The Future of Nintendolololol

[Kohan]

I presume that another person or two has been following live coverage of Nintendo's strategy briefing, and that they're looking forward to talking about it (and how terrible it was). For those who aren't aware...

Live blog archive of briefing: http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/01/...ure-direction/

Their future is in, apparently, non-wearable health-related devices. Their stock dipped when this was announced. They've otherwise been vague, which only made investors unhappier still, and have been adamant about not changing their first-party hardware and software marriage.

News that's already trickled out into the press:

DS Games Are Coming To the Wii U's Virtual Console
http://kotaku.com/nintendo-is-bringi...ole-1512079422

One Awesome Way The Wii U Is Improving: Game Loading
http://kotaku.com/one-awesome-way-th...ing-1512080959

I see a Nintendo that's still stubbornly holding onto the past, without a clear understanding of today's technologies and cross-platform purchase enjoyment.

Discuss.

[Krandor]

It's like after the way Microsoft botched the Xbone announcements, Nintendo wants to show them the proper way to commit corporate seppuku.

[Kohan]

Another article:

Nintendo Confirms It Will Make Stuff (And Maybe Games) For Phones
http://kotaku.com/nintendo-confirms-...mes-1512052047

Though the writer comes across as awfully excited, the reluctance to confirm any games isn't exactly comforting. That, and we did already know about the smart device marketing ideas. Personally, I agree that it's important for Nintendo to keep its first-party titles as its own—they've always had some of the most creative developers in the industry, after all—and their having third-party developers create additional titles isn't anything new. After all, that's where Mario Party and plenty of their sports games came from, not to mention a handful of other titles.

However, this doesn't address the Wii U's shortcomings, nor does it talk at all about breaching the functionality gaps that separate it from the other current consoles.

[6souls]

Publishers Want To Bring Their Smartphone Games To Nintendo 3DS Says Iwata

It’s happening. More and more publishers are considering bringing their smartphone games to Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed at a financial results briefing today in Japan.

This, Iwata says, is largely due to the success of Puzzle & Dragons Z in Japan. Puzzle & Dragons Z is an RPG adaptation of Gung Ho Online Entertainment’s immensely successful Puzzle & Dragons smartphone game, and sold 1 million copies on the Nintendo 3DS in less than a month.

“Now that they have observed the success of Puzzle & Dragons Z, the number of companies who have approached Nintendo with an offer to provide Nintendo 3DS with the titles which they originally designed for and grew on smart devices has been increasing,” Iwata said to shareholders and analysts.

“As this example illustrates, the Nintendo 3DS platform has already reached a scale with enough business potential for not only the titles invented for game devices but also the ones originally made for other platforms. With the overall software lineup, we aim to make this year and the next one a profit-generating phase for Nintendo 3DS.”

The 3DS certainly is at a point where experimenting with different business models has become a viable prospect in Japan. Speaking with Famitsu magazine, Sega producer Toshihiro Nagoshi recently stated, “In Japan, the most widely used handheld device is definitely the smartphone; but following that, it is definitely the Nintendo 3DS.”

As a result, Sega are experimenting with the free-to-play business model on the Nintendo 3DS. Their first free-to-play title on the device will be Initial D: Perfect Shift Online, which is slated for release in Japan this spring. After observing its performance, Sega intend to bring more free-to-play titles to 3DS in the future.

http://www.siliconera.com/2014/01/29...ds-says-iwata/
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/libr...140130/02.html

[6souls]

Mario Kart 8 Coming To Wii U In May 2014

Mario Kart 8 will be released worldwide for the Wii U in May 2014, Nintendo confirmed during their financial results briefing today.

The game includes new features such as anti-gravity, which has players driving along walls or upside-down.

Additionally, you’ll also be able to capture and upload highlight videos from races to the Miiverse social network.

http://www.siliconera.com/2014/01/29...ii-u-may-2014/
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/library...140130/02.html

[Correction]

It's like after the way Microsoft botched the Xbone announcements, Nintendo wants to show them the proper way to commit corporate seppuku.

