By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
Soundwave on 12 February 2014
Edit Thread
Mr Khan said:
Soundwave said:

=

 

It's kinda scary how much they align, on top of the world in 2007, to dire straights 5 years later. 

Nintendo fans keep exclaiming Mario Kart/Smash Bros will save the company, the same way Blackberry fans used to parrot that serious businessmen can't do work without a physical keyboard on their phone. 

I have real doubts about this Quality of Life thing that they're probably banking on to save them, especially with Apple seemingly preparing for a huge push into the health/wellness market. 

You're oversimplifying in a number of ways here. They're not banking on quality of life to "save" them, they're just doing it to diversify, to tap into a market that they got lots of money from, but a market that they believe has diverged too far from their core business to be able to reach within their existing and planned future product lines. Neither is their financial situation so dire, largely because they just need to make the Wii U itself profitable, and everything else falls into line (wouldn't be pretty compared to where they were 5 years ago, but it would be in the black, and that's all you really *need* at the end of the day, even if investors hate stagnation)


Things wouldn't be as bad if the 3DS isn't looking like it's going to suffer a decline. Honestly the Wii U is maybe the lesser of their two problems here ... because they have shown they can tread water with a low selling console as long as they have a handheld that's moving 15-18 million units a year like the GBA was from 2001-2004 ... the problem is the 3DS looks like it peaked at 13 million and is declining from that. 

I also think smartphones and tablets being such a magnet for young kids is frustrating Nintendo to no end. At least in that market (the battle for young kids) Nintendo I think has finally met its equal/superior. Every time I go to a Best Buy, there's always like 3-5 kids swarming around the iPad section. 

That's kinda where I see parralels ... Blackberry's always had a nice nest egg of cash too, the problem is a cash nest egg doesn't do much when your product lines are all declining in market appeal.