Is Nintendo's jump into mobile their new fail safe in case of a poorly selling console?

[DanneSandin]

RolStoppable said:

DanneSandin said:

I agree with your analysis; mobile gaming will funtion as a gate way to Nintendo consoles, but cant this strategy be two folds? 1) indirectly drive sales of hardware and, 2) generate money and indirectly function as a back up plan?

we cant be sure that people will pick up the NX just because they played Pokemon Go on their mobile phone; "casuals" seem pretty content with justgaming on their smart phones. What then? If people doesnt flock to Nintendos HW, should they simply drop out of the mobile business? Or use it as a second (or third) source of income?

Of course Nintendo will generate money from their mobile games too. But like I said, the primary motivation is not to get the money from mobile users, but to get people to buy Nintendo hardware because that's where the real big money is. Besides, mobile can't really work as a backup plan for a company the size of Nintendo; the average spending of individual users on mobile gaming is pretty low.

Regardless of the above, a poorly selling console doesn't have to be that detrimental to Nintendo's bottom line. Things are only so bad for Nintendo this generation because both their home console and handheld hardware sucked and had expensive components. And no, Nintendo will not exit mobile gaming, because the way smart devices are used, they are going to reach more people than even the TV in the future. Putting videos of their games for dedicated gaming hardware into their mobile games should be an effective way for Nintendo to inform people about their premium products. And overcoming the initial hurdle of getting people to download such an application shouldn't be that hard to overcome for Nintendo, thanks to their IP strength.

As for the question if people will buy additional products based on an experience they had, that really shouldn't be a problem. For example, video games that are based on movie/cartoon/anime licenses have constantly sold throughout history. The quality of such games has always been questionable, but that didn't stop them from succeeding. The principle at work here is that people want more of something they like and they are willing to pay for it. In the specific case of Pokémon, one of the main attractions of the IP is the process of collecting. That aspect easily translates to something like Pokémon Go, so people who get addicted to it will want a more fleshed out experience and they are going to pay for it.

I don't think that any licensed game has ever been a system seller (except for the Arkham-series, but that wasn't based on any particular comic/movie but on the Batman brand - which is different from the point you're making in your response to me), but you're asking people to buy a console just because they've played one, maybe two, games on their phone. That's quite different. People who have bought the movie games have almost always already owned a console BEFORE the game purchase. This wouldn't be the case for people playing Nintendo games on their smart phones. Paying $300 for a console and a game is hefty, and probably nothing the ordinary costumer would do.

I agree in you analysis regarding the Wii U and 3DS and how they caused Nintendo to be in this particular situation they're in now, but I disagree in your belief that smart phone games will make people flock to Nintendo consoles. I'd really like to know more about how you think this would work; WHY would people buy a console because of a mobile game?