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Nikkei says Nintendo about to unveil its approach to mobile development [Update]

Relaxed Muscle said:
Thanks for this. Exactly my feelings in the matter.



I don't think this is listening (this was already in the plans for months) or neither is adressing the problem.
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It's irrelevant that these plans were in the works for months. Nintendo's operating loss has been a problem for three fiscal years, the Wii U has been failing for the past 11 months, and exponential smartphone growth has been visible for at least the past three years. These measures are in response to that.

Listening doesn't mean applying a situation that will sufficiently satiate investors, though. It means that Iwata has heard and understood the complaints and under his management these are the steps that Nintendo will take to address these complaints.
 
Anecdotal, but --

A number of my friends (and their families, and friends of friends) would've bought the WiiU and Nintendo Land after trying it at one of my get-togethers.

If the WiiU cost half what it does.

And if it could play DVDs/Blu-rays.

In other words, if it weren't so pricey and if it did more than play games.

So yeah, I don't think this is merely a promotional problem. Sure, none of them had ever heard of WiiU before, and they were very interested in it after having a blast with Nintendo Land -- interested enough to ask where they could get a WiiU and what it costs.

But the cost, and the limited feature set, lost Nintendo the sale.
 
7DollarHagane said:
Because smartphone games have about as much in common with nintendo's games as those same 80s cartoons did with an NES game.
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There's no reason Nintendo should be limited to their existing games or even existing IPs. They can leverage those assets, but with a new platform also comes a blank canvas. I just don't see them getting people to come back to their platform in large numbers, I think it is just going to continue to decline. At any rate, it still hasn't found its floor, and when it does, it's still a reduced footprint from which they simply cannot make as much profit as the investment community rightfully expects. They need to find revenue streams and profit centers outside of their existing platform models, and mobile seems to be one way to do it.

I simply call for a new, true third pillar, something off their handheld device, something off their console. It could be mobile gaming, it could be third party, it could be real estate -- it doesn't actually matter what it is. Edit: Although if I'm honest, mobile/third party games development is at least closer to their core competency, but I actually think non-gaming profit centers would be better for them overall. It would have them diversified, and somewhat shielded if the gaming model continues along a race-to-the-bottom trajectory.
 
Thank God Nintendo is not going to release full games on the mobile phone/tablet/whatever market!
Nintendo games should be played only on Nintendo hardware!
 
winjet81 said:
I don't see a problem with this.

10 years from now, shoe-box size, stand-alone gaming consoles will be long gone and smartphones (or similarly sized devices) will have the power to deliver all of our gaming needs...much like technologies like calculators, alarm clocks and IPods have fallen by the wayside as superfluous items.

Nintendo best be jumping on that train now as Sony and MS (to an extent) have already done.
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When a revolution of battery power storage comes around you might have a point. Getting beyond graphics found on a ps2 or original Xbox without Game Gear levels of battery life is going to prove more and more difficult.

Some of the things they would try before moving to smartphone development include-

Advertising apps
Price drops.
Companion apps
Universal handheld/portable console where all development is focused.
PC development.
PS4 development. Or multiplatform development.
A new console in 3-4 years with proper specs and killer app software.

Relying on smartphone development is the worst outcome for them and results in the closure of many of their worldwide offices and huge layoffs across the company due to the reduced profit potential offered by these devices' low margins.
 
It can't hurt. It's not to expensive to make a demo on the App Store or smaller games. It will either lead consumers to Nintendo hardware or it won't. But it's worth the cost to try and won't hit Nintendo to hard if they fail
 
rpmurphy said:
You're saying that Nintendo Directs have no value. Compared to what people had before, which required people to keep up with news feeds from various gaming blogs and news sites, much of which were too fine-grain and reported too many tidbits of no real worth (Go Nintendo) or were spotty in reporting news timely (Kotaku) or had awful ad-ridden video players (IGN), Nintendo created a digest format that's ad-free. It is useful for people with the platforms to get periodic updates on new and upcoming games and system features.
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No everysingle user see the Nintendo Direct.
 
BoboBrazil said:
You just said it yourself. It does nothing to appeal to people that don't have the consoles, which is Nintendo's problem. Putting videos of games in an app is just as pointless as a Nintendo direct for attracting people to a console.
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Having it does not exclude other methods of creating exposure for their systems and games. Which is what I was saying. How is any of the Nintendo Direct stuff a negative impact? It changes nothing for people still reading Joystiq, IGN, Gametrailers, or what have you.
 
JoeM86 said:
Where in that post did I mention the app? I was arguing against the idea that Nintendo only does Directs, when right after the directs, they release the information in all the standard ways of the industry.



Can we wait for actual statements before stating what he is actually doing.

