Nintendo adding a new business, independent of video games

[Soundwave]

padib said:

Soundwave said:
It is what it is. Personally as someone who plays two sports and lifts weights 5x a week, the honest truth is there's no gimmick or gadget that's going to make you healthier than taking a simple jog around the neighborhood or something a couple of free weights and 10-15 minutes of weighted lunges couldn't do.

That said, I understand that Nintendo is facing up to a future where they may be irrelevant in the traditional console space, and the portable space is a bit scary for them right now too. They need new business avenues, so I can't fault them for going this route business wise.

That's not why they are doing it though. They are doing it to evolve as a company as well as to help synergize with its games business, so as to broaden their audience for gaming and increase awarness of their games.

This is a new business for them. There may a little overlap, but I don't see a ton. Even on the Wii, Nintendo couldn't really convince those soccer moms to go play Zelda or Xenoblade or something. They're probably smart to just spin this off into its own business that isn't hampered or held back by the "rules" of the game business. Seperate it from the Wii/DS is a smart way to go, you don't need a game console to give someone a Wii Fit type experience and nothing else. If I want a hamburger stop trying to sell me a bottle of wine. 

They are smart to diversify their business in the sense that I think they see the writing on the wall for their game consoles at least. Like Sony has other divisions (cameras, movies, music, etc.), Nintendo has to manage it though so no division is a giant money pit.