Nintendo Finally Considers Smartphone Move After Third Straight Annual Loss

[Icaras]

Difference, SEGA thrived on mediocre titles and marketing, they never made any good software or hardware.

Nintendo on the other hand, has a deep history of incredible Hardware and Software.

I beg to differ. I don't think you'll find a better console in history than the Dreamcast when starting right out of the launch gate. Such an impeccable onslaught of both quality first and third party titles and in my opinion, no other system since the 16-bit days has there been such great software support during it's launch period and within the first year than the Dreamcast did. It was a shame it had such an early demise.

As for Nintendo, their 3rd party support (for consoles) has and always will be, crap. That is one major reason why I think Nintendo should forfeit their console business entirely. They have already had three console generations where pretty much the only games coming out were 1st party titles (N64, Gamecube, and now, Wii U). What is the point of building and selling a game system that only the maker company can be comfortable making games for? It's ridiculous business if you ask me.

 

[jicon]

Difference, SEGA thrived on mediocre titles and marketing, they never made any good software or hardware.

Nintendo on the other hand, has a deep history of incredible Hardware and Software.

That's absolutely ridiculous. Tonnes of great software titles over the years... Hang On
Outrun
Shinobi
Alex Kidd
After Burner
Wonder Boy
Phantasy Star
Crazy Taxi

Game Gear was a bit ahead of its time. Genesis, Master System, and Dreamcast were great machines.

Nintendo's Wii U hardware and software decisions seem... lacking. Again underpowered CPU, poor network development, and from what I've read from a 3rd party developer, a horrid debug/compile routine from the Visual Studio to their compiled code for the box.

Have a read. Real interesting take.

 

[Tech Genius]

Yay

Smash Bros FTW…what is up with all the pokemon comments? Its smash bros for the win!!

 

[ipedro]

Nintendo as an iOS/Android game accessory maker for their exclusive titles

Nintendo is known for thinking out of the box and taking risks on unproven concepts so if any company has a chance at merging safely into the smartphone/tablet gaming industry it's the Big N. Sometimes they do it successfully (Wii's motion gaming changed the industry and won the last generation race) other times not so much (i.e. VirtualBoy, WiiU) but they do try and I think they will again.

Nintendo could stay in the hardware business by launching iOS/Android accessories needed for their particular games. For example, they could sell an iPhone/iPad dock that would come packaged with a Wiimote and nunchuk for playing Super Mario 3D titles or a Balance Board for WiiFit and Party games. The Nintendo dock would plug into a TV to allow for big screen play. The iPhone/tablet would handle the game processing/graphics and the dock would serve as a game controller hub and TV output.

Portions of games could be played on the phone/tablet by itself when away from the tv i.e. Toad's puzzle stages from Super Mario 3D World. Apple's App Store would take care of distribution and Game Center would manage achievements and online play, all areas that Nintendo has failed to master. Nintendo could have a Miiverse app as their Nintendo social media, another app that could be used on the phone/tablet away from the tv.

Nintendo's first party IP library is invaluable. I'm confident that we haven't seen the last of this company, not by a long shot.

 

[PrsnSingh]

I've always wanted to play Pokémon and Mario on my iPhone. Especially with game controllers being supported on iOS 7 now.

 

[Lennholm]

I really hope they don't get serious about making AAA titles for iOS. Playing Mario with touch screen controls is going to suuuuck.
Making their games for 3rd party devices is only going to make it worse in the long run, tarnishing the experience of the games and removing their ability to create unique experiences on unique hardware.
(Anyone remember how it worked out when Apple licensed Mac OS?)

I have a Wii U and 2DS in my household right now and the biggest issues I see for Nintendo right now are:

1. The lack of core ORIGINAL titles. (Seriously, how can they repackage Super Mario 64 and Ocarina onto the DS ecosystem and NOT think people are going to yawn?)
2. Price point. (Nintendo games are not known for their depth of story. I have a hard time even paying $20 for DS/3DS games when they are on sale or in a bin)

If Nintendo did license SOME of their IPs to Apple for a one-two year exclusivity deal, you would see Nintendo bring in A LOT of dough. The key is not to price the stuff as much as a DS/3DS game.

