Nintendo's massive financial woes are sadly a long time coming. I'm honestly going to miss Nintendo when they're gone, but they've done it to themselves. I might even shead a tear. I am also not an economist or a gaming industry expert, I just play one on the Internet.

(This is going to be long, so bear with me.)

Let's go back to the SNES. At the time, it was the most technologically advanced and sound platform with oodles of classic games. Chrono Trigger, fucking Earthbound dude. They were really riding high for a long time. Nintendo of course had their competition with Sega's Genesis, which also offered some solid titles. At least until they went to the Dark Side and tried to extend the life of the Genesis with the Sega CD and 32X. Sega tried releasing.... ugh FMV games on their awful platforms, while Nintendo kept going on strong. At least until they fucked up completely by not going to a CD format, which is what Sony did for the first Playstation. The Playstation sold like gangbusters and had the games to back it up. The N64 used a dated cartridge system and still had some killer games on the platform (Goldeneye, Conker's Bad Fur Day and of course Smash Brothers). Still, they lost the hardware fight while more and more developers jumped ship and defected to Sony's camp. Losing Square on Final Fantasy was bad enough, but it was only the beginning.

Then the Xbox came out. Most important about it was the fact you could FINALLY play games online like the PC Gaming Master Race (the people who spent exorbitant amounts of cash on gaming rigs) had been doing for years. The unwashed console masses could play online with their friends, which changed everything. Halo didn't sell zillions of copies for the single player campaign. The market and the consumer now expects good online play out of the goddamn box.

Then Nintendo makes the worst financial decision of their life. They create a entire gaming console based on a motion control gimmick and see bored housewives and eight-year olds as their ticket to riches. The Wii actually worked for a while financially. However, the problems of the system were glaring. The processing power was weak, the motion controls alienated 3rd party developers even more and the shitty excuse for on-line connectivity completely froze them out from online sales of downloadable content. You couldn't play the big blockbuster releases on the Wii. You couldn't play with your friends on a reliable network. You can't even play the cool little indie releases on the Wii. The housewives would bought the thing just for Wii Sports didn't buy anything else!

Nintendo is now basically the sole producer of quality games on their own system which is the kiss of death for a hardware maker. Rare completely became more and more of a punchline instead of Nintendo's vanguard (ok Rare WAS bought by Microsoft before sucking it up, thanks to whoever corrected me). Nintendo's own 1st party releases even got delayed numerous times! All the Wii's they sold started collecting dust in households, or sold for beer/weed money at greatly reduced value. When I can count the amount of good third party titles on LITERALLY one hand, you've got a SERIOUS problem. (Trauma Team, No More Heroes 1/2, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. I didn't include Resident Evil 4 for personal taste)

The game manufactures in general lost the handheld market to Android and Apple, who are now making money hand over fist on cellphone gaming. I don't think the gaming companies are going to take that market back anytime soon.

People abandoned them in droves and Nintendo started to hemorrhage money until they can make a new console which looks even more bizarre than the last one, when the developers and the users have abandoned them in droves. But hey, another Mario Kart or Mario Party might keep the lights turned on in your office building for a while.

To quote Gordon Gekko, "You either do it right....or you get eliminated". Sorry Nintendo, but it's really been fun.

You know what else is, like, totally failing, bro? PC gaming.

Also, you know what didn't have online until Q4 2004? Halo.

Sorry. Am I supposed to take this seriously?

Meh, it must be a jersey thing.

Guys, we'll all be playing games exclusively on our iphones in a few years.

@believer258 said:

You know what else is, like, totally failing, bro? PC gaming.

Also, you know what didn't have online until the Q4 2004? Halo.

Is this sarcastic? I legitimately have a hard time telling on forums...

To the OP, as well intentioned as your post may be, this is largely information everyone already knows and has been discussed to death. I think you're exaggerating things a bit.

having one bad year is nothing especially with a console launching this year and 14 billion in the bank. if they continue to loose money then we can worry.

