasing profit? When much of the past business practices of Nintendo are based on loyalty, why do they not seem too concerned that employees, who have worked hard to put them in their current financial position, are walking out the door? Do all these changes hint at something more being planned by Nintendo or are these changes just simply a part of the "casual" gaming direction that Nintendo is taking?

 

I'm not complaining .... I just find it somewhat strange that Nintendo is making several big changes to the way they do business at a time when they have climbed to be the #2 company in Japan and increased the value of their stock tremendously.

 

Anyone have any thoughts, comments?

 

 

 

Mendon

[+-^CrossBow^-]

I am also mystified by these changes. I can somewhat understand Nintendo Power being handed over to another publishing group. Making and printing magazines is very expensive, and Nintendo probably felt it was better to hand that off to a 3rd party rather than be bothered with it themselves anymore. They likely didn't have the time and energy to keep doing it or to evolve it to where they thought it might need to be.

 

The one that I really don't understand is the Nsider forums being taken offline. Those forums didn't cost anything really to maintain. Nintendo never really got involved in the forums themselves as far as people from Nintendo posting anything there, so I'm really curious as to why they were taken down. I'm suspecting that Nintendo has something very interesting up its sleeve regarding them. I've been speculation (meaning I'm guessing here), that the forums will retun but in a way that is compatible with the Wii opera browser. So it would mean that the forums can be browsed and used with a Wii in addition to standard PC browsers. I say this because the Nsider page message has been changed. It used to say something to the effect that due to the success of Wii and DS Nintendo was focusing on making web changed to better coincide with those products. I paraphase there, but it used to say something very similar.

 

That leads me to believe that Nintendo is simply redoing the forum software or perhaps changing the entire focus and shifting everything towards Wii and DS only.

[8th lutz]

I will shed some light on the forums and the future of the community.

 

 

This link tells all: http://gonintendo.com/?p=27733

 

Here is the info:

 

On Sep. 17th the nsider forums were close indifinitely as a prelude to a site-wide overhaul at nintendo.com. But don't worry! We at Nintendo Power are working on bigger plans for an online community that we hope we can share with you next year. -Cris slate

 

What Chris slate is saying, Nintendo gave the online community to Nintendo Power and they building it as I type.

[Jess Ragan]

Anything that convinces Perrin Kaplan to leave the company is not a bad thing. Donde esta bimbo-liateca will not be missed.

[Mendon]

I will shed some light on the forums and the future of the community.

 

 

This link tells all: http://gonintendo.com/?p=27733

 

Here is the info:

 

On Sep. 17th the nsider forums were close indifinitely as a prelude to a site-wide overhaul at nintendo.com. But don't worry! We at Nintendo Power are working on bigger plans for an online community that we hope we can share with you next year. -Cris slate

 

What Chris slate is saying, Nintendo gave the online community to Nintendo Power and they building it as I type.

 

LOL... I like that post in the comments that said that the new Nintendo forums will feature 60fps and voice chat!!

 

Thanks for posting that link with the info!

 

 

 

Mendon

[rockman_x_2002]

That leads me to believe that Nintendo is simply redoing the forum software or perhaps changing the entire focus and shifting everything towards Wii and DS only.

 

Interesting thought there. "Nintendo Power Channel", with integrated access to the NSider forum. Or something to that effect. Merely speculation, but I can certainly visualize that in my mind.

[King_Salamon]

That leads me to believe that Nintendo is simply redoing the forum software or perhaps changing the entire focus and shifting everything towards Wii and DS only.

 

Interesting thought there. "Nintendo Power Channel", with integrated access to the NSider forum. Or something to that effect. Merely speculation, but I can certainly visualize that in my mind.

 

That's exactly what I have been thinking since I heard about the site shut down... Nintendo Power Channel anyone?