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[Perkel]

http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASHD1700Y_X10C14A1000000/

Iwata was quoted at the press conference today saying that he feels responsibility for the poor business performance at Nintendo, and he is sorry to all shareholders. He says the most important thing is to revigorate Nintendo's business as quickly as possible. He will NOT resign, but stay in office to carry that through.

I wonder what is his plan.


I mean they are already in deep shit with situation becoming worse from all sides.

 

[gogogow]

I don't think Nintendo are capable enough to compete on hardware performance. I can't see them having the ability to bring out a console that's more powerful then the PS4. If they can't do that then they should pull out of the home console hardware business.

Lol, what ability do you need? What's so special about the XO and PS4? They are basically off the shelf PC parts. It's whether they want to or not. Besides the CPU, the Wii U is made up of PC parts too.

 

[ElectricKaibutsu]

The $250m are just a foretaste of the next years. 3DS and WiiU are declining or already dead and every new system will cost alot of money until it can make money.

Oh OK, so $250m isn't necessarily a lot for Nintendo to lose in one year, but because they will most likely lose more next year it's seen as the start of (or continuation of) a bad trend.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Jburton]

Wii U is dead, no matter what way Nintendo dress it up the fact of the matter remains ....... the market has rejected it.

No specific game or price drop is going to suddenly make appealing to the gaming masses and the Wii crowd is gone and not coming back.


This is what happens when you consistently make machines and market it them with the message that this is not for the other crowd, we are not vying for the same customers as Sony and Microsoft.


As much as MS screwed up in a lot of ways this year they never acted as badly as Nintendo did towards the core market during the Wii and DS days ...... they couldn't scrape the shit that was the traditional gaming market off their shoes fast enough as they ran after the everyone else.


Even the hardcore Nintendo market are not buying this, they kept Nintendo afloat in the home console space during the N64 and GameCube days.


I don't want them to disappear (Sega was bad enough) but Nintendo have a major problem .......... an awful lot of people when considering a home console now only have two elements in the equation, Sony and MS ....... Nintendo don't even come into the equation.

 

[Tom Nook Sawyer]

Lol, what ability do you need? What's so special about the XO and PS4?

Could be the fact that they're priced at well more than 100 dollars more than any of Nintendo's successful platforms.

 

[Sandfox]

I don't think Nintendo are capable enough to compete on hardware performance. I can't see them having the ability to bring out a console that's more powerful then the PS4. If they can't do that then they should pull out of the home console hardware business.

It wouldn't exactly be hard for them to parts on that level and I would expect them to hire the right people if they wanted to design something like the PS4.

 

[orioto]

People said the same for the 3DS

Comparing the 3ds situation to the wiiu one is still a thing really ?

About the topic, everyone is analyzing moneys and assets and stuff, but the real nintendo problem is how they are losing relevancy on the market, and basically being a fan service company right now.

 

[Aquamarine]

http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASHD1700Y_X10C14A1000000/

Iwata was quoted at the press conference today saying that he feels responsibility for the poor business performance at Nintendo, and he is sorry to all shareholders. He says the most important thing is to revigorate Nintendo's business as quickly as possible. He will NOT resign, but stay in office to carry that through.

It's probably not rational to say this, but I'm so frustrated with Iwata at the moment that I just want him to leave.

No significant dividends once again, operating losses identical to last year AGAIN, software and hardware sales far below projections AGAIN...it's just infuriating.

He keeps promising change, and in the end, it's just the same thing year-after-year.

But now their cash is draining, their gross margins have plummeted, they're paying retail to keep their dead console afloat, they have massive amounts of unsold inventory, they still can't get their damn software out on time, royalty revenue is vanishing as Western third-parties abandon the two systems...it's just one big MESS and I need to get offline and calm down. :-(

 

[Griss]

I can't believe I stayed up all night for the NPD thread, went to bed and missed this, the news I was really waiting for.

