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[allan-bh]

can you PM me this forum thanks.

Me too please.

 

[PhoenixDawn]

is retro nintendo's only western developer?

I think it's there only first party western development studio at least. They have a few 'second party' ones, but not too many major ones I'd say.

 

[Doublethink]

Per a source on another forum I probably shouldn't link to: DmC < 200K

In its first month, DMC4 sold 295k on the 360 and 233k on the PS3. So basically the combined numbers for DmC sold less than the single console numbers for DMC4. Time to revise those numbers again, Capcom!

 

[Tobor]

You're forgetting the part about how Nintendo had big guns coming and everyone discounted them saying that it would never come back, how it was doomed against the Vita, etc.

We all know how that turned out. I just feel bad they discontinued the system after a few months of sales figures. What a shame, it had a lot of potential.

I'm forgetting nothing. They launched the Wii U with a brand new Mario game, the biggest gun they have, to try and stave off what happened with the 3DS and it has flopped.

So what now? Take $100 off the price? Another Iwata pay cut? More deep bows and apologies?

 

[neptunes]

What do you mean by this?

Their management of foreign subsidiaries still feels like it hasn't evolved much since the 90s. They don't grant NoA the Independence the same way SCEA and SCEE has. Yeah, you can say they invested in Retro and established NST, but they still answer to NoJ. Combined with the ability to have any real 'say' in regards to a console's hardware development. NoA seems like overseas branch of Corporate Nintendo of Japan, just kept on a tight leash.

 

[Opiate]

vitas 35k vs wiiU's 55 ain't bad.

No, you've got this backwards. It isn't that Wii U is okay, so 60% of Wii U isn't bad; it's that Vita is a complete disaster, so the Wii U in its third month doing only 150% of a failed platform is truly awful.

 

[Roman]

I really wish people would stop pointing to the 3DS as the definitive reason Nintendo can turn everyhthing around with Wii U. The cycle has just repeated from last year's version of this with the PS3 and Vita. There are so many things that Nintendo could do with the 3DS that they can with the Wii U and many things the 3DS had going for it (lack of real competition for one) than the Wii U doesn't.

Edit: DmC is a fucking failure.

Not even Nintendo would want a repeat of the 3DS situation. On the other hand it's looking more and more like comparable measures are necessary.

 

[SoulPlaya]

Sony just needs to drop the price with Vita. A real price drop too, not that BS value shit.

 

[AniHawk]

Nintendo made a really hard decision with the 3DS to drop the cost by 1/3 just 5 months after launch. I think it's worth considering another hard choice and change the name of the console to Wii 2 just three months after launch.

this would constitute an actual relaunch. the wii u name is awful, but i doubt they'll do it. it would mean screwing up production lines everywhere. it would be worse than shutting down production like they did for the gamecube in 2002.

 

[DaBoss]

Their management of foreign subsidiaries still feels like it hasn't changed since the 90s. They don't grant NoA the Independence the same way SCEA and SCEI has. Combined with the ability to have any real 'say' in regards to a console's hardware development. NoA seems like overseas branch of Corporate Nintendo of Japan, just kept on a tight leash.

OK, this I agree with and I see what you mean.

 

[ULTROS!]

Just wondering, the 3DS and Wii U are being sold for a loss right? And someone said Vita isn't being sold for a loss, is that correct?

 

[GavinGT]

Sequel to be placed a million and one years in the future confirmed.

 

[Pein]

I'm forgetting nothing. They launched the Wii U with a brand new Mario game, the biggest gun they have, to try and stave off what happened with the 3DS and it has flopped.

So what now? Take $100 off the price? Another Iwata pay cut? More deep bows and apologies?

Iwata needs to come and bow to me personally, miyamoto too!

 

[Pachterballs]

No, you've got this backwards. It isn't that Wii U is okay, so 60% of Wii U isn't bad; it's that Vita is a complete disaster, so the Wii U in its third month doing only 150% of a failed platform is truly awful.

DMC4 sold 295k on the 360 and 233k on the PS3. So basically the combined numbers for DmC sold less than the single console numbers for DMC4. Time to revise those numbers again, Capcom!

oh goodness

 

[AniHawk]

I think it's there only first party western development studio at least. They have a few 'second party' ones, but not too many major ones I'd say.

they have nst. they made console games until last gen when they became the mario vs. dk studio.

 

[ffdgh]

Nintendo made a really hard decision with the 3DS to drop the cost by 1/3 just 5 months after launch. I think it's worth considering another hard choice and change the name of the console to Wii 2 just three months after launch.

