Nintendo Considering "New Business Structure"

Guys, I don't hear "we may put out our games on iPhones", I hear "the 3DS is doing great but we don't seem to know what to do on home consoles, what if we just make a phone?"

Also, don't go nuts. Nintendo has a ton of money in the bank (a ton more than 250 mill, anyway). They could take this hit for several years in a row while they restructure and roll something different out for the next generation, or cut the Wii U short in 2 or 3 years to go full mobile. This is Iwata firefighting, what they come up with doesn't need to be a Sega-like move to software. Sega was in a lot of pain and in debt. Nintendo still has money and they have the best selling hardware platform of the year, which they sell for profit.

The thing is, analysts seem obsessed with the whole "get out of hardware" thing to solve Nintendo's issues. They keep parroting the whole "causals and handheld users are moving to mobile", even though it's patently not impacting the 3DS. Nintendo may yet do what they say just from shareholder pressure, but... well, it would probably be a mistake.

I'll take a dedicated handheld system over playing on a smartphone any day, so I really hope they keep doing that. Also I hope they keep doing big console games, but I don't know if they do enough of them to justify a separate hardware purchase anymore.

I would love to be able to play Mario 3D world, but I'll likely never buy a WII U. On the other hand I really like my 3DS.

Truth.

Doesn't that make it a not great console? I think Jeff's comment about picking up a wiimote rang too true. It made it feel super old.

Pretty much.

Yep. This pretty much sucks.

I hope they don't decide to go down the SEGA route. That hasn't been good for SEGA, and there isn't much cause to think it would be good for Nintendo either. Putting games on iOS is a race to the bottom for pricing (especially the games they make) and putting them on other consoles forces them to be a part of someone else's schedule.

Nintendo had a good software year last year, but didn't have the console base to utilize it. They need to find ways (like what they were trying with the 2DS) to get people their console cheap, to get indie games on their console and use that as a way to sell the games they are good at on their own schedule.

Yo, the developer side of Nintendo is amazing but the publisher side is full of fucking idiots. Don't know how that can be covered up by "it's different" or "they're Japanese" or anything.

They are still around. If they would have continued making hardware the company would be dead today. So yes, it did work out well.

To be fair, Patrick, the level of competency of developers at Nintendo is a bit higher than it is at Sega, and they've managed to grow with the times.

It's not a completely invalid argument, but there's no way that Nintendo would bow out behind the behemoth that is the 3DS. [although its projections were slightly cut, according to NPD it was the highest selling piece of hardware this year] At least not yet.

As a proud WiiU And 3DS owner, this is a huge fucking bummer. Expected, but a bummer still. The WiiU is a great console with no games.

There's like 2 Mario tables already

http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2435

http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=3427

Played 'em both in Las Vegas. They sucked.

As a person who is currently facing the prospect of losing all of my eShop purchases because my DS has developed a fault, and Nintendo having such backwards anti-consumer policy regarding this kind of matter (all purchases locked to a system rather than a general account) it is very hard to have any sympathy for Nintendo.

The WiiU seemed like a bad idea right of the bat, having such a niche target audience. On balance it would probably be a shame if Nintendo pulled out of the console business (more choice for the consumer = better competition) but this has seemed inevitable at this point.

Putting their franchises on other systems would greatly reduce the need to buy one of their systems. If I can play Pokemon on my smartphone, why would I want a 3DS?

Good

Release Smash Bros and I'll buy your goddamn Wii U thing.

Everyone seems ecstatic.....

I definitely don't wanna see Nintendo turn into a remnant of it's former self like Sega. Nintendo must evolve and adapt once again.

I suspect this will not be the massive sea change that many are expecting, so nobody should be patting themselves on the back over their Nintendo doom-saying yet. Wait and see what actually happens.

Something needs to be done about WiiU, sure, but it's not like the 3DS is in quite the same place.

I think Nintendo really doesn't have a target audience anymore. Kids these days that are into video games know that they want the new XB1 or PS4 over a WiiU. I know that my 9yo nephew certainly asked for one of those over a WiiU by name. Also, parents and grandparents having grown up with gaming should also be somewhat more aware of what's what as well. I feel like Nintendo's console exists only via existing Nintendo fans and I don't see them really making many new ones. Rough.

I grew up with Nintendo and it'd be sad to see them bow out of console hardware but to be honest, I'm way more into their games than the peripherals. I love my 3DS tho. I read news that the new Mario game was outsold by Knack.... crazy.

Happened

Nintendo's hand inches ever-so-slightly closer to the "break glass in case of emergency" box with the Pokemon MMO inside.

People keep saying that, but relative to their 90's heyday, is Sega even particularly relevant? They bought Atlus so they have that going for it, though let's check back in a few years. I have more confidence that Nintendo could make that transition more successfully (simply having a better track record), but I have no problem if they still made handhelds.

Look how well that worked out for Sega!

It's happening! Nintendo pinball tables!

The good news is Nintendo has developers know how to make great modern games for their IPs unlike Sega. Part of me would be happy to have Nintendo games come out on non-Nintendo consoles, but it would be the end of an era.

Finally. You are doom to please no one by trying to please everyone.

Even if they have a massive war chest, holy fuck that's a huge hit to take. Only making 31% of your projected console sales in a fiscal year, with that big of a projected loss?

...as much as I have fallen out of love with what Nintendo's done lately, this really sucks to hear. You never truly want to see anyone fail, but hopefully this will serve as the necessary wake up call to get shit back in gear.

Considering.

Nintendo should just go the way of Sega and just make games for other platforms.

Dayum.