Also, I posted that Nintendo could lose half a billion dollars this year two months ago using 'back of the envelope' estimates and nobody replied, I think everyone thought I was crazy
Looks like they did better than that, but my guess wasn't crazy. They lost a quarter billion. Wow.

 

[MisterHero]

So good time to buy Nintendo shares?

I'd say no. It's pretty high for how "cataclysmic" their situation is right now, and there's no reason to expect it to take off.

For what it's worth I never expected the WiiU/3DS to surpass or even meet the prior generation. The prices alone cemented that.

*just checked* wow. $18

 

[SmokyDave]

Destroyed it so much that it had its best month.

And yet its 'best' month is lower than any month for either of the other machines

 

[Azure J]

I'm busy playing games when my brother randomly tells me

Him: "Hey, they revised the Wii U estimates down to 2.8 Million Consoles"
Me: "2.8 million less? Knew it. That 9 million figure was LOLOLOL--"
Him: "2.8 Million consoles."
Me:

"You mean in one region?"
Him: "Nope."
Me:

"You sure you're not mistaken? Didn't they sell 2.8 Million consoles worldwide?" [sheer disbelief intensifies]
Him:

Me: ...

"Are you sure you didn't mean 2.8 Million consoles less?"
Him: Check the first page when you get back on GAF.

I'm still speechless. Holy shit there will be bloodshed.

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

Iwata says Wii will avoid major droughts that plagued GameCube. (March 2007)


Iwata promises that 3DS will avoid major droughts that plagued Wii and DS.

Iwata promises that Wii U will avoid major droughts that plagued 3DS and Wii.


Iwata apologizes for Wii U drought in January and February.

Iwata needs to leave ASAP.

http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASHD1700Y_X10C14A1000000/

Iwata was quoted at the press conference today saying that he feels responsibility for the poor business performance at Nintendo, and he is sorry to all shareholders. He says the most important thing is to revigorate Nintendo's business as quickly as possible. He will NOT resign, but stay in office to carry that through.

Is there still a possibility that he gets deselected by the board of directors. I remember there being some satisfaction vote percentage and if it was under 50% the person would be taken off. Am I being delirious?

 

[Duxxy3]

He hasn't said how he's going to fix this before the company is no more, just that he is going to... somehow.

 

[Zinthar]

https://www.google.com/search?q=xbo...j7&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8

Surely you realize those are all sourcing the same estimate from an analyst with Nomura equity research, which isn't exactly a household name in either buy-side or sell-side research. The basis for his $1B loss estimate is vague, and requires one to assume that Microsoft is still losing money on each unit of the Xbox 360 that's sold. So he wants us to believe that somehow they managed to earn a profit of $1.3B in FY2011 in the Xbox division all while losing money on the Xbox 360...

It's hard to imagine why no other analyst managed to reach this conclusion.

 

[Terrell]

I have this sneaking suspicion that the future direction of Nintendo and the stability of Iwata's job will depend on who inherited Yamauchi's voting shares.

 

[Steroyd]

The difference between reality and dream has been exposed, that doesn't make it any less painful, yikes!

 

[eyeball_kid]

I think Nintendo is as much a brand as it is a gaming company. It's a brand representing games that kids want to play, and with the Wii they tried to expand that to "games the whole family can enjoy". But I think Nintendo (Iwata) underestimated how much the iPhone/iPad and other tablets would change this branding statement and the whole landscape of casual gaming. Parents are giving their little kids a tablet or phone to play games on because that's what the parents already have. This is a dangerous situation for Nintendo because it threatens their mindshare for a new generation of kids growing up. Then you have the Xbox One trying to encroach on the "family console" and the PS4 firmly going after the "core" gamers. And to top it off, Nintendo's new home console was named after a previous console that the casual adult gamers were already bored of, and there's precious few games for the WiiU that would bring long-time Nintendo fans back to the fold.

