Retro_Link Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 If Iwata goes, the worst will happen. Japanese company, new CEO, Japan being in love with smartphone money at the moment. You can see where it's going. Releasing their games on other consoles would damage their handheld market. Why would people buy dedicated hardware for it when they can just play the franchises on other hardware. Not saying they should, but their home console games could go third party, and they still have their own handheld.
Cube Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 Releasing their games on other consoles would damage their handheld market. Why would people buy dedicated hardware for it when they can just play the franchises on other hardware. Are you saying that nobody would ever buy both a 3DS and Wii U?
Serebii Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 Are you saying that nobody would ever buy both a 3DS and Wii U? I'm saying that I believe the 3DS doing well is partially responsible for the Wii U not doing well, yes. Not saying they should, but their home console games could go third party, and they still have their own handheld. Perhaps, but doing so would damage the handheld sales. That's what I'm getting at.
Sheikah Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 If Iwata goes, the worst will happen. Japanese company, new CEO, Japan being in love with smartphone money at the moment. You can see where it's going. Releasing their games on other consoles would damage their handheld market. Why would people buy dedicated hardware for it when they can just play the franchises on other hardware. Except they can't play their handheld franchises on other hardware - I said they only need make their home console software go third party. If what you said was true then no one would buy their handheld already since they could just play 'the same franchises' on their home consoles. Handhelds and home consoles serve different needs. And you ain't getting Pokemon on home consoles.
Goron_3 Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 I've always hated 3rd party talk but come to think of it, Nintendo's hardware is only fractionally as strong as their software. Weird.
Pestneb Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 (edited) If anything, with the state of the industry, especially in Japan, getting in someone new would likely result in catastrophic mis-steps such as shifting to smartphone development. I was meaning partnering up with making a Wii U 1.5. If they could squeeze a Wii U into a smartphone, that could be an interesting development oooh, maybe they could release a gamepad/smartphone hybrid Some one calls you, video phone call taken and the game automatically pauses Integrate that wii u phone call thingy so that people can phone in from registered phone networks But really, I was just thinking a qube (was that it's name??) style thing, boosting what Wii U already has, name change and video dvd style playback (So I guess enhanced DVR functionality now). If they partnered up with cable tv providers so Wii U style boxes are available, so you have your tv, and also your Wii U too. Record 3 programs, watch a live program (with pause/ff/rw functionality) while someone else is playing a wii u game on their gamepad. I know Nintendo would never do it, but if Panasonic went for it, some of their existing hardware with an extra bang for your buck games console functionality... **edit** Apologies to all who read that. I just re-read it and the grammar is APPALLING. Again, my sincerest apologies... Although maybe not all that sincere as I'm not bothering to fix it... but... yeah.. sorry guys! Edited January 17, 2014 by Pestneb
Retro_Link Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 I'm saying that I believe the 3DS doing well is partially responsible for the Wii U not doing well, yes.Then with that logic, wouldn't no Wii U mean the 3DS did even better? Perhaps, but doing so would damage the handheld sales. That's what I'm getting at.I don't see how? If the 3DS was the only place for people to get handheld Mario Kart, 2D Mario, and Nintendo handheld exclusives like always I'd have thought sales would be as strong as ever if not better.