Also, if he was listening to investors, then the entire company would be shifted to smartphones.
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You have a point there. It just makes me fear for Nintendo's future :/
 
JoeM86 said:
Where in that post did I mention the app? I was arguing against the idea that Nintendo only does Directs, when right after the directs, they release the information in all the standard ways of the industry.
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Just saying, if this is Iwata's big reveal on Thurs/Fri, you'd agree then that it amounts to very little at all since game trailers and news clearly spreads to the internet fine as is and a Nintendo Direct App isn't any sort of solution?
 
Ooh, this week gonna be gud.

My predictions:
Offical "Nintendo" app. Pretty much their website in app form, along with all direct videos.
Official "Miiverse" app. Self-explanatory
Small demos for 1st party titles released AFTER the release of console games. I.E. - One level in Mario 3D World or one race in Mario Kart 8. Give people a taste or even smaller than that, make it a little minigame like the ones in New Super Mario Bros U.
 
Aquamarine said:
It's irrelevant that these plans were in the works for months. Nintendo's operating loss has been a problem for three fiscal years, the Wii U has been failing for the past 11 months, and exponential smartphone growth has been visible for at least the past three years. These measures are in response to that.

Listening doesn't mean applying a situation that will sufficiently satiate investors, though. It means that Iwata has heard and understood the complaints and under his management these are the steps that Nintendo will take to address these complaints.
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I think it's a stretch to say that a Band-Aid-on-brain-tumor "solution" like this either reflects an understanding of those complaints or constitutes a substantive step to address them, for the reasons Stumpokapow laid out above.
 
Jesus! How hard is it to just test the waters on mobile by putting up some retro titles. Who actually plays Super Mario NES on an HDTV? Iwata has to go. Waiting for the inevitable Apple purchase.
 
Sendou said:
Many still do and it's essentially as close to free advertising as Nintendo is ever going to get.
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1) Many are Nintendo fans. That is should not be the only public that you want. Preaching to the choir.

2) Streaming and doing the trailers are not exactly free. Cheap as hell, sure. It should not be the only focus.
 
pulsemyne said:
Basically this is a glorious advertising app for nintendo. Nothing more.
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It's the start of entering the mobile world. Nintendo doesnt do things quickly.

Watch for the slow transition from mini-games/demos to F2P companion games with IAP to full paid games over the next 12-24 months.

It may be too gradual for investors though.
 
Sounds like a good approach, they could even charge for these demos/mini games, and it woundnt diminish the value of the games since they will not be full games and just mini games, and if people only want to pay for the small demo games and never go to WiiU/3DS fine you get there money, and if people do great you get more people buying your hardware its a win win for Nintendo, mobile is big in Japan and around the world it spreads the word and doesnt hurt the brand by cheaping the games.
 
JoeM86 said:
Because Metroid will suddenly change the tide? Let's look at sales for the three Prime games:
Metroid Prime: 2 million
Metroid Prime 2: 800,000
Metroid Prime 3: 1.31 million

Yeah, a new Metroid game will totally change the Wii U's direction.
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That specific game is not my point

The Wii U won't be considered worthwhile to the serious fans until the good exclusive games roll out

I also don't think the "casual" market is convinced of the value in getting a Wii U with a perfectly good Wii at home
 
I think this approach can work for them, but only if they 'knock it out of the park' with the quality of their apps. Nintendo must put serious effort and creativity into these demos. Maybe even introduce new IP on mobile first before expanding it out to their own hardware. They must demonstrate why Nintendo hardware and software is worth the added expense rather than just staying with cheap mobile games.
 
Dark Octave said:
Except in three years we'll be playing Zelda on Xbox and it'll look like this!

tumblr_lw8f05gQYT1qjyqixo2_1280.jpg


All he needs now is a gun.

LOL Accept and love it! This is the future of Nintendo!
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cp4GIDB.gif
 
jmizzal said:
Sounds like a good approach, they could even charge for these demos/mini games, and it woundnt diminish the value of the games since they will not be full games and just mini games, and if people only want to pay for the small demo games and never go to WiiU/3DS fine you get there money, and if people do great you get more people buying your hardware its a win win for Nintendo, mobile is big in Japan and around the world it spreads the word and doesnt hurt the brand by cheaping the games.
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Charge for demos/adverts?

Are you nuts?
 
Stumpokapow said:
Okay so your stance is that there is no problem with their product at a core level. Instead, it's promotion and positioning. We'll ignore the fact that that seems like an invincible defence--failure is evidence of poor positioning rather than product weakness, therefor by definition a failed product was positioned poorly while a successful one was positioned well, and we have no way of separating positioning/promotion from the product itself.

But granting that your position is correct and there's nothing wrong with Nintendo's core product. Okay.

