Wii U situation... what is the answer?

[Mendon]

To me, there is one big difference between Nintendo & the other two console manufacturers:

 

Microsoft & Sony themselves do not have to develop and distribute another game from this day forward and their consoles will sell, sell, sell because of the vast 3rd party & Indie support.

 

Nintendo has to develop and distribute its own software to have any chance of improving console sales because of that very lack of 3rd party & Indie support.

 

 

I'm sure Mario World 3D moved a few consoles. And I'm sure Mario Kart will move some. But I believe the continuing 3 and 4 month drought between releases, even 18 months after the console launch, will continue to hold back the improvement of console sales figures. And not every Nintendo title will have good sales success, let alone improve console sales. Game & Wario, Wonderful 101, and Wii Fit U have all received low sales figures and been given quick price cuts by retailers in order to move inventory.

 

Nintendo, I think, finds itself in a situation that Sony & MS doesn't face, and I don't believe Nintendo has any idea of how to correct it.

Edited April 1, 2014 by Mendon

[Bill Loguidice]

Nintendo, I think, finds itself in a situation that Sony & MS doesn't face, and I don't believe Nintendo has any idea of how to correct it.

 

Let's face it, Nintendo has a corporate culture of stubborness that has rarely hurt them, but when it has, it has done so in a rather significant way. I think this is clearly one of the cases where this same stubbornness is definitely hurting them in a significant way. They admitted themselves that they had trouble getting up to speed on HD game development, which further slowed their already famously sluggish ability to get new game content out the door. A less stubborn company with the kind of money Nintendo has in the bank would have bought several good development houses or at the very least threw some money at a few of the major publishers like EA to create significant exclusive IP for their platform (consider how much Titanfall has helped the Xbox One, even though it's also for PC and Xbox 360). Unfortunately for Nintendo, their corporate culture doesn't allow that type of flexibility. Indeed, the Nintendo corporate mindset is "things will work themselves out, just be patient." At some point, things won't work themselves out on their own, which is part of why Nintendo's third party situation is so dire.

Now, to be fair, Nintendo went against their usual practices to a degree by selling the 3DS at a loss after realizing that it was initially priced too high (and that worked), and then went ahead and sold the Wii U at a loss from day one, so clearly they haven't always followed their own playbook, but they've really done nothing to help the Wii U like they did with the 3DS. They seem afraid to touch any of that stockpile of money in the bank. With three consecutive years of losses and increasingly impatient investors, it may be sooner rather than later than there is a significant Nintendo management shake-up, one that puts in place leadership more willing to try a few things, including touching some of that money to create a more healthy present and future.

[bradhig]

some people are saying Nintendo is dying because of the Wii U.

[Bill Loguidice]

some people are saying Nintendo is dying because of the Wii U.

 

They're not. Having a failed system - or failing system, whatever - does not automatically equal a death sentence. Certainly Nintendo does not have as diversified business interests as Sony and Microsoft, but they also have plenty of money in the bank and IP they can leverage indefinitely in lots of different ways. While the 3DS won't sell like its predecessor - and it's unlikely any future dedicated gaming handheld will have similar success thanks to smartphones and tablets - it's still doing well enough to keep Nintendo relevant in the space, even if the Wii U is not, though obviously it's only a matter of time before the 3DS too loses steam.

Again, we can speculate endlessly, but the logical next step for Nintendo seems to be replacing (succeeding) both the 3DS and Wii U with a handheld system that doubles as a console. It might even further make sense to have that handheld also run a "locked" version of Android, a la the Kindle, so they'd have a healthy app ecosystem as well. This way they can serve many needs while still having a dedicated platform for new Nintendo games. Who knows if that's ultimately the answer, though since it's unlikely that Nintendo will ever attempt to take on the competition with raw power again this may be the most obvious choice.

I still say we won't see any new system from Nintendo until at least E3 2015, with a release for holiday 2015. That would give the Wii U a modest 3 years on the market and the 3DS almost 5. The latter would likely continue to sell for a few more years in light of the release of a hybrid system. Again, just some wild speculation there, but maybe not entirely without basis...

In any case, the point is, Nintendo has enough money in the bank, enough IP to fall back on, and many other things going for them that they're hardly doomed for the short- to medium-term. That gives them plenty of time to come up with a new strategy for renewed success in a very different competitive environment and with very different consumer expectations.

[cimerians]

I simply want there games on other systems that way I don't have buy Nintendo hardware anymore. As time goes on I have smaller and smaller nostalgia and emotions with Nintendo since I grew up playing Atari's, Coleco's and C64's. Yes I played the NES and SNES a lot but it just doesn't matter anymore.

 

If they keep releasing systems I guess I'll keep buying but its gotten tired. Really tired.