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Post by Lee on Sept 20, 2011 11:25:03 GMT -5
I was looking through the news on Yahoo today, and came across this article called "Companies Where Employees are Losing Hope". Nintendo was number six on the list. Here is the excerpt:
Nintendo's once nearly insurmountable lead in the video console sector has been lost, and its sales have fallen further and further behind rivals Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT - News) and Sony (NYSE: SNE - News). The rise of the Google (NASDAQ: GOOG - News) Android operating system has also encouraged video game publishers to make more products that run on that platform. The 2010 market share of Nintendo DS fell from 70% in 2009 to 57%. Nintendo's growth has also been damaged by the rise of the iPad and iPhone. The future is even grimmer. "iSuppli predicts Nintendo will sell 70 million 3DS gaming systems by 2015, a figure that is 21 million less than the 91 million in sales racked up by the original DS at the same point in its sales cycle," according to the Unofficial Apple Weblog. Nintendo announced an unexpected quarterly loss on July 28, and its shares plunged 20%. The stock is down from a 52-week high of 26,780 yen to 11,850 yen. In late 2007, shares reached 80,000 yen.
Before I sound too negative, I will start by saying my favorite games from childhood were Super Metroid, Starfox, and Super Mario World. Those games were fantastic and made me love Nintendo, for better or worse.
I wish Nintendo would make a system that only plays movies and games, I don't need wiggle waggle bullshit or some controller that looks like an iPad. Casual gamers are fickle. That is why the campaign to localize games like Xenoblade really caught fire with hardcore gamers...we don't want Nintendo to fail, but they seem intent on stubborn business plans that don't benefit themselves or the gaming community. It is still early for the 3DS, but everyone knows there will be a new model announced in a few months. Meanwhile, the WiiU hasn't even come out, so we may all need to just be patient and see if the technology is actually cool; but I'm honestly very skeptical.
It hurts to see them to doing so badly these days, its like seeing an old childhood friend turn into a reckless meth addict, but you know in your heart that they are only doing it to themselves. What are your thoughts on the current state of Nintendo?
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Post by Ryzuki on Sept 20, 2011 11:32:57 GMT -5
I feel ya. I grew up with Nintendo and still use my Wii more than my Xbox. (Mainly for Tatsunoko vs Capcom and Smash Brothers.) But They changed... they're trying to match up to the hardcore gamers with microsoft but it's not really wroking out. As of late, the best game they've come out with is Mario Galaxy 2. I wish Xenoblade would come here and i don't see why they won't let it, but whatever. I could care less about stocks and sales, all i can say is that they better step it up. Zelda should help a lot when it comes around along with Kirby and Mario for back up. They should really make a new Star Fox game though.
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Post by Warchief Onyx on Sept 20, 2011 11:40:57 GMT -5
I loved Nintendo back in the day, but I've been continuously disappointed by them ever since the Wii launched. Even though the N64 and the GC weren't the greatest, a lot of Nintendo's games during those times were solid gold and the portables were always great.
But ever since the Wii launched it felt like Nintendo cared more about selling the gimmick to housewives and senior citizens than focusing on great games. Even their portables have fallen victim to this with the 3DS (though I personally don't like it when business analysts lump in the DS with iOS and Android-base smartphones). The Mario Galaxy games were fantastic, but I still have a ton of buyer's remorse over the Wii; something I never felt with any other system before.
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Post by llj on Sept 20, 2011 12:01:39 GMT -5
This has been building up since the N64. It's really very simple. They used to have tons of third party help, but for whatever reason, ever since the 16 bit wars ended, their third party support has been dwindling with every new console they've released.
A console lives and dies on their third party support. It doesn't matter how good your own games are, without outside help you're missing a large share of the pie. And Nintendo's own games are still very good today, never mind the whiny online bitches. They still make quality games, so you can't blame their own game development crews for dropping the ball here.