Hmm I recall they rose the price of the 3ds after postive responses at E3

 

[Branduil]

i remember a thread on neogaf from about 10 years ago wondering if nintendo was creatively bankrupt. i didn't agree with it at the time, and i still don't think they were. but they are now.

there was a spark in the creation of the wii and the ds. touch handhelds hadn't ever really been done before- not for gaming, and not on such a grand scale. they threw in some other things too, but ran on the touch screen as the main selling point. and it worked. it worked because it sparked the imagination of people within nintendo. people who thought, why not a pet simulator? why not a collection of small brain exercises? these were demonstrations that were easy to understand, and probably weren't meant to become the 20m+ selling franchises they grew into. but the ideas came from a good place. they came from experimentation and imagination.

the same happened with the wii. yeah, motion control gaming had existed before this console, but no one ever gave it a serious shot on a grand scale. again, there was a spark of excitement and imagination. one rectangular device could mean so many different things: a sword, a bat, a tennis racket, a flashlight, a steering wheel, etc. it's a simple and appealing idea. to improve matters, it was seen as different from video games in the past. similar to how brain age was 'good for you', wii sports was also seen as good for you in that it got you up and moving around in your leisure time.

with the 3ds, they didn't have a good idea or a spark. they had messed around with 3d gaming a long time, but they never had the software to back it up. to this day, i'm left wondering why it was necessary, and the only answer i can come up with is that they were trying to bank on the 3d boom going on at the time. even during panic mode, they made no effort to showcase games that were not only obviously better with 3d, but were essentially impossible to replicate without it. their answer to its poor sales was to do what they did during the gamecube: lower the price, rush out some games, and rely on the tried and true above all else. to this day, there still isn't a breakout hit like nintendogs or brain age, and that rests entirely on the shoulders of the software manufacturers.

and finally there's the wii u. i think there's more you can do to promote the wii u than you could have with the 3ds. it's the same position though- nintendo took something that was popular, and slapped it on one of their systems hoping they could gain popularity through some sort of osmosis. again, no thought to actual software, or any spark of imagination. that's the deep, underlying problem with the console. nintendo doesn't really know what they have. this is outlined by their upcoming lineup and plan to save it through software like mario kart, mario, smash bros, and the same zelda game that failed to make the gamecube relevant. nowhere is there something groundbreaking or terribly unique.

i give them a year. that's a year to make this not an utter disaster, and bring it closer to the 3ds's level of failure. sony did it with ps3, and nintendo did it with the ds. the problem is parents won't buy a console for their kids to play mario. they'll buy a handheld for that. so nintendo will need to start appealing very strongly to everyone like they did the wii, and they'll have to do so when there's actually something worth advertising.

it's strange- the e3 2011 demo was actually a bunch of pretty easily-communicated ideas. and they botched that messaging in every market. show people switching from the game to their tablet so someone else can watch tv. that's one commercial. show someone using tvii with netflix, hulu, etc. that's another commercial. show a family playing games together. that's another commercial. the wii u launch commercials were like a weird mix of the kinect and gamecube launch commercials. loud and weird and stupid.

we're already seeing new bundles coming up. zombi u in the us, and monster hunter 3 in europe. those won't do anything at all, but we're starting to see nintendo get aggressive with the machine. for the short-term, we'll probably see even more bundles crop up. i think it's too late, and there will need to be a gigantic shift somewhere for people to take note, or some outstanding piece of software that no one saw coming and everyone has to have (wii fit u won't be that thing).

If I was Nintendo, I would be focusing my research on VR headsets. I think Oculus Rift has demonstrated that the technology a good VR headset is finally maturing. I would see how feasible it is to release PS4-level console with a VR headset in about 4 years. I would also start aggressively expanding the number of Nintendo-owned development studios, especially in the west. If Nintendo wants to be competitive again in the console scene, they need feature parity with the other consoles, but they also need more than that. VR is an immediately intuitive and sellable innovation in the same way that motion controls were. Right now that's the only path I can see for Nintendo to take; there may be others but I haven't thought of any yet.

 

[Hattori]

Just wondering, the 3DS and Wii U are being sold for a loss right? And someone said Vita isn't being sold for a loss, is that correct?

the 3DS has been selling at a profit since after E3 last year

 

[MikeE21286]

Just wondering, the 3DS and Wii U are being sold for a loss right? And someone said Vita isn't being sold for a loss, is that correct?

I'm guessing they are all selling at plus or minus 10% of cost.

