DonWii said: After that comment, though, she mysteriously got a mysterious email from her mysterious source "confirming" the news.

Exactly.  She (he/it) is just an attention whoring leech.  Surfer Girl confirming something is really meaningless.  

Zenfoldor does not comment on rumor and speculation.

@Erik Aston

Yes those phrases have meaning. What rock have you spent the last decade living under? Nintendo got lambasted in the previous two generations for neglecting the mature audience. This generation Nintendo still hasn't stepped forward to address that problem. They really need to address it otherwise its going to come back and haunt them.

The market changes over time that is what has given Nintendo a chance to reassert themselves. Nintendo hasn't changed over the last ten years. The market changed and it is likely that it will change again like a swinging pendulum. That isn't so much good strategy as it is dumb luck. They are still marketing the exact same gaming experience they were marketing ten years ago.

Nintendo is like the third world country that has one marketable resource. When that resource is in demand they do well. When that resource is not in demand they do poorly, and that is why most third world countries remain third world countries. They have no control over their position, and when their product is in demand the forget the cardinal rule of economics diversify.

That is what Nintendo should be doing right now. Diversifying their offerings. Generating franchises that appeal to the mature audience. That way when tastes eventually do change as they will they will not repeat the previous two console generations again. They will not end up marketing a library that doesn't match the publics tastes.

Your probably not going to understand this, and in six years if Nintendo did not diversify their first party offerings you will talk about how Nintendo lost touch with the consumer. When the reality would be that Nintendo never bothered to diversify so it would be harder for them to completely fall out of favor.

Well that's a breath of fresh air. While I know Surfer Girl usually spews nonsense, I wanted to make sure I hadn't missed anything in the news. Reducing retro would be awful :(

@ Dodece

Let's set aside your argument about which direction Nintendo needs to take. What confuses me is why you say that firing some of Retro's employees is a sign that Nintendo is somehow getting serious now. Is there something about the allegedly fired employees that you think was holding Retro back, or what? I don't mean this as an attack, but I'm honestly not sure what exactly you meant with that comment.

Maybe the employees were drunk..
But it is a relativly big firm..2-3 guys leaving won`t make a difference..

But still i hope that everything is ok.Retro Studios is firm which i expected a lot

Dodece said: @Erik Aston Yes those phrases have meaning. What rock have you spent the last decade living under? Nintendo got lambasted in the previous two generations for neglecting the mature audience. This generation Nintendo still hasn't stepped forward to address that problem. They really need to address it otherwise its going to come back and haunt them. The market changes over time that is what has given Nintendo a chance to reassert themselves. Nintendo hasn't changed over the last ten years. The market changed and it is likely that it will change again like a swinging pendulum. That isn't so much good strategy as it is dumb luck. They are still marketing the exact same gaming experience they were marketing ten years ago. Nintendo is like the third world country that has one marketable resource. When that resource is in demand they do well. When that resource is not in demand they do poorly, and that is why most third world countries remain third world countries. They have no control over their position, and when their product is in demand the forget the cardinal rule of economics diversify. That is what Nintendo should be doing right now. Diversifying their offerings. Generating franchises that appeal to the mature audience. That way when tastes eventually do change as they will they will not repeat the previous two console generations again. They will not end up marketing a library that doesn't match the publics tastes. Your probably not going to understand this, and in six years if Nintendo did not diversify their first party offerings you will talk about how Nintendo lost touch with the consumer. When the reality would be that Nintendo never bothered to diversify so it would be harder for them to completely fall out of favor.

You know, you apparently don't have any idea what's going on. Look at the titles that Nintendo have, that appeal to mature audiences; Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Fit, in general the random "Wii" title, Brain Trainings for the DS, and what else do they have that i don't interested in digging up at the moment. Then the different approach to mature audience, such as Nintendos IP:s from (more than) 20 years back, what people my age played as a kid and became fans. What Sony and M$ are doing, is the exact same that the industry has been doing the last ten years, it's not Nintendo who haven't changed. You could say that the market haven't changed, since the different demographics have always been there, it's just that nobody have catered for them before (or have, if you look at supermarkets toy section with those handheld Tetris etc. games), at least in similar scale that Nintendo is currently doing. You really need to make a difference between mature audience and kids that play mature rated games, since they don't equal. The thing is, that the industry have heavily focused on teenagers, the "mature audience", while younger and older people have been dissed nearly completely. As what it comes to this "rumor", can't say would it be a good or a bad thing if Retro Studios would get integrated to Nintendo. Both options would have ther pluses and minuses.

Dodece, I really used to enjoy your posts, but recently they've been getting more and more hostile and difficult to comprehend. Why is it that you're suddenly so anti-Wii? The notion that Nintendo must "change its strategy" (whatever that means) and go after "mature gamers" sounds like something a thirteen year old on XBox Live would say. And saying things like this:

Nintendo is like the third world country that has one marketable resource. When that resource is in demand they do well. When that resource is not in demand they do poorly, and that is why most third world countries remain third world countries. They have no control over their position, and when their product is in demand the forget the cardinal rule of economics diversify.

Just sounds... bizzare. When people want Nintendo's products, they do well, and when they don't, Nintendo does poorly. And this is apparently a total coincidence...? "That isn't so much good strategy as it is dumb luck. They are still marketing the exact same gaming experience they were marketing ten years ago."

Well, if you want to believe that the Wii's success is due to pure luck, go ahead. Whatever makes you feel better. But I'm disappointed that your prior insight has been replaced by cheap attacks.

Ever since Dodece got that avatar, he's been bitter.

I blame avatars.

I have been labeled as a misanthrope for well over six months. I do not follow the party line, nor do I play with kid gloves. I ask the hard questions and make the scathing observations. Someone has to say the unpopular things otherwise they get buried. I would rather be insulted for getting your attention. Then let you wander aimlessly oblivious to the problem.

Nintendo has a problem, and they have had this problem for over ten years now. The problem used to be referred to as kiddie gaming. Nintendo was mocked by most gamers for marketing their console only to young children. The name has changed, but it is basically the same thing. Now we call it casual gaming. Nintendo's marketing for casual gaming has worked, because it has expanded the potential audience it can sell to. However there is the real possibility that those who do not regularly game will lose interest, or tastes will veer back to the traditional.

Nintendo should be solving the problem this generation while they are flying high. Retro has the potential to help them with their problem. Free them up to build mature games and to create mature licenses. Nintendo cannot count on third parties to take up their slack. The term is constructive criticism. I want to see Nintendo get serious rather then mine the casual market dry. They need to start developing games outside of their comfortable little box.