Look at Sony. Even though most everyone owns a Playstation system (whether it be PS1, PS2 or PS3) you'd be hardpressed to find any fans out their who have a diehard allegiance to the company. I'm not even sure many gamers actually LIKE Sony--they don't strike many gamers as a company that's particularly passionate about video games--unlike Nintendo and Sega, whose passion for video games is equally strong as their passion for making money--the feeling is that Sony is here solely for the money. But consumers buy their consoles because they have a lot of games, because they have a lot of third party support.
This rule has been true going back to the 8 bit days. The company with the strongest third party support always wins.
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Post by Ryzuki on Sept 20, 2011 12:09:32 GMT -5
I loved Nintendo back in the day, but I've been continuously disappointed by them ever since the Wi launched. Even though the N64 and the GC weren't the greatest, a lot of Nintendo's games during those times were solid gold and the portables were always great. But ever since the Wii launched it felt like Nintendo cared more about selling the gimmick to housewives and senior citizens than focusing on great games. Even their portables have fallen victim to this with the 3DS (though I personally don't like it when business analysts lump in the DS with iOS and Android-base smartphones). The Mario Galaxy games were fantastic, but I still have a ton of buyer's remorse over the Wii; something I never felt with any other system before. Between all the consoles Nintendo has made, the N64 is my 2nd favorite. (SNES being 1st) I don't own a 3DS and i'm gonna wait a while before i do, since i don't know if they plan on making more stuff for it. Not only do i hate it, but i don't understand why they put the DS with Androids and IOS like you said. (It's not a phone you fools!) Mario Galaxy was good and is one of the most popular, however TVC and SSBB are what do it for me, along with the old school titles they sell in Wii shop.
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Post by Lee on Sept 20, 2011 12:16:45 GMT -5
For what its worth, I am excited about the new Kirby Wii game. It looks like the Kirby sequel that I've been waiting on for ten years (although the GBA games were not bad.) The funny thing is that the Wii sequel looks eerily similar to the Gamecube Kirby game that got cancelled.
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Post by Ryzuki on Sept 20, 2011 12:30:32 GMT -5
I liked the GBA kirbys, but it was kinda boring after a while unless you had friends. This new one looks a lot like the N64 Kirby to me. And that's a good thing, i liked how you could mix two powers to make a better one. EX. Sword Kirby and Fire kirby make a really long sword made out of fire. The DS kirby was good... but it was just a remake of the SNES kirby i played in my childhood.
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Post by Mr. Saturn on Sept 20, 2011 12:51:09 GMT -5
Before I state anything, the Wii has still sold over 30 million more units than either the 360 or the PS3 and the 3DS, for all its gimmickery and clusterfuckery, has still done better in the post-launch sales than the PSP.
I can forgive Nintendo for pursuing the casual market as aggressively as they did, considering they were pretty much fighting for their existence as a home-console manufacturer after the relative failures of both the N64 and the GCN. I also know that the Wii has far more to offer than a lot of people give it credit for, but honestly, if Nintendo don't actively court decent publishers and developers with the Wii-U, I don't think they'll make it through the next decade.
I mean, the Wii-U is off to an okay start with the likes of Battlefield, SFXT and Arkam City all making a home of Nintendo's next'un, but if they're just going to plop out next year, long after they've enjoyed better runs on the other two systems, then they're kinda redundant already.
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Post by nintendolegend on Sept 20, 2011 12:51:11 GMT -5
I love Nintendo.
I mean that in the true sense of the word: I am fondly attached to Nintendo, and would (and do) sacrifice parts of my life (money, time, effort) in order to try and be closer to Nintendo.
I can genuinely credit Nintendo with enhancing my sense of self-worth, self-confidence, intelligence, imagination, and other noteworthy tangible qualities, even into pattern recognition, reading comprehension, and problem-solving skills through extensive play of their games.
I sincerely hope the best for them, and that they will be around for generations to come.