 

[NateDrake]

Just wondering, the 3DS and Wii U are being sold for a loss right? And someone said Vita isn't being sold for a loss, is that correct?

3DS is profit now. Started around the XL launch.

 

[Scum]

i remember a thread on neogaf from about 10 years ago wondering if nintendo was creatively bankrupt. i didn't agree with it at the time, and i still don't think they were. but they are now.

there was a spark in the creation of the wii and the ds. touch handhelds hadn't ever really been done before- not for gaming, and not on such a grand scale. they threw in some other things too, but ran on the touch screen as the main selling point. and it worked. it worked because it sparked the imagination of people within nintendo. people who thought, why not a pet simulator? why not a collection of small brain exercises? these were demonstrations that were easy to understand, and probably weren't meant to become the 20m+ selling franchises they grew into. but the ideas came from a good place. they came from experimentation and imagination.

the same happened with the wii. yeah, motion control gaming had existed before this console, but no one ever gave it a serious shot on a grand scale. again, there was a spark of excitement and imagination. one rectangular device could mean so many different things: a sword, a bat, a tennis racket, a flashlight, a steering wheel, etc. it's a simple and appealing idea. to improve matters, it was seen as different from video games in the past. similar to how brain age was 'good for you', wii sports was also seen as good for you in that it got you up and moving around in your leisure time.

with the 3ds, they didn't have a good idea or a spark. they had messed around with 3d gaming a long time, but they never had the software to back it up. to this day, i'm left wondering why it was necessary, and the only answer i can come up with is that they were trying to bank on the 3d boom going on at the time. even during panic mode, they made no effort to showcase games that were not only obviously better with 3d, but were essentially impossible to replicate without it. their answer to its poor sales was to do what they did during the gamecube: lower the price, rush out some games, and rely on the tried and true above all else. to this day, there still isn't a breakout hit like nintendogs or brain age, and that rests entirely on the shoulders of the software manufacturers.

and finally there's the wii u. i think there's more you can do to promote the wii u than you could have with the 3ds. it's the same position though- nintendo took something that was popular, and slapped it on one of their systems hoping they could gain popularity through some sort of osmosis. again, no thought to actual software, or any spark of imagination. that's the deep, underlying problem with the console. nintendo doesn't really know what they have. this is outlined by their upcoming lineup and plan to save it through software like mario kart, mario, smash bros, and the same zelda game that failed to make the gamecube relevant. nowhere is there something groundbreaking or terribly unique.

i give them a year. that's a year to make this not an utter disaster, and bring it closer to the 3ds's level of failure. sony did it with ps3, and nintendo did it with the ds. the problem is parents won't buy a console for their kids to play mario. they'll buy a handheld for that. so nintendo will need to start appealing very strongly to everyone like they did the wii, and they'll have to do so when there's actually something worth advertising.

it's strange- the e3 2011 demo was actually a bunch of pretty easily-communicated ideas. and they botched that messaging in every market. show people switching from the game to their tablet so someone else can watch tv. that's one commercial. show someone using tvii with netflix, hulu, etc. that's another commercial. show a family playing games together. that's another commercial. the wii u launch commercials were like a weird mix of the kinect and gamecube launch commercials. loud and weird and stupid.

we're already seeing new bundles coming up. zombi u in the us, and monster hunter 3 in europe. those won't do anything at all, but we're starting to see nintendo get aggressive with the machine. for the short-term, we'll probably see even more bundles crop up. i think it's too late, and there will need to be a gigantic shift somewhere for people to take note, or some outstanding piece of software that no one saw coming and everyone has to have (wii fit u won't be that thing).

Iwata needs to pull off what he's doing in NCL outside of Japan. Time to get Shibata and Reggie or someone else to do what InsaneZero and yourself mentioned earlier.

 

[metalslimer]

Sony just needs to drop the price with Vita. A real price drop too, not that BS value shit.

In the same way that a price drop will only damage Nintendo's financials, a Vita price drop will do nothing because Vita doesn't have any games to sell to the mass market unless this price drop is like 120 dollars.

