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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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During a strategy briefing that took place in Osaka, Japan, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata today confirmed (via The Wall Street Journal) that Nintendo has plans to "actively" use service apps for smart devices, but does not have plans to introduce key Nintendo software, like its portfolio of games, on third party platforms.

According to Iwata, Nintendo is aiming to use service apps to both build a bridge with its customers and deliver information on Nintendo products. Service apps are not intended to make money for the company, but instead will be used to "make connections with customers."

nintendo-logo.jpg
Iwata did acknowledge that Nintendo's apps would need to be more than a simple advertisement in order to engage customers, but he did not elaborate on what tactics the company would use to entice customers to use a Nintendo app. Neither a potential release date nor any additional information on the content of the service app was divulged.

Iwata did, however, say that the game console will continue to be at the center of Nintendo's strategy and there are no plans for the company to abandon its hardware business.

News of Nintendo's foray into mobile first surfaced in mid-January after company president Satoru Iwata indicated Nintendo would consider a new business structure involving smart devices in light of increasing competition from both iOS and Android and competing consoles.

On Monday, Japanese business newspaper Nikkei suggested Nintendo would release an iOS and Android app featuring game information and playable mini games, but Nintendo quickly refuted the claim and insisted it had no plans to make Nintendo software available on mobile devices.

Earlier today, Nintendo missed its earnings forecast and announced an operating loss of 1.58 billion yen ($15.3 million) for the December quarter. The company expects another loss of 33.4 billion yen for the final quarter of the year with a total operating loss of 35 billion yen ($355 million) for 2013.

During today's event, Nintendo also announced plans to bolster its profits by introducing an on-demand gaming service, allowing Wii U players to access Nintendo DS games, and releasing a non-wearable health monitoring device in 2015.

Article Link: Nintendo Confirms No Games Coming to iOS, But Service App in the Works
 

Windlasher

macrumors 6502
Jan 11, 2011
483
111
minneapolis
Forest for the trees Nintendo, Forest for the trees!!!

Thats an app I would never download. Why would I. While I would pay a few dollars to play Mario Cart on my iPad, I'm not going to buy a Wii U to play it.
 

syavno

macrumors member
Apr 13, 2008
51
0
This is a very similar type of arrogance that RIM exhibited; we know what happened to them...
 

Renzatic

Suspended
They will go the way of RIM. By the time they decide to go to mobile, it will be too late. RIP Nintendo.

They're already mobile, and making a ton of money off of it. Why would they want to port their games to the smartphones?

Unlike RIM, the iPhone isn't a direct competitor to their core business. Their business is games. They don't need to go 3rd party to become a success. What they need to do is make the WiiU more of a draw than it currently is.
 

KindredMAC

macrumors 6502a
Sep 23, 2003
975
218
Nintendo is only focused on the DS family of handhelds. The Wii U was only brought out to appease the masses about HD graphics.

If they were serious about the Wii U, they wouldn't be rehashing 3DS or older games on the system. How can they seriously not have new Brand new Zelda, Mario or Metroid games available yet???

Plus they don't get the concept of DLC yet either here in the west.
 

seamer

macrumors 6502
Jul 24, 2009
426
164
They could continue to develop a handheld AND software, or scrap the handheld and then devote attention to iOS devices - controllers, service apps, old games with polished ports... I'm frustrated at you, Namco and Sega, for putting good games out with crap controls.
 

Renzatic

Suspended
If they were serious about the Wii U, they wouldn't be rehashing 3DS or older games on the system. How can they seriously not have new Brand new Zelda, Mario or Metroid games available yet???

Now that's the big damn question. I'm hardly an industry expert or anything, but it kinda makes sense to me that if you want a system to sell, you want to put some games out for it that people will buy the system for.

Plus they don't get the concept of DLC yet either here in the west.

All things considered, this might actually be a good thing.
 

