Nintendo Considering "New Business Structure"

I think its time for Nintendo games to go multiplatform Nintendo. You know it, we know it. Time to swallow your pride and accept this course of action.

Despite being intrigued about what the new Smash Bros is about, I don't want to purchase a console with no other attractive selling points for that short lived experience & it'd seem many others feel the same.

It's a shame that there could potentially only be two console manufacturers left, but to put things into perspective, just over 14 years ago there was at least six plus with the likes of Neo Geo, Atari, Sega, Commodore etc. It's a natural evolution of the medium that companies come and go.

I'm going to miss Nintendo hardware if it goes away :-(

@kaiyouske: i agree that the best step they could take is to really improve developer relations, get cool new experiences on their systems and change the idea that you only buy their console for a mario or zelda

Too bad to hear this though I always thought that there were many games that Nintendo put out only on the handhold 3ds which would have worked great on the WiiU to help give the WiiU more reason to be played. The WiiU is pretty much a giant 3ds screen anyway so why not do that plus copy what Playstation+ has been doing online to give more to it's userbase. This should help some but expecting if nothing else they will just drop out of doing consoles & stick to the handheld market.

Reading this makes me sick to my stomach. I haven't been paying much attention to Nintendo ever since the Wii was released, but seeing the company whose games I grew up playing in such financial trouble is really fucking depressing.

Make a pokemon game on the Wii U. Make a full 3D world, put the bag/party on your handheld screen, throw in the friend code shit from Animal Crossing. People would devour it. I would buy a Wii U for that. I would buy several, in case the first one caught on fire. It seems so obvious. Nintendo is sitting on this sack of potential that they never seem to do anything with. It drives me mental.

I should make a videogame.

The problem with Nintendo is that they just can't go out and develop games for smartphones. Nintendo would loose to much of it's identity.

What Nintendo should do is ride out this console generation, put most of their "AAA" developers on the 3DS and start R&D on a new console with a release date in 4-5 years time. The 3DS may not sell bonkers, but it does stuff smartphones just don't do these days (2 screens, 3D, etc.).

If Nintendo could get online sorted out, give people the ability to merge DS/ 3DS/ Wii/ WiiU accounts, and perhapse go the Playstation Plus route with the Instant Games Library initiative, that might salvage Nintendo.

Imagine this: a subscription like PSN or XBLA, but you get all the virtual console games and, from time to time, a full retail product just the way you would on PSN. Couple that with cross-platform compatibility and Nintendo could ad me as their next costumer.

Just my two-cents.

If history is any sort of indicator, never bet against Nintendo. That is one dog that has a hell of a lot of fight. They have the technology, they can rebuild it.

In total honesty, I think they need to come to terms with the online aspect of their consoles and make it an easy transition/integration (like Sony) between the 3DS and WiiU stuff. They release great games but they need to figure out the system side of things and maybe perhaps possibly release a new IP or something. I'd love a new Nintendo RPG or something like that.

Nintendo is gonna save the Vita.

I still want a Wii U, but I'm waiting till there's more games. When Super Smash Bros. comes out I'll probably get it. If not I'll wait for a new Metroid game.

They simply need more games on it!

They need to cut their losses and concentrate on the handheld. I have a 3ds xl and its amazing. They lost the console war a long time ago.

If you really think they fucked up on the wii, then you're the one delusional here.

I really wish Nintendo made something I actually wanted to buy.

Yes, I understand that you speak from a place of ignorance; it's perfectly clear. If you think being an entitled white person makes you able to speak for everyone: you're way off the mark.

Your post is highly ethnocentric; you don't seem to realize that in other parts of the world -- the parts of the world where the majority of the population of the planet live (Asia) -- that Nintendo has been the king of the video game mountain for around 3 decades. The majority of the global population doesn't even celebrate Christmas. You said Nintendo made a bad move with Wii, but companies like Sony and Microsoft would love to have the kind of success (and have the kind of liquidity) that Nintendo has continued to see. Go and have a trip to Asia and you'll be hard-pressed to find an Xbox, but you'll almost definitely see something manufactured by Nintendo in the hands of many people ... kids, adults ... and, yes, they all like video games.

You say "superior systems" like a gaming console is all technical specifications, but that's just not the case; "superior" is a relative term, so if you're going to throw it around: we need to define the terms. I would argue that a device is "superior" to another if it serves its user in a more satisfactory way, and that's all. For some things: a stick is better than a shovel, regardless of how technologically advanced a shovel might be when compared to the stick.

Sure, the Wii is collecting dust on shelves now, but so is pretty much every other console from every previous generation, so that argument just doesn't hold water; your Xbox360 will be collecting dust all the same in a few years.

Finally, if you think making a bunch of uninformed claims and swearing makes you sound like an informed adult: you're wrong; it just makes you sound like an ignorant child who has a chip on their shoulder.

You are in charge of your desires and expectations; your lack of interest is (and can only ever be) your responsibility. Have you considered expanding the scope of things which you enjoy?

Learning to enjoy/appreciate a wide variety of things is part of what makes life great.

