Here is a link to all the information shown at the Nintendo presentation, for reference:
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/140130/index.html
A lot of news came out of Nintendo's recent investors meeting, but I think we can all agree that nothing was more unexpected than their announcement of a new 3rd platform; Nintendo's "Quality of Life" platform. That being said, I think there's a lot of rightful confusion as to what exactly this plaform is for, what it will do, and how it will effect Nintendo's current gaming business. While the confusion is definitely justified, and I won't pretend to have any inside knowledge of what exactly this QOL thing is, I think there's a lot of dots not being properly connected here that could potencially give us all a better clue as to what exacly we will be looking at come 2015 when this platform is released. (Or even this E3 when it is possibly revealed)
First, I think it would be wise for us to list some things that we either know for sure, or can safely assume about Nintendo QOL.
1. It will use hardware and software completely separate from Nintendo's home and handheld gaming platforms.
2. It is not a video game platform.
3. It is still an "entertainment" platform.
4. The platform's first "focus" will be on "health," but will expand in the future to integrate broader things like "learning," "lifestyle," and more.
5. QOL will be an electronic device.
6. Whatever QOL is doesn't exist in any popular or affordable form yet. It may not exist in any form on the market yet.
7. Much like smartphones, smart "gear," and motion gaming, QOL will in essensence be diving into an untapped market; a "Blue Ocean."
8. QOL will integrate the Nintendo Network in parelell with Nintendo home consoles (Wii U), handhelds (3DS), and smart devices.
9. In tandem with 8, QOL will have interactions with Nintendo's gaming platforms.
10. Just like with Nintendo's future home consoles and handheld consoles, and now with smart devices, QOL will be following the new Nintendo business model that the platform is not the hardware itself, but Nintendo Network.
11. QOL will integrate itself into your daily life routine, much like how smart devices already do.
12. QOL will be a "non-wearable" platform.
13. QOL is attempting to be the next big game changer in technology, much like the Wii Remote, smartphones, and wear-able tech like smart watches and Google Glass.
Now that that's out of way, there's a lot to make sense of. I think the first thing to be aware of going in is that the inversters meeting wasn't an explanation of many completely separate concepts, but many further cennecting concepts. QOL will impact Nintendo's gaming devision, and itwill effect smart phones. That isn't to say that the impact will be negative, but it will be large, and it works both ways. This isn't a small side business venture they are taking. They've been aluding to creating a third business piller for quite a few months, and have been adjusting their company accordingly behind the scenes.
In points 8 and 10, I talk about the integration of Nintendo Network, but I don't think I can stress enough how integral Nintendo Network will be to not only QOL, but the entire future of Nintendo. You will not nessesarily be purchasing a device, but an OS that you're using through this device. Nintendo continuously compared Apple's iOS to what they wanted Nintendo Network to be, but I think that there's also an implied reference to the Apple ID and the NNID that isn't being emphasised enough, because that is where everything comes together. That's why it makes sense that Nintendo is now saying that they want smart phones to be part of their "platform."
There was a lot said at this investor meeting, but a lot more not said. A lot of things introduced with the Wii U only seem to make more sense now, notably the Miiverse and the eshop. In the beginning, the Miiverse was advertised as serving a gaming purpose, but now it's extremely obvious that it wasn't. Miiverse is actually serving a Nintendo Network wide perpose. That includes gaming, but it's meant for more. It's meant for QOL. Whatever this thing is will use the Miiverse and will use the eshop. Just like there is a Wii U and 3DS tab in Miiverse, there will similarly be a QOL tab for that platform.
That's partly what I meant when I said that it will effect the gaming consoles. It will also effect smart devices such as phones. I don't think that the "smartphone integration" that Nintendo is talking about will simply be an advertisment app or a Miiverse app. Rather, it will be a Nintendo Network app. To understand this, think of Facebook. What it does is connect people through social media, but there are a lot of things to Facebook. At first glance, it's just a website. One could say that it's "platform" it computers or the internet, but that isn't right. Or, that isn't broad enough. A correct man would also include smart phones. It would even enclude every website that allows you to log yourself in through Facebook. Heck, even VGChartz is a Facebook platform.
Facebook is so big and so integral to so many things, that it forms a symbiotic relationship with many different things. The Facebok App isn't just an app on your phone. It completely changes the way you interact with it. It can effect your contact list, send you notifications, and many of you have it already programmed into your phones. Smart devices are almost lessened without Facebook because it plays such an integral role in what makes smart devices so "smart."
