Nintendo Faces Investor Pressure to Bring Games to iPhone

[nickcv83]

I guess when Nintendo finally goes belly up, they can do it with their heads held up because they know they didn't have to resort to cheapening their brand of games to 0.99 junk on an iOS device. Lol... I think times are changing and Nintendo isn't quick enough with the software releases. It's pretty disappointing to think that I'll buy their console/handheld just to play two kickass games every 3-4 years... It seems like Nintendo has now become a mom and pops store in the gaming industry...

actually nintendo never released as many marios and zeldas on the same generation as it did during this one.

it may feel like it's taking longer from one release to the other one, but actually they released much more software during the 5th generation then during the other ones.

we got 2 zelda games on the wii, 2 zelda games on the DS, 2 full fledged 3D mario games on the wii (and that never ever happened before) and 2 2D marios (one on the DS and one on the wii), 2 mario kart games, 2 kirby games, 2 metroid games and the launch of several new IPs (that you may like or not).
Oh and i almost forgot: SSBB!

Nintendo released a lot of software during this generation.

 

[madmaxmedia]

I think the analogy comparing Nintendo making iOS games to Apple licensing Mac OS is apt. A lot gets lost in the transition, for both customer and the companies themselves.

There might be an opportunity for Nintendo do dip their toes into the iOS market with small titles with new IP, priced competitively ($1 to $10 range.) However, I'm not sure what the long term benefit would be- Nintendo is not built and geared to sell small $1 titles, it's built to sell $100+ hardware and $30+ games with large production values.

The problem for Nintendo is that for most people, an iOS device is good enough for handheld games. Many of these would have never bought a 3DS anyway, but the problem is that some of them might have bought a dedicated handheld console but settled for a multipurpose device. I think Sony will run into the same problem with the Vita.

I'm sure Nintendo will still survive (and perhaps even prosper), but the days of "It prints money!!!" seem to be in the rear-view miror. Boy that was fast-

 

[Liquorpuki]

I think that a 19.99+ Premium Games section could help weed out the race to the bottom.

That might help. Other ideas are for Apple to spend money to develop a flagship iOS game in-house to raise the bar, or partner with big name developers for exclusive releases. I doubt they'll do it though because Apple treats gaming like they do eBooks. They'd rather use both markets to sell more hardware than actually get vested in them. Which is why the iBooks app remains mediocre and devs are able to flood the app store with 1000 different flash games that start with the word Doodle.

(Yes, I'm annoyed, Game Loft is seeming to go in this direction. They also did this with GT Racing (and pulled the one you paid for the full version off. ANd they just pulled off Let's Golf 1 and 2 so you can't just pay for those and not play the freemium 3rd one. Game Loft being a pretty big developer of games that aren't the "angry bird" and "cut the rope" style games going this way is going to really hurt the game market at least for me on the iPhone).

One thing I hate about iOS gaming is that Gameloft is one of its premium developers but all it does is rip off IP. Same with Zynga and Rovio. iOS has quality issues.

I will say though, that unfortunately, it seems that freemium is paying off (Sux for gamers but apparently people still fall for the scam enough that it makes the developers a lot of money) and there is nothing saying that Nintendo and Sony (and game makers for their devices) won't find a way to introduce it into their games...

I read that only 1-5% of purchasers actually spend money in-game. Yet that's enough to turn a profit on Zynga games, which are basically skinner boxes. For a game that would go on a Vita or 3DS, with more substantial dev costs, longer dev cycles, and brand recognition, I don't think Freemium economics would make it worthwhile.

Plus Iwata has pledged to maintain the price point (value) and quality of games that Nintendo develops.

