Nintendo finally confirmed today it will be making the leap to mobile game development as part of a new partnership with DeNA.
According to a statement released by the companies today, new Nintendo IP will be developed for smart devices and specifically optimized for this platform. In other words, rather than porting games created specifically for the Wii U or the Nintendo 3DS you can expect entirely new titles on mobile.
I’m interested to see what Nintendo can do to cope with the inherent limitations of touchscreen gaming.
I was kinda hoping they’d go the other way and stop making consoles. It’s ridiculous that you have to pay what is essentially a $250+ hardware tax to play Nintendo’s 1st party console titles, since almost no 3rd parties are releasing decent games for it anymore. Even Nintendo isn’t really using the gamepad that much these days, plus for the next console cycle, I bet they could get Microsoft or Sony to pay them a shitload of money to develop exclusively for their platform. Hell, whoever had the big N on board as an exclusive would probably win the next gen console wars by default.
Edited 2015-03-18 01:12 UTC
A $250 hardware tax to play Nintendo’s first-party titles? Excuse me… but what the f*** are you talking about? I personally have been a Nintendo fan since the 90s, a gamer since I was born, and a former “hardcore” gamer–and I for one always liked their software *and* hardware.
If you don’t like it, that’s fine–don’t buy it–but that’s going way over the edge to call their hardware cost a “$250 hardware tax” and claim that their far beyond overpriced competitors (who are more interested in shoving the latest DVD video replacement optical media candidates down our throats and being the center of your all-in-one entertainment system instead of focusing on the gaming and pure fun) are the best and should be the only companies competing.
Hey, Nintendo’s pricing sure as hell beats five hundred and ninety-nine U.S. dollars or whatever Sony’s latest system is, and Microsoft’s systems sure as hell aren’t cheap either. But then again, *it always has.* Nintendo has never lost their focus on getting fun to the masses, and by that, I mean not alienating millions of people by releasing ridiculously overpriced crap that has everything but the kitchen sink.
Uhhh…because the big N doesn’t have the cash to compete anymore? Estimates put the cost of R&D on the PS4 and XB-1 at a little over 2 BILLION bucks, Nintendo just can’t afford to play in that arena.
Since you are a fanboy you will probably get mad but I’m not the only one that has pointed this out…The Wii was a fluke. It got lucky and hit right when the interest in casual gaming was starting to hit but still early enough a phone or tablet that could play any games would cost you several hundred dollars and be out of date before you finish reading this sentence. They also got lucky on price, as they were low enough compared to the other 2 it was doable to have a “Wii &” one of the big two.
You look at the rest of their recent history? Other than mobile its been bad news. N64, Gamecube, frankly the only thing that kept them alive for the longest was handhelds and that market? Its dead Jim, you can get dual core tablets for $50 and even the prepaid plans come with Android phones powerful enough to play casual games.
So like it or not sales the likes of the Wii? They are over, the third parties are treating Wii U like plague blankets and rightly so, mobile is going to end up on the phones and tablets, and there just aren’t enough Zelda and Mario fanboys out there to keep a billion dollar company afloat, there just aren’t which the latest figures show. The Wii was a hit thanks to the casuals but they are all on iPhones and Galaxy phones and they ain’t coming back and the Wii U pad? Dude its the Kinect, its not saving anybody.
I bet we’ll get 1 more console out of Nintendo and then they’ll either bet it all on handhelds or spend a decade or more coasting on ports of the back catalog to mobile. I’m sorry pal but it just doesn’t have the pockets to compete with MSFT and Sony and the third parties aren’t coming back and NO company can live by first party alone, just ask Sega about the Dreamcast.
Biggest selling console in Feb:- Nintendo 3DS
Not enough cash to compete?:- $15bn cash reserve
Yes, that’s right, this ‘struggling’ company has more than enough cash to compete and indeed outlast Sony and Microsoft’s gaming ambitions.
I think you need to actually research the company you’re bashing a little bit more before making further comments
You may want to take your own advice. At least when it comes to Microsoft, which is an $80billion dollar company with a steady flow of serious cash coming in every quarter. It’s unlikely to ever happen but they could redirect enough money to their gaming division to drain Nintendo of their cash and leave them in shambles (if not out of business). And they could do it without damaging their other businesses.
Sony doesn’t have nearly the resources and power to do that, but Nintendo would be foolish to get into any serious competition with Microsoft. It would also be pretty awkward considering they’re American headquarters are literally right down the street from each other.
Edited 2015-03-18 14:55 UTC
So what’s the point you are trying to make?
You have provided no additional argument except that Microsoft is a bigger company and if they forgo all their other products and services Nintendo would lose in the gaming market…
Nintendo are already in serious competition with Microsoft, in This generation of home consoles Microsoft have the lead (but still second to Sony) but in the handheld marker Nintendo hold a near monopoly still.
I have pointed out that your comment about Nintendo being able to “outlast” Microsofts gaming ambitions is false.
Who said anything about Microsoft needing to forgo all their other products and services? Not me, and that’s a ridiculous assumption for you to make. They wouldn’t need to forgo anything, but simply redirect more of their enormous cashflow into their gaming division. They could do that without their other divisions being affected.
No, they aren’t in serious competition. Nintendo is chasing children who rely on their parents for purchasing power. Who do you think the primary market is for Mario, Pokemon, and Zelda? Not the 18-35 console gamers. Microsoft is chasing 18-35 console gamers who play Halo, Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, etc., and who aren’t buying Nintendo systems so they can play Mario.
Nintendo and Microsoft are both members of the gaming industry but they have completely different target audiences and are not in direct competition. For you to not know/understand that, it’s incredibly ironic that commented to another user that, “I think you need to actually research the company you’re bashing a little bit more before making further comments”.