Geez. I hope no one in the trenches at Big N lose jobs or anything.

Didn't Microsoft recently form a new business structure? Did anything really change? I expect more of the same here.

They'll find a way to make money and stay in the game.

At least I hope. I'd like to see some more Metroid stuff and of course Bayonetta 2.

The problem of course is there not giving gamers enough for $300. The Wii U needs to come down in price. I actually want one just for the Nintendo games, I'm a huge Nintendo fan but I don't see spending $300 just to play what they have out there. I'll probably get a Wii U eventually but it would have to be under $200... Maybe they should bring out a version with out that gamepad with the screen on it, that should bring down the price a bit I would think!!!

Tablets drank that casual market milkshake while Nintendo wasn't looking.

Stop catering to "family friendly" and you'll do well. This means LEARN HOW ONLINE WORKS.

Nintendo are, at least currently and have been for a good few years now, a moronic company that make dumb as hell decisions.

Making a console that's a generation behind in technology, making it harder for third parties to develop for them, yet costing as much as an ACTUAL next-gen system: Check

Making a region locked HANDHELD system that's also region locked for most multiplayer games, making the concept of a handheld worthless: Check

I hope Nintendo crash and burn soon to be honest and go the way of Sega, the fact they've managed to survive this long after the Gamecube is almost purely due to the Wii doing far better than anyone could have guessed. I love my 3DS purely due to the games, but not being able to play anything 3DS-related with my friends due to the fact my 3DS is from a different region riles me up to no end. Especially when the original DS handled things so well.

So yeah, down with Nintendo, I love their games, I swear I do, I'd be incredibly happy to play their games, on Sony's and Microsoft's machines that is. They've gotten far too big-headed for their own good, I'm sick of their constantly segregating gamers in general with their piss-poor decisions. Developers are not going to want to develop solely for the Wii U, when they can make more than double their money making a single game that can be played on both XB1 and PS4. And if they have no games, who's going to want their console? The only reason the Wii did so well is because of how dirt cheap it was and the novelty factor, the Wii U doesn't have that, we see touch screens every day and the price they're charging was and still is horrendous.

Rant over, I really do hate modern Nintendo.

It's sad because the Wii U is really an incredible machine. Every time I've used one, I've thoroughly enjoyed it. The problem really comes down to the fact that developers don't want to take risks and make unique things. Instead, they want to churn out as many FPS games and franchise entries as possible. I don't blame them, really. The consumers are the ones enabling that mentality every single week, month, and year.

Nintendo wants to do NEW things, push boundaries in terms of innovation rather than just graphics and horsepower. Meanwhile, everyone just wants to drone on with the same boring shit.

Luckily, I have a PC and play new and interesting games damn near every other day.

Nintendo Phones, calling it.

Good

I predict Super Mario MOBA.

A little harsh, but yeah I agree with you. Nintendo has fits of brilliance and fits of idiocy. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt that they could turn it around on the next console, but they've been so completely out of touch for the past 4-5 years, it's hard to still have faith in them. I hope they turn the corner. I mean certainly no one predicted the Wii would be so successful after the Gamecube underperformed, so I'll never count out Nintendo until they truly crash and burn.

RENAME THE CONSOLE SO PEOPLE STOP THINKING THE WII U IS A PERIPHERAL.

How fucking stupid or stubborn is this company?

Sold. On board. Sign me up. Lets do this!

Perhaps somewhat harsh, mainly due to my recent runnings-in with Nintendo's idiocy first-hand with the aforementioned 3DS stuff.

My girlfriend got me a 3DS XL for Christmas, I was ecstatic, as you can imagine, I've wanted one for ages with all the amazing games it has, and the backwards-compatibility so I can play all the amazing regular DS games I missed on those gorgeous new big screens. I'm from the UK and she's American, she got me the limited edition year of Luigi NTSC 3DS with M&L Dream Team pack-in, and I love it, the game is amazing, and I love the M&L design.

I was prepared to import all my games and buy all of them on the Eshop, I did my research on that particular subject and that's fine, I got a $50 eshop card and grabbed Mario Kart 7, for both the online play and the fact I really wanted to play it with my friends who have owned 3DSes for years.

So I go to their house, start it up, ecstatic to finally play a new handheld Mario Kart after playing the crap out of Mario Kart DS back when it came out. They started up their download play and...Nothing.

Disappointed, I go home to look this up and find out that not only did the almighty Nintendo region lock the console, which is stupid on its own, they region locked multiplayer functionality. In other words, unless the game specifically supports it, I can not play a single multiplayer 3DS game with them. Even if they both got a copy of MK7, we'd only be able to play it online, because a HANDHELD game doesn't support cross-region local multiplayer. The only game I've seen that actually does is Pokemon X/Y.

So if I had a PAL 3DS and tried to play it with my girlfriend and anyone else when I went to America, again, I wouldn't be able to, I'd have to own multiple 3DSes and multiple copies of the same damn games just to be able to play games with everyone I want to.

