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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Why Nintendo doesn't care about installed base?

Ok, this is a question that has been bothering me for a while now. Just like the title says, why Nintendo doesn't care about installed base?

I often see MS and Sony willing to make sacrifices and to take losses as long as they put as many consoles as possible in consumers' houses. So maybe a better question would be why Sony and Microsoft care so much about it? Of course I am no expert, but I think the main reasons for them wanting a bigger installed base are: 1) Brand recognition and 2) The money coming from software.

Now, I can understand (to a certain extend) Nintendo not caring about the first one, since the Nintendo brand is historically a really powerful brand. But what I can´t understand is them not caring about the second one. I mean, out of the three companies, Nintendo is the one that makes more software, so if there is someone who would benefit from a bigger install base, that is Nintendo. I mean, do you think that Mario Kart Wii would have sold the same if the Wii had had an installed base of 40-50 millions? Or that SM3DW would have sold just 2.4 millions so far, if the Wii U had an installed base of 15 millions to date?

Where I want to get is, if there is one company that should be willing to take losses on hardware in order to have a bigger installed base, that is Nintendo. But they seem more focused in the short term profits, and IMO that is not a very smart move.

Is there something I am not seeing? maybe is MS and Sony the ones who are overestimating the value of installed base? Which approach do you think is gonna prevail in the long run?

PS: Please forgive my english (and any grammar correction will be welcomed)



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As long as they are making a profit, I think they are making the right decision. They should focus on that more than install base.



Maybe it's because they can't do anything about it ? ...

Sacrificing profits to get a couple more customers on board isn't exactly a smart idea either and especially considering that Nintendo's only market is gaming ...



They do.



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You are forgetting that Nintendo is a much smaller company compared to Sony and Microsoft with the majority of their revenue coming from only video games. Unlike Sony and Microsoft who can afford to take a risk, Nintendo can't. If Nintendo was losing as much money as Sony was with the PS3 than they would of probably been bankrupt by now.



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Well, they do care about the install base but there comes a point where you know that the product u put out is basically a "failure" at its current state and you essentially have two options: Either spend a shit ton of money trying to cater to the people that probably don't want it by paying a ton of money for third party games and taking a loss on the hardware by having another price drop, or cut your losses, make the fans happy, try to make as much money as you can and learn your lessons for the next time around and I believe Nintendo chose the second one!

In order to make the wiiU pleasing to people, I highly doubt a price cut is enough. Sure, it will sell a few 100k more consoles but without third party support, a lot of people still wouldn't get one imo. So, if they want third party support, they have to pay them a lot of money and if Nintendo pays one, the rest would be like, well, I want money too so Nintendo essentially has to pay them all but then you have the hardware limitation so even if Nintendo were to pay them all, it would still be the inferior version out of the 3.

So instead, I think they made the right choice. They bearly made profit last quarter with the super low sales of the wiiU and the low YoY sales of the 3ds so in theory, this holiday, when the sales for both platforms will be very high, they should make a lot of money in their next financial report! They are keeping the fans happy by giving them the games they want and they are making sure that for those who bought the wiiU for Nintendo games, that they will be happy by the time their next console launches. And with the money they will make now, they will hopefully, make sure that they don't repeat the issues of the wiiU and as a result, has the potencial to have a large install base, if done right!



                  

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fatslob-:O said:
Maybe it's because they can't do anything about it ? ...

Sacrificing profits to get a couple more customers on board isn't exactly a smart idea either and especially considering that Nintendo's only market is gaming ...


Of course they can and they are doing. 



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chakkra said:

Ok, this is a question that has been bothering me for a while now. Just like the title says, why Nintendo doesn't care about installed base?

I often see MS and Sony willing to make sacrifices and to take losses as long as they put as many consoles as possible in consumers' houses. So maybe a better question would be why Sony and Microsoft care so much about it? Of course I am no expert, but I think the main reasons for them wanting a bigger installed base are: 1) Brand recognition and 2) The money coming from software.

Now, I can understand (to a certain extend) Nintendo not caring about the first one, since the Nintendo brand is historically a really powerful brand. But what I can´t understand is them not caring about the second one. I mean, out of the three companies, Nintendo is the one that makes more software, so if there is someone who would benefit from a bigger install base, that is Nintendo. I mean, do you think that Mario Kart Wii would have sold the same if the Wii had had an installed base of 40-50 millions? Or that SM3DW would have sold just 2.4 millions so far, if the Wii U had an installed base of 15 millions to date?

Where I want to get is, if there is one company that should be willing to take losses on hardware in order to have a bigger installed base, that is Nintendo. But they seem more focused in the short term profits, and IMO that is not a very smart move.

Is there something I am not seeing? maybe is MS and Sony the ones who are overestimating the value of installed base? Which approach do you think is gonna prevail in the long run?

PS: Please forgive my english (and any grammar correction will be welcomed)

Didn't the Wii U started being profitable like a couple of months ago? = Nintendo's problems come from some other place... we could discuss about it but that's not what this thread is about :)

Also what seniorfarts said



The goal is to make games that people want and then in turn, make a profit. They do both. I'm sure they would TAKE 150 million install base, but it's not their number one goal.



EricFabian said:


Of course they can and they are doing

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