So like I said, take your own advice. You clearly need to.
You quote their entire business value as their size and capability of cashflow.. If they wish to harness that to ‘destroy Nintendo’ then other services would be reduced for those funds to be refocused, that’s a logical assumption, is it not?
I am unsure how you assume that having a different successful demographic means you don’t compete in the same industry? What about Kinectimals on the Xbox or Bayonetta 2 on the U? They are both examples of games specifically targeting the child and adult demographics. Surely in this area they compete directly.
I maintain the position that facts and numbers to back those facts up outweigh shouting loudly. Intimating that Nintendo are on the verge of collapse or cant compete financially is patently incorrect. If I see comments like that, I will call shenanigans.
That argument may fly when talking about Microsoft (who is by all accounts stinky filthy rich right now), but Sony has less cash than Nintendo right now and have operated at a loss for going on 8 years. Sure, the PS4 is not to blame, but it doesn’t really matter where the blame lies. If they don’t figure out a way to get their act back together your argument will apply more to them than Nintendo…
Nintendo is a relatively small company with a relatively small product portfolio with absolutely huge cash assets considering all that. They can afford to fight for quite a few more years if it comes to that.
Honestly I think you seriously underestimate the number of Zeldo and Mario fanboys.
As for the latest figures… The Wii-U has not been as successful as Nintendo would have liked of course. But they don’t operate like MSFT and Sony – they make a sizable profit on the hardware and have since day one. They also sell a huge number of 1st party titles, which helps (to a degree) to offset the lack of 3rd party titles. And speaking of revenue streams, they have sold 5.7 million Amiibo so far (and growing rapidly) – silly or not that represents about 50 million or so in pure profit. That isn’t all that big of a deal, but my point is they are good at figuring out creative ways to convert their IP into profits. They had a pretty damn good holiday quarter as far as Wii-U sales go too.
Yes, they need more 3rd party titles, but things are not a gloomy as you make them out to be. They keep releasing really good games (DK, Mario Cart 8, etc.), and each time one of those ship their hardware sales start ticking up a little bit more. Bayonetta 2 is a 3rd party exclusive, and it has sold very very well. If they keep releasing really good exclusives and their hardware sales keep ticking up, some of the 3rd parties might come back around.
You can if your 1st party games are good enough… Even with the poor sales, the silly “tablet” controller, the relatively weak hardware, the lack of 3rd party titles, etc. etc., the Wii-U is easily the best console of this generation (imo) – if what you buy a console for is playing really good games.
Do you have a specification for that? The soc was mostly done expect for the audio part. The kinect could have been expensive. The controller could be a small fortune.
But 2 billion for a 8 core netbook with a dedicated 8GB gpu?
Well, I suppose if the only thing you want to play on a console is 1st party Nintendo games, plus whatever pitiful 3rd party support it gets, then it’s probably not a $250+ hardware tax. At this point though, Nintendo is just being stubborn. Their console has been aped by the competition hardware-wise, and about the only thing that makes it unique is the gamepad, which is being extremely under-utilized.
As it is, if you want to play Nintendo’s stuff plus other AAA 3rd party titles, you need to buy two different consoles. So it would actually be cheaper for you if Nintendo would throw in the towel and just make games on another console.
(Disclaimer: I’m talking only about home consoles here and not handhelds. I suppose the 3DS does well enough to make it worth the investment, as there’s actually plenty to play on that device that isn’t made by Nintendo.)
Edited 2015-03-18 18:10 UTC
Right. And N used miniDVD discs in GameCube so that customers could not play their DVDs or CDs.
I have all the current consoles. The Wii U is such a cute little thing, but ultimately, the screen-on-the-control approach was a blunder. I haven’t played any games where I felt it improved the game rather than confuse me during gameplay.
I’m glad that Nintendo took the decision to develop new games rather than trying to port poor imitations.
Lets see if they bring the ‘big guns’ like Mario or Zelda or Pokemon or offer other lesser known ones as a means of dipping their toe in the water.
Either way, I think they’ll come up with a new approach in typical nintendo style (lets hope it works!)
They’re going to have to bring those big guns. It’s those big franchise titles that are responsible for Nintendos success. They are what pays for everything Nintendo does.
I’m not as convinced. Nintendo today is not the Nintendo of yesterday. I’ll have to see it to believe it.
Nintendo needs a lot of angel investments outside of Japan in order to become more competitive. I care for Nintendo unlike Sony.
The Wii U was one of the worst investments I made. The kids really wanted one so I bought one of the early models. They play it once in awhile, but not a single game requires the TV unless they go multiplayer. And then they fight over the big controller because it’s an unfair advantage. The Wii U was an over glorified GameBoy IMHO. The HDMI was the only real improvement for the price premium.
I’ve bought every iteration of Nintendo system and the designs get worse with each system, not better. The original systems were no frills yet super durable game controllers and super fast loading cartridges. I won’t brag on those trademarks for Nintendo on their current console. And don’t get me started on the Nintendo store GUI…
What they could have done was rebrand the cartridge, create new ones based on newer electrical contact technology. Gone for encryption based copy protection without killing too much load speed. Geared their design back to game pads, using more or less layouts standardized on consoles for what’s like two decades now. And offered retro experiences right out of the box, like preloaded Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Zelda, and Zaxxon updated to play nicely on up to 4K resolution. Give a nod to their legacy. All that and add Bluray support.
At least with my PS systems I can use it for Bluray and media. The Wii U isn’t even a fraction of the value of a PS4.
Edited 2015-03-21 15:08 UTC