KdParker

macrumors 601
Oct 1, 2010
4,793
998
Everywhere
Don't worry, it will just take another 3 years of negative profits until they get the picture.

It won't matter. The have been declining for year and haven't responded to become a big player.

Unless something spectacular comes out of their R&D department (if they have one).
 

T-R-S

macrumors 6502
Sep 25, 2010
455
280
Silicon Valley
I am not sure of the business strategy of ignoring a market with millions of users oh wait!! they're loosing money - with high paid executives making decisions like that it's not hard to see why. ;)
 

Chundles

macrumors G5
Jul 4, 2005
12,037
493
The 3DS family doesn't seem to be the issue - they're selling them hand-over-fist and games like Super Smash Bros and Mario Kart are only going to be bonuses for the console.

The Wii U is big stinking issue. The games are great but it's relatively expensive (especially here where it's still cheaper than the PS4 and XB1 but not massively so) and the fact that it lacks Zelda, Mario Kart, Smash Bros etc. at this stage of it's life cycle is ridiculous.

Drop the price, release the games and advertise the hell out of it.

Unlocking your eShop purchases from the console would be a great first step to a proper online account system, going all out with Virtual Console titles would help too. Everything. Just stick all the old titles up on the VC for all the consoles and you'd have a huge selling item based on nostalgia alone.
 

springsup

macrumors 65816
Feb 14, 2013
1,216
1,199
Best thing for Nintendo to do would be to create a 'virtual console' iOS app with access to their back-catalogue of older games. You could log-in with your Nintendo account and access the games you've already purchased, giving additional value to people who use Nintendo's services.

In theory, that shouldn't reduce the attractiveness of their current consoles/games. In practice, a lot of Nintendo's mobile games are re-hashes of the same basic formula. If they even allowed Pokemon Red (first released in 1996; nearly 20 years ago now) on iOS, it'd be hard to sell another current-gen Pokemon game again.

Besides, it's far too easy to pirate and emulate the older games that you like. I just did a quick google search to find out when Pokemon Red was released, and here's what I got:

Google: Pokemon Red

#1: Pokémon Red and Blue - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
#2: Pokemon Red ROM Download for Gameboy Color / GBC ...

When it's that easy, I would not be surprised if lots of people who want to play Pokemon just download and emulator, pick up one of the older games and forget the trimmings they've added to sell more copies. If they had a virtual console iOS app where I could buy an official version for, say, $2.99, that would be an attractive alternative.

Nintendo seem to be operating on another planet the longer they don't get this.
 

Z400Racer37

macrumors 6502a
Feb 7, 2011
711
1,664
"Nintendo Confirms No Games Coming to iOS... Whilst simultaneously confirming a complete lack of intelligent leadership."
 

edgonzalez32

Suspended
Jul 21, 2011
673
1,256
How come everyone is strongly suggesting that Nintendo get into the mobile realm? I just can't see it happening.

I'm a pretty big gamer (along with a lot of other people). I hate the direction mobile games are headed. If I'm spending 3.99 on a game, I feel like the experience is going to be over in 2 hours tops. This is something I don't want to happen with Nintendo. I don't want to play the next Zelda on my iPhone/Android phone. The DS is perfect for that experience.

I feel like their bigger competition are Sony and Microsoft; not Apple and Google.
 

Renzatic

Suspended
To sum up most quotes here:

"Cuz I like Apple, I'd really love them to release stuff on my iPhone. But since they won't, I'm gonna say they're dumb and don't know what they're doing then make an off the cuff reference to RIM cuz apparently these two almost entirely unrelated companies working in entirely different markets are somehow related in some way".
 

Zeppin

macrumors newbie
Jan 29, 2014
4
0
It won't matter. The have been declining for year and haven't responded to become a big player.

... Nintendo has more cash reserves on hand then they've ever had in their history having sold more Wiis than they sold NES and N64 consoles combined. This is also only the second time in their history that they've ever reported an operating loss.

