Console Warriors, Blood in the Water, Massacre Incoming?

[Dodece]

@BlkPaladin

I am familiar with this particular defense. It is a variation on the shrinking pond defense. Imply that the industry itself is shrinking, and that justifies Nintendo in its own shrinking. It doesn't really provide Nintendo with cover. It actually exposes the company to greater pressure. Not just in forums such as these, but in the industry as a whole. If the pond really is shrinking. Then the logical conclusion that the fish will reach. Isn't that everyone needs to go on a diet, but that somebody has to get out of the pool, and the unanimous consensus would be that Nintendo is that somebody.

They are actually redundant in being a manufacturer. The industry doesn't require three console manufacturers, and supporting three actually increases development costs. Toss in the facts that Nintendo isn't healthy, competes aggressively towards third parties, and wants to continually make hardware that is radically different from the other two players, and you get a pariah. That nobody will miss, and nobody wants to see around. If the market is radically shrinking. Then among the first things to go will be the seat at the table that belongs to Nintendo.

Arguing for an unhealthy market is effectively arguing for the demise of Nintendo. If the market is truly unhealthy, or just so unhealthy that these are the console sales that can be expected. Then Nintendo effectively becomes a luxury that the market cannot afford. The market would have to reduce to a two platform model in response, and the third console that is only a slew of minuses in the eyes of developers would be the one cut out of the loop. There wouldn't even be a argument one way or the other, because Nintendo effectively cuts itself out of the loop.

Personally I think the market is plenty healthy, but the expectations of some companies just aren't realistic. The industry just went through a boom town phase, and a lot of companies, and investors are still thinking like the expansion was going to be endless. It really kind of boggles the mind when a company expresses how terribly disappointed that they only made a few hundred million in profits last year. Like they are completely oblivious to the fact that most companies in most industries would give nearly anything to be that profitable.