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NoirSon on 12 June 2013
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venepe said:
NoirSon said:

It isn't crazy per say. There is no doubt that Nintendo is a Japanese company and within Japan the major money maker is indeed the portables. But given how much money is still within the home console market worldwide, I would be shocked if any of the so called handheld only supporters would have traction or backing to sabotage the company given the amount of money lost would destroy the company's international brand which is still vital to their success.

It pretty much comes down to a pride aspect IMO. Nintendo has always been somewhat slow to change with the curve if they are the ones making the change. Part of that is the economics as they don't have the same amount of money as their competitors and part of that is arrogance.

After the company's last President that lead them to prosperity and the gaming market decades before retired, the company wasn't in the best shape. The looming threat of the PSP threatened their normal dominance of the portable market and they had nearly been reduced to 3rd among the home console market world wide and only second in Japan due to xenophobia of the console's aesthetics and games. Whether it was all the newcomer Iwata's idea or Yamamuchi helped who knows (it seemed possible Yamamuchi put his name on the product as a precaution in case it failed) but they announced trying to put the DS system as the competitor for the PSP. It was more powerful then the GBA but less then the PSP, its only potential edge coming in the form of the second screen with touch capabilities. They were careful in marketing it not as the GBA successor but a "Third Pillar" to the current Nintendo portable and consoles and out the gate it didn't exactly set the world on fire until they found gold in non traditional games like Nintendogs and later the Brian Training series, opening up several other genre games to grow and expand. The rest we know is history.

With the successor of the Gamecube, it was a shock to many when Nintendo gambled and did something similar introducing motion controls and a new system called the Wii. Even more surprising was how quickly it caught on not due to the traditional heavyweights like Zelda or Mario but their pack in demo called Wii Sports. Their second gamble worked and as we all know history was made although the system seemed to stutter in its final years. So a successor was needed and once again, Nintendo gambled with a underpowered device with a unique  feature, only this time they didn't have anything to grab the public within the first 6 months and are looking like a dead duck in the coming next generation war like the Dreamcast.

It isn't self sabotage as much as it is their luck in turning the tide has finally run out and now, Nintendo has to prove they are capable of either coming back or surviving another console era with a 3rd place console and little 3rd party support to come back later.

 

You are probably right.  It is likely that their DS/Wii strategy failed this time. But what confuses me is the similar development in 3DS and WiiU.  Especially when it appears that the concepts are brought to 3DS first and then transfered to WiiU.  On paper the company can justify it because it seems to be a better use or resources, but I think is showing that is limiting the potential of WiiU games.  They are offering the same experience, I see Mario 3D Land U and I just can't see why is it better than playing it on the 3DS.  It used to be that companies were trying to bring console like experince to handhelds, but Nintendo is going the other way around.

As far as money, I don't think there is that much money for Nintendo to make in consoles at this point.  Licensing is down due to low 3rd party support. Even Sony and MS don't make that much out of consoles.  Software is the money maker I think.  

Yeah, that is why I put it on the Japanese centric management, I think within the past decade Nintendo of America's input within the overall company or within the American market itself has never been weaker since the company first opened its offices in the country.

The 3DS has made a comeback compared to its slow start and in Japan is on its way to being the top gaming hardware outside of mobile phones/PCs so they think the methods used there are going to eventually work on the Wii U. Since Nintendo has long had a history of having the weaker portable hardware but still coming out on top of competitors. Combine this with just not advertising or trying foster a culture outside of the family friendly audience they developed due to the Wii and we have a shrinking world wide audience.

Software is only the money maker when you have the top selling products, and while Nintendo's IPs are huge money makers, that has been the case when they are on the hardware Nintendo created/budgeted for. If Nintendo really went 3rd party they would have to step their developers up to a level of developing for multiple hardware designs and more advance and costly factors they really have only just started to get used to. Producing software on your own hardware means, you don't have to worry about paying for Licensing, you know the limits of products and have a pipeline to make changes or accessories to help get the most out of a system without the hassle of dealing with a different company. You have only to look at various developers and how they are struggling these last few years to see why Nintendo would want no part of becoming a 3rd party publisher because the fact is, it is better to be your own boss then to be beholden to another.

If you told EA or any other major publisher that if they gave up 4 of their non sports IPs outside of The Sims but they'd get a online platform would be as strong as Valve's STEAM and they would have a unique hardware option that they could release that would work on it, then you know they'd go for that deal.