For all of the fuckups on the hype leading up to the XBone MS was never in a weak enough position to cut off their own head at the start of this generation. Their strategy of keeping a core of brand loyalists via an ever strengthening online system, cultivating extremely strong first-party studios and ensuring that bros always picked the higher performing version of games (compared to the PS3's early days) meant they only needed to keep most of that continuity unbroken (the performance argument is a loser with bone but everything else is solid). These people would have bought the XBone whether or not the DRM scheme was in place.

Nintendo gave up that continuity at the end of the GCN days. They chased the casual dollars and ignored the market demands for competitors to XBL. They let 3rd party relations shrivel up by building up underpowered hardware and squandered time while the world turned to multiplayer gaming.

Iwata's comments on their marketing to the juvenile market is extremely telling. He knows the company didn't chase the more important long term dollars but it still feels like he wants to keep trucking along, business as usual. It wasn't their ridiculous sales projections or mistakes from 2004-2009 that put them in this current position, oh no. They simply forgot that kids like Mario enough to convince their parents to spend nearly $400 for the privilege. It's like Nintendo is giving up on Japan, since marketing to kids in a country with the worst birthrate in the industrialized world doesn't seem like a growth opportunity.

[6souls]

Tecmo Koei Will Publish Hyrule Warriors In Japan

Here’s an interesting tidbit we found in one of Nintendo’s financial results briefing documents this evening: in Japan, Hyrule Warriors will seemingly be published by Tecmo Koei, as it is listed under “third-party software” in Wii U’s release schedule for 2014.

Hyrule Warriors was revealed late last year for the Wii U and is a Warriors-style game that features characters from The Legend of Zelda series. A trailer for the game depicted Link fighting off a large number of foes similar to the Warriors series, which focus on the concept of a single character fighting an army.

In Japan, Hyrule Warriors is titled “Zelda Musou,” keeping with the naming convention of the Warriors games over there. While Tecmo Koei will publish the game in Japan, Nintendo will be publishing the game in the U.S. and Europe, as it is listed under “Nintendo products” for both those regions.

In contrast, Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem, an upcoming RPG that features Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem characters, is listed under “Nintendo products” for Japan, the U.S. and Europe, which means it will be published by Nintendo in all three regions.

http://www.siliconera.com/2014/01/29...arriors-japan/
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2014/140130e.pdf

[6souls]

Nintendo DS Titles Coming To Wii U Virtual Console

At some point in the future, you will be able to play Nintendo DS games on the Wii U.

In order to increase the usefulness of the Wii U GamePad, Nintendo will be bringing Nintendo DS titles to the Wii U Virtual Console in the future, the company announced today, during a financial results briefing.

Nintendo stated they needed to overcome a technical hurdle before this was a possibility.

http://www.siliconera.com/2014/01/29...rtual-console/
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/library...140130/02.html

[Kohan]

Iwata's comments on their marketing to the juvenile market is extremely telling. He knows the company didn't chase the more important long term dollars but it still feels like he wants to keep trucking along, business as usual. It wasn't their ridiculous sales projections or mistakes from 2004-2009 that put them in this current position, oh no. They simply forgot that kids like Mario enough to convince their parents to spend nearly $400 for the privilege. It's like Nintendo is giving up on Japan, since marketing to kids in a country with the worst birthrate in the industrialized world doesn't seem like a growth opportunity.

Interestingly, all this talk about "health" made me feel that Nintendo is only thinking about Japan (though perhaps the last line of your statement was sarcastic, and I missed that). Due to its overwhelming aging population, what else is everyone going to be concerned with? Those were my immediate thoughts—that Nintendo was concerning itself with Japanese trends, and only those, despite the fact that they had given Nintendo of America increasing amounts of influence since the post-N64 days.

Then again, Iwata is a global president, not strictly the Japanese one, so I suppose I shouldn't be relying on that part of history.

[6souls]

More..

Mario Kart’s release window was narrowed down during a Nintendo corporate strategy event today, during which CEO Satoru Iwata discussed the company’s plans for the future, including some startling digital service plans.

A Japanese transcript of the presentation is available, andesearch analyst David Gibbons live-tweeted the event, revealing much discussion of Ninty’s future – but most relevantly for you, the gamer, the news that Mario Kart 8 is coming to Wii U in May, a more specific window than its previous “northern spring 2014″ launch.

