Nintendo's down, but not out.

[Dodece]

I have absolutely no problem with stating the obvious, because the truth is pretty much self evident. Nintendo has given the market yet another failed platform. People act as if Nintendo isn't known for offering up products that just fail to launch, but they have done so quite often. They also have a horrid habit of abandoning platforms. Sometimes it seems before they even launch them onto the market. This is the company after all that gave the world such gems as the Virtual Boy, Super Scope, 64DD, Power Glove, Rob the Robot, and the Four Score.

So now that I have addressed the issue that it is guaranteed to survive no matter what. Which it most certainly isn't, because Nintendo has been known to dump and run. I can move onto the issue of why it is failing. The console itself doesn't have any technological, or even technical merits. Their competitors are going to dwarf them in hardware capabilities, and they are just plain incredibly likely to offer up a better service through their systems. Nintendo is going to appear painfully dated in a fair comparison.

That would be bad enough, but Nintendo spent the last generation burning bridges, and I am sure they are lamenting that now, but there is hardly anything they can do about it. Especially considering they botched the launch. Nintendo just plain burned third party developers by generating a niche market. That almost explicitly bought their first party games. While they neglected, insulted, and betrayed their long time core players. Nintendo effectively showed those gamers the door, and told them that they had been replaced. By their new best friends the casual gamers.

Do you think people so mistreated were going to come back for another round with Nintendo. People weren't making it up when they said their console became a dust magnet. A year into the life of that console most of the core loyalists took the not so subtle hint, and migrated over to other platforms. Where they could actually find some games to fill their void. Why would they come back at this point. The last console they got from Nintendo sat on a shelf unused for years. While they have integrated into vastly different communities on other platforms.

Run by companies that will actually fight to the death to keep their business. That are constantly trying to improve their own services, and work with third parties to ensure that their players get the best possible libraries possible. What pull is it you think Nintendo has over people? People learned to live without Nintendo first party games, and the fact that they are not even delivering a steady stream of them with the launch of their new console. Is just a reminder of how inconsistent Nintendo can be when it comes to keeping their platforms playable.

Is there actually any argument for a turnaround. That doesn't start with the logic that says everyone wants to play Nintendo first party games. The problem I have with that logic is this. While both Microsoft and Sony have their own answers to those games. What Nintendo doesn't have an answer for is the great third party games those manufacturers get. This is why Nintendo was slipping before the Wii, and it is why Nintendo should have continued to slip as far as the core is concerned.