Nintendo Rebranding!?

[Nuvendil]

Soundwave said:

Nuvendil said:

Soundwave said:

Nuvendil said:

Yes, Soundwave, we know the theory.  And I say again, the business models are completely and totally different.  I can get an iPhone for next to nothing by going with the right plan.  Because it's a phone.  That's why it works.  It's also why the iPad, while succesful, can't even kiss the boots of the iPhone and is in decline.  Because you have to buy it.  That's also why the iPhone can have variants out the rear while the iPad is more limited.  Unless Nintendo is going to start up a membership plan that you subscribe to and upgrade your product every two years (highly unlikely and potential business suicide), this won't be the case. 

Nintendo basically does already release new hardware models on a yearly basis, you guys just quantify in a different way, but it is more or less the same thing. 

2011 - 3DS

2012 - 3DS XL, Wii U

2013 - 2DS

2014 - New 3DS XL

2015 - New 3DS Regular

In NX I think all these brand distinctions are going to be gone. It will be one brand, the NX main OS will be like a Nintendo version of Steam. 

It's not that much of a leap. iPad sales have only slowed because a lot of people are buying the new larger iPhones, Nintendo wishes they could match iPad sales.

iPad is at 10mil right now.  That's ok but that's a 50mil gen if we just say "five years = a gen".  So while Nintendo would like 10mil for sure, they would actually very much prefer more than that.  Like I said, the red and white color scheme isn't an accident; they know a lot of gamers in their thirties and twenties associate that with the good ol days.  They are hoping to draw them back as well long term. 

I could see some variance of form factors, but not of stats.  And certainly not the apple model of "new upgrades every year or two".  That's what I was saying.  But I doubt they will do away with product names and sub brands, that's just confusing; even Apple has the Pad and Phone subbrands under the i[insert product name here] mega brand.  Rather, as the signage here indicates, "Nintendo" will be the primary "super" brand and all others will be secondary.  It will all be branded with a massive, loud "NINTENDO" with product names as secondary.  So it will be like the "i" in iPad and iPhone, an immediately recognizable earmark for where the product comes from. 

Eh ... where are you getting your numbers? iPad is 10.93 million for the last quarter (meaning three months). 

It's 45 million for the year so far, which crushes the Wii U + 3DS combined. And this is supposedly a "down year". 

http://www.statista.com/statistics/269915/global-apple-ipad-sales-since-q3-2010/

I just think Nintendo should stop trying to dicate what their hardware is. Stop telling people they should want a purple lunchbox with a handle on it, or DVD playback is bad, or last-gen graphics are fine and now it's all about the controller, etc. etc. 

When you start doing that the fact is a lot of people are simply looking at Nintendo and saying "Nope". 

I'd say adopt a model more like Steam where games play on a myriad of different settings and you offer hardware flavors that suit different people's needs and even evolves and grows as time goes on. 

Nintendo should question everything about their old business model, because it simply isn't working very well for them. The *only* market in which Nintendo hardware today is selling reasonably well is the 3DS line in Japan. Wii U in Europe? Terrible. 3DS in America? Dissapointing. Wii U in America? Terrible. 3DS in Europe? Not so great. Every other market, their hardware is selling at a dissapointing rate. And just straight up copying Sony 3-4 years late is not going to be the cure all for everything either, they need to make some bolder changes IMO. Steam, iOS can teach console makers a lot, maybe it's about time one of them actually learned from them and did something different. 

Woops, seems I got some numbers mixed up in my head (should have known, I thought that it sounded really low).  My bad.  In that case, anyone would want those numbers.  But also, anyone would want a billion dollars in cash and a life time supply of chocolate but that doesn't mean they can get it. The dedicated gaming market will never, ever, ever, ever reach those kinds of heights.  It's like running a gourmet restaurant chain and forever pining that you can never have as many sales and as high of profits as McDonalds.  iPads and iPhones are jack-of-all-trades products that are integrated into all aspects hundreds of millions of numerous peoples lives.  If all the game apps just vanished RIGHT NOW, iPhone and iPad sales wouldn't miss a beat.  Because they are in no way even close to being the core of that market. 

As for going essentially software-only or trying to mimic the phone market, that won't solve the core problem their marketing is all kinds of ass.  IF their brand stinks, their sales will stink.  Apple has worked their butts off to get their brand power up to the level it is at and they work hard to keep it there.  Nintendo built their brand up high with the NES and the SNES launch and then just occassionally gave it a booster shot until it darn near flatlined in the GC era.  Then they built it back in 2007 to 2009 only to then let it decay to nothingness for five years before starting to put in some freaking effort.  So long as they do that, they will never see serious success.  That's what absolutely killed the GC and has crippled the Wii U.  Both should have AT LEAST hit N64 levels, there was absolutely no reason they couldn't.  But they didn't because advertising was next to non existent and most of it sucked.  As for ditching individual models that run their course over about 5 to 7 years in favor of a large number of variants with altered specs and frequent upgrades, I think that would be unwise.  People buy consoles and shy away from PC and mobile partly for the no-frills aspect.  Buy a console, and you're set for years and years.  Phones get by with the variants and stuff because, again, their phones; the market is diferent.