In general, Iwata said Nintendo isn’t looking to do a Sega by changing its strategy of selling hardware and software – something many arm chair analysts have suggested – and reiterated that Nintendo won’t be bringing games to mobile devices. However, it has learned lessons from the past, and will continue research and development on hardware in the future. Nintendo needs to identify opportunities and create new markets, the executive added.

Saving the Wii U

As for the Wii U, its weakness is the Game Pad, he admitted; consumers believe it’s a Wii add-on, and Nintendo can’t afford to cut the price. Software to justify the hardware is thin on the ground. As an example, the Game Pad’s NFC reader functionality has been neglected, Iwata said, with just one game taking advantage of it.

Games that show off what the Game Pad can do are Nintendo’s highest priority, Iwata said, and confirmed that new titles in this vein will be announced at E3 2014. The company hope to fast-track their release, too. Mario Kart 8 is one such title.

An upcoming firmware update will make the Wii U Game Pad fire up much faster, hopefully encouraging users to use it more frequently. In addition, the DS’s library of Virtual Console titles is coming to Wii U.

In a later Q&A, Iwata said that the Wii U is not expected to be a big financial driver in the coming financial year – the 3DS will do that – but that Wii U software will contribute to turning the console’s fortunes around longterm.

Regarding software, veteran designer Shigeru Miyamoto told questioners that the Wii U was impacted by a lack of key franchises, but that he believes the issue has been resolved. That’s not to say the Wii U it out of hot water in that regard, he added; although games like Super Mario 3D World earned strong reviews, single-player experiences are unsatisfying and users are not communicating about games they enjoy.

Interestingly, Miyamoto said that he believes Nintendo franchises can be evolved in a more “stable” manner by working with third-party developers; he may mean more frequent releases, as fans often decry the lack of a Zelda or Mario at key periods.

Miyamoto concluded that the Wii U had a release drought in 2013, and that NintendoLand, a title designed to showcase the console’s strengths, failed to do so. Iwata indicated his agreement regarding the lack of release in the console first full calendar year.

Nintendo Network as a platform

Iwata said Nintendo wants to change its understanding of platform, separating it from hardware like the 3DS and Wii U, Something like EA’s Origin ID or a PSN log-in, Nintendo wants its Nintendo Network ID to extend to other hardware like smartphones – although not, Iwata reiterated yet again, because Nintendo is bringing its games to mobile. Instead, Nintendo wants to establish relations with smartphone users on the devices they are already familiar with.

In a Q&A following the briefing, Iwata said Nintendo’s smartphone services aren’t about making money, but about communicating with them.

Nintendo hopes that what it provides through this service won’t just be advertising; it has to be fun and clever, so that people want to view it and engage with it.

In the Q&A following the presentation, Nintendo made some very interesting comments on this subject. Iwata said that Nintendo must emulate Android and Apple’s single architecture across various iDevices, so that handhelds and portables no longer exist in separate ecosystems, but are like brother and sister.

Nintendo on demand

In fact, Iwata said, although Nintendo won’t port its games to smartphones, it is considering launching an on-demand service sometime this year. Such a service would be tied to Nintendo ID, not device, Iwata said.

By opening games to a much wider audience, Nintendo could afford to make them cheaper; Iwata even suggested lowering the pice of a game for users who play it with friends.

It doesn’t sound like Nintendo’s plans are concrete, though; Iwata said the company will experiment on Wii U first. Nintendo also hopes to expand into emerging markets by 2015, Iwata said, although it understands its usual premium pricing won’t work in many territories.

Nintendo’s “quality of life” platform

The company also wants to move beyond just entertainment and into helping improve quality of life. Wearable devices are possible, Iwata said, but Nintendo wants to leapfrog that trend to have users structuring a healthy day-to-day life, as enabled by non-wearable Nintendo devices – presumably handhelds, consoles and the Nintendo Network platform, accessible via your smartphone.

There are synergies between a games platform and a quality of life platform, Iwata added. The quality of life platform will roll out in 2015, and will be integrated with games. Details of this business plan will be announced later in 2014, with profits expected in FY 2016.

Miyamoto plans to build a flagship title for this new kind of platform, he said during the Q&A.