It's just been a marketing disaster for Nintendo, and I'm not how they can react to this sea change quickly enough, because they are not a company which traditionally reacts fast. I've never been one to believe this, but I'm starting to think Nintendo should at least put some of their heritage NES and SNES titles on iOS. This will at least put get people thinking and talking about Nintendo games again, and give them a taste of the Nintendo style of gaming. Similar to what Apple did when they put iTunes on Windows -- breadcrumbs to lead them to their own walled garden.

This would at least create some buzz. Longer term, I think Nintendo is really going to have to step into the 21st century. The kinds of things that Sony is doing to sync the Vita and PS4, and creating a modern online service, those should be the baseline. There are technical solutions to protect young kids without neutering the whole service. But as I said, this is a branding problem as much as it is a technical one, and Nintendo needs to think long and hard about how it can survive in the landscape of touchscreen gaming and remain the go-to company for kid/family gaming.

 

[batteryLeakage]

http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASHD1700Y_X10C14A1000000/

Iwata was quoted at the press conference today saying that he feels responsibility for the poor business performance at Nintendo, and he is sorry to all shareholders. He says the most important thing is to revigorate Nintendo's business as quickly as possible. He will NOT resign, but stay in office to carry that through.

I like Iwata and would like to see him stay if possible, but he must realize that something has to change. Hopefully he and the top brass at Nintendo aren't too stubborn or stuck in their ways. It is clear that any one game will not turn the tide. If Mario couldn't do it then nothing will.

 

[L Thammy]

I feel Nintendo's issues are far more systemic than Iwata and what needs to happen is massive strategy change regardless of who is at the helm.

I was thinking something similar. Whether Iwata is fired or not is really not addressing the issue. They need to change how they develop hardware, software, how they support their systems, and how they relate to their partners. A new CEO might bring about those changes, but there's no guarantee that they will.

 

[Tookay]

Liking Iwata and Iwata having a positive philosophy towards good video games ≠ commercial for success for Nintendo

It's not a complicated puzzle, and it's not like Nintendo shit out the Wii U one afternoon after a single meeting (even if it seems that way). Millions would have been sunk into R&D for a product, and accompanying software, they expected to see success. It did not. The success is not there. Clearly, by definition of real world performance, bad decisions were made that need not be repeated in the very near future. Action need to be implemented to reverse damage caused by these bad decisions, and if a person's leadership and overall corporate philosophy is failing to do this then clearly changed need to be bad. They need to be made to benefit the company in question, in order for them to flourish and continue providing customers with the high quality products we know they can.

The notion that Iwata's positive software quality philosophy is mutually exclusive to Nintendo seeing commercial success is a fallacy and one that will literally doom the company. Nintendo can see commercial success and produce some of the best content in the medium. They've done it before, including recently. But they need to do it without burning through millions of dollars due to bad ideas and busted future planning and ignorance towards the global market, and if an overhaul in senior management is necessary for this to happen, then it should happen.

Just because Iwata, Miyamoto, and other senior staff at Nintendo are incredibly intelligent, talented, educated, and valuable in certain areas of video game development does not mean they're infallible in running the company at large and dictating its future to the benefit of that software and commercial success.

I don't want this being hidden at the bottom of the last page. Well said. Again.

I think the Iwata years have been a great boon on the software quality front. On a long-term business vision/paradigm-front, I think they've inflicted some deep, deep wounds that - if ignored - will deny many people from actually experiencing their quality software.

 

[The_Lump]

I don't think Nintendo are capable enough to compete on hardware performance. I can't see them having the ability to bring out a console that's more powerful then the PS4. If they can't do that then they should pull out of the home console hardware business.

Wut? Of course they have the ability. Or did you mean 'Can'?

Also anyone calling for Iwata's head simply doesn't understand the world of big, publicly traded corporations. It would be enormously damaging to step down right now.

Let's not forget Iwata is responsible for dragging Nintendo back into relevancy after the GC dark days. He might not have been responsible for the DS but he is responsible for steering that ship into enomrmous profits. He is responsible for Wii and 3DS l, which have made Nintendo buckets if money.

