Nintendo needs new IPs now more than ever

[outlawauron]

seiya19 said:

outlawauron said:

I actually looked at Rhythm Heaven before I made my post. It was very lop-sided in Japan. It did well enough in the West, but it would be a fringe qualifier imo.

@ bolded, these sold to the casual audiences of the Wii and DS. Those audiences have moved to smartphones and tablets as evidenced by the much lower sales of the new iterations. Not sure why you'd bring them up when the picture was obviously portraying a more traditional gamer who wouldn't be interested in Nintendogs or Brain Age. Also, did tomodachi collection ever make it to the US? I never thought it did. 

Lastly, it's not that new IPs are more popular, it's that people want more balance out of the big franchises they love and new experiences to enjoy. There is no reason for Nintendo not to have the capabilities to produce more games. If they're unable to, they can use the million in reserves to contract out more games like Bayonetta 2 or purchases studios. That said, they do seem to mishandle some of their studios almost as bad as Sony does Team ICO (looking at you monolith soft).

I don't think it matters whether the sales come from Japan or the West in this context, and if it did, the same argument could be used the other way around for other IPs that are of little relevance in Japan. What matters for Nintendo here is profit, and the taste of Japanese gamers (and those of us who tend to agree with them in the West) is just as much valid as the rest. As for Tomodachi Collection, no, it hasn't been localized for the West. There's been some talk about it if I remember correctly, but nothing more than that. I still think it counts though, for the reasons I stated.

As for the whole "casual" and "core/hardcore" thing, I don't classify games in those terms, and I only use them ocasionally to discuss these topics with others... It's a long discussion in itself, but I'll just state here that I see them as ambiguous labels without much point to them. Labels that don't take into account the different types of games and demographics that exist within them, as well as how they overlap and/or separate from each other. For example, how JRPGs and FPSs are clearly aimed at different audiences, yet are both lumped together under the "core" or "hardcore" labels. Or how people can enjoy both despite of this. Or enjoy both "casual" and "hardcore" games. I mention this so you know where I'm coming from. Keep in mind that I already disagreed with the OP regarding what type of games Nintendo should pursue.

Now, there's indeed a valid point to be made here about how these IPs are selling much less than on DS/Wii, but that doesn't erase their former success. It would be akin to bringing up how the sales of Resistance have severely dropped as well, and then dismissing it with the same argument. And in the case of Nintendogs and Tomodachi Collection, they are still million sellers on 3DS, making them still relevant. Style Savvy is not there yet, but it's over 500k by now with an update coming to Japan, so it could still get there. And the Wii series is hard to measure considering how we're missing digital sales, but Wii Party is at least getting acceptable sales considering WiiU's situation. The future of the other 2 looks grim now, I'll concede that.     

As for your last paragraph, Nintendo already contracts external developers to work on their IPs or new ones regularly, and they will continue to do so. I don't think I need to give you the list here... And yet, whenever they get a Bayonetta 2, or a The Wonderful 101, or a The Last Story, there's always a group of people that mindlessly complain about them being there... Nintendo just can't win with some people... I agree that they could buy a few developers, but this should be carefully considered, not going on a buying spree. I say this because I think many people don't consider all the factors involved here. As for Monolith Soft, we'll have to agree to disagree there... >.< (NoA issues aside, which I already addressed)

@ First paragraph, do you remember the origin of our conversation. It was the horrible image meant to imply that Nintendo is doing everything they can to satisfy traditional gamers and they don't want it. That's why Western sales are relevant because that's who we're talking about. That audience.

I did my best to stay away from casual/hardcore, but there's definitely different audiences for Last of Us, Zelda, and Metal Gear Solid than there are for Wii Fit, Brain Age, and Dance Central. The people in the image would most certainly fall in the first group.

Lastly, I'm saying Nintendo doesn't do it enough.  After the outrageous success of the Wii and DS, there's no reason for Nintendo to not double or triple Sony+MS in 1st/2nd party efforts. Because Nintendo chooses to not cater towards 3rd parties with their consoles, this would seem like an absolutely necessary step! I'm not advocating a buying spree so to speak, but for Nintendo to get off their ass and increase their volume so the Wii U doesn't end up like the Cube or worse. And for Monolith Soft, it's inexcusable for that developer to only made 2 games for their console. They're talented and by doing so little, they're being misused. No reason they can't do what Naughty Dog, Epic, Bungie, etc. do each generation.