Guitar Hero Live has been released with an "Accessory Required" label. This opens up a new host of possibilities, the most interesting of which could be Nintendo games officially running on AppleTV.
Nintendo has dismissed putting its games on other platforms before because it wants to stay in the hardware business. However, its most valuable assets are its game IP. The "Accessory Required" option allows for Nintendo to stay in the hardware business while piggybacking on the massive audience of iOS to leverage its game properties which are a goldmine.
Imagine if Nintendo were to sell a Wiimote with a Lighting dock. Dock your AppleTV remote in the Wiimote to play Nintendo games. Playing legacy games like Super Mario Galaxy or Zelda would require that this Wiimote be present. The apps could still launch for example to view other people playing or to interact in a Mii Plaza or to play simple games but to play flagship Nintendo games, you'd have to have a Wiimote.
Nintendo would sell far more games than if they were to sell only to limited audience of people buying their consoles. The console itself has always been a loss leader with Nintendo selling it at cost and sometimes at a loss, making up for it in game sales. I predict that Nintendo games would rush to the top of the App Store making Nintendo far more money, far quicker and on games that have long ago stopped making it any significant revenue.
Besides its iconic games properties, Nintendo is known for its innovative control mechanisms. It wouldn't be limited to one Wiimote controller. Nintendo would be free to develop specialized controllers for different games. For asynchronous play, something like the WiiU game pad could simply be a controller with an iPhone dock. A Wii Fit board for fitness games. A new generation PowerGlove for 3 dimensional control games. A Duck Hunt zapper for shooters. A steering wheel for Mario Kart. Nintendo is known for its accessories. The possibilities are exciting!
Nintendo has dismissed putting its games on other platforms before because it wants to stay in the hardware business. However, its most valuable assets are its game IP. The "Accessory Required" option allows for Nintendo to stay in the hardware business while piggybacking on the massive audience of iOS to leverage its game properties which are a goldmine.
Imagine if Nintendo were to sell a Wiimote with a Lighting dock. Dock your AppleTV remote in the Wiimote to play Nintendo games. Playing legacy games like Super Mario Galaxy or Zelda would require that this Wiimote be present. The apps could still launch for example to view other people playing or to interact in a Mii Plaza or to play simple games but to play flagship Nintendo games, you'd have to have a Wiimote.
Nintendo would sell far more games than if they were to sell only to limited audience of people buying their consoles. The console itself has always been a loss leader with Nintendo selling it at cost and sometimes at a loss, making up for it in game sales. I predict that Nintendo games would rush to the top of the App Store making Nintendo far more money, far quicker and on games that have long ago stopped making it any significant revenue.
Besides its iconic games properties, Nintendo is known for its innovative control mechanisms. It wouldn't be limited to one Wiimote controller. Nintendo would be free to develop specialized controllers for different games. For asynchronous play, something like the WiiU game pad could simply be a controller with an iPhone dock. A Wii Fit board for fitness games. A new generation PowerGlove for 3 dimensional control games. A Duck Hunt zapper for shooters. A steering wheel for Mario Kart. Nintendo is known for its accessories. The possibilities are exciting!
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