Licensing Mario

During the core presentation, Iwata briefly mentioned that Nintendo is changing its attitude to licensing IP, and may seek a partner to help it expand its reach. In the US, merchandising is increasing aggressively, he added.

When queried on the subject, Iwata said the company will be more flexible about licensing character IP, but won’t license everything – it doesn’t want to undermine or introduce competition to its own products, of course.

Nintendo is already in licensing discussions, he added, and although it has not set a firm budget it expects to begin making a profit from this in the not so distant future.

Assuring investors Nintendo wouldn’t emulate Sanrio by spamming its characters on everything, Iwata said licensing may include things like official wallpapers for mobile devices.

A transcript of the presentation is likely to be made available in English within the next few days, at which time we’ll have more concrete details of Nintendo’s plans.

http://www.vg247.com/2014/01/30/mari...endo-briefing/
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/library...130/index.html
https://twitter.com/gibbogame

[Correction]

Interestingly, all this talk about "health" made me feel that Nintendo is only thinking about Japan (though perhaps the last line of your statement was sarcastic, and I missed that). Due to its overwhelming aging population, what else is everyone going to be concerned with? Those were my immediate thoughts—that Nintendo was concerning itself with Japanese trends, and only those, despite the fact that they had given Nintendo of America increasing amounts of influence since the post-N64 days.

It would be hilarious if Nintendo ended up turning into a company that only made hardware for Japanese retirement homes. Japan is among the thinnest of slices of the global gaming pie, so I'd be incredibly dismayed (and their investors seem to agree lol) if they gave even the slightest hint that all they wanted was Yen instead of Dollars or Euro. Who knows what that 'health' comment meant though.

Nintendo will probably not openly acknowledge that they lost to Apple when it comes to markets they once crushed. Their thrust continues to be branding, branding, and more branding but who the fuck is left that hasn't yet bought Nintendo hardware and remains fiercely loyal to their first party brands, when even Mario is tanking?

[Kohan]

It would be hilarious if Nintendo ended up turning into a company that only made hardware for Japanese retirement homes. Japan is among the thinnest of slices of the global gaming pie, so I'd be incredibly dismayed (and their investors seem to agree lol) if they gave even the slightest hint that all they wanted was Yen instead of Dollars or Euro. Who knows what that 'health' comment meant though.

It does look like they're specifically focusing on "quality of life," so that and "health" in general are their favored buzz words of the day. As you've said, Japan is a very small part of the worldwide gaming market, and one that's already wholesale dominated by smart devices—as such, I don't know who they're expecting to impress, besides the very people who won't be following these announcements (e.g., the occupants of those retirement homes).

That's why it's been boggling my mind to follow this news and wonder how Nintendo can still have their head buried so deeply in the sand. Who are they expecting to excite? Do they even pay attention to the world around them? What the fuck is going on?

Nintendo will probably not openly acknowledge that they lost to Apple when it comes to markets they once crushed. Their thrust continues to be branding, branding, and more branding but who the fuck is left that hasn't yet bought Nintendo hardware and remains fiercely loyal to their first party brands, when even Mario is tanking?

Amusingly, I'm one of those who has yet to buy a Wii U—however, it also took me some time to get a 3DS (and when I did, it was given as a present). This despite the fact that I do consider myself a Nintendo fan, and one who has enjoyed their most recent releases, but on other people's consoles rather than my own.

I guess they're happy they're selling tons of shirts at WalMart. I'm sure they're thrilled that people buy "Super Mario Bros. Super Show" DVDs. I guess they're bummed that no one shops at Hot Topic to buy their licensed tchotchkes anymore, but hey, that just means they've got to pawn them off somewhere else. And then there's those new Mario and Luigi figures, and this and that, and... then I read these recent announcements about their pushing featured wallpaper on smart devices, and I don't even.

In fact, Iwata said, although Nintendo won’t port its games to smartphones, it is considering launching an on-demand service sometime this year. Such a service would be tied to Nintendo ID, not device, Iwata said.

By opening games to a much wider audience, Nintendo could afford to make them cheaper; Iwata even suggested lowering the pice of a game for users who play it with friends.

It doesn’t sound like Nintendo’s plans are concrete, though; Iwata said the company will experiment on Wii U first. Nintendo also hopes to expand into emerging markets by 2015, Iwata said, although it understands its usual premium pricing won’t work in many territories.

