Mr Khan said:
Difficult to say, really. Nintendo may be migrating towards convergence of the handheld and home console anyway. The relative lethargy with which they've pushed the Wii U even going into the critical holiday season (although their 2014 lineup seems more yearlong and robust) while continuing to hammer away at 3DS promotion suggests that they themselves may be looking to write the Wii U off. At the same time, it could simply lead to them focusing on more profitable (read: less ambitious) software for the Wii U while they wait out the 3DS's lifespan and then move to combine the platforms in, perhaps, 2016? |
I think they already have console/portable hybrid machines in their R&D up and running, it probably just won't be feasible to sell them at a sub $250 price point until 2015 or so, which is fine, it will give the 3DS a few more years to squeeze profit.
I also get the sense they are going to look back at getting into the animation feature film business. It's something Yamauchi proposed in 2004, but the DS/Wii took off in such a way that I think Nintendo basically opted against it. But now with Nintendo also dropping a comment about a feature length Legend of Zelda movie ... I think they're going to look to diversify into Japanese animated films that can be marketed worldwide and live action films too.
There's also Miyamoto's comments that he worked heavily on the Pikmin 3 animated short films, so I think Nintendo will revisit that to give their company a new outlet if their game business is whittled down to one primary console/portable platform.
Not only to make animated films of existing video game franchises, but if they can create new IP through animation which becomes a hit, then they would have exclusive rights to games based on such an IP, so that could be lucrative also and perhaps is a "safer" way to launch a big IP ... build an audience first through animation then make a game based around it which has an established fanbase already.