@Giantstalker said:

@believer258 said:

You know what else is, like, totally failing, bro? PC gaming.

Also, you know what didn't have online until the Q4 2004? Halo.

Is this sarcastic? I legitimately have a hard time telling on forums...

Hell to the naw.

This is all just silly talk.

Wait... I bought Halo because it was a great console FPS and loved the Single Player/ Co-op Campaign. Never even touched Multiplayer since it wasn't an online game.

@jerseyscum said:

Nintendo's massive financial woes are sadly a long time coming.

What about Sony's - 6.4 billion

Or Microsoft - 229 Million

I'm honestly going to miss Nintendo when they're gone, but they've done it to themselves. I might even shead a tear.

Why is Nintendo going, Where is Nintendo going?

ugh FMV games on their awful platforms,

Perhaps you didnt live through it, perhaps you did, but dont remember, but FMV games where the shit. They looked like shit, but compared to what 3d looked like back then I would take FMV any day.

Rare completely became more and more of a punchline instead of Nintendo's vanguard.

Rare is owned by Microsoft, I hope you know.

When I can count the amount of good third party titles on LITERALLY one hand, you've got a SERIOUS problem. (Trauma Team, No More Heroes 1/2, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. I didn't include Resident Evil 4 for personal taste)

You also didnt include:

Metroid Prime

Zelda Twilight Princess

Crystal Bearers

Zelda Skyward Sword

A financial loss does not foretell the fall of a company or its determination of being a success or failure.

it really is too bad that nintendo has sold the most consoles and handhelds out of the big three, that really sucks for them.

You know what Nintendo's problem is? They don't watch Wall Street often enough. That'll solve tbeir problems.

hahah loving these comments!

Nintendo might be operating at a loss, but they're sitting on a boat load of cash. 14 billion is what I heard.

We need a dramatic reading of this.

Nintendo is doomed, since 2001.

@Dagbiker said:

.

When I can count the amount of good third party titles on LITERALLY one hand, you've got a SERIOUS problem. (Trauma Team, No More Heroes 1/2, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. I didn't include Resident Evil 4 for personal taste)

You also didnt include:

Metroid Prime

Zelda Twilight Princess

Crystal Bearers

Zelda Skyward Sword

Or Zack and Wiki, Murumasa: The Demon Blade, Red Steel 2, Goldeneye, Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, Rabbids Go Home

Nintendo is in trouble cuz the needed more sequels to Karnov.

I'm buying 3 copies of Mario Party 9 just to prove the OP wrong.

@DrDarkStryfe said:

Nintendo is doomed, since 2001.

If there's anything gamers are fantastic at, it's short-term business thinking.

@Dylabaloo said:

We need a dramatic reading of this.

Who would do it justice?

@jerseyscum:

@Dylabaloo said:

We need a dramatic reading of this.

It has to be read by a dopey sounding teenage boy. That would be comedy gold!

@Landon said:

@jerseyscum:

fucking lol. Yep, end of Nintendo cause this one time they lost what is equivalent to $5 to them compared to the boat loads of cash they've made since Donkey Kong back in 81.

THEY ARE DOOOOOOOMMMMMMMEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDD

@Kill said:

@Dylabaloo said:

We need a dramatic reading of this.

It has to be read by a dopey sounding teenage boy. That would be comedy gold!

Ok, I though that one was pretty funny.

@jerseyscum said:

Nintendo's massive financial woes are sadly a long time coming. I'm honestly going to miss Nintendo when they're gone, but they've done it to themselves. I might even shead a tear. I am also not an economist or a gaming industry expert, I just play one on the Internet.

(This is going to be long, so bear with me.)

