Tarumon on 17 January 2013
| Hamister said: I'm actually quite surprised that Nintendo didn't make this move much earlier. It's been a fact for several years that increased connectivity between various platforms would be the way of the future (or should I say the way of the present?). Since Nintendo made preparations early on with minor connectivity between N64 and GBC, and a more bold attempt with connectivity between GC and GBA, I assumed that the company had already made necessary restructuring for a future merger of their various platforms. I'm surprised that restructuring hasn't even happened yet! Nintendo are way behind other companies... With this knowledge I'm willing to say that the reason why connectivity between GC and GBA was a failure, was because the company lacked the necessary structures to handle such a thing. I believe there has always been an internal competition between the handheld division and the home console division. Before the Bluetooth era, such competition was healthy. But sometime around 2001/2002 it started to become destructive. I doubt we will see many results from this merger in the near future. The full impact will probably come in effect with the next generation of hardware 4-5 years from now. Brace yourself Nintendo! |
The said R&D building that would house the merged units is now in year 3 of its construction. Add to that the planning prior to construction, one can deduce the decision took place just a few years after Iwata implemented the last major restructuring 9 years ago. The decision to announce it again, remember the story broke with Nikkei who had previously reported on the R&D facility, is what led me to speculate it was a PR move. This week's Wii U numbers are so ugly, Nintendo wanted to project an outward and onward image and let Wii U have some breathing room from attacks. That's just my guess which could be far from the truth.
