Nintendo pressured to jump to iPhone by investors...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-10/mario-pressured-to-jump-to-iphone-as-nintendo-wii-3ds-slump.html

Got this from Touch Arcade here...

Opinions?

edited 12th Aug '11 4:32:36 AM by onyhow

I would say "I hate smartphones" but I don't actually know what smartphone is besides the fact they are getting popular.

Nintendo tried (and succeeded) to rake in the casuals form the bottom of the barrel, then the bottom fell out. I didn't think in 2006 it was possible to be more casual than the Wii (=stereotypical but not inaccurate Wii audience of little kids and old ladies) but five years later the lowest common denominator keeps getting lower and lower.

There's really no way they can compete with the likes of Apple and Facebook in the herding and exploitation of ubercasuals. I recall Sony discussing a PSP-themed smartphone, and given the quality of Nintendo's products, jumping on that bandwagon might not be an awful idea. Or it might ruin them, what the fuck do I know.

I just hope this means they've learned their lesson. Aim higher. Hypercasuals are fickle. They were indistinguishable from regular video game enthusiasts in the 80s and 90s but now they've budded off into their own exclusive market with almost no overlap whatsoever. Nintendo cannot be a video game company by trying to cater to these people.

edited 12th Aug '11 4:47:45 AM by Mammalsauce

If there's almost no overlap, why can't Nintendo jump into that market? Iwata's position is simple - Nintendo doesn't develop for their competitors' platforms. But if smartphones are going after a completely different audience, then they're not competitors. Just an untapped market.

edited 12th Aug '11 5:27:38 AM by Shale

Nintendo's biggest problem right now is a distinct lack of games. Really. The Wii is in the Next Generation Downslide and the 3DS just plain does not have very many games out right now. so why are people telling nintendo to develop games for OTHER PLATFORMS?

They can jump into that market, and I would like to think that if they did, they would sever the casual side of their development from video games completely so they could cater more to their Mariozeldametroid fans (me) and cater to the casual philistines and never the two shall meet. If they made it their sole business plan instead of an offshoot (Nintendo Casual Bullshit Gaiden Inc.) then they wouldn't be much of a developer any more in my eyes, as much as a megacorporate blob like Zynga.

It would be antithetical for Nintendo to make something for a piece of hardware that doesn't have their logo stamped on it. Yes, I know about the Philips Cd-i blah blah blah

(I know companies are made to make money, but there is a dividing line where all the credibility and integrity is on one side. Capcom, EA, and Activision are doing a tightrope act on this line. No, I am not trying to make a logical point, this is my opinion and no true scottish game developer makes games for facebook.)

Can we just label this as Nintendo's investors Completely Missing The Point?

http://tinycartridge.com/post/8790770090/investors-are-telling-nintendo-to-trade-their

I think it's safe to say that they are. At least some of them.

I tracked down the andriasang article too for your viewing pleasure:

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2011/06/30/nintendo_shareholder_meeting/

I swear to god if gaming shifts focus to shitty casual smart phone games I am done with gaming.

It won't, but expect the divide between hard core and casual (ugh, hate those designations) to widen ever further. Nintendo is the gaming company most caught in the lurch. The Wii was a huge boon for them, but smartphones let you replicate so much of the Wii's gameplay that it's hard to convince people to buy the shovel-ware games that are their bread and butter for $20, $30 or even $50 when you can get the same game play on a smartphone for $0.99. Fruit Ninja is about as entertaining as 90% of what's available for the Wii.

Personally if I was Nintendo I'd seriously consider what I'm doing, maybe even spin off a smartphone oriented division.

If the smart phone kills the gaming industry the gaming industry deserved it. A $200+, American, phone with 99 cent games, and you're worried. I supposed the movie industry should be worried about $400, American, computers with users watching Youtube, Atomfilms and Newgrounds?

Nintendo's lack of games, they did that to themselves with hurting third parties, but third parties aren't helping themselves either. Shovel Ware is not a good thing. Shovelware isn't their bread and butter Just Dance, and Wii Sports Resort are. Good games that encourage consumers to get more, games like Just Dance are their best sellers and they are not Shovel Ware just because you or I don't care for them.

My opinion? The investors can go **** themselves.

Stick to making actual games with your time and resources. Casual games are already bad enough, no need to dig an even bigger hole.

edited 12th Aug '11 4:55:00 PM by Signed

Problem is, you're speculating on what is essentially a break from tradition. Nintendo deciding to move to third-party smartphones would be like Porsche taking the 911 and heavily restyling it: it most likely wouldn't go over well.

edited 12th Aug '11 4:57:05 PM by RocketDude

If they lose the investors they lose the resources, unless gamers themselves can keep Nintendo afloat without forcing them to compromise too much.

edited 12th Aug '11 4:58:22 PM by Recon5

If that happens, Nintendo might have to actually produce like they did in the olden days.

OH GOD, THE GAMERS WOULD HAVE A VOICE.

This MUST be stopped.

Reason I hate Nintendo:

People ask for something new in the Chrono series. Nintendo's response: "That's not what the sales say, trololol~"

...yeah.

edited 12th Aug '11 5:08:09 PM by RenaTheArchmage

So they'll start listening to what the audience wants? ninja

I had something a lot more hilarious in mind when I first read this without thinking about what you're talking about

edited 12th Aug '11 5:09:32 PM by Signed

But Nintendo doesn't make the Chrono series. That was Square.

^^Sigh.

edited 12th Aug '11 5:10:38 PM by RocketDude

That's what I meant when I said "when I first read what you said without thinking"

hehe...restyling the 9/11 events to somehow make it benefit Porsche...somehow.

edited 12th Aug '11 5:12:17 PM by Signed

Not seeing anything wrong with casual games. They're just games as much as "hardcore" games. As long as the game's controls don't suck or is hard to play, there's no problem.

And frankly, there's no need to do this whatsoever. Nintendo already has great systems, they just need more games as is. The 3DS is so low on them, it hurts. The Wii just needs more games with controls that aren't a pain to work with. Not a hard concept to make the controls work.

Frankly, the "untapped market" doesn't need to be tapped by them whatsoever. Now if only we could get the Seal Of Quality back.

That actually meant something? I though it just meant it's an officially licensed game.

edited 12th Aug '11 5:18:37 PM by MrPastry

I'd think that if Nintendo did make smartphone games it would just further the perception that the 3DS is failing. People would think they're giving up on it and finding another platform to fall back on. Which might lead more third parties to back off from the 3DS.

The Seal of Quality didn't mean anything. People act like it meant all the games were good for every Nintendo system before...

The Seal of Quality was originally a marketing concept to deal with the glut of crappy shovelware that crashed the market in 1983. Nintendo used to practice a rather extreme policy of controlling how many games could release on the NES in a year, and the seal of quality was intended as a way to prove that the games were officially licensed - and theoretically, not crap.

Regarding the OP, why in God's name would Nintendo jump ship already? I think their investors are really getting taking in by the smartphone bubble. The 3DS' real problem is a lack of software - fix that and we'll talk.

Considering the price drop and all the games coming out this fall, I think the 3DS's sales will improve significantly before the year ends.