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[soundwave05]

The bigger difference between Nintendo and Sony/MS is not so much that Nintendo doesn't have money.

The difference actually is Nintendo does not have other divisions to subsidize losses with.

At Sony, if the game division loses a few hundred million dollars (like they did in 2001), its not really a huge problem because Sony has 10 other divisions and its a given that at some point not all the divisions are going to be profitable. At Microsoft, it's not the end of the world even when the game division racks up unbelievable losses.

Its a bit different for Nintendo to say "hey, our video game division will be unprofitable this year" because they have no other divisions to work with. The stockholders would not accept that type of business philosophy from Nintendo.

It's just not the way Nintendo does business anyway and it never will be.

 

[lexi]

The bigger difference between Nintendo and Sony/MS is not so much that Nintendo doesn't have money.

The difference actually is Nintendo does not have other divisions to subsidize losses with.

At Sony, if the game division loses a few hundred million dollars (like they did in 2001), its not really a huge problem because Sony has 10 other divisions and its a given that at some point not all the divisions are going to be profitable. At Microsoft, it's not the end of the world even when the game division racks up unbelievable losses.

Its a bit different for Nintendo to say "hey, our video game division will be unprofitable this year" because they have no other divisions to work with. The stockholders would not accept that type of business philosophy from Nintendo.

It's just not the way Nintendo does business anyway and it never will be.

Nice post, though videogames may no longer be Nintendo's sole division, with their artistic talent and liquid assets they have the potential to become the biggest producer/distributor of anime.

 

[soundwave05]

Nice post, though videogames may no longer be Nintendo's sole division, with their artistic talent and liquid assets they have the potential to become the biggest producer/distributor of anime.

Yup. I see them becoming huge in this market in the next five years. It won't happen overnight, but I think this will be successful for them.

Anime is a business which is big in Japan and growing worldwide. Nintendo has the $$$ and international distribution to really take that industry to the next level.

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

I was under the impression that Nintendo was already a huge licensor, though just not on the level of Bandai yet.

 

[soundwave05]

I don't think they will license their stuff out too much.

In the future they will make their own movies and some of the merchandising to go with it.

I think they have the potential to take anime and make it something bigger, and more globally accepted because they dwarf other anime companies and already have extensive experience in this arena thanks to Pokemon.

 

[evilromero]

I think Nintendo has some hot little cartoon assets such as Kirby and Pokemon. In fact I'd like to see them introduce a truly unique take on the Mario universe from the creators of the Kirby cartoon.

 

[Odnetnin]

talk about a ridiculously long ban for nothing...

anyhow.. in reply to the topic. This thread is innane but hell, I think they've lost the connection with their consumers on many many levels. The die-hards will get revolution but if Nintendo doesn't have a good show at E3, I'll be happy to stick to PS3 for my JRPG/Jcompany titles. (I'm sure it'll pick up all the multi-platform titles too). I'll wait for revolution to go budget before I pick it up if its going to be wacky and not robustly supported by 3rd parties.

 

[DrGAKMAN]

Nintendo already did seperate the PokeMon Company (which is pure profit) so as to do just that...and when you think about it their "pillar" strategy of having a console, GameBoy and NDS lines seperate from each other...it all goes to the same place, but that's just one way they're becoming "bigger". Like, if the consoles end up losing money for them, they can always fall back on the other 2 tiers (NDS , by itself is pretty profitable I'd imagine).

I've said in other posts about how Nintendo can improve their image and such and going into animation is a good idea for them. It gives them the appearance of being bigger than they are to show that they're not "dead" to the eyes of the mainstream. Having an animation line also allows for more avenues of profit and crossing over franchises from movies to shows to games and back which is like self advertising as well. Also, let's say other Anime companies just follow Nintendo (One Peice, Naruto & Jump already are like Nintendo staples in Japan) and Nintendo systems are "known" for being the home for anime games and thusly...anime fans as well. I've also said that Nintendo has sorta tried to boldly skew their audience older by occassionally publishing "M" games, but that doesn't work 'cos they're few and far between and usually just don't do too well (PD, Conker, Eternal Darkness, etc.)...so having anime (which ranges from everyone to adult) games/licences means having a full range of titles diverse from Nintendo's usual everyone games/occassional adult games. If Nintendo wants to appeal to everyone and also show that they also do more "grown-up" games then having a bunch of anime titles really helps that image better than trying to change overnight with one or two games.

Also...I think Nintendo should licence out more of their properties for more than just movies & TV too...like more products. And I was also thinking that if those "video game award shows" weren't gonna give Nintendo any relevance than Nintendo needs to make their own NP Awards show or even just an NP TV show or something. They could also do stores like the Mac Depot's or even gaming cafe's or arcades. Again, to show how much bigger/diverse they're becoming and also to self-advertise.