 

[wovel]

	   Sony		    Nintendo	      Microsoft	        Total
Y/E 1998     $902,811,090   $1,023,333,867                      $1,926,144,957
Y/E 1999   $1,102,563,557   $1,301,350,000                      $2,403,913,557
Y/E 2000     $722,738,949   $1,368,207,547                      $2,090,946,497
Y/E 2001    -$449,776,290     $677,576,000                        $227,799,710
Y/E 2002     $629,101,056     $895,872,180   -$1,135,000,000      $389,973,237
Y/E 2003     $935,569,253     $834,333,333   -$1,191,000,000      $578,902,586
Y/E 2004     $627,195,212     $993,161,303   -$1,337,000,000      $283,356,515
Y/E 2005     $419,888,799   $1,056,056,202     -$539,000,000      $936,945,001
Y/E 2006      $69,129,058     $774,478,055   -$1,339,000,000     -$495,392,887
Y/E 2007  -$1,970,923,859   $1,914,666,388   -$1,969,000,000   -$2,025,257,471
Y/E 2008  -$1,079,994,103   $4,322,637,887      $426,000,000    $3,668,643,783
Y/E 2009    -$664,313,787   $5,691,428,301      $169,000,000    $5,196,114,515

Y/E 10Q1    -$413,541,667     $420,843,750      $312,000,000      $319,302,083
Y/E 10Q2    -$653,333,333     $710,655,556      $375,000,000      $432,011,111
Y/E 10Q3     $210,629,750   $2,087,904,452               N/A               N/A

Total				
	     $387,078,407  $24,072,504,822   -$6,157,000,000   $16,004,049,028
				
Full Year Average
	     $103,665,745   $1,737,758,422   -$1,001,857,143      $914,270,499

Profitable Years				
			8		12		   2		    10
				
Non Profitable Years				
			4		 0		   6		     2
				
Average in Loss Year				
	  -$1,041,252,010              N/A   -$1,251,666,667   -$1,260,325,179
				
Average in Profit Year				
	     $676,124,622   $1,737,758,422      $333,000,000    $1,389,625,094

nintendo is so dead... poor nintendo...

Nintendo lost money last quarter. Your table stopped prematurely, I assume that was intentional. Their forecast does not look any better for the rest of the year. Nintendo is in trouble. Profits shrank for 3 quarters and are now significant losses. The President will not last long under those conditions.

Because Nintendo is awesome.

Nintendo gets singled out over MS and Sony because all they make is games and they are losing money for the first time ever. When profitable companies start to lose money, investors do not like it. Nintendo also has much stronger licenses then Sony and Microsoft. So, in a way, you are right.

 

[nickcv83]

Nintendo lost money last quarter. Your table stopped prematurely, I assume that was intentional. Their forecast does not look any better for the rest of the year. Nintendo is in trouble. Profits shrank for 3 quarters and are now significant losses. The President will not last long under those conditions.




Nintendo gets singled out over MS and Sony because all they make is games and they are losing money for the first time ever. When profitable companies start to lose money, investors do not like it. Nintendo also has much stronger licenses then Sony and Microsoft. So, in a way, you are right.

it wasn't intentional, it's just that i didn't had the time to look for the other data, i got that table from gaf and i couldn't find one updated.

I know they lost the last quarter, i already pointed that out.

My point is:
- they have a lot of back up money they can use
- microsoft and sony are doing financially speaking a lot worse, so if it's time for nintendo to move to iOS is time for them as well.

and just to point it out, sony lost last quarter too!

you guys are calling doom and gloom on the financially healthiest company in the whole industry, that's just ridiculous.

and as i already pointed out:

3 - last month NPD showed that this is the worst month for the whole industry in the last 6 years. Still the nintendo DS was the best selling console. In the month of July, seven of the top 10 and 15 of the top 25 best-selling software SKUs play on Nintendo platforms.

4 - the 9th best selling videogame in the US for july 2011 is... guest what? New Super Mario Bros (NDS). Not bad for a software 6 years old, selling still at full price.
Just like apple with it's app store nintendo makes money thanks to royalties for any game sold on his platform besides his own.

and

[...]
the Xbox 360: 277K units sold this month take into account the free console given when you buy a laptop
[...]

also if you still wanna play doom and gloom this is sony PR report from july NPD data:

According to the July NPD, PlayStation peripheral sales increased by 18% year-over-year demonstrating a strong consumer interest in PlayStation Move and the Sharp Shooter. PlayStation will continue this momentum in the fall with the release of Resistance3, the groundbreaking shooter that combines 3D with Move and the Sharp Shooter. Our unmatched line-up of first-party software continues to deliver a gaming experience that can only be found on the PS3.
-- Patrick Seybold, Sr. Director of Corporate Communications at SCEA

all they could do was praise the sale of controllers and peripherals.