Let's go back to the SNES. At the time, it was the most technologically advanced and sound platform with oodles of classic games. Chrono Trigger, fucking Earthbound dude. They were really riding high for a long time. Nintendo of course had their competition with Sega's Genesis, which also offered some solid titles. At least until they went to the Dark Side and tried to extend the life of the Genesis with the Sega CD and 32X. Sega tried releasing.... ugh FMV games on their awful platforms, while Nintendo kept going on strong. At least until they fucked up completely by not going to a CD format, which is what Sony did for the first Playstation. The Playstation sold like gangbusters and had the games to back it up. The N64 used a dated cartridge system and still had some killer games on the platform (Goldeneye, Conker's Bad Fur Day and of course Smash Brothers). Still, they lost the hardware fight while more and more developers jumped ship and defected to Sony's camp. Losing Square on Final Fantasy was bad enough, but it was only the beginning.

Then the Xbox came out. Most important about it was the fact you could FINALLY play games online like the PC Gaming Master Race (the people who spent exorbitant amounts of cash on gaming rigs) had been doing for years. The unwashed console masses could play online with their friends, which changed everything. Halo didn't sell zillions of copies for the single player campaign. The market and the consumer now expects good online play out of the goddamn box.

Then Nintendo makes the worst financial decision of their life. They create a entire gaming console based on a motion control gimmick and see bored housewives and eight-year olds as their ticket to riches. The Wii actually worked for a while financially. However, the problems of the system were glaring. The processing power was weak, the motion controls alienated 3rd party developers even more and the shitty excuse for on-line connectivity completely froze them out from online sales of downloadable content. You couldn't play the big blockbuster releases on the Wii. You couldn't play with your friends on a reliable network. You can't even play the cool little indie releases on the Wii. The housewives would bought the thing just for Wii Sports didn't buy anything else!

Nintendo is now basically the sole producer of quality games on their own system which is the kiss of death for a hardware maker. Rare completely became more and more of a punchline instead of Nintendo's vanguard. Nintendo's own 1st party releases even got delayed numerous times! All the Wii's they sold started collecting dust in households, or sold for beer/weed money at greatly reduced value. When I can count the amount of good third party titles on LITERALLY one hand, you've got a SERIOUS problem. (Trauma Team, No More Heroes 1/2, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. I didn't include Resident Evil 4 for personal taste)

The game manufactures in general lost the handheld market to Android and Apple, who are now making money hand over fist on cellphone gaming. I don't think the gaming companies are going to take that market back anytime soon.

People abandoned them in droves and Nintendo started to hemorrhage money until they can make a new console which looks even more bizarre than the last one, when the developers and the users have abandoned them in droves. But hey, another Mario Kart or Mario Party might keep the lights turned on in your office building for a while.

To quote Gordon Gekko, "You either do it right....or you get eliminated". Sorry Nintendo, but it's really been fun.

Your personal gaming history isn't a valid factor in determining Nintendo's long-term success or failure. The life-long gamer isn't the typical gamer, nor is it Nintendo's target demographic, Every year millions of people grow up and make the decision to stop playing video games and millions of kids reach the age that they start playing games; these kids are Nintendo's bread and butter, and they always will be. Nintendo has always specifically targeted this group, their games are always safe content wise for kids, easy to learn, and fun for parents and kids. Parents aren't going to buy an iphone for the same kid that would be playing a 3ds, nor will they buy a xbox360 for their child's first console.

The only reason they had a single bad year out of 25+years is that they have waited too long to release their next home console, every other generation was 5 years between console releases, it's been almost 6 years since the Wii came out.

I wouldn't expect Nintendo's woes to be a long-term trend, come back after they have 3 years of losses and maybe you'll have a point but for now this isn't anything more than an anomaly.

I hate to admit it but your article makes sense. Nintendo has made a few blunders in recent years with the augmented controls and family games. While it sounded like a brilliant idea for the time - to go to that spectrum of choices, now it seemed like Nintendo will have to buckle up and make a few changes. They should start going to the HD and online market if they ever want to survive in this race.

But honestly, for what it is, Nintendo is not doing that bad. It's because of the tsunami that they hit a few snags and did badly with the 3DS.

Too long, didn't read, OP is a _______.

hahahha great thread title.