 

[jarrod]

I was under the impression that Nintendo was already a huge licensor, though just not on the level of Bandai yet.

Nintendo isn't, their subsidiaries (The Pokemon Company, WarpStar, etc) are.


As for the topic, Nintendo in general hasn't lost it but EAD certainly has imo. Though EAD seems to be slowly turning around now thankfully.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

that's what creative company do, telling people what they want.

Do you know you want a side scroller game like Mario when Mario didn't exist ?
Do you know you want a dungeon hacking game like Zelda when Zelda didn't exist ?

the fact is you don't, it's companies like nintendo made it happen, and you are like, "cool that's just what I want all along."

Umm, no.

There's a difference between making something that you'd hope people will love and praise as revolutionary, and saying that people will love it and praise it as revolutionary before it hits shelves.

 

[jkooXL]

I grew up with Nintendo, was a game counselor there through High School, and was one of the biggest Nintendo fans around until the Gamecube hit. What happened?? Not ONE AAA game this generation!! The last AAA game they produced was Majoras Mask!!

The closest this generation was Wind Waker and even that failed to hold my interest long enough to finish it!! Shocking, disturbing and very sad.. Even this generations Mario was a complete dud in my opinion. What happened to the Nintendo of old? All this generation seems like is bad rehashes, and they are getting worse. And my gamecube is getting dusty!!!

The Nintendo loving child in me waits with secret hopes that the new Zelda will be a return to form but I have to admit the odds have never been worse...

 

[Crankenstein]

Nintendo has lost some lustre, but they continue to out shine any other game developer. But therein lies their problem, third parties shy away from Nintendo hardware.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Super Mario Sunshine
Zelda: The Wind Waker
Metroid Prime
Star Fox Adventures
Mario Kart Double Dash


Every one of them a tremendous let-down. Yeah, they've lost a step or two. Or three. I love my Gamecube, but I'd be lying to you if I said it wasn't mostly because of the third party games available for it.

I look at Mario Sunshine and I think, "Okay, what were they going for here?" Obviously, Mario 64 was successful, so they tried to make a sequel to that, even retaining most of it's flaws(Crappy hub, collecting coins for stars). Somewhere in the design process they knew it wasn't going to be as good as Mario 64, so they came up with the whole "Mario's on vacation!"/"It's not the REAL sequel to Mario 64!" bullshit. Yeah he's been on vacation, all right. Almost 10 years.

The Wind Waker has two major flaws. One, it's got an art-style that is a major turn-off to many gamers. And two, it's dirt-easy to complete and is disgustingly short. Yeah, they left out a few dungeons for the inevitable sequel that was inevitably canned in favor of the new Zelda.

Metroid Prime is a disappointment to many and an achievement to many others. Fans of the classic games are(mostly) disappointed. Some embraced it for what it was, while a lot of folks(myself included) didn't think the game did the series justice. There's a certain thrill about plaforming in a game. The sheer fun that comes from jumping from one ledge to the next. It's a thrill we've experienced since Pitfall Harry leaped his way onto the 2600. Sure, you could jump in Metroid Prime, but it didn't feel right.

Star Fox Adventures...well, that's what happens when you let another company make your game for you. It worked with Donkey Kong Country, but lightning doesn't always strike twice. Star Fox suffers in a lot of areas that I probably shouldn't have to elaborate on. Generic gameplay, collect-a-thon, it's dirt simple, it's all been said a thousand times before.

Mario Kart DD was a major let-down to me. Actually, Mario Kart 64 was a major let-down for me, and was also what prompted me to sell off my Nintendo 64 in 1997. The original Mario Kart for the SNES was a fast-paced game, with many areas that required precise turning, quick reflexes, and good skills. Mario Kart 64 was a dull, slow-paced party game. Mario Kart DD is much like Mario Kart 64, but even slower, and even more party-oriented.

Another problem with Nintendo's games is they lack the distinct "Feel" of their older games. You know the feeling. It's that "arcade" feeling. The feeling you get when you want to play a game over and over again. They need to make their games more fast-paced. And for god's sake, make them more challenging!

 

[GDGF]

Well,of course most people see gamecube and the N64 as fucked up system,pretty much all the big third party support from Japan is now on the PS2.I don't blame their reactions.And developers made the right thing by doing that.

But in the last 2 years Nintendo seems to want to built back bridges with those japanese developers.

Of course,if they don't want Nintendo back,they have pretty much the faith of that company in their hands.Nintendo can only do so much.

Having a good console and support from them,the rest will come from others.

Where the hell have you been, Rainbow? (if you are indeed the Rainbow that used to post on these here boards with great authority many many years ago)

Nice to see an old timer back.