And anyway i'm not saying that sony is doomed, but you people should understand that before saying that nintendo is doomed and has to go third party you should maybe check what's the state of the rest of the industry.

Nintendo, even with last quarter loss is still financially speaking the company more healthy.
Don't ever forget that they never touched their treasure chest, they have saved most of the money they made.

And just to point that out:

1 - satoru iwata, president of nintendo, made the company glorious in the last years thanks to wii and ds. Because of how nintendo still work the only person who can fire him is Yamauchi, no board of investor can do anything about it.

2 - because of the 3DS debacle Satoru Iwata cancelled his own bonus for this year, cutted his salary of 50%, and the salary of all the executive of 30%. The man knows what he's doing and many other CEO should learn something from him.

i'm pretty sure the investors are plain happy seeing the bonus cancelled and a 50% cut and a 30% cut from president and executives.

a lot of western CEO could learn a lot from satoru iwata.

 

[tigress666]

Freemium needs to die in a fire. I'd rather support the current rip-off DLC model of the consoles than freemium. At least with the console model you get a full game at full price and any additional content is just that, additional content. It's not required to play the full game, it's just extra. Look at Mortal Kombat as an example. I bought that. Played the single player story and have had a ton of fun playing all of the other modes. Haven't bought any of the DLC because it is just "extra". Thats the way it should be. But "Freemium" games, as you said, end up being a lot more expensive than a regularly priced game.

So with you on this on all of that (except unfortunately as I pointed out these days there is nothing stopping consoles from trying out their own attempt at freemium to compete). Unfortunately they seem to make the developers more money so you know that's what they'll care about. And people are stupid and obviously fall for the scam (or enough people do to make it more profitable) since developers are making more money that way.

Hopefully though people catch on to their schemes and realize they not only are more expensive but also cheapen gameplay (they really do take away from the gameplay of the game when instead of earning rewards by getting better at the game you just pay money to get the reward). And the latter part is the worst part honestly about fremium games, it is making games go downhill and less fun .

----------

One thing I hate about iOS gaming is that Gameloft is one of its premium developers but all it does is rip off IP. Same with Zynga and Rovio. iOS has quality issues.

I don't mind the ripping off of games cause most of the games GL rips off are ones you wouldn't get on iOS otherwise (like the one that is pissing me off that is freemium is based off of Gran Turismo and is a really good copy of it). Plus GL seems to get the best way to do controls on iOS that would normally be much better with physical buttons.

But, GL is about to be dead to me if they continue with this freemium crap. Even worse is that when they turn games to freemium, they make sure to get rid of the non freemium version. GT Racing was not freemium and then they introduced GT Racing free and took away the paid(Cheaper) version. And they just released some golfing game, the third in the series and today they made sure to take off the first and second from the app store so you have to play the freemium version if you want to play. Which is total BS cause I bet they could still make money off the freemium if htey still allowed the paid version cause the people who fall for freemium scams would probably just get the "free" version and be convinced to just add a little more as they played. People who fall for freemium seem to not want to do the math (or can't) to realize how much overpriced a freemium game really is.

 

[haruhiko]

I agree with much of what you're saying except for the stuff about 3DS (oh and N64 didn't dominate it's console generation either, it flopped in Japan and had very little 3rd party support elsewhere).

The 3DS has a serious design flaw where the bottom screen scratches and smudges the top screen. Every unit suffers from this and there is no fix, not a screen protector nor rubber bumpers. Check out your devices, you'll be slightly disappointed with it finally just like most 3DS owners. I hardly play my 3DS and even I have the lines. They mostly go away but not entirely. This, the PICA failures and crashes, the battery life, the external design. This is not what Nintendo is known for, their previous handhelds are built like a tank. The 3DS is more fragile than a PSP.

