Industry to Nintendo, "We finally got you."

[SaviorX]

Unless you have been living under a cosmic-sized rock, the Wii is dead, the 3DS is underperforming, and the Playstation family is stronger than ever* (*during the course of this gen). Finding themselves in a position where few options are available, Nintendo has found themselves between a rock and a hard place...presumably the same rock where the non-sales informed reside.

This issue may be attributed to Nintendo's chase of power and the appeasement of 3rd parties. One specific leak mentioned that Nintendo was literally kissing asses to spur up support for this next successor console. The 3DS itself is a powerhouse that has not launched with killer app handheld content, in order to give 3rd parties a chance.

Yet....

Mike Pachter, Wii HD Champion, has now declared the Wii2 is a stupid idea and it is too late. Nintendo took too long to jump into the HD race and 3rd parties will not hop along in favor of continual PS3/360 support. Add to that, they are only providing W2 with ports at the moment and will leave it behind once the stronger PS4/720 release; this gen all over again.

It isn't like he is making this up. For the 3DS, 3rd parties noticed the unusually tepid launch of the handheld and have all seemed to "delay their titles for quality control". Hearing that from Ubisoft and Square Enix is laughable. I am of the opinion that these games are being held off for NGP's release, leaving ol' Ninty with no true exclusive content for the forseeable future.

Apple has been considered a formidable threat to the gaming industry with their $0.99 plus games and overall casual format. Last year, developers industry-wide came to a consensus that this was true and acted accordingly to defend against it, whether it was finding more avenues for revenue, or with cooperation with iPhone games. Now, in Iwata's past keynote, he explained that Nintendo is doing something to combat such a threat yet he was met with considerable criticism. David Jaffe said Iwata was arrogant and out of touch, and that you cannot put a price on gaming...

So, to recap...

• The Wii is dead, and the PS3/360 are thriving
• The 3DS is underperforming, and NGP support is building
• Nintendo's profit margins are shrinking, but they are spending more on R&D
• Wii2 will initially get ports, and the PS3/360 will continue to receive support until their more powerful successors release, providing Wii2 with no true marquee 3rd party titles.
• Nintendo is currently supporting Super Gamecube games rather than marketshare-expanding titles. This strategy is obviously  failing, with their HW sales on the downturn and Japanese neglect. Examples include, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid Other M, Mario Sports Mix, Kirby's Epic Yarn, etc.
• Nintendo of America is in crisis mode; lack of any type of hardware promotion is going on despite a new handheld launch and console software is not being localized. In terms of exclusives, only the Japanese sector of Nintendo has secured any; western companies are only dedicating Intern Teams.

The only hope I see for Nintendo lies in two things: Christmas 2011 and Shigeru Miyamoto.

The future of the 3DS relies heavily on what numbers it will manage during this holiday. I give it the benefit of the doubt right now because Q2-Q3 are usually slow in terms of HW sales but Black Friday and Christmas will be the true tests. Nintendo cannot afford to hold anything back at this point; marketshare is key.

Good ol' Shiggy. What he says goes, so Nintendo, once again probably on their lonesome, must release the proper software to get momentum back. Miyamoto needs to get his head on straight and fill games with content that is accessible to consumers and conducive to continually expanding gaming. Anymore Pikmin debacles and Nintendo is in for a world of hurt.

Gaming is shifting, but will Nintendo spearhead the movement, or once again be beheaded?