pokoko said:
If you think Nintendo is run by idiots, then there is nothing I can do about that. They wouldn't "pick one" for the same reason Ubisoft, Activision, or EA hasn't; the money is in multi-plats. Besides, the whole premise makes no sense. Why would a Nintendo with as much power as you're giving them leave the console business in the first place? Let's suppose that the Wii U ends as a flop and the next Nintendo console ends as a flop, thus forcing Nintendo to abandon that market. You think they'd still have the same leverage as when the Wii was at the top? Not by a long shot. No one is going to give their company away to win Nintendo. No one is going to offer Nintendo the kind of money they would get from multiple platforms just to be exclusive. It's not going to happen. |
Nintendo isn't in the same position as any third party for the simple reason that they already have their own platform they can sell their own games on (the 3DS and it's inevitable successor). So their outlet for selling games doesn't go anywhere.
Sega did not have that fall back, once their console biz collapsed, they had no where else to sell their games.
To be honest too, I think in the long run perhaps Sega should have taken an exclusivity deal with Microsoft, one laden with a ton of cash in kick backs and royalties + gaurunteed marketing.
Look at Sega today -- they're a joke of a company with all their good staff gone ... don't think Nintendo hasn't studied that, that's why they would never go that route. You have to look after your company and use your leverage to secure the best possible situation.
Short term thinking like "lets just throw all our gamez on every system and become like every other company" is something Nintendo will never do.
The reason Nintendo has such power is because their franchises still command a lot of power in the industry, especially if they were backed by a platform that had third party support. The other reason why is there's very little in practical difference between Sony/MS. Nintendo picking one over the other would change the entire industry, as such they have "king maker" ability. So there's that.