The argument that Nintendo always uses older proven tech is only slightly true. The SNES was quite a bit superior to its competitors. The N64, despite running off carts, was superior hardware to the PS1. The Gamecube was superior to the PS2. There was nothing like GBA when it came out. Even the DS was more impressive than any portable until the PSP outclassed it a few weeks later (the PSP was sold at a loss though). The Wii is the exception, it isn't the rule. The 3DS is graphically disappointing compared to even an iPhone 3GS. The 3D effect doesn't work the same for everybody either. I admit it's impressive in OOT with all the fairies and the depth, but it also suffers from ghosting.

The Wii only looks like it's still tearing up the charts because they sold a lot of hardware during the first few years. Last year the 360 outsold it during the holidays and YTD the Wii is in third place. The only game to look forward to is Zelda. The Wii wasn't as innovative as we thought it was either. When people talk about their grandma buying it, that's true but I bet grandma only has Wii Sports. Wii Sports baseball really wowed me in 2006 with the faux 1:1 and yet no game came close to that ever again, even with motion plus. The majority of the best Wii games only use motion in a gimmicky tacked on way (like NSMB and DKCR). It was little more than a fad. The non-HD graphics look weak on my 52" display. (BTW, what you said about the 720p and the viewing distance is true because say if you have a 50" set and sit 10' away, you don't get the full resolution. That's how 360/PS3 devs can make sub-HD games and people hardly notice).

Nintendo has always been innovative, they invented the dpad, popularized using the analog stick for 3D control, introduced force feedback to the masses, had four ports built in for multiplayer, the Wii, the DS, etc. The 3DS isn't innovative though, it's disappointing. The Wii is nearly dead and the Wii U has me quite worried that they are headed in the wrong direction.

I would love to play all their great franchises on my phone. Why would they have to give up innovation? I love Nintendo, I've loved Nintendo my entire life (seriously, I loved Donkey Kong the arcade game when I was 2). I want them to do the right thing and regardless of what many of our inner fanboy is thinking, the right thing is to eventually go software. I predict that two years from now, Apple and Nintendo will have a jointly-owned company that makes iOS games. That 2007 rumor before there was even an app store said they would do this and port DS games (back then at full price). That rumor was probably based on talks that fell through. The times have changed and that makes way more sense to be having those talks now.

If Nintendo gives up making consoles, they can still make peripherals and software of all their awesome and timeless franchises. They wouldn't go away, they'll be around forever. Heck I think they should make a theme park in the mold of Disney complete with themed lands and Peach's castle in the middle. Metroid-themed space land. Hyrule-themed land. Mushroom Kingdom, Mario-Kart bumper cars, a Pokemon kiddie land.

Well said!!!!! It's what I'm thinking too. Thanks for typing it out.

 

[revelated]

There's an easy reason why Nintendo started slipping off. It's because they have never entered the next generation of gaming. Sega at least tried, with the Dreamcast, but they didn't market it properly at all and ended up dying in terms of console games.

Nintendo does not need to make games for iOS, at least not popular ones. Maybe they can create offshoot franchises just for iOS; create some simple platformers that don't already have established footholds. For the people who want to get their Mario/Metroid/Zelda/Wario/Yoshi/Pikmin/Pokemon fetishes satiated, you have two choices. Buy a Nintendo console, or don't and do without. I swear, all the people saying "I don't wanna buy another console!!" is just absolutely shocking me.

Nintendo's direction is troubling. But that's because gaming in general is going downhill. I don't fault Nintendo directly. They were at their best when they were competing with Sega; Sega's console demise seemed to seal Nintendo's fate for some reason.

 

[JGowan]

Double post!

 

[rovex]

If you wanted to purchase one of these type of devices...


What would you choose ?

This Awesome well made full screen beast


Image


Or this rinky dinky plastic joke with a tiny screen ....2 tiny screens

Image

Don't worry, Nintendo are probably sheeting their pants having already failed to take the Market by storm with the 3DS and in the wake of the Vita it shall only accentuate this anxiety and likewise failure.