Now the Nintendo Network app. Now Miiverse. As an app just for videogame users, it serves a niche purpose. It doesn't serve a perpose that drastically changes the way you would interact with phone otherwise, but now we have QOL. QOL is also part of the Nintendo Network. QOL also uses Miiverse. QOL users also have an NNID. QOL aims to integrate itself into our daily lives, first through health. QOL aims to capture a broader audience like how smart phones do. Now, the QOL consumer is part of the same ecosystem as the Nintendo gamer via Nintendo Network. They both benefit the same from a Nintendo Network app, only now the app doesn't serve a niche perpose. Now the QOL owner can communicate "directly" with other QOL owners (and Nintendo gamers) on the go through the Miiverse section of the Nintendo Network app. Now the QOL owner can purchase QOL software on the go through the eshop section of the Nintendo Network app. Now the QOL owner can check their QOL progress on the go through their Nintendo Network app. Now their smart phone becomes an integral part of their QOL experience. Now their smartphone becomes an integral part of their Nintendo experience, just like many of your smartphones have become an integral part of your Facebook experiences. And just like your smartphone has now become a Facebook platform, a QOL user's smartphone has similarly become a Nintendo platform.
And it grows on from their because, and this goes of of the assumtion that this QOL thing ends up successful, now you've got brand loyalty and brand awareness. Now, the QOL people are the Wii U people and the 3DS people, wether they own those consoles or not, because they are already part of the network. Apple products do so well because if you have an iphone, there's a benefit to also having a Mac. There's a benefit to also having an ipad. You need a computer anyway, why not get one under the same platform? Wether you own Apple products or not, that's how that works, and it would similatly work with QOL. Now QOL has become an integral part of our everyday life. Say you're the average consumer looking for a games console while you already have this QOL platform, meaning that you also already are appart of the Nintendo ecosystem.
There sprouts an obvious benefit now to purchasing a Wii U or 3DS now because of that shared ecosystem that you have from owning another Nintendo platform. You're already aware of the Wii U and 3DS because they are such integral parts of the Nintendo Network ecosystem that you are exposed to daily by using QOL and the Nintendo Network app. Everything folds into place. People argue that there are a lot of things that work better on non apple products, but the fact still stands that Apple is on top, and there's a reason. Nintendo wants to emulate that reason while not disrupting Apple's business model. One could say that it's a "Win-Win."
Back to the Nintendo Network app, I think that the app will be more integral to QOL than it will be to the Wii U, 3DS, or their successors. I think that there will be things in QOL that will be made too inconvenient to not have the app. It will feel as nessecary to have this app along side the QOL as it does to have the Facebook app along side an actual Facebook account.
With the QOL platform itself, it's important to emphasize that it is not a platform for games, but that it is still an entertainment platform. This isn't a machine that let's you play Wii Fit and Brain Age. It's a platform that fulfill those perposes through a different and as of yet unknown form of entertainment. I'm willing to bet that it will rely on internet connection, I'm willing to bet that whatever software it uses will only be digital, and I'm willing to bet that it will use the eshop to make those purchases. Now it has to be said that just because this isn't a gaming platform, doesn't mean that their won't be any games for it. Just because the iphone isn't a gaming platform, doesn't mean that there aren't any games for it. Just because the Wii wasn't a movie watching platform, doesn't mean that you can't watch movies on it.
This may rub people the wrong way, but I think we will see Nintendo games on not only the QOL platform, but on smart devices through the Nintendo Network app. That being said, anyone hoping for Super Mario Bros 3 for $1.99 will also be disappointed. If games do appear on smartphones, they will only appear to work in tandem with the philosophy of QOL, and they will most likely either only be purchasable through the eshop to work in conjunction with QOL, or be entirely free parts of the Nintendo Network app ala 3DS Street Pass games. In other words, these won't be "real" games. They will be tiny games with the same funtion as Brain Age and Wii Fit, but on a far smaller scale. They won't be games made to "make a quick buck." They'll be made to enrich the Nintendo Network experience.
There's something that needs to be said for the feasable success of QOL. I think that there is a sour sound to the words "Blue Ocean" when it comes to Nintendo, but it should be recognised how good Nintendo is at finding success with finding those Blue Oceans. They did it with the NES, and the Gameboy, and Tetris, and Wii Sports, and Nintendogs, and Brain Age, and Wii Fit. I think a lot of people will hear those examples and argue that they failed at trying to find that Blue Ocean with the Wii U, but I'd disagree.