 

[MiamiWesker]

i remember a thread on neogaf from about 10 years ago wondering if nintendo was creatively bankrupt. i didn't agree with it at the time, and i still don't think they were. but they are now.

there was a spark in the creation of the wii and the ds. touch handhelds hadn't ever really been done before- not for gaming, and not on such a grand scale. they threw in some other things too, but ran on the touch screen as the main selling point. and it worked. it worked because it sparked the imagination of people within nintendo. people who thought, why not a pet simulator? why not a collection of small brain exercises? these were demonstrations that were easy to understand, and probably weren't meant to become the 20m+ selling franchises they grew into. but the ideas came from a good place. they came from experimentation and imagination.

the same happened with the wii. yeah, motion control gaming had existed before this console, but no one ever gave it a serious shot on a grand scale. again, there was a spark of excitement and imagination. one rectangular device could mean so many different things: a sword, a bat, a tennis racket, a flashlight, a steering wheel, etc. it's a simple and appealing idea. to improve matters, it was seen as different from video games in the past. similar to how brain age was 'good for you', wii sports was also seen as good for you in that it got you up and moving around in your leisure time.

with the 3ds, they didn't have a good idea or a spark. they had messed around with 3d gaming a long time, but they never had the software to back it up. to this day, i'm left wondering why it was necessary, and the only answer i can come up with is that they were trying to bank on the 3d boom going on at the time. even during panic mode, they made no effort to showcase games that were not only obviously better with 3d, but were essentially impossible to replicate without it. their answer to its poor sales was to do what they did during the gamecube: lower the price, rush out some games, and rely on the tried and true above all else. to this day, there still isn't a breakout hit like nintendogs or brain age, and that rests entirely on the shoulders of the software manufacturers.

and finally there's the wii u. i think there's more you can do to promote the wii u than you could have with the 3ds. it's the same position though- nintendo took something that was popular, and slapped it on one of their systems hoping they could gain popularity through some sort of osmosis. again, no thought to actual software, or any spark of imagination. that's the deep, underlying problem with the console. nintendo doesn't really know what they have. this is outlined by their upcoming lineup and plan to save it through software like mario kart, mario, smash bros, and the same zelda game that failed to make the gamecube relevant. nowhere is there something groundbreaking or terribly unique.

i give them a year. that's a year to make this not an utter disaster, and bring it closer to the 3ds's level of failure. sony did it with ps3, and nintendo did it with the ds. the problem is parents won't buy a console for their kids to play mario. they'll buy a handheld for that. so nintendo will need to start appealing very strongly to everyone like they did the wii, and they'll have to do so when there's actually something worth advertising.

it's strange- the e3 2011 demo was actually a bunch of pretty easily-communicated ideas. and they botched that messaging in every market. show people switching from the game to their tablet so someone else can watch tv. that's one commercial. show someone using tvii with netflix, hulu, etc. that's another commercial. show a family playing games together. that's another commercial. the wii u launch commercials were like a weird mix of the kinect and gamecube launch commercials. loud and weird and stupid.

we're already seeing new bundles coming up. zombi u in the us, and monster hunter 3 in europe. those won't do anything at all, but we're starting to see nintendo get aggressive with the machine. for the short-term, we'll probably see even more bundles crop up. i think it's too late, and there will need to be a gigantic shift somewhere for people to take note, or some outstanding piece of software that no one saw coming and everyone has to have (wii fit u won't be that thing).

Very well said.

 

[SolarPowered]

Per a source on another forum I probably shouldn't link to: DmC < 200K

Sweet baby Jesus

 

[lenovox1]

I think it's there only first party western development studio at least. They have a few 'second party' ones, but not too many major ones I'd say.

No, they also have NST (I think they were involved with developing the integrated software in the Wii U), and they've partnered with a few others for certain games.

 

[donny2112]

this would constitute an actual relaunch. the wii u name is awful, but i doubt they'll do it. it would mean screwing up production lines everywhere. it would be worse than shutting down production like they did for the gamecube in 2002.

2003. It was prior to the $99 price drop.

Yes, it would almost be a relaunch, but it'd be hard to relaunch worse than the launch, and it just might clear up a long-term problem in name confusion. 100 billion yen operating profit seems like a very bad goal for next year. Better to take a 100 billion yen operating loss and drop the price by $100 to coincide with a popular game launch, like Wii Fit U could be.

 

[Father_Brain]

They better figure out why catering to the hardcore is a problem before they release the PS4 with no significant revenue streams outside of gaming or they're going to run into similar problems.

It's much more of a problem in the handheld market than the console market. Going by the last few years of PSP/Vita/3DS software sales, the dudebro/"mature"/core/enthusiast/whatever handheld audience abandoned PSP around 2009 and never came back.

 

[Roman]

this would constitute an actual relaunch. the wii u name is awful, but i doubt they'll do it. it would mean screwing up production lines everywhere. it would be worse than shutting down production like they did for the gamecube in 2002.

