Why are people so down on Nintendo? They are still making a lot of money and will probably be in better shape than Sony or Microsoft once the Wii U games come in.

They are also still riding on original DS sales and the 3DS is kind of booming.

If you're going to worry about someone, worry about Microsoft. (PC related sales way down, Windows Phone still not a success, Windows 8 based tablets not selling)

I mean christ, the Wii U hasn't been out that long and let's not forget the 3DS also fucking sucked when it first launched, in fact the 3DS was worse than the Vita at launch and even a few months after yet people like to rag on the Vita all the time, the 3DS was worse. I had one at launch. It was awful, the hardware was awful (build quality and design of the original 3DS stink) and so were the games, I have an XL now and am very happy with it, but don't bet against a console because the launch was rough, look at the PS3, look at the 3DS.

On its knees in a back alley giving surprisingly good head to anyone? Metaphorically speaking.

More realistically? Disney will have bought Nintendo and is about to turn all their franchises into parks and rides. Nintendo games will release on every platfrom. Eventually Disney will establish a Nintendo streaming service, bringing Nintendo experiences to any connected device everywhere.

Also - everybody you care about at Nintendo will have jumped ship or retired.

i sure hope it comes to that. but i hope unlike sega, they learn their lesson and start making good games again.

@tarsier: I may have started this thread predicting bad things for Nintendo hardware, but for the love of god I hope this never happens to Nintendo games.

@jasonleeson: I think they will prevail just fine as a 3rd party company. I would love the chance to play the newest Mario games on a non Nintendo system. For Sega I think other then releasing a ridiculous number of Sonic games every year are actually doing pretty good.

The fact for the Big N and Sega competing in hardware wars against sony and microsoft is really just a losing battle, both those companies I would think have much better connections with big pc parts makers. Only thing Nintendo is holding on too at this point is innovative gimmicks (that can be some times annoying ideas, motion controls!).

They would not. Without the financing and internal hardware support, they would very likely end up going down the path of Sega due to their having to solely rely on their game output, the loss of personnel, and developing versions of games for multiple consoles at once, which would further split resources. Anyone that thinks that Nintendo would still be Nintendo as a third party is delusional to the realities of how their core business works.

@agentboolen: Sega is doing pretty good? Maybe from a purely financial perspective, but they are most certainly not the same company that put out weirdo bizarre games like Space Channel 5 or Jet Set Radio. Even Sonic, which has been their flagship franchise since 1991, has fallen so far from grace that for the past 10 years pretty much anything Sonic related has been a complete joke (with Sonic Generations, and to a lesser extent, Colors, being the only sort of Ok games that I can think of).

While I don't think Nintendo would completely lose sight of what made them great, I think we'd definitely see an even greater reliance on B-tier franchises like the NSMB series. Why would they ever bother investing in the R&D that led to games like Mario Galaxy if they're not also using those games as an example of why you should buy their hardware?

Nobody knows - if you had asked this question as the gamecube was coming out, nobody would have guessed what the Wii was doing 5 years later.

I assume they are likely to continue treading water in a comfortable position for the foreseeable future.

I am starting to think that the market has been so poisoned by smartphones and tablets that a home console from nintendo (and maybe even other hardware makers) may never again see huge success. Not just for videogames, but for all media based on use of the television in the home. Broadcast, Cable TV, and Home Video are also struggling as a result of the appeal to the short attention spans of most people.

Honestly if Nintendo was to go just to offering handheld games and systems, I'd love for them to do some bigger projects and release on PC, maybe even with their own controller. I'd love to be able to play big first party nintendo games on PC and have a handheld that has unique exclusive games for it, and the ability to "off screen play" the PC titles.

Nintendo could even sell a small, power efficient PC box every few years of their own design that their own games are targeted to be played on, but also plays other PC titles - It could really solve the 3rd party problem they have.

Nintendo will be where it always is, in five years, doing its own thing. People are always quick to call out doom and failure for Nintendo, complain how Nintendo hardware is not up to par with other consoles, and decry how much Nintendo has fallen from grace all the while Nintendo releases hit title after hit title and their consoles that people thought would bankrupt them starting selling.

I frequently hear how Nintendo is no longer needed because of tablet games, but I find that hard to believe. I think the questions we should be asking ourselves is where will mobile gaming be in five years? A friend of mine of Facebook posted a week ago that tablet Apps are no different than the video game industry around 82'-84' where you had to weed through a large selection of rip-off's, broken, and terrible games to find anything worthy to play. Simply put, the App market is and will become even more saturated with terrible releases that could crash the market. More importantly few tablet games can deliver on the diversity, complexity, or scale of video games on other platforms due to the limited control scheme. Many titles on the 3DS and Vita could not be played on a tablet touch screen, and certainly couldn't sell at $40 on any App marketplace.

No it's different. The best rises to the top via users ratings/reviews that are right on the buy screen.

@jasonleeson: No. The most popular ones with big marketing behind it. Quality is not a sign of these. The IOS market is totally broken. You rather see some minecraft cones up there instead the real good games.

I can't see them making another home console after the Wii U. They'll continue to have a strong portable presence though.

I simply don't understand people who keep saying "Wii U sales will pick up later this year, just give it time". Nintendo's opportunity to salvage it was the first 11 months of 2013. Why would someone pick up a Wii U after the other two are out? It has abysmal third party support, and anyone who wants to play all those Nintendo games has probably already bought one. And they fucked up by announcing Smash Bros for the 3DS, cos I feel like that was the game that could've saved it.

The real secret to Nintendo floundering in the modern console market is because they simply refuse to take risks. Not to say Sony and Microsoft don't avoid them when they can, but they do at least put out original IP's every now and then (Sony especially).

I don't want Nintendo to disappear, but I just wish they'd open their eyes a little and see that they're still living in the past.

The official Minecraft pocket edition is 2nd with 179,000+ ratings at 90%+ 5 star.

Like I said, best rises to the top.

Second Bi-Yearly check-in to this thread

Well it's that time again, 6 months have past and I once again take stock (forgive the pun) on the state of Nintendo and the WiiU. When this thread was first started, many people claimed I was overreacting and the WiiU would be 'just fine'.

Nope.

The WiiU is selling abysmally as ever, Nintendo's stock just took a overnight drop of 18% and the projections of 9 million sales have been slashed to 2.8 million (still optimistic). The WiiU is very clearly a failed console. There really isn't anything else to say. People saw it coming, yet some gave it the 'it'll be just fine' response.

Sometimes, things won't be 'just fine'. You don't make yourself look wise and reserved by taking the dismissive middle-ground of nothingness. Sometimes, the sky really is falling. In future, it'd be prudent to listen.

Yes, they will make the necessary changes to survive and at least be stable in the industry. If that means they are still making consoles, handhelds, phones, porting mario/zelda/smash bros/etc to other platforms I do not know but they are such a known quantity that they will exist no matter what.

jesus people want the blood of nintendo so bad. what is it with the fucking grudges?

i kind of think it's on a even higher level than EA hate, which is at least remotely justified...

(note: this has nothing to do with the reality of nintendo's state. just an observation on the irrational behavior of its most vocal detractors.)

@truthtellah said:

I just saw this thread and immediately thought to come into it and post this exact comment.

Apparently, I am still me. Good going, 5 months ago me!

Congratulations.

Rollin' in that Zelda money.

Leading the videogames industry with creative software and inspiring new technology.

It's already been three years since this thread was created, so I'd say it's not really timely any more.