 

[trip1ex]

I like to have fun... without purchasing and carrying an additional device.

If any company makes a fun game... I will buy it.

I'd like that company to be Nintendo... and I'm not the only one here...

So you want to play Super Mario Bros using a touchscreen?

 

[trip1ex]

I think ya'll are missing the point. In the end we have people who are willing to buy a dedicated portable gaming device, and people who, for whatever reason, are not. Those of us in the second category are not apple/android fan-boys, we aren't praying for the day that apple takes over the world, we're not console haters, and we're not trying to slap all you hard-core gamers in the face with our iPads. We just love the Nintendo brand, we love playing the games, and we'd spend a ton of money on them; but at this point in our lives the cost of adding another portable device outweighs the value of playing Zelda. That will never change for us, but we'd just love it if Nintendo would let us buy some Nintendo games - even old ones - on our iPhone/Android and we get really excited at the prospect of it.

Just like I don't carry a camera, a video camera, a cd player, and a dvd player along with my iPhone and iPad/laptop, I'm not going to carry a Nintendo DS. Plus, if we are playing games on a DS at work, it's a lot more difficult to say we were just checking our mail when the boss stops by.

I don't buy it. You love playing Nintendo games. Would spend a ton of money on Nintendo. So much money on them that you won't buy their handheld and that that will never change. Seems like a contradiction to me.

 

[TraceyS/FL]

I don't buy it. You love playing Nintendo games. Would spend a ton of money on Nintendo. So much money on them that you won't buy their handheld and that that will never change. Seems like a contradiction to me.

I resemble this remark too.... I'd love nintendo stuff for iOS, but I'm not buying a DS for the kids. I'm just not going there with expensive games and cartridges for short attention spans.

I can respect Nintendo's decision to not enter the iOS market, I wish they would, but "they" made a choice and it is theirs.

I refuse to "buy" freemium games. Not going to happen, not going to listen to whiney kids wanting the $50 car/plant/character.

My oldest would love a PS3 or XBox, but the younger two are enjoying some car racing thing on the PS2 they dug up. We are casual gamers, video games don't need to be real looking and requiring me to buy a new tv, casual entertainment......

But man, I'd pay good money for Super Mario Brothers on iOS.

 

[[DL]]

I resemble this remark too.... I'd love nintendo stuff for iOS, but I'm not buying a DS for the kids. I'm just not going there with expensive games and cartridges for short attention spans.

Do your kids WANT a DS?

 

[trip1ex]

I resemble this remark too.... I'd love nintendo stuff for iOS, but I'm not buying a DS for the kids. I'm just not going there with expensive games and cartridges for short attention spans.

I can respect Nintendo's decision to not enter the iOS market, I wish they would, but "they" made a choice and it is theirs.

I refuse to "buy" freemium games. Not going to happen, not going to listen to whiney kids wanting the $50 car/plant/character.

My oldest would love a PS3 or XBox, but the younger two are enjoying some car racing thing on the PS2 they dug up. We are casual gamers, video games don't need to be real looking and requiring me to buy a new tv, casual entertainment......

But man, I'd pay good money for Super Mario Brothers on iOS.

So you are another 1 of these dreamers who say they will pay a company lots of money and who loves that company's games but refuses to pay for the company's hardware nor its games on that hardware?

Sounds like you want something for nothing.

 

[Savor]

The biggest problem with Nintendo is they only cater to video games, one form of multimedia entertainment. Unlike Sony where gaming is NOT their only business. Sony still has their movie business with The Social Network doing very well last year. Apple competes with multimedia devices whether an mp3 player, phone, tablet, or computer. Nintendo is just starting to branch out with the 3DS with Netflix streaming and "augmented reality" which has been on smartphones for years.

Nintendo has milked the same franchises for decades now. Prior to the 7th gen, they constantly lost to Sony. Even the 20 FREE games they offered to early 3DS adopters is bulls**t. You didn't get 20 FREE NES/ GBA games. You paid $80 for them now that the 3DS price is reduced. And those games are old and available for FREE through emulation for years. I have many SNES games on my 6-year old PSP right now.