I agree that the Wii U has been a failure on their part but this is hardly the continuation of some decline, nor are they in any real danger. Even if the Wii U 2 were to flop they'd still be afloat as a business.
 

2457282

Suspended
Dec 6, 2012
3,327
3,015
They're already mobile, and making a ton of money off of it. Why would they want to port their games to the smartphones?

Unlike RIM, the iPhone isn't a direct competitor to their core business. Their business is games. They don't need to go 3rd party to become a success. What they need to do is make the WiiU more of a draw than it currently is.

Sorry, but I really have to disagree. iOS has shown itself to be a quite sizable gaming platform. Just go look at the number of games available. So from that stand point it is a competitor. Also, from the mobile perspective, I would rather carry only a single device, not two. In other words the days of carrying a DS and a phone are numbered. most people will carry a phone and play their games there. Convergence to a single device is the direction we are all going.

I do see the console living on but as a niche. There will always be some serious graphics that won't work on an iPad, iPhone, ATV, but in the not too distant future it will not be for the masses.

The only alternative I see to this is what Xbox is trying to do by converging the living room electronics so that it is it is more than just a game console. I don't know if that approach will work long term, but I don't see Nintendo going in either way.
 

TallManNY

macrumors 601
Nov 5, 2007
4,727
1,580
Done.

The hardware in the DS is going to be laughable compared to the iPhone 6. And the user base is going to be miniscule. Nintendo can't afford to develop either another console or another handheld anytime soon. And yet who can possibly see them selling these same devices in 2015?

When almost all of your potential customer have a smartphone with specs that blow away your handheld and they have that item on them at all times, what is your plan?
 

Renzatic

Suspended
Sorry, but I really have to disagree. iOS has shown itself to be a quite sizable gaming platform. Just go look at the number of games available. So from that stand point it is a competitor. Also, from the mobile perspective, I would rather carry only a single device, not two. In other words the days of carrying a DS and a phone are numbered. most people will carry a phone and play their games there. Convergence to a single device is the direction we are all going.

iOS has shown itself to have potential. It has yet to truly match the consoles and handhelds when it comes to quality of games that can generate an equally large amount of profit per title.

Now I will agree with you that we are in the middle of a big change, and the days of consoles and handheld devices solely tailored for gaming might be coming to an end. But that doesn't necessarily mean Nintendo has to sell out its hardware business NOW and work exclusively with Apple as their only means to salvation. There are a number of things they could do besides that.

----------

When almost all of your potential customer have a smartphone with specs that blow away your handheld and they have that item on them at all times, what is your plan?

To quote an oft-used chestnut around here: it's not about the specs. The PSP killed the old DS on paper. Better, higher resolution screen. A storage medium that allowed for much larger amounts of space. All kinds of good stuff.

But despite that, the PSP lingered on, while the relatively quaint DS went on to become one of the best selling consoles in history. Why? Because it's not about the specs, it's about the games.

Plus, the 3DS is hardly failing. It's doing quite well, and if Nintendo weren't saddled with the WiiU, they'd be turning a profit.
 

Plutonius

macrumors G3
Feb 22, 2003
9,018
8,379
New Hampshire, USA
To sum up most quotes here:

"Cuz I like Apple, I'd really love them to release stuff on my iPhone. But since they won't, I'm gonna say they're dumb and don't know what they're doing then make an off the cuff reference to RIM cuz apparently these two almost entirely unrelated companies working in entirely different markets are somehow related in some way".

It's more like I'm not going to carry a DS around with me and I'm more likely to play a Nintendo game if it could be played under IOS or Android. Seriously, if their market is only kids in school, the DS is fine (carry around a DS in your backpack). If they want to also target an older market, they should also focus on IOS / Android. I can't see the negative financial consequences especially if they only do it for older games as some have suggested. Also, even though it's a total different industry, the RIM management and Nintendo management seem to have a lot in common. It will be interesting to see where Nintendo will be in five years (I doubt they will go under but they might be bought out).
 
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