This is more along the lines of what they have to do. Though it should have been happening already, 2015 is closer than it could be. If it's a real on-demand service that lets you play the titles you've purchased on any Nintendo platform, it will be a step in the right direction. Will it retroactively respect customer purchases? If it isn't tied to a specific device, but still requires per-platform purchases, that would be awful.

I would like to believe that a company that's been as historically resilient as Nintendo won't take the "awful" route—again.

[6souls]

[fantasticdan]

Nintendo will probably not openly acknowledge that they lost to Apple when it comes to markets they once crushed. Their thrust continues to be branding, branding, and more branding but who the fuck is left that hasn't yet bought Nintendo hardware and remains fiercely loyal to their first party brands, when even Mario is tanking?

They've been doing an especially poor job with their 'branding' thou. I mean 'new super mario bros u' should have been presented as the next mainstay mario in the vein of 64/galaxy/etc., but they made it look like a small scale spin-off along the lines of the recent 2d ventures with the title and box/promo artwork and images.

Same thing with the console itself, I know a few people that didn't even realize the wii-u was a new console when it first came out, they thought it was some kind of upgrade to the original wii like the motion+ or something.

[Kohan]

They've been doing an especially poor job with their 'branding' thou. I mean 'new super mario bros u' should have been presented as the next mainstay mario in the vein of 64/galaxy/etc., but they made it look like a small scale spin-off along the lines of the recent 2d ventures with the title and box/promo artwork and images.

I'm sure that was deliberate, given their need to capitalize on the DS's success, and the popularity of its "New Super Mario. Bros.", which NSMBU was the clear successor to. Marketing it as something else wouldn't have helped, I wager.

[Correction]

I would like to believe that a company that's been as historically resilient as Nintendo won't take the "awful" route—again.

You mean a fourth time, if their eshop policies from the DSi onwards were any indication.

[fantasticdan]

I'm sure that was deliberate, given their need to capitalize on the DS's success, and the popularity of its "New Super Mario. Bros.", which NSMBU was the clear successor to. Marketing it as something else wouldn't have helped, I wager.

Oh I'm an idiot, I was talking about 3d world. That's how bad these names are lol, I've played the damn game and I still mixed it up.

I mean from one console generation into the next we've had:

New Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Galaxy
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Super Mario Bros. 3D Land
New Super Mario Bros. 2
New Super Mario Bros. U
Super Mario Bros. 3D World

It's a mess. Outside of galaxy, people who aren't hardcore into nintendo don't know wtf is going on with all of these titles. Than you have dozens of sports games, rpgs, etc. with mario in the title on top of that. The brand is just super over-saturated, and the mainstay games are poorly named/advertised.

[Elcura]

It seems to me that the state of Japanese game development in general is fucked up and they're all trying to figure out the best way to not sink. Nintendo has been flopping around for ages, but we've been paying (for) and playing the same games for like 20 years along with hardware that's behind spec (WHY) and developers who seem totally out of touch with what gamers want or need. I know the DS era was great for Nintendo and people who like money, but to hell if I EVER want to deal with developing a game for such weakass fucking hardware.

I have no great love for Mario as a franchise, but I appreciate what it is as a platforming game. 64 and Galaxy were fantastic but for every title like this you get 5 more that are rehashed, rebranded shit. Seems like every Nintendo franchise does this to some extent so to hell with them. Let them figure it out the hard way or go the way of SEGA.

[Xno Kappa]

http://www.dromble.com/2014/01/07/do...y-of-gamecube/

Great article posted in another thread that exemplifies the arrogance of Nintendo and how so blatantly out of touch they are.

[Sho]

Nintendo is simply out of place in the world of 2014. They haven't gotten it together pretty much since Gamecube. Lets be honest, Gamecube was a decent system, but it wasn't anything compared to XBOX or PS2. They should have turned back to their now aged demographic (who were kids during NES and SNES era), and gave them the major 3rd Party support (and a more powerful system) that they asked for. Kids change when they grow up, and so do their tastes in games. Even so, little kids at that age also opted for PS2s and XBOXs instead as well.

They should be commended however for trying to market to a broader audience, however. It's just that they should have re-secured their core player base first.