... What if there was something wrong with Nintendo's core product? What then?
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Why does it have to be all or nothing though? I'm not saying Nintendo's product is flawless. They can definitely make even more compelling nexgen stuff (sorry but SM3D Worlds felt like an expansion to the 3DS game), and make more games that fill the void in different genres and appeal to more people.

It's hard to imagine that taking steps like these while addressing the problems I mentioned earlier wouldn't make some sort of a difference.

There's no reason to immediately resort to something as nuclear as going 3rdparty/cellphone, when there are other solutions they can approach first, that could rectify the situation.
 
TheBaronOfNA said:
1) Many are Nintendo fans. That is should not be the only public that you want. Preaching to the choir.

2) Streaming and doing the trailers are not exactly free. Cheap as hell, sure. It should not be the only focus.
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1) Core customerbase is never to be undervalued.

2) I didn't say they were free. It should not be the only focus and it is not the only focus. You could make an argument that their other marketing related ventures are inefficient but this is a different matter. If you tried to make an argument that Directs are somehow a negative then I will vocally oppose that view.
 
Jesus Christ it's fucking happening. I just thought I was fuckin' around and nothing would change on this front. Then they go ahead and do this? :o

Edit: Not getting the criticisms about this not being enough (didn't the folks who didn't want them to go full mobile essentially argue for Nintendo to leverage their IP and creative ability with a stronger presence and "cross talk" functionality on smartphone and tablet markets so as not to dilute their console/handheld business?), but I missed a Stumpy™ post so I'll brb.
 
Demos are fine, they could even advertise their own hardware on the demos.

I don't see the problem here, they are bound to release SOMETHING on smartphones and this is the least they can do.
 
Nintendo doesn't understand the mobile market. A lot of the "games" available aren't much more than glorified demos.

This is what will happen:

  1. Nintendo releases polished demo showing off a great game for 3DS
  2. Players love the demo! But are pissed its so short
  3. What Nintendo hopes will happen is for players go buy a 3DS!
  4. What will actually happen is that a legion of shitty copy-cat games will immediatly clone the experience.
  5. Nintendo is thus just providing an instruction demo and free marketing for a type of game that will be cloned to death, but with F2P stuff slapped on. That's how the mobile market works
 
Well there's one positive that could come from this.

Nintendo will have first hand knowledge on how to make new content for a different device as a 3rd party. Hopefully the process for getting their products on the App Store will influence Nintendo's own processes relating to 3rd party developers.
 
rpmurphy said:
Having it does not exclude other methods of creating exposure for their systems and games. Which is what I was saying. How is any of the Nintendo Direct stuff a negative impact? It changes nothing for people still reading Joystiq, IGN, Gametrailers, or what have you.
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How is a Nintendo app that has game trailers going to increase Nintendo's profits when the only people that will download it or Nintendo fans. Its pointless and shows that Nintendo doesn't understand what investors want. Its a half passed measure that appeases nobody.
 
I dont think Nintendo can win here. Either they continue to ignore mobile, which will obviously be bad for business and put increasing investor-pressure on them, or they start to do some games on mobile, which will start anticipation of them movng more of their assets over, thus killing whatever trust there is left in them to support their own dedicated hw properly.
 
Gaf_SentMe said:
Jesus! How hard is it to just test the waters on mobile by putting up some retro titles. Who actually plays Super Mario NES on an HDTV? Iwata has to go. Waiting for the inevitable Apple purchase.
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Nintendo doesnt even change their games on the eShops, they dont change their retro games unless they are full remakes or remasters. Why the heck would they ruin Super Mario Bros by making it a crappy touch game and devaluing it at 99 cents?
 
DrLazy said:
Nintendo doesn't understand the mobile market. A lot of the "games" available aren't much more than glorified demos.

This is what will happen:

  1. Nintendo releases polished demo showing off a great game for 3DS
  2. Players love the demo! But are pissed its so short
  3. What Nintendo hopes will happen is for players go buy a 3DS!
  4. What will actually happen is that a legion of shitty copy-cat games will immediatly clone the experience.
  5. Nintendo is thus just providing an instruction demo and free marketing for a type of game that will be cloned to death, but with F2P stuff slapped on. That's how the mobile market works
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Ugh, this is so damned true.
 
Sendou said:
1) Core customerbase is never to be undervalued.
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Then where is my eShop multiconsole account. Or you mean core as "fan".


2) I didn't say they were free. It should not be the only focus and it is not the only focus. You could make an argument that their other marketing related ventures are inefficient but this is a different matter. If you tried to make an argument that Directs are somehow a negative then I will vocally oppose that view.
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They become kind of negative if they don't deliver the hype or try to be replacement for other avenues (like E3 last year)
 
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