You don't sack this guy after one failed concept. It's a very Western thing to immediately fire everyone as soon as one thing goes awry, and it usually doesn't lead to good things. It would be irresponsible at this point to disrupt the company like that and fire somebody who has brought the company success on the whole. I'm not sticking up for the guy because I like him or because I'm defending WiiU - I dont particular like him and WiiU has been a failure of Iwata's doing - I'm just trying to be logical.

In short, he probably has another year or so of good will to get things right.


Edit: and FWIW, I would like to see him step down and for some fresh ideas at the top. But then I'm not a shareholder

 

[CoffeeJanitor]

http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASHD1700Y_X10C14A1000000/

Iwata was quoted at the press conference today saying that he feels responsibility for the poor business performance at Nintendo, and he is sorry to all shareholders. He says the most important thing is to revigorate Nintendo's business as quickly as possible. He will NOT resign, but stay in office to carry that through.

Please understand.

Please don't fire me.

 

[DeFiBkIlLeR]

They could bring out a console more powerful than the PS4 tomorrow but they'd still have the problem of not enough games being developed and released.

Nintendo relies too much on 1st party development, until they find a way of letting go of their control freakery that seems to run through their corporate mentality, the biggest problem for any home console from Nintendo will be a shortage of games.

 

[MEsoJD]

Yes, Iwata, YOU ARE OUT OF HERE!!!!

 

[Kissenkopf]

Funny how many experts we got on Gaf who could run a company like nintendo without any problem.

 

[Exterminieren]

You don't sack this guy after one failed concept.

Two. At the very least.

 

[Prade]

Keep ignoring everyone Nintendo. The west is only gonna be tougher for you if a drastic change in your philosophy doesn't change. Also, this came to mind.

 

[duckroll]

It's probably not rational to say this, but I'm so frustrated with Iwata at the moment that I just want him to leave.

No significant dividends once again, operating losses identical to last year AGAIN, software and hardware sales far below projections AGAIN...it's just infuriating.

He keeps promising change, and in the end, it's just the same thing year-after-year.

But now their cash is draining, their gross margins have plummeted, they're paying retail to keep their dead console afloat, they have massive amounts of unsold inventory, they still can't get their damn software out on time, royalty revenue is vanishing as Western third-parties abandon the two systems...it's just one big MESS and I need to get offline and calm down. :-(

I think the reality is that everyone involved with Nintendo and at Nintendo, including Iwata himself, are all extremely frustrated. The fans are frustrated with how the WiiU ecosystem has turned out, the investors are frustrated at the poor performance continuing, partner developers are frustrated that their games are can't sell to their full potential on the WiiU because of the situation, Nintendo staff are frustrated that they don't seem to have a great solution to any of this, etc.

It's just one big shitty situation. Iwata resigning at this point would probably feel like some sort of relief that "change is coming", but it doesn't guarantee it, nor does it put Nintendo in a better situation at all. So yeah, it's really tough to see a "good" solution right now.

 

[Azure J]

Liking Iwata and Iwata having a positive philosophy towards good video games ≠ commercial for success for Nintendo

It's not a complicated puzzle, and it's not like Nintendo shit out the Wii U one afternoon after a single meeting (even if it seems that way). Millions would have been sunk into R&D for a product, and accompanying software, they expected to see success. It did not. The success is not there. Clearly, by definition of real world performance, bad decisions were made that need not be repeated in the very near future. Action need to be implemented to reverse damage caused by these bad decisions, and if a person's leadership and overall corporate philosophy is failing to do this then clearly changed need to be bad. They need to be made to benefit the company in question, in order for them to flourish and continue providing customers with the high quality products we know they can.

The notion that Iwata's positive software quality philosophy is mutually exclusive to Nintendo seeing commercial success is a fallacy and one that will literally doom the company. Nintendo can see commercial success and produce some of the best content in the medium. They've done it before, including recently. But they need to do it without burning through millions of dollars due to bad ideas and busted future planning and ignorance towards the global market, and if an overhaul in senior management is necessary for this to happen, then it should happen.