The 3DS has tons of original titles, last year was a fantastic year for the platform.
A game doesn't have to have a deep story to be a good game worth to spend money on. Nintendo titles have always been primarily focused on gameplay, which is the most important aspect of a game.

 

[lolkthxbai]

Right now, they should start by looking into creating games that take advantage of the iOS controller APIs and create controllers themselves. They way they have a platform that and business strategy that will help them sell hardware + software.

 

[ipedro]

The idea behind it is ridiculous. Who's going to play a Zelda puzzle game and then go out and spend hundreds of dollars on another console and games?

I don't know, maybe the people spending hundreds of dollars on Angry Birds accessories, physical board games, toys, plush dolls, colouring books, etc. A successful franchise on iOS drives other non-smartphone non-casual-game businesses.

 

[Madmic23]

Stinks of SEGA.

Sorry, but no one really gives a crap about Sega. Some people might have had a soft spot for Sonic, but Nintendo has a large number of A-list franchises that people love.

Mario, Mario Kart, Mario Tennis, Mario (absolutely anything), Zelda, Metroid, Punch Out, F-Zero, Donkey Kong, Pokemon, Kirby, Star Fox, Smash Bros, Brain Age, etc.

Nintendo could easily become the top tier game publisher for iOS, and charge a premium for their games as well.

 

[djtech42]

Difference, SEGA thrived on mediocre titles and marketing, they never made any good software or hardware.

Nintendo on the other hand, has a deep history of incredible Hardware and Software.

Mediocore titles? What are you talking about?
And the Dreamcast was somewhat ahead of its time, but unfortunately it flopped.

The Wii U is not very good.

 

[Radiating]

Nintendo as a company is just completely tone deaf. The Wii U is known to suck and the 3Ds was bound to be replaced by smartphones faster than point and shoot cameras.

They banked on making a gaming system that is weaker than an iPhone 5S and wanted it to justify itself. The reason consoles sell is because of performance. The Wii U had none.

Hand held consoles were more portable and more importantly convenient versions of gaming consoles, but smartphones are the ultimate convenient gaming platform.

Basically nintendo missed the ball completely.

 

[DrManhattan]

Release all your games (except where Wii controls are necessary) to iPad, and release an official Nintendo bluetooth controller. They'd make a killing. I'd buy a ton of games.

 

[springsup]

I don't know, maybe the people spending hundreds of dollars on Angry Birds accessories, physical board games, toys, plush dolls, colouring books, etc. A successful franchise on iOS drives other non-smartphone non-casual-game businesses.

Each of those is much, much cheaper than what it costs to play Zelda or Mario or whatever on a Nintendo console.

I bought an Angry Birds T-shirt for one of the kids. It's a cute T-shirt, cost €10. I didn't buy the T-shirt because of the Angry Birds tie-in; it was just a nice shirt. The fact it was AB didn't make me want to buy it any more, and even turned me off a little bit.

The cheapest I could play Zelda on a Nintendo console is much more than that.
In Nintendo's ideal case - no preowned games:

2DS (€125 on Amazon) + Zelda (€35) = €160.

 

[Traverse]

On one hand, I'm sad to see Nintendo doing bad. They were such a huge part of my childhood. On the other hand, I would love to see Pokemon, Zelda, etc. come to iOS!

Ocarina of Time and Yellow Version was the best!!

 

[mabhatter]

Nintendo's problem is that while it's resources are culturally significant, they are not "precious" other than thru artificial copyrights. Most of the successful games on iOS DIDN'T EXIST before iPhone came out. The same way Mario and friends created their generation of hardware. iPhone created a whole new sea... it wasn't a fish to swim against they could ever beat.

