By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Gaming Discussion - What can Nintendo do to win the console race against competitors?

 

???

Nintendomination! 81 41.54%
 
Nintendoomed! 64 32.82%
 
Yo Mama 50 25.64%
 
Total:195
etking on 15 April 2014

Nintendo should

-Drop the tablet controller immediately
-Cut the price immediately
-Invest in 3rd party support heavily (by buying shares of or signing contracts with EA, Square Enix, Activision, Bethesda, Rockstar and more developers, current Nintendo players do not buy 3rd party software but Nintendo should attract new players that do)
-Get Wii owners to buy a Wii-U
-Get casual and hardcore PS3 and 360 owners to buy a Wii-U by providing attractive high quality games you need to complete in order to call yourself a gamer
-Create mature games for grown up players like they did on N64 and Gamecube with support from Capcom and Rareware
-Remove the Region Lock
-Create something completely new being as innovative and fun as the first Mario, Zelda or Pokemon game
-Release Nintendo Fusion in 2014 and change the rules of the market once again

-If everything fails, buy or create a joint-venture with Sony's playstation division



Around the Network
haxxiy on 15 April 2014
UltimateUnknown said:
TheLastStarFighter said:
oniyide said:
TheLastStarFighter said:

The problem with this idea is that this would position Nintendo directly up against Sony and Microsoft. Nintendo would be trying to compete for the same crowd those two companies are competing for. And we have seen time and time again that Nintendo just can't compete for that crowd. The N64 and GC both attempted this, but both were unsuccessful. The only people who bought those consoles were hardcore Nintendo fans, who also bought the Wii and Wii U and will buy any console Nintendo releases to play their games. But as we saw from N64 and GC sales, these hardcore fans are not enough to make them win, which should be obvious.

The N64 and the GC had the wrong media format, though, and other obvious hardware bottlenecks that made them expensive and time-consuming to work with. This was specially detrimental for the N64, and while the GC got it a little better, the 6th generation was a bit of a freak with all the PS2 domination going on. Though the point of "no games thus no sales" stands, I think.The Wii and the Wii-U fixed those hardware and media issues, but were clearly underpowered. I don't think it's really fair to say Nintendo actually stood on even grounds for competition since the SNES, and even then, it actively alienated third party content with a very though censorship...



 

 

 

 

 

TheLastStarFighter on 15 April 2014
oniyide said:

@bolded. thats what ive been saying. BUT IMHO that is the ONLY way they can win. There is only so much they can do. They can either take the bolded route which was WIi or they can go Sony MS route which has been proven time and time again they can NOT beat them at that game.

The OP didnt ask how they can be competitive but how they can WIN, period. You have some solid ideas, but imo they are easier said than done and even then we still cant gaurantee that they would win.

As for GC fair enough it would have done better with a different design, possibly, but again that doesn mean they would have won, they could have added an additional 10 mil sold and that still would have been nothing against PS2


Truth be told, when have they gone the Sony/MS route?  When have they made a modern system, geared toward teens/young adults, with a sleek design, proper marketing, full 3rd party support and all that 3rd parties wanted in a system?

The answer is never, or possibly the NES SNES days.  And of course in those days they had 60-90% market share.  Since Sony entered the market, Nintendo has consistently done things to alienate 3rd parties.  N64 had no CD, GC had a weird design and no DVD, Wii lacked HD, and now Wii U is again weaker and a different architecture than the competitors.

People love Nintendo 1st party.  It's a big reason Wii sold so well.  Part of it was motion controls, part of it was grandmas, but a big part was lapsed Nintendo fans who bought a PS1&2 and wouldn't touch a purple GC - those people lapped up the system and 30 million NSMB and MK's.

I honestly think that if Wii U was more stylish, more powerful and had games like the Division and Destiny coming to it - and promoted for it, it would potentially be the market leader.  There really would be little reason to buy other systems if 3rd party was equal.  1st party sales are insignificant on XBox and PS relative to Nintendo.



TheLastStarFighter on 15 April 2014
UltimateUnknown said:
TheLastStarFighter said:

A more attainable way is to release a system with a cool name, that looks cool, with a few simple new cool features and a solid lineup of titles.  Release it with Mario Galaxy 3 and a mature Zelda, buy a couple western devs to make a racing sim and a shooter and contract Mistwalker to make a FF clone.  Release it all at a solid price and do whatever it takes to ensure 3rd party support is fully behind it, and market it to adults as well as children.  Do that and the system will be competitive.  Not saying on top, but it would have a shot.