The Wii U has failed to impress me. They are just barely catching up to the HD race after 6 years? The truth is, different markets are merging that a stand alone gaming console isn't a necessity like it used to be. We now can pay 1/40th for the price of games and it doesn't clutter.

Don't get me wrong. I love Nintendo. I grew up on them. But their business has been based on rehashing and nostalgia. The paradigm has shifted. If they go the way of Sega by becoming strictly a software developer, I wouldn't care either way. I've been playing Super Mario Bros on my iPod touch and Sony PSP for FREE via emulators. When Sega released Sonic 1 and 2 for iOS, I really didn't care for it when it is in my PSP right now and has real buttons. Apple has the cash reserves to buy Nintendo if they wanted to. Companies like Nintendo, Sony, RIM, and Nokia have all been a victim to Apple's success. They all felt that ripple effect across all multimedia markets.

 

[eah2119]

Well, I still like buttons. But the portability and less expensiveness of iOS just kills the buttons. How 'bout this: Apple buys Nintendo. Then, Apple can sell all the mario games on the Mac App Store! Problem solved!

 

[AppleTech22]

Good iOS has won the war

 

[[DL]]

Good iOS has won the war

No, DS still remains the best selling console, and Mario is still the best selling video game series. People enjoy Nintendo as much as they did back then. And that is a lot of enjoyment.

 

[tigress666]

Well, I still like buttons. But the portability and less expensiveness of iOS just kills the buttons.

This is how I feel about using my iPhone vs. buying a handheld game machine.

Though if iOS games go the way of freemium, it might convince me a handheld game machine is a better way to go for gaming.

Granted, I think there is some way to do freemium that wouldn't be so bad. For example not totally free at first but how EA does with Sims where you can still buy the basic game and play that. And eventually expand on that game by buying extras that allow for extra functionality (you still have to play in game to get the perks, but you expand the game to have more game play).

 

[TraceyS/FL]

Do your kids WANT a DS?

One of them does....

So you are another 1 of these dreamers who say they will pay a company lots of money and who loves that company's games but refuses to pay for the company's hardware nor its games on that hardware?

Sounds like you want something for nothing.

We have a Wii, we have a GB color and 2 GBA. But I'm over cartridges (we have leapsters too) hence not buying DS's in the past and I honestly don't think that my kid would be happy with a DS for long because honestly they wouldn't have a large variety of games on it because of the price issues. Right now they have a ton of choices.

I don't want something for nothing, but as we own 3 Touches, 1 iP4, 2 iPads I'm just not interested in "investing" in another platform. If i did, the 3D variant wouldn't be the way I went - the one child that wants the DS has some significant double vision issues and struggles with 3d anyway (as do I).

But if the opportunity presented itself, I'd not hesitate to spend $9.99 for Super Mario Bros for iOS. I realize it will probably never happen though.

 

[divinox]

That might help. Other ideas are for Apple to spend money to develop a flagship iOS game in-house to raise the bar, or partner with big name developers for exclusive releases. I doubt they'll do it though because Apple treats gaming like they do eBooks. They'd rather use both markets to sell more hardware than actually get vested in them. Which is why the iBooks app remains mediocre and devs are able to flood the app store with 1000 different flash games that start with the word Doodle.



One thing I hate about iOS gaming is that Gameloft is one of its premium developers but all it does is rip off IP. Same with Zynga and Rovio. iOS has quality issues.



I read that only 1-5% of purchasers actually spend money in-game. Yet that's enough to turn a profit on Zynga games, which are basically skinner boxes. For a game that would go on a Vita or 3DS, with more substantial dev costs, longer dev cycles, and brand recognition, I don't think Freemium economics would make it worthwhile.

Plus Iwata has pledged to maintain the price point (value) and quality of games that Nintendo develops.

Nintento was built on quality; remember the seal of approval?

Crap(ps) was in essence what killed the Atari, and Nintendo learned from that lesson. From the looks of it, Apple is hardly paying attention to this part of computer history*.