Nintendo has done "worse than nothing" with their management of Wii and Wii U. I include Wii because they took YEARS to bring their "precious" properties to the new platforms. It's that classic Japanese problem of wanting double the cash by restricting supply to half. I picked my Wii up fairly early on... and it's been lost for 3 years now... it got unplugged from my TV because "not enough holes" and never got put back. Granted I grew up and spend a lot less time playing games now versus 5 years ago, but even then, Nintendo failed the basic mission of making something I wanted to BUY and PLAY. For the large outlays of cash for console games now, that bar got boosted a whole lot higher when "toy" games like Angry Birds came to gobble my time for a few dollars ... AND they get constant updates... just waiting for that little light in the App Store. Nintendo games still take YEARS with no updates and minimal online features... they've been fighting a land war in Asia while the other side is giving rides in their shiny new airplane.

 

[WaxedJacket]

Bring mario galaxy series and the New Super Mario Brothers series to Steam and I'll consider them an instant buy.

 

[kupkakez]

I think they just need to get out of the hardware making business.

In my ideal world I'd be able to play Nintendo games on my iPad/iPhone. I'd gladly pay to have that available.

 

[Lennholm]

Nintendo as a company is just completely tone deaf. The Wii U is known to suck and the 3Ds was bound to be replaced by smartphones faster than point and shoot cameras.

They banked on making a gaming system that is weaker than an iPhone 5S and wanted it to justify itself. The reason consoles sell is because of performance. The Wii U had none.

Hand held consoles were more portable and more importantly convenient versions of gaming consoles, but smartphones are the ultimate convenient gaming platform.

Basically nintendo missed the ball completely.

The Wii U is not known to suck, most people who own it or have tried it speak positively about the experience. The 3DS was introduced when the smart phone boom had come into full force and it has held its ground far better than most people thought it would (just compare it to PS Vita).

Consoles do NOT sell because of performance, none of the current gen consoles are any more powerful than an average gaming PC. Consoles sell because of exclusive content and features, anyone who buys a console for performance is a fool.

Smart phones that have gaming as a secondary function, can only offer terrible touch screen controls and can't even be comfortably held in a way suitable for gaming is far from the ultimate gaming platform.

 

[Dave-Z]

It’s not as simple as enabling Mario to move on a smartphone.

Actually, it is. Seriously.

I'd pay a premium price for Mario and Zelda on iOS. But I won't buy Nintendo hardware to play.

 

[Rychy]

People are dreaming if they think any real Nintendo games will be officially released on a non-Nintendo device ( maybe some kind of companion app ).

I wouldn't even want to play any Nintendo games on iOS. But I hate gaming on phones and tablets. I'll take a 3DS any day.

 

[G51989]

Mediocore titles? What are you talking about?
And the Dreamcast was somewhat ahead of its time, but unfortunately it flopped.

The Wii U is not very good.

Yes the Wii U is not very good, I expect Nintendo to try something else, but their Handheld units have been a MASSIVE success with a loyal fanbase.


And yes, SEGA never made very many good games compared to Nintendo, I would know this as I grew up with it.

The Dreamcast was not ahead of its time, it was out a year and a half or a year compared to the GameCube/PS2/XBOX which blew it out of the water.

 

[Renzatic]

And yes, SEGA never made very many good games compared to Nintendo, I would know this as I grew up with it.

Sega made TONS of awesome games. On the Genesis and Saturn, you had the Sonics, the Shining series, the Phantasy Stars, the Oasis Series, Daytona, Sega Rally, Ecco the Dolphin, Virtua Fighter, Panzer Dragoon...

...I could go on. Nintendo was great, still is really, but they had a very narrow selection compared to Sega.

 

[jamesnajera]

Tim, please work out an exclusive deal with Nintendo.

 

[jontech]

Nintendo should partner with Sony and apple and should produce games on the ps4 and ios.

They don't need to move to vita yet as they have thier own much larger ecosystem in the DS hardware

However they have lost a lot of ground with games and series like little big planet and lego series which uses more popular characters with established stories
They have an onslaught of hardware and software to compete with. Microsoft Google Sony and apple. They have thier hands full and need one or two of them to partner with

 

[nia820]

Dare i say it. Nintendo should come up with their own phone. Have it android based. But includ the Nintendo eshop so you can download gb and gba games and snes and n64 titles. Keeping it childhood friendly they could have loads of patrental control options. And the phone would come with an add on control.

I really don't want to play a Nintendo games on ios. Playing sonic on ios is already a nightmare.