Is Nintendo still serious about business?

Ok this may be a pretty repeated forum topic but I only just signed up to the big G-Bomb yesterday, and missed all the E3 forum topic discussions...

Yup, the little pricks you see in that image you posted are Nintendo's target audience.  I wouldn't wait around for it to get better.

Considering it's raking in the profits i'd say it can take itself as seriously as it likes. They clearly have more business sense than most 'hardcore' gamers will have you believe, they saw a golden opportunity and went for it, and it payed out better than the golden goose. So yeah, they still care about business.

Edit: And they obviously still care about us hobbyist gamers because Metroid + Team Ninja is fucking WIN.

I don't know any unfit soccer moms (more's the pity), but the Wii has been a huge success in my household. SMG is probably my favourite game of this gen. Obviously some people haven't had such a good time with the Wii, which is a pity, but don't spoil the fun for the rest of us :).

Nintendo's bank roll thinks that they're business model is doing just fine. The fact that they aren't catering to the same market (IE, us) is the exact reason why they're doing as well as they are. They realized at some point that they were losing the race against Microsoft and Sony when it came to the traditional game audience, and they weren't interested in trying to keep up with the technology arms race, mainly because it was going to cost so much R&D money. (Nintendo's bottom line always been number one priority.)

So no, Nintendo hasn't lost the plot. If anything, they redefined who can be moved from the "MAYBE" to the "ACTIVE," and yes, those people in your picture? They are actives, because they're playing a Nintendo product.

On a sidenote, as much as we all are amused by the "NEVER" thing, doesn't it make sense to not sweat over ever appealing to people who under no circumstances will ever be interested in interactive entertainment? This is business 101: knowing your market and knowing your possible growth market. Nintendo just went out of their way to point out that there is a third group that most people don't discuss...

This does seem like an random attack on Nintendo, I was once a proud Wii owner but then once I was done with Super Smash Bros Brawl (a lot quicker than I thought thanks to fluffed up online) I realized there was nothing left to look forward to.

Is Nintendo still serious about business?

Nintendo now resort to milking franchises? Wat? I think you remember a different Nintendo than I do if you really think they've changed so much. It's always been about their major franchises and a few oddities here and there, and that's what they continue to do. And what Meo said.

Don't be surprised if you see more games shown later this year at a Nintendo held event sometime around September or October. There are more great games coming form them, you just have to be patient.

Aside from their games, their are some awesome looking third party games coming out this year, games like Muramasa. They should be enough to keep most fans happy until we see evidence of Kid Icarus and Pikmin 3 and the likes.

I don't have any problem with what Nintendo has done. Yes, they've put out games like Wii Fit and the like which don't really appeal to me (or many of us here), but they've also put out plenty of great first party games, too. It's not really an either/or type situation. If they can put out Wii Fit and Brawl within two months of each other (which they did), then they're essentially getting the best of both worlds.

And with 3rd party support really ramping up this year, it seems like the Wii's potential is being more and more utilized each day.

Wii Fit is a brilliant application, btw.

It always makes me sad when people try to say that Nintendo is only putting out casual games and franchise-milkers. Yes, they have both of those, but Nintendo uses them so much because no one ever pays attention to the ORIGINAL games and properties they put out. 

Wait, how does openly (key word) catering to the casual crowd indicate a lack of serious business motivation? If anything, it indicates a greater business motivation.

Seeing as how Nintendo has made money off every piece of hardware they made at least since the Gamecube era and they're now first in the sales wars, they take business seriously.

Go after the actives and the maybes... and fuck the NEVER crowd.  That's Nintendo's policy.

Nintendo are the best of the big three when it comes to business in the console market. They pretty much started the market back in the 80's... this gen they've expanded it. They pretty much own the portable gaming market.

serious about business? they're making bank why would they not be serious

Well, define "serious about business." Are they seriously interested in making money? Of course. I'd say that was there primary motivator in going the Wii direction. But they definately aren't trying to cater to the "hardcore" demographic. Personally, I find their strategy to be rather alienating to the people who grew up with their games.

Nintendo has never been more serious about its business than they are now. Don't you see the (probably literal) mountains of cash they are raking in this generation?

So because you don't understand their marketing and direction suddenly you've concluded they aren't serious.  The people that 'rebel' against motion controls also fail to see anything past their initial unwillingness to jump on the bandwagon, yes the original Wii mote wasn't what Nintendo promised but from all accounts it seems the motion plus basically is what they initially promised.   If all you want though is the latest in high tech graphics and Ai then well it shouldn't surprise you that the Wii is just not going to be capable of that.   I personally believe the games on the Wii will just get better from here as developers start to realize that the Wii is not just the place for a quickly slapped together social experience and some real meaty games that both use the motion plus well and have some serious polish start coming out.   Remember by all accounts the Wii wasn't expected to succeed, and when it did developers basically scrambled trying to deliver some half assed games to make a quick buck, now that more focus is shown to the Wii and entire divisions of game developers are focussed on delivering games to the Wii and it's giant consumer base things should get better for the Wii gamer.

I think Nintendo's success pretty much answers the question yes.

It's pretty obvious that Nintendo is dead serious about business. They are doing exactly what they have to do to make a boatload of money, and they don't care who they hurt in the process. What they are doing is happening specifically because they are serious about doing business. By appealing to a previously untapped market, Nintendo is doing more business than ever, and if that means they have to put less concentration into the "core" gamer, then that is absolutely what they will do.

it is because nintendo takes business seriously that they have this new target audience.

Guys we are what, three years into the Wii and there's still people complaining about the Wii's "target" demographic?  Surely by now you can come to terms that yes the majority of software out for the Wii is for a demographic that is probably different from you, but you can't say they aren't catering to the "hardcores," that's just a retarded blind statement. I can think of an enormous amount of games that cater to traditional gamer tastes, and they're good games to boot. Plus you've got great looking games like the new Silent Hill (which looks amazing) and Other M coming up. Both of these games are made by battle-hardened developers, are you saying they're not up to the challenge and their games are a lost hope?