| ArtX said: Pokemon/Ps1... |
No Nintendo system received a mainline nor mainline spinoff Pokémon game prior to having sold at least 30mil units, at which point hardware trajectory was already set in stone (with exception of GameBoy, which went into overdrive with the localization of Pokémon in the west).
To answer OP: I believe a lot of it has to do with their strong first-party catalogue and always having the comfort of a profitable handheld to lean on. Their handhelds had always been successful due to be the affordable option AND having a steady stream of very high quality releases (not to mention, there has been no competition to figure this strategy out, hence Nintendo is the only option for handhelds gaming). Also, strong first party means (i) strong exclusives and (ii) solid stream of revenue from software. Nintendo is objectively the strongest software publisher in terms of quality and quantity. So, even if a system flops, they’ll always have a ton of revenue coming from their software releases in assuming the current systems aren’t all a colossal failure (e.g. 3DO, Sega Saturn, Game Gear, etc.).
That’s how Nintendo has avoided seeing themselves pinned in a Sega or Microsoft situation, where profits aren’t coming in and changes need to be made: Nintendo is a software developer first, and has always been able to lean on the profits of a successful (affordable) handheld device.
Last edited by firebush03 - on 05 October 2025