Pestneb Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 I've always hated 3rd party talk but come to think of it, Nintendo's hardware is only fractionally as strong as their software. Weird. people mentioned earlier the hardware funding a failing console. Actually as I see it Nintendo release hardware solely to avoid paying a hardware manufacturer for the privilege of releasing games on their hardware. Similar thinking behind avoiding DVD support I imagine. Basically they are releasing software to prop up the company. The hardware failure is irrelevant to them, save for the fact it harms software sales. they seem to be in a bad place, but for anyone who saw the saturn/dreamcast scenario, I think if they drop the Wii U, they drop out altogether from hardware. If they drop from hardware 1) They become a low ranking opinion on the other 2 console makers list of third parties to take advice from - Why listen to Sega on hardware wish lists, when it was their advice that led to failure of their hardware business? 2) They lose insider knowledge on the hardware 3) They lose prominence of their brand. The costs of dropping hardware are far greater than the raw % cut Sony/Microsoft would take. In terms of market share, how's it looking? for 8th generation from what I can ascertain is Nintendo still hold 40-50% market share.Admittedly they had 100% a couple of months ago, but its still there. week to week, I don't have numbers, but again I understand they are hovering around the 20% mark. Last gen xbox and ps made about 30% market share altogether. wii about 40%. Nintendo need to work their butts off, and this isn't good for them, but there is time to turn things round and do some damage control. As for taking a pay cut, it is the right thing for him to do, it hits him hard and makes him feel the pain the company feels, it makes the fact that he needs to guide the company back to success a reality in his personal living. I won't defend the broken promises, but I think that is largely PR, saying "I think we're likely to have a few droughts as we focus on getting a few titles perfect rather than making lots of weak games" is unlikely to promote sales, encourage 3rd party support etc etc. Its more a statement of intention than a promise as I read it. As long as he is trying new things to achieve that intention, I see no reason for him to go. It's his mess, he has to clear it up. He's taking a pay cut, thats his punishment, and its pretty hard too. Imagine if your income was cut by 10/20%? I don't know how big the cut is, but people tend to live within their means, when their means are cut, it hurts. If you disagree, maybe donate 20% of your income for the next 6 months to a charity.... At the end of the Wii U's life cycle, if he hasn't changed Nintendo's position, given them positive momentum, THEN I think his job will be on the line. He needs to change things this year so the board don't think he ought to be taking a pay cut. Then improve it so they think he can take a small increase... Basically at the moment (taking a pay cut) means he's on his way out as I see it. Just not necessarily imminently. But we shall see. I just think it's a tad harsh demanding someone lose their livelihood just because their business isn't going the way they wanted...
Ronnie Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 Is it commonplace that CEOs take pay cuts after a poor year? Seems a little pointless and tough on the guy.
Goron_3 Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 Iwata has announced that they are looking at a new business direction for Nintendo and are actively looking at mobile devices. I'm sure someone will post the whole interview but it's another example of 'We could solve the problems we have or we could just take a side-step'. That said, the Donkey Kong Nintendo Land game would be great on a phone
Pestneb Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 Is it commonplace that CEOs take pay cuts after a poor year? Seems a little pointless and tough on the guy. It seems incredibly harsh, but I think its a way of him saying sorry. Also he is paid to perform, if he feels he failed to he may feel uncomfortable taking his full pay. Additionally, it's possibly to placate the company, a pay cut is preferable to unemployment... Hmm. More cynically, depending on how they rounded the figures on the losses and how big the pay cut is, maybe it was to make the figures look marginally less bad?
Serebii Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 Is it commonplace that CEOs take pay cuts after a poor year? Seems a little pointless and tough on the guy. No. It's commonplace for CEOs to make 100s of people redundant after a poor year. Iwata has announced that they are looking at a new business direction for Nintendo and are actively looking at mobile devices. I'm sure someone will post the whole interview but it's another example of 'We could solve the problems we have or we could just take a side-step'. That said, the Donkey Kong Nintendo Land game would be great on a phone They've been saying this for a while. We'll see on the 30th.
Fused King Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 Damn, it's like E3 up in this joint. 30th of January can't come soon enough!
Sheikah Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 I'm saying that I believe the 3DS doing well is partially responsible for the Wii U not doing well, yes. DS, super successful, Wii, super successful. People don't think 'my god that Wii U is doing terribly, I'll buy a 3DS instead'.
Hero-of-Time Posted January 17, 2014 Author Posted January 17, 2014 Just to add the quote @Goron_3 was on about. "We cannot continue a business without winning," Iwata said on Friday during a press conference attended by Bloomberg. "We must take a skeptical approach whether we can still simply make game players, offer them in the same way as in the past for 20,000 yen or 30,000 yen, and sell titles for a couple of thousand yen each. "We are thinking about a new business structure," Iwata added. "Given the expansion of smart devices, we are naturally studying how smart devices can be used to grow the game-player business. It's not as simple as enabling Mario to move on a smartphone." Investors and analysts have urged Nintendo to broaden its horizons and boost profits by embracing smartphones on multiple occasions over the past few years, but Iwata has always insisted that his responsibility is to plan for the long term, not simply to make a quick buck.