As for producing "simple" "cheap" games, and using "freemium models (etc.)", it very well might happen - but not outside of the Nintendo platform. At least not for a long while, and surely not until someone dumps a ****-ton of money on them. It runs counter to everything they are, both mentality-wise and business-wise.

* This is why multiple appstores are a great idea, as there should be plenty of people who would pay extra if all apps in the store were of top quality.

 

[Liquorpuki]

Nintento was built on quality; remember the seal of approval?

Image

Crap(ps) was in essence what killed the Atari, and Nintendo learned from that lesson. From the looks of it, Apple is hardly paying attention to this part of computer history*.

As for producing "simple" "cheap" games, and using "freemium models (etc.)", it very well might happen - but not outside of the Nintendo platform. At least not for a long while, and surely not until someone dumps a ****-ton of money on them. It runs counter to everything they are, both mentality-wise and business-wise.

* This is why multiple appstores are a great idea, as there should be plenty of people who would pay extra if all apps in the store were of top quality.

This is why I don't get comparisons that act like the $1 flash game or $5 ripoff you find on iOS is interchangeable with the $40 cinematic experience you get from handhelds and consoles. If iOS devs could actually put out a quality next-gen game that provides an original experience and puts to shame games across all platforms, then yeah Nintendo would be done. But that doesn't happen. Instead this is what happens. Which is funny because this is what happened before.

iOS gamers should hope companies like Nintendo don't ever go under. Because if they did, iOS's flagship developers like Gameloft would run out of intellectual property to steal and would actually have to create a game from scratch for once. Based on their track record, that's something they have no clue how to do.

 

[tigress666]

iOS gamers should hope companies like Nintendo don't ever go under. Because if they did, iOS's flagship developers like Gameloft would run out of intellectual property to steal and would actually have to create a game from scratch for once. Based on their track record, that's something they have no clue how to do.

As an iOS gamer, I fully agree on this. And add on a lot of the other major companies that are making games for the iOS are doing them as after thoughts (Hey, we made money on our devices and I bet we could make more if we port it over to iOS). Even some of GL games are like that (Prince of Persia for example or Assassin's Creed). EA definitely does that as does Squaresoft. They in general don't put out much new on the iPhone, just ports of stuff they already made money elsewhere, iOS is just extra profit (Though Squaresoft has done a few special to smartphone apps).

Oh, and Squaresoft is one company that hasn't caved into making cheap games (though they still are cheaper than their console counterparts but they are some of the more expensive games you'll find in the app store, and they don't put them on sale often and only half price compared to GL's .99 cent sales).

But yeah, GL apparentlyl has decided iOS doesn't make them enough money and are now trying Freemium (EVIL EVIL EVIL). So.. people keep up insisting on games being .99 cents and game manufacturers are going to do stuff like try Freemium to get us to pay more so they can pay their bills. And I say this as some one who has enjoyed being able to get cheap apps (even have an app watcher for sales) because I'm on a tight budget. But I'm already seeing the writing on the wall (and if I had a better budget I'd probably try to do my part and be less cheap about what I'm willing to spend).

But even before I saw the writing on the wall (without others mentioning it to me) I knew that iOS gamers shouldn't want to see Sony and Nintendo fail because, as I said, our games really are dependent on their games (either inspired by or ports over). Unless you want to just see Angry Birds and Cut the Rope type games on iOS.

 

[haruhiko]

This is why I don't get comparisons that act like the $1 flash game or $5 ripoff you find on iOS is interchangeable with the $40 cinematic experience you get from handhelds and consoles. If iOS devs could actually put out a quality next-gen game that provides an original experience and puts to shame games across all platforms, then yeah Nintendo would be done. But that doesn't happen. Instead this is what happens. Which is funny because this is what happened before.

iOS gamers should hope companies like Nintendo don't ever go under. Because if they did, iOS's flagship developers like Gameloft would run out of intellectual property to steal and would actually have to create a game from scratch for once. Based on their track record, that's something they have no clue how to do.

Gameloft has been involved in copying since day 1, but surprisingly nobody has sued them yet!