Just because Iwata, Miyamoto, and other senior staff at Nintendo are incredibly intelligent, talented, educated, and valuable in certain areas of video game development does not mean they're infallible in running the company at large and dictating its future to the benefit of that software and commercial success.

Great stuff. This whole situation is as fascinating as it is frustrating. I've been one of the guys on that "I dislike the lack of action taken but generally agree with Iwata's philosophies/upbringing" train for the longest, but this is really the point where he has to take a set in a more diminished role along with everyone else that continue to play like this is an insular 80s era world. Nintendo absolutely needs this sooner rather than later. They are tripping over themselves because of weeds getting too entrenched in the garden.

 

[Aeriscloud]

And yet its 'best' month is lower than any month for either of the other machines

I know, I just find it impressive that it was able to do that along side such giants.

 

[GrotesqueBeauty]

Conventional wisdom is that panic mode Nintendo is the best Nintendo. Guess we'll get a chance to find out.

 

[cyberheater]

Lol, what ability do you need? What's so special about the XO and PS4? They are basically off the shelf PC parts. It's whether they want to or not. Besides the CPU, the Wii U is made up of PC parts too.

It wouldn't exactly be hard for them to parts on that level and I would expect them to hire the right people if they wanted to design something like the PS4.

Well they had the same ability for WiiU and again went for a gimped design. For them, having backward compatibility built into hardware was more important then overal console performance.
I can't see how they could produce a machine like the PS4 and still maintain hardware BC.

 

[thepotatoman]

I feel Nintendo's issues are far more systemic than Iwata and what needs to happen is massive strategy change regardless of who is at the helm.

What are you talking about? The whole point of getting a new CEO is to have a fresh face that would have the ability to massively change strategy.

What other reason is there for replacing the CEO?

 

[The_Lump]

Two. At the very least.

Explain?

From a business perspective;

Wii: monumental success
3DS: success
WiiU: Failing.

I don't get your maths.

 

[fredrancour]

Explain?

From a business perspective;

Wii: monumental success
3DS: success
WiiU: Failing.

I don't get your maths.

3DS ain't succeeding because of the 3d or general design decisions, and has made no real effort to retain the expanded audience.

 

[liger05]

We going to see the Gamepad dropped and made optional now?

 

[BGBW]

As much as MS screwed up in a lot of ways this year they never acted as badly as Nintendo did towards the core market during the Wii and DS days ...... they couldn't scrape the shit that was the traditional gaming market off their shoes fast enough as they ran after the everyone else.

Never understood this line of thinking. The GBA was home to SNES ports whereas the DS provided new ideas and the Wii was home to some of their best games. I mean we had two Mario Galaxies compared to Mario Sunshine on the GameCube. Yes they tried to appeal to a broader market but to say they abandoned their core is a pretty questionable statement.

 

[Tookay]

Conventional wisdom is that panic mode Nintendo is the best Nintendo. Guess we'll get a chance to find out.

We've been living the chance to find out for a few years now. Draw your own conclusions.

(Great games, indifferent market performance.)

 

[SmokyDave]

I know, I just find it impressive that it was able to do that along side such giants.

Aye, to be fair I said the same thing in the NPD thread. It was an impressive result.

Still, there will be no turnaround. The die is cast.

 

[Kouriozan]

About time.
Strangely I'm a bit excited for the upcoming investors meeting.

 

[CoffeeJanitor]

Also, how do the Iwata supporters not realize this guy has been protecting his ass for a while now? All of the excuses, all of the assurances, with nothing to show for it. If he really cared about his consumers he would have already resigned.

Clown.

 

[duckroll]

What are you talking about? The whole point of getting a new CEO is to have a fresh face that would have the ability to massively change strategy.

What other reason is there for replacing the CEO?