Fused King Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 I can definitely see them setting up a few small scale teams who could put some interesting 'software' on smart devices which would point people towards a WiiU or 3DS. Not sure if it will work though, but I hope they might be able to crack the code.
david.dakota Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 I really think they need to release new hardware in the next 6-12 months; a true "Virtual Console" offering download only archive games, and mini party games, etc. Another 3rd pillar scenario, priced affordably. I think in today's world they can get away with a permanent 3-tier solution; mini console, handheld and home console.
Sheikah Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 Just to add the quote @Goron_3 was on about. "We cannot continue a business without winning," Iwata said on Friday during a press conference attended by Bloomberg. "We must take a skeptical approach whether we can still simply make game players, offer them in the same way as in the past for 20,000 yen or 30,000 yen, and sell titles for a couple of thousand yen each. "We are thinking about a new business structure," Iwata added. "Given the expansion of smart devices, we are naturally studying how smart devices can be used to grow the game-player business. It's not as simple as enabling Mario to move on a smartphone." Investors and analysts have urged Nintendo to broaden its horizons and boost profits by embracing smartphones on multiple occasions over the past few years, but Iwata has always insisted that his responsibility is to plan for the long term, not simply to make a quick buck. Yeah, it's not really viable since smartphone would suck for this - they don't have a control stick or buttons for precise control. The best option is to put your software on popular hardware. It'd be like the next World of Warcraft being released on only Linux. Why would you do that? Such a big deal is made about Nintendo putting their software on a format they don't own the rights to. People do that all the time with PC. And really, NSMW3D could be enjoyed in exactly the same way on a PS4 or X1 as it could on a gamepad. Probably enjoyed more, given you'd have a more comfortable controller.
liger05 Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 DS, super successful, Wii, super successful. People don't think 'my god that Wii U is doing terribly, I'll buy a 3DS instead'. I don’t know. I think the 3DS does hurt the Wii U in the sense if a choice needs to be made between the two then it’s a no brainer.
Sheikah Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 But why would people make that choice? They never made that choice with the DS and Wii. The games on each system are also very different, and handheld consoles are often appreciated for their portability.
Serebii Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 Just to add the quote @Goron_3 was on about. I don't think that means what people are thinking/hoping it does.
Clownferret Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 as said earlier, Nintendo sell more hardware than Sony, so all this talk of dropping hardware is daft. It also seems nonsensical to suggest people have moved on to tablets (hello, Wii U has a tablet) and then suggest they should drop the tablet. To say it's a bad console is also plain stupid. Based on what... sales figures? As an owner the sales figures mean nothing other than medium-long term, losing 3rd party support, but right here, right now it's a cracker of a console. Any sensible gamer this Christmas would have bought a Wii U with some brilliant games got a year or two of great fun out of it and then bought a PS4/XB1 when the price had come down and there were more games out. The current situation says as much about the average gamer as it does about the companies who make the consoles/games.
Serebii Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 As I said on GAF I really think you guys are just misinterpreting what he meant by business structure. Changing business structure the way he stated seems to me that rather than "ZOMG THIRD PARTY." or "ZOMG. SMARTPHONE" it'll be more in line with dealing with how the pricing and so forth is done. Perhaps instead of a set price for the console, there will also be contracts akin to how people get smartphones. Instead of necessarily paying full price for a game, there will also be a system akin to Wii Sports Club. Based on what has been said, these examples and other such lines of thought are far more likely and logical than the typical reactions here.
Sheikah Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 To say it's a bad console is also plain stupid. Based on what... sales figures? As an owner the sales figures mean nothing other than medium-long term, losing 3rd party support, but right here, right now it's a cracker of a console. Any sensible gamer this Christmas would have bought a Wii U with some brilliant games got a year or two of great fun out of it and then bought a PS4/XB1 when the price had come down and there were more games out. The current situation says as much about the average gamer as it does about the companies who make the consoles/games. Man, this post is surreal. You realise the console is failing because most people think absolutely the opposite of you (and for good reason)?
Recommended Posts