I have defended them at every step – from their decision to keep the N64 as a cartridge machine, through the mini-disk of the Gamecube, and the not-as-powerful-as-its-peers Wii.
However, there is a metaphor that, in observing Nintendo’s habits, comes to mind: A serial killer using a Frisbee as his weapon of choice.
You see, a Frisbee is a lot of fun. It looks pleasant. It can be enjoyed with friends. It is even cost-effective. But can it really kill as many people as the other weapons out there? Doubtful. Yet, it hinges on one risk: If you DO manage to go on a mass-murdering spree with a Frisbee, you will certainly make a name for yourself, even inspirationally so, and garner copycats. Yet the question behind the motive remains: Why a Frisbee?
Too many of Nintendo’s big (as in, potentially make-or-break-our-company big) decisions seem to have little basis in actual business sense. They seem to take risks… for the sake of taking risks. Motion-control gaming? Okay, great, fine, you did it, cool. But I am a gamer, casual or hardcore, and I should not have to shake my controller to perform an on-screen function. There is nothing appealing about the waggle. This is a very basic premise that could have been arrived at with even minimal playtesting and consultation.
The fact that such epic series as Legend of Zelda and iconic characters like Mario continue to exist speaks not only to Nintendo’s brand strength but also to their massive potential, one that I hope is not being squandered. I truly believe that there are still people at Nintendo with great imaginations that can unleash wonder upon the world, and could, theoretically, join hands with third-party developers to make such wonders spread further wide.
But, dangit Nintendo, wonder doesn’t get you everywhere, especially in an industry sense. Please, start being smarter.
I sure hope there are executives making excellent decisions behind closed doors that we do not yet know about.
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Post by vetus on Sept 20, 2011 12:55:41 GMT -5
In an era when I start losing my passion in videogames a lot (to the point I would rarely play videogames), Nintendo DS and Wii refreshed this old, lost passion. Expecially when I first bought and played Nintendo DS I felt as delighted as a little kid which it plays its first videogame. Of course this doesn't mean I ignore the rest platforms like Xbox360 but it was thanks to Nintendo that I found back my passion for videogames generally.
Putting aside that, I hate it when economy analysts try to talk about videogames industry while they have absolutely no idea about videogames by speaking with only numbers. I also hate all these "portable consoles vs smartphones" articles where "smartphones can totally replace portable consoles" just because they can do more stuff and they're powerful. You know something? Computers could always do more things than consoles and they were always more powerful than consoles? Have you seen people stop buying consoles because of these facts? No. Because there are lots of great games that you can't find them on computers. The same applies to smartphones. Besides, can you compare smartphone's controls with a portable console's control?
So how I feel about Nintendo in one word? Awesome!
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Post by Weasel on Sept 20, 2011 13:04:55 GMT -5
Nintendolegend, that is simultaneously the worst and best metaphor I've ever heard. =P
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Post by vetus on Sept 20, 2011 13:24:08 GMT -5
Which meeeeeeeeans...?
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Post by nintendolegend on Sept 20, 2011 13:29:32 GMT -5
Nintendolegend, that is simultaneously the worst and best metaphor I've ever heard. =P Thanks/screw you. But seriously, I'm good for those...
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Post by Rash on Sept 20, 2011 13:38:14 GMT -5
The Wii is the first Nintendo home console I didn't purchase. I had total brand loyalty up until that system reared its ugly head. Today, I hope Nintendo goes the way of sega and just makes games for other consoles.
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Post by llj on Sept 20, 2011 13:47:28 GMT -5
The Wii is the first Nintendo home console I didn't purchase. I had total brand loyalty up until that system reared its ugly head. Today, I hope Nintendo goes the way of sega and just makes games for other consoles. Ugh, no. One thing I like about Nintendo is that their consoles, well at least the SNES, N64, and GC, are solidly constructed consoles. I really don't know if I can take another decade of Sony's "it's not our fault that it breaks after 2 years!" attitude.
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