The problem with this idea is that this would position Nintendo directly up against Sony and Microsoft. Nintendo would be trying to compete for the same crowd those two companies are competing for. And we have seen time and time again that Nintendo just can't compete for that crowd. The N64 and GC both attempted this, but both were unsuccessful. The only people who bought those consoles were hardcore Nintendo fans, who also bought the Wii and Wii U and will buy any console Nintendo releases to play their games. But as we saw from N64 and GC sales, these hardcore fans are not enough to make them win, which should be obvious.

The only time Nintendo won was when they went after a completely different market than Sony and MS, the parents/grandparents (or casuals). This led to the success of the Wii. But the problem with this market is that it is very volatile and repeating that success is going to be an absolute challenge, as evident from the Wii U.

Sony and MS on the other hand have two sets of audience that do return for every iteration, their own hardcore fans just like Nintendo's who will buy any console each company makes to play their games. But they also have the "mid-core", those who make up the majority of the console's userbase and don't have a strong brand loyalty, but still like to play traditional big name games with friends, i.e. COD, GTA, etc. Any previous attempts by Nintendo in bringing over this mid-core from Sony/MS has not worked and I don't see how it can work in the future without 3rd party and in general a variety of genres in 1st party games that appeal to this audience.

N64 and GC failed in execution, not in Nintendo's ability to compete.  Poor media choices, late launches, poor design, etc plagued them.  A properly designed Nintendo system would fair much better.



oniyide on 15 April 2014
TheLastStarFighter said:
oniyide said:

@bolded. thats what ive been saying. BUT IMHO that is the ONLY way they can win. There is only so much they can do. They can either take the bolded route which was WIi or they can go Sony MS route which has been proven time and time again they can NOT beat them at that game.

The OP didnt ask how they can be competitive but how they can WIN, period. You have some solid ideas, but imo they are easier said than done and even then we still cant gaurantee that they would win.

As for GC fair enough it would have done better with a different design, possibly, but again that doesn mean they would have won, they could have added an additional 10 mil sold and that still would have been nothing against PS2


Truth be told, when have they gone the Sony/MS route?  When have they made a modern system, geared toward teens/young adults, with a sleek design, proper marketing, full 3rd party support and all that 3rd parties wanted in a system?

The answer is never, or possibly the NES SNES days.  And of course in those days they had 60-90% market share.  Since Sony entered the market, Nintendo has consistently done things to alienate 3rd parties.  N64 had no CD, GC had a weird design and no DVD, Wii lacked HD, and now Wii U is again weaker and a different architecture than the competitors.

People love Nintendo 1st party.  It's a big reason Wii sold so well.  Part of it was motion controls, part of it was grandmas, but a big part was lapsed Nintendo fans who bought a PS1&2 and wouldn't touch a purple GC - those people lapped up the system and 30 million NSMB and MK's.

I honestly think that if Wii U was more stylish, more powerful and had games like the Division and Destiny coming to it - and promoted for it, it would potentially be the market leader.  There really would be little reason to buy other systems if 3rd party was equal.  1st party sales are insignificant on XBox and PS relative to Nintendo.

There are only two routes when it comes to consoles. red ocean. and blue ocean. Red is pretty much anyting but Wii a system that goes for the traditional gamer who just needs a game controller and thats about it. Blue ocean is the WIi going after people who wouldnt traditionally be playing on a console. Ill ask you this, what was N64 and GC? they were much closer to what Sony and MS machiines than the Wii. So no they cannot compete.

We are just going to have to agree to disagree, the biggest reason why Wii sold was the motion controls, had it just been filled with 3rd party games and no Ninty it still would have sold well. A 3rd party game would ahve just eaten those big sales (Just dance for example) and the grandmas were the 2nd big reason. Ninty games themselves are a distant 3rd. The poor perfromance of the WIi U proves this. If people loved Ninty first party so, why are they shunning the system now? Why did we go from Wii sales to below GC sales in the span of a gen? Sony didnt even have that big of a drop between PS2 and 3 and 3 started all kinds of messed up

We cant no for sure. I think it would make a difference...but it will take a LONG time to shake the image it has for itself. It has had crappy 3rd party for literally years. since N64. People just arent going to jump in even if WIi U had better support. YOu have to build trust and right now Ninty has none in that arena.



Around the Network
fallen on 16 April 2014

nothing. they are too stupid and set in their ways to change.



Twilord on 16 April 2014

They need to unify handheld and home consoles. So does Sony.