His point is that Iwata resigning will not ensure that, especially in a big Japanese company with a lot of history. The business culture is such that even if Iwata were to go, it seems more likely for them to replace from within than to seek out an outsider with the the experience and qualifications to enact major change. The main reason to replace a CEO in such cultures is for someone to take the fall to appease shareholders. Nothing more.

 

[cyberheater]

Conventional wisdom is that panic mode Nintendo is the best Nintendo. Guess we'll get a chance to find out.

I would like to see them significantly drop the price of their software at retail and in the eShop. I don't see that happening any time soon.

 

[gogogow]

Well they had the same ability for WiiU and again went for a gimped design. For them, having backward compatibility built into hardware was more important then overal console performance.
I can't see how they could produce a machine like the PS4 and still maintain hardware BC.

Neither can Sony or MS, so what's your point?

 

[GCX]

Conventional wisdom is that panic mode Nintendo is the best Nintendo. Guess we'll get a chance to find out.

I think we're well past the panic mode now. We'll get a change to find out what comes after that.

 

[disap.ed]

The biggest mistake Nintendo has made in recent years was not expanding during the height of Wii's success. If they had scaled up their development capabilities back then they could have avoided the software droughts that have damaged 3DS and Wii U, instead they kept everything in the warchest and their teams just couldn't make the games quick enough.

If only, they paid out a lot of this money in dividends!

 

[The_Lump]

3DS ain't succeeding because of the 3d or general design decisions, and has made no real effort to retain the expanded audience.

It's making money and selling well; ergo it's a success as far as an electronics company is concerned.

 

[GamerJM]

the idea is to separate the type of software that comes to both systems. there are a lot of console-like games on the 3ds already, so theoretically, the next handheld will probably be slightly more powerful than the vita, and graphically resemble a wii u. so my idea is that they take their successful handheld line and basically give it a tv out.

the other handheld would be for an extreme lower end part of the market and feature more mainstream games. it would basically be a brand new line of hardware meant to be inexpensive and push towards a larger market.

or in short:
wii u -> no follow-up
3ds -> 'hybrid' high end handheld (similar to the current 3ds line) targeting a traditional enthusiast market
no current predecessor -> mass-market handheld

i just think chasing the microsoft/sony market is a recipe for disaster, and they lost their chance at consoles unless they do something incredibly drastic with the next one like have oculus rift in every box. this would also help keep risk minimal by requiring less manpower per project. if they do bigger power increases next gen, they're going to have to be at a wii u/vita level for the handheld and beyond that for the console.

Okay, so, this is an interesting idea, but I'm still not convinced it would sell. The 3DS successor system, I mean. I feel like it would face similar issues that the Wii U and Vita face. It sounds like the general idea behind it is that it's basically a portable console, and that Nintendo's games with more handheld-esque design philosophies would stay on the "mass-market handheld". The market doesn't want a portable console, which is a big problem that the Vita has. The 3DS has both games with console and handheld-esque design philosophies that do well but I'm not convinced that the system would do well with just the console-esque design philosophy games. And I also think that the 3DS successor system would probably end up being too expensive to sell well.

Also, side question, but how would local multiplayer work on the thing? Does everyone have to own their own system? Can you buy controllers that you can hook up to the system when using the TV-out? (thus driving up the cost of the system even more)

 

[spekkeh]

I'm busy playing games when my brother randomly tells me

Him: "Hey, they revised the Wii U estimates down to 2.8 Million Consoles"
Me: "2.8 million less? Knew it. That 9 million figure was LOLOLOL--"
Him: "2.8 Million consoles."
Me:

"You mean in one region?"
Him: "Nope."
Me:

"You sure you're not mistaken? Didn't they sell 2.8 Million consoles worldwide?" [sheer disbelief intensifies]
Him:

Me: ...

"Are you sure you didn't mean 2.8 Million consoles less?"
Him: Check the first page when you get back on GAF.

I'm still speechless. Holy shit there will be bloodshed.

Surely this doesn't come as a surprise? Nintendo was doing less than 50k a month in the US at some point. With the holiday sales they could only have reached slightly over a million in their biggest market.