| chakkra said: Ok, this is a question that has been bothering me for a while now. Just like the title says, why Nintendo doesn't care about installed base? I often see MS and Sony willing to make sacrifices and to take losses as long as they put as many consoles as possible in consumers' houses. So maybe a better question would be why Sony and Microsoft care so much about it? Of course I am no expert, but I think the main reasons for them wanting a bigger installed base are: 1) Brand recognition and 2) The money coming from software. Now, I can understand (to a certain extend) Nintendo not caring about the first one, since the Nintendo brand is historically a really powerful brand. But what I can´t understand is them not caring about the second one. I mean, out of the three companies, Nintendo is the one that makes more software, so if there is someone who would benefit from a bigger install base, that is Nintendo. I mean, do you think that Mario Kart Wii would have sold the same if the Wii had had an installed base of 40-50 millions? Or that SM3DW would have sold just 2.4 millions so far, if the Wii U had an installed base of 15 millions to date? Where I want to get is, if there is one company that should be willing to take losses on hardware in order to have a bigger installed base, that is Nintendo. But they seem more focused in the short term profits, and IMO that is not a very smart move. Is there something I am not seeing? maybe is MS and Sony the ones who are overestimating the value of installed base? Which approach do you think is gonna prevail in the long run? PS: Please forgive my english (and any grammar correction will be welcomed) |
Nintendo would sooner have profits right now than a larger install base. They are being carefull and don't want to end up like Sega. The install base will get there eventually and certainly won't be the lowest install base they've ever had. Game like 2d Mario and Mario Kart would really benifit from a larger install base but for many games it won't make that much of a difference. For example Smash Bros sold 7.07 million units to 21 million gamecube users and 12.32 million units to 100 million wii users. 5 times the install base but not 2 times the sales. Similar numbers going from Mario Sunshine to Mario Galaxy. Other games like a Metroid and Zelda would be similar. And in fact I would expect Xenoblade Cronicles X to outsell Xenoblade. Zelda U will likely outsell Skyward Sword. Nintendo is trying to win back some of the fans it lost in the wii era and build on top of that and I think if they keep doing what they are doing they will do that and set themselves up to do even better next gen. I know i play my wiiu a lot more than i played my wii and my customer satisfaction level is much higher with the product. Nintendo is thinking long term. With more and more competitors on the horizon with amazon and steam boxes Nintendo is trying to bullet proof themselves by becoming more of a content provider again. If they continue to double and triple down on providing great Nintendo games they don't have to worry about competition because nobody else can make great Nintendo games.