It's pathetic, and sums up modern Nintendo in a nutshell, they've gone too far, they need to be put down, even Microsoft doesn't region lock. I was incredibly happy when I saw this news, I was eagerly awaiting the day when their business practices as of late would come back to bite them in the ass.

Go away (and play some Dreamcast, because apparently you missed some things).

I hope this forces Nintendo to get their shit together. How about a proper online ecosystem that includes you vast library of ds games that currently can't be bought. This has been coming ever since Nintendo started to rely too much on a casual gaming audience.

Seems like two choices to me.

Drop the home console completely and sell on both Xbox and Playstation, and in that partnership keep the handheld systems under your own control. Take advantage of the hardware that is out there and instantly sell millions of copies of everything you make software wise. If they really wanted to try an add-on thing every few years they could, such as the wiimote or the screen based controller they are using now.

OR

Partner with Apple and make Apple Nintendo TV a thing and go all digital with games. Put out an affordable machine that plays Nintendo games and iTunes/TV stuff in the $200-300 range and then sell a Nintendo based controller add-on every 5-10 years, such as the motion based or screen based addon. You again accomplish the goal of taking hardware units largely out of the mix, they will sell, and open yourself to a huge market of customers. There also would be a greater breadth of games available due to the backlog of iOS titles and Nintendo would no longer have to develop an OS, as you would just slightly modify whatever the latest flavors of iOS are out there. They could even keep the 3DS a thing, again putting iOS on it and adding in iTunes and iOS game support.

Uhmmmm I'm not sure I can fully support you on this one, Nintendo have been churning out the same games for the past 20 years... have neglected online completely and whilst they did pioneer motion control as 2nd screen experience has been in the pipe line for ages and companies are looking to support it... just not on the Wii U.

Sony have done the 2nd screen thing soooooo much better and it's completely optional, which means your Playstation doesn't have an unnecessarily expensive controller included in the box. I think Nintendo have no idea where the industry is going and they're playing catch up as opposed to innovating.

Hell yes! That, and the Animal Crossing game with the kind of online you ACTUALLY want. (Personally, I sorta like the current format with regard to single player stuff, but the online in New Leaf is TRASH.)

This. What Sony and Konami did with MGS Peace Walker. Same game on both devices, sync saves, console gets nicer graphics. Throw in rare pokemons for each platform to encourage people to buy both versions, similar to what they did in the past with different versions of the same game (gold/silver etc).

They'll be okay, i think, if they cut the Wuu loose and focus 100% on hanbdheld gaming in future. They are in good position to do so as DS sales, across all varieties, is till very strong for them. The numbers are pretty clear that people definitely want, and are willing to pay for, gaming focused handheld devices with reliable controls. Speculation about smartphone style touchscreens monopolizing the market was overblown. Yes, smartphones do very well on the couple bucks for a 5 minute diversion sorta cheapo game, but they aren't making any headway on for realsies real video games.

People want handhelds with buttons, Nintendo. That's your angle. Gogogo. Also piss off with the region locking.

I've owned every Nintendo Console including the WiiU, and I enjoy playing it but I do wish that there was more 3rd party support. From the moment that Nintendo announced the WiiU specs and name, I seen this coming. I agree gameplay is king, but why release a console that you know will be underpowered compared to your competition. Did they name it WiiU thinking people would buy it for brand familiarity ? Surely someone had to have thought this through a little better.

I don't think Nintendo will do a full on Sega, at least not yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if they step out of the home console game and focus on their handheld market and probably move more into phone junk.

Not sure if that means the end of huge AAA first party games from Nintendo or if they'd be willing to put those out on other platforms. Something tells me Nintendo has a bit too much pride for that, and would just stick to handheld releases for the foreseeable future, which is disappointing. Although you never know, they still have to answer to shareholders and I'm sure more than a few of them have had the same thoughts.

Interesting times are coming!

I feel like the reason they're failing is due to not making it as powerful as the other two next-gen systems. Now, I'm not saying the Wii U looks bad, far from it, I'm simply saying that because of the power, the games aren't there because developers don't want to spend money create games on a system that can't do what the PS4 and Xbox One can, so therefor gamers find it a hard sell.

If developers had, I don't know if I'd be in the minority, but I'm pretty sure I would buy that same game on either a PS4 or Xbox One; Assassin's Creed 4 as an example. That being said, I do intend on getting a Wii U at some point, and I hope Nintendo's console doesn't fail. I really don't want Nintendo to get exclusively into handhelds because um... I wouldn't ever play them again. I don't like playing on handhelds that much.

Very sad news to hear, but I have faith they'll bounce back... they always do.

Iwata must be removed. The bungling of the Wii's successor to this extent is more than enough reason to have him put aside.

@so_hai: I dont know. I like Iwata. He always seems earnest. I think he deserves the chance to try and steer Nintendo into a new direction.

And yet he has put a face on the company that gamers have positively responded to and changed the industry from announcing new games at certain peak times of the year to the entire calendar. I think he is smart, but something has got to give as it concerns the Wii U. We need a Virtual Console subscription service and soon.