I'm done with video games the day Nintendo is done with video games, even though I haven't touched my Wii in over a year

@PlasmaBeam44 said:

Succinct. I like it.

@LordAndrew said:

You know what Nintendo's problem is? They don't watch Wall Street often enough. That'll solve tbeir problems.

Greed is good. And so forth.

Have we discussed that most of Nintendo financial pain is due to currency exchange? It was wasn't it? I am sure they are making money on what they sell. R&D of the WiiU would be a cost factor though.

Where do they find you people.

@Kill said:

@Dylabaloo said:

We need a dramatic reading of this.

It has to be read by a dopey sounding teenage boy. That would be comedy gold!

I'm thinking Shawn Elliot using his Ralphie voice. While not quite people marrying video game characters levels of stupid, this is Heroes of the Internet worthy.

@Contrariansaid:

@Dylabaloo said:

We need a dramatic reading of this.

Who would do it justice?

I know a guy who knows James Lipton. I'm on it.

@believer258 said:

You know what else is, like, totally failing, bro? PC gaming.

Also, you know what didn't have online until Q4 2004? Halo.

Steam completely shits on your argument about PC gaming.

@Landon: That picture makes no sense because people doubted Nintendo a long time, and now those concerns are becoming a reality for nintendo.

@jerseyscum said:

Let's go back to the SNES. At the time, it was the most technologically advanced and sound platform with oodles of classic games. Chrono Trigger, fucking Earthbound dude. They were really riding high for a long time. Nintendo of course had their competition with Sega's Genesis, which also offered some solid titles. At least until they went to the Dark Side and tried to extend the life of the Genesis with the Sega CD and 32X. Sega tried releasing.... ugh FMV games on their awful platforms, while Nintendo kept going on strong. At least until they fucked up completely by not going to a CD format, which is what Sony did for the first Playstation.

Thanks for bringing us all up to speed.

Nintendo's own 1st party releases even got delayed numerous times!

Ok, I was digging on this post real hard until it came to this. You're telling me a video game was delayed? Shut your fucking mouth!

@BestUsernameEver said:

@believer258 said:

You know what else is, like, totally failing, bro? PC gaming.

Also, you know what didn't have online until Q4 2004? Halo.

Steam completely shits on your argument about PC gaming.

sarcasmdetect.exe fails to boot.

@BestUsernameEver said:

@believer258 said:

You know what else is, like, totally failing, bro? PC gaming.

Also, you know what didn't have online until Q4 2004? Halo.

Steam completely shits on your argument about PC gaming.

In your own words, summarize what you think his argument is.

@Kill said:

@BestUsernameEver said:

@believer258 said:

You know what else is, like, totally failing, bro? PC gaming.

Also, you know what didn't have online until Q4 2004? Halo.

Steam completely shits on your argument about PC gaming.

sarcasmdetect.exe fails to boot.

ok.

I agree, Nintendo will fall. Might even happen in the next 50 years.

@BestUsernameEver said:

@Landon: That picture makes no sense because people doubted Nintendo a long time, and now those concerns are becoming a reality for nintendo.

What are you even talking about.

@Kill said:

@BestUsernameEver said:

@believer258 said:

You know what else is, like, totally failing, bro? PC gaming.

Also, you know what didn't have online until Q4 2004? Halo.

Steam completely shits on your argument about PC gaming.

sarcasmdetect.exe fails to boot.

Oh yes, I took him seriously. Ignore.

@Contrarian said:

Have we discussed that most of Nintendo financial pain is due to currency exchange? It was wasn't it? I am sure they are making money on what they sell. R&D of the WiiU would be a cost factor though.

They stopped making a profit from each 3DS sale since the price cut, but your other points are spot on.

I don't understand, is this entire post sarcastic? How is Nintendo going anywhere when the Wii has sold more than any other console?

People have no idea about numbers sometimes. Or what a "posted-loss" means for a company like Nintendo.