I agree. As bad as the name is that ship has sailed. We (and they) are stuck with this until the next one. Honestly I maintain it shouldn't have had Wii in the name at all. That brand has been in considerable decline due to their own neglect.

 

[oatmeal]

how does Wii U compare to Virtual Boy?

 

[JDSN]

Holy fucking shit, this situation is dire and considerably worse than 3DS. Nintendo will have to go beyond panic mode for this, and some heads, will inevitably roll, and hopefully it will lead to some proactive leadership in the west that goes beyond "Make shitty cameo on E3, port (some) games".

is retro nintendo's only western developer?

Iwata should have been building up studio's these past years just for wii u, relying on japanese developed games only seems like such a misstep for the company.

They got NST too, which was used for code monkeys last gen, but is aparently increasing their pool talent.

 

[volpone]

is retro nintendo's only western developer?

Iwata should have been building up studio's these past years just for wii u, relying on japanese developed games only seems like such a misstep for the company.

They have NST, which seems to be expanding, and a few small close third party devs like Montser Games, Next Level Games and N-Space.

 

[SykoTech]

Very nice to hear that Ni No Kuni did well. Hopefully that sequel on the table will be taken into serious consideration.

Wii U...no words. On the bright side, it'll probably have a drastic price cut in the next few months or two like the 3DS. Should be able to get one pretty cheap by the time Smash 4 comes out.

....bright side for me anyway.

 

[neptunes]

I think it's there only first party western development studio at least. They have a few 'second party' ones, but not too many major ones I'd say.

How does anyone at Nintendo NOT see this as bizarre?

 

[Kusagari]

I was giving DmC's position the benefit of the doubt by saying it got over 200k. Looks like it couldn't even get that.

The game is officially an unmitigated failure that won't even approach DMC4's sales in any region.

Great going Capcom.

 

[metalslimer]

2003. It was prior to the $99 price drop.

Yes, it would almost be a relaunch, but it'd be hard to relaunch worse than the launch, and it just might clear up a long-term problem in name confusion. 100 billion yen operating profit seems like a very bad goal for next year. Better to take a 100 billion yen operating loss and drop the price by $100 to coincide with a popular game launch, like Wii Fit U could be.

Nintendo can't afford to deplete their money like that. 100 billion yen operating loss would be devastating. Nintendo can't just keep piling up losses for years as much as we talking about them being able to survive decades of losses they could not survive that kind of loss for very long.

How does anyone at Nintendo NOT see this as bizarre?

Because top managmenet seems to be clueless and think that the only thing you need for core gamers in the west is a few ports of Call of Duty to sell systems. The Wii U was primarily designed for Japan to begin with with its low power usage and the gamepad seems directly targeted at the small japanese household

 

[Tron 2.0]

I look at the 3DS, Vita and Wii U and I see a pattern much simpler than too expensive, poorly marketed and no games.

I think we've reached a fundamental tipping point in the West where more people than ever are playing games, they're just choosing not to do it on a dedicated game system.

I don't see how the PS4 or a game-focused next Xbox really break out in this environment. Not saying they're going to be huge bombs or anything. There's still money to be made in the market. The pie's just getting smaller and smaller.

Makes more and more sense why Microsoft would position the next Xbox as a multimedia hub first, game system second.

 

[Wickerbasket]

If 3DS was strike 3 then what was strike 1 and 2?

If I were to guess, it'd probably be the Wii hardware and software sales plunge in the later years of its life.

That's just a guess though, I've no idea what the other poster was referring to.

 

[StreetsAhead]

They have NST, which seems to be expanding, and a few small close third party devs like Montser Games, Next Level Games and N-Space.

NST is doing the 3DS eshop Donkey Kong and Mario Mini that was announced yesterday, it seems. Who knows - they may also be responsible for the DKCR3D port.

 

[Currygan]

Sequel to be placed a million and one years in the future confirmed.

that would be the release date as well

 

[Krowley]

If I was Nintendo, I would be focusing my research on VR headsets. I think Oculus Rift has demonstrated that the technology a good VR headset is finally maturing. I would see how feasible it is to release PS4-level console with a VR headset in about 4 years. I would also start aggressively expanding the number of Nintendo-owned development studios, especially in the west. If Nintendo wants to be competitive again in the console scene, they need feature parity with the other consoles, but they also need more than that. VR is an immediately intuitive and sellable innovation in the same way that motion controls were. Right now that's the only path I can see for Nintendo to take; there may be others but I haven't thought of any yet.