Now let's be rational here. I'm not delusional. I'm not trying to argue that the Wii U has been successful. I'm trying to argue weather Nintendo was/is trying to find a new/maintain an existing Blue Ocean with the Wii U at all. I don't think they are.
"But the Gamepad," you all say. "It's Nintendo's sad attempt at trying to bring back the Wii's casual market, right?" I don't think so. What I think, and stay with me for a second here, because I'm about collectively to blow your minds, that Nintendo was and is trying to start unifying the "Nintendo platform" (Nintendo Network/NNID) with the Wii U, and because of that, there is hardware that it must be completely comparable with: the Nintendo DS.
-gasp-
"Okay, it's pretty common knowledge that the Wii U is just a big Nintendo DS," you say. "Not surprising at all." But is it though? We all have noticed the similarities, but no one ever seemed to wonder why. They automatically assume that the similaties end at the two screens, and focus more on the similarities with tablets, but that's not what Nintendo was going for. Now of course, Nintendo is still going to go after casual gamers, just like Sony and Microsoft still are, but I don't think it's what influenced the Gamepad's integration.
In short, in order for Nintendo's new Nintendo Network business model to work, not only did the Wii U have to have the Gamepad, but every future Nintendo home console has to at least have the Gamepad. Why? Cross platform compatibility between handhelds and home consoles. Think of it like this; sometime between the conception of the 3DS and the Wii U, Nintendo decided that it wanted all of it's future home consoles to share the same relationship that the iphone has with the ipad. Iwata called it a "brotherly" relationship. They are the same yet they are different, but very importantly, they are compatable with each other. With the Wii, it had one screen. With the DS, it had two, and one of them was a touch screen. That's a huge compatability issue. Now the solution becomes clear: you add a touch screen to the next home console. Now they are compatable. You can't take away the screen from the 3DS, because 1, I think that they released the 3DS before this idea was fully developed, and two, the 3DS needed to have backwords compatability with the original DS. The Wii U, in turn, needed to be cross compatable with it's "brother," the 3DS, and in turn, the original Nintendo DS.
Now that everything works with each other on a primal level, they needed to start adding software patches to the 3DS to start making it more similar to the Wii U. The most imediately important update being the "Miiverse Update," which is really the "Nintendo Network Update." Over the years, you're going to see more updates on both the 3DS and the Wii U that will introduce things like cross platform purchases. There will start to be more games like Monster Hunter that transfer saves between 3DS and Wii U. You'll see current 3DS eshop games become playable on your Wii U without the need for developer porting, and eventually with the next Nintendo home and handeld console, you will see them running on identical OS's with all of your handheld games being playable on the beefier home console through the Nintendo Network. This is just like with the iPhone and iPad.
The Wii U is the necessary bumpy start to what Nintendo is hoping is a grand master plan. Now I hope I've emphasised that just about everything that Nintendo has done since the concepts of the Wii U were done for this Nintendo Network goal. That doesn't mean that they forsaw the Wii U struggling. But it does make something else clear; QOL and smart phone integration are NOT responses to the Wii U failing. It's kind of the reason the Wii U is failing in a twisted way. The Wii U is the first real step to the Nintendo Network really kicking off, but QOL is where everything either takes off or falls flat.
There's more that Nintendo needs to do. There is probably more that Nintendo is planning to do that hasn't even come to light yet. Everything I've written here is just me putting a hundred different things together that simply make to much sense now to not be true. That means that there are absolutely things that will come to light that I could have never predicted because there was simply nothing to go off of, but one thing is for sure. Nintendo want's this Quality of Life platform to not just be huge, but be game changing. They aren't trying to find an untapped market, a Blue Ocean, in an already niche market like video games. They are trying to create an entirely new market, just like Apple did with the iphone. They are expecting whatever QOL is to be used by everyone.
You may not be interested in it now, but this may be the thing that you all will be using in the future, because it has become such an integral part of the average person's life, just like Facebook or smart phones. We are all gamers, but we aren't only gamers. We all do something else. Most of us lead normal lives and come across similar situations. Things like recieving texts, reading tweets, and checking the time on our phones instead of watches is something that is second nature to a lot of us, but were all created by finding blue oceans. Hate Nintendo as a game company or not, this non gaming product may be something that you will enjoy and something that none of us will be able to imagine living without once we have it.
