I kind of understand where some comments concerning Nintendo`s future, come from. Doesn`t mean that i agree, but it does raise some questions.
Although i believe that there will always be a market for handhelds and home consoles, i do believe that all companies should expand their offerings as to not only appeal to as many costumers as they can, but to make them feel they bought more than a game`s console and that way they can take more out of it.
I think that this is where part of the fear resides. When Wii and NDS launched they brought something new: they added a new way to interact with games that made them accessible to play and enjoy. Of course that that ment more to the non gamer and casual gamer than to the core gamer.
Thing is, this non gamer and casual gamer is being more actively swayed to games from Ipad, farmville and others.
Does that mean that they will stop playing consoles to play those games? Not necessarily. So what`s the big deal?
The problem is that it`s easier for someone to change habits when those same habits aren`t deeply rooted. That is to say, it`s easier for those kind of gamers to change their "experience" with games than for someone who actively plays and is passionate about that.
And that´s what happens when games that are cheaper, provide a quick and enjoyable experience (remember the quick trainings of Wii Fit and Wii Sports?) and share a deep community (farmville) for interaction fight for your attention.
Like Reggie always says, Nintendo is fighting for attention with TVs, videos, Ipads, other consoles, movies, etc.
When a "fresh" way to play comes to the center of attentions (like Wii and NDS) you risk losing attention to your product.
What Nintendo needs, in that regard, is to renew itself and present something that still surprise and entices people to play it`s games.
What i don`t agree with is that Wii U, which no one knows anything about, be it games, interface or applications, is being judged already. When actually, we do know something that might be evidence that Nintendo might triumph: the desire to keep surprising all gamers - and we know Nintendo can - and the controller itself.