They could do a VR peripheral for Wii U. It can already stream video to the controller with the off TV feature, so I guess it could stream to a VR headset too.

Might be better to save it for another console, but it might be an option.

I agree that VR is about to take off in a big way and totally change gaming forever.

 

[jj984jj]

At the rate things are going for Wii U and Vita I wonder what kind of future the market has. Things are really going to change, and not all for the better.

 

[Neuromancer]

Hmm I recall they rose the price of the 3ds after postive responses at E3

That was Michael Pachter's fault.

 

[Kyou]

ouch for DmC

can't say it's unexpected after seeing how it did overseas

 

[MrDaravon]

I was giving DmC's position the benefit of the doubt by saying it got over 200k. Looks like it couldn't even get that.

The game is officially an unmitigated failure that won't even approach DMC4's sales in any region.

Great going Capcom.

It's kind of a shame because I'm about halfway through it now, and it's actually pretty decent.

Does it hold up to DMC1/3? No. (Jury's still out on DMC4 for me) But taken on it's own it's actually pretty entertaining. The problem was that they came out with a shit launch trailer and redesign that absolutely no one wanted, and even though in the final game some of that stuff is toned back it's just not what a lot of people want, regardless of the game's actual quality.

I doubt we get a DmC2 or a DMC5. I think the franchise is done for at least a while.

 

[AniHawk]

If I was Nintendo, I would be focusing my research on VR headsets. I think Oculus Rift has demonstrated that the technology a good VR headset is finally maturing. I would see how feasible it is to release PS4-level console with a VR headset in about 4 years. I would also start aggressively expanding the number of Nintendo-owned development studios, especially in the west. If Nintendo wants to be competitive again in the console scene, they need feature parity with the other consoles, but they also need more than that. VR is an immediately intuitive and sellable innovation in the same way that motion controls were. Right now that's the only path I can see for Nintendo to take; there may be others but I haven't thought of any yet.

i agree about the oculus rift. that tech also opens more doors to other virtual reality things the wii had dipped its toes into. if the or is extremely well-received, it won't have that cool-shiny-new effect the wii remote had. sort of a double-edged sword

Iwata needs to pull off what he's doing in NCL outside of Japan. Time to get Shibata and Reggie or someone else to do what InsaneZero and yourself mentioned earlier.

i think japan is the problem. if america and europe had some say, they would suggest dropping the wii name, or at least not calling it the wii u. japan's also holding the purse strings on advertisement and interaction with third-parties. there's also continuing issues with regards to how games are pressed, the royalties developers receive, and how long the submission process can take. these are all things nintendo could have fixed in the last ten years, and still can, but haven't. it's one thing to play nice with atlus and get a fe x smt crossover in exchange for smt iv. it's another to have them do it without bribery.

 

[Currygan]

NST is doing the 3DS eshop Donkey Kong and Mario Mini that was announced yesterday, it seems. Who knows - they may also be responsible for the DKCR3D port.

I...didn't know this

3dsconsoleoftheforever.gif

 

[MikeE21286]

I think we've reached a fundamental tipping point in the West that lower price points, better marketing, and new consoles won't reverse.

Clearly more people than ever are playing games, they're just choosing not to do it on a dedicated game system.

I don't think this will be isolated to the 3DS, the Vita or the Wii U, either. I don't see how the PS4 or a game-focused next Xbox really break out in this environment. Not saying they're going to be huge bombs or anything. There's still money to be made in the market. The pie's just getting smaller and smaller.

Makes more and more sense why Microsoft would position the next Xbox as a multimedia hub first, game system second.

I agree that pie is smaller. I wonder how small? This gen was about 230M total consoles or so. Obviously the gen is slightly longer than the previous ones so those umbels are slightly inflated compared to previous gens. I wonder what next gen looks like. 200, 175?

 

[Duxxy3]

In the same way that a price drop will only damage Nintendo's financials, a Vita price drop will do nothing because Vita doesn't have any games to sell to the mass market unless this price drop is like 120 dollars.

Minimum $70 drop with memory card thrown in. Anything less than that is a waste of time.

 

[donny2112]

Nintendo can't afford to deplete their money like that.

Unfortunately/Fortunately, they can. At this point with 3DS, they were forced into making hard decisions. About the only way I can see for them to meaningfully turn things around is to make another hard (possibly even harder) decision with Wii U. Changing the name after launch would be a hard choice. Swallowing huge, huge losses to sell hardware would be a hard choice. Don't see an easy choice helping much, at this point. Sink or swim.

 

[ezekial45]

......