

Nintendo Reports US$923 Million Loss In The First Half Of This Fiscal Year - jswinghammer
http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/27/nintendo-reports-us923-million-loss-in-the-first-half-of-this-fiscal-year/

======
drzaiusapelord
What are these guys expecting? The Wii came out 5 years ago. Where's the
followup? The Wii 2 isn't coming out this xmas, so we're looking at 6 year
cycles on what's essentially disposable consumer electronics.

I'd love to see the industry shift to 3 year cycles with backwards
compatibility. The status quo is begging to be disrupted. I just played 30
minutes of BF3 yesterday and its a world of difference on whats going on in
the console world, and my rig isn't some impressive gaming rig. The current
Wii not only doesn't come close to my PC, its weaker than my phone.

Yes, gaming shouldn't be all about the graphics, but giving developers some
leeway and a decent GPU now and again should be part of every console
company's plan.

Gabe Newell thinks Apple is going to launch a console. Dunno if that's true,
but I'll bet you they aren't looking at 5 or 6 year cycles like MS and
Nintendo. Just doing what these guys do with a 2 or 3 year cycle is going to
each their lunch.

~~~
wgx
"Gabe Newell thinks Apple is going to launch a console."

He could be right - but rather than a console, just an 'iOS device' that plugs
into your TV and runs app store stuff. Music, movies, games, etc. If they nail
the control surface then it could be a _big_ deal.

~~~
ConstantineXVI
The iPad 2 and iPhone 4S can mirror their display to the Apple TV over Wi-Fi.
Provided the response time is somewhere in the range of "useful" (for
reference, OnLive works within ~12ms over the Internet IIRC) and they market
it properly, they'd own the home market. And even if raw streaming is too
slow; the Apple TV packs an A4 SoC. Not as powerful as a Xbox 360, but at $99
it's also way cheaper. Run the game locally, use your iPod Touch as a
controller.

------
golfstrom
Nintendo is in real trouble, this is only the beginning. The huge decline in
3DS sales should be a warning shot. $200 handhelds w/ $40 games are a joke in
2011. Wii, a novelty that rode the back of a huge economic bubble, was
probably the worst thing to happen to them long term - it gave the company
confidence to stay on its insular course.

Nintendo is too proud to go software-only. They need a hardware product in
every home in order to perpetuate their real strength: characters and brands.
Wii2 is going to be a huge flop in this recession. Don't bet on Nintendo.

------
vsl2
The underwhelming sales for the 3DS only reinforce for me that there will be
no future market for handheld consoles. Pretty soon, everyone and his mother
(literally, my 60+ mother who can barely use the internet got a smartphone
because it was the same price "free" as a regular phone) will have a
smartphone with 1Ghz+ processors and amazing graphics capabilities. Who wants
to carry around 2 devices when 1 will suffice for almost everything?

Consoles will continue to have a place in the gaming industry, but everyone
who wants a Wii already has one and the technology is outdated and/or
surpassed (e.g. maximun 480p resolution in a time when everyone has an HDTV,
other systems have motion sensors) that there isn't much revenue left to
squeeze from it. The Wii U could be a spectacular success of the same
proportions as the original, but those types of successes are pretty rare (and
I'm not hearing of any revolutionary changes such as the motion-sensor
controls of the original Wii).

Remember that before the Wii came out and had its greater-than-expected
success, Nintendo had basically become a distant third place behind Sony and
Microsoft. I think its at another inflection point in its history and needs
the Wii U to be another smash critical success or its in huge trouble.

------
cavalcade
What we have here is a full blown disruption from the iOS platform, Android
smartphones and Facebook games. Nintendo's customers gained with Wii and DS
didn't stick around.

Sony should be next to fall with their Vita platform which learned nothing
from the current disruptors.

Microsoft has sidestepped this disruption with Kinect + foregoing a mobile
gaming device and just turn WP7 into a gaming platform (in 2012)

------
siglesias
These guys can own the App Store if they just suck it up and start offering
their old titles on iOS. Unfortunately Japan's corporate culture doesn't take
well to being a purely software company.

~~~
umjames
Isn't Sega a Japanese company that dropped their consoles and went software-
only? They're still in business and doing well. If you've been to Japan and
have seen or played Border Break (an arcade-only game), you know they've still
got it. They also still make Sonic games.

There's no reason that Nintendo couldn't follow suit. Pride is probably the
biggest obstacle preventing that from happening, but if/when things get bad
enough, they'll make the switch.

~~~
revjx
None of the recent Sonic games have been anywhere near the standard that they
used to be. Sega, to me, are a sad example of a company that used to make
great games consoles & games and are now resigned to manufacturing mediocre
games. I would be gutted if Nintendo went the same way.

~~~
umjames
I'm not saying the Sonic games are great, but that it's proof that Nintendo
could still keep their brand characters (Mario and friends, Link, Samus, etc)
without a console.

Proof that Sega still knows how to make great games:

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd1tuZs55Ko&NR=1](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd1tuZs55Ko&NR=1)

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7sb_qlP8Gs>

------
technoslut
I'm very concerned about Nintendo but only because it was the first console
that I grew up with and loved, though my first was an Atari 2600.

They've lost it. Their next-gen console strategy looks like a desperate
attempt against Apple even though their immediate threat is MS.

I've always wondered what would happen if Nintendo would become a 3rd party
platform developer. I don't think that's very far from the truth today even
though their 1st party games are still the benchmark for gaming.

------
apricot13
Its hardly surprising really. Everything Ninty have come up with in recent
years is cheap and gimmicky or Pokemon (which I love but you can have too much
of a good thing!!)

The DS was pretty awesome but is slowly being replaced with the iphone. I
refuse to buy a 3DS purely on the basis that its horrible and gives me
migraines - imagine what its going to do to a new generation of young
eyeballs!

~~~
revjx
I have no problems with the 3DS. I think it's a great handheld console - the
software library has been a bit limited so far, but replaying Ocarina of Time
having not played it since it launched on N64 has been great. The 3D effects
add something special to what is already a brilliant game.

It's unfortunate that some people are experiencing headaches etc with the
stereoscopic 3D. New Mario & Mario Kart titles are being released soon, and
despite the inevitable groans that Nintendo are just rehashing old franchises
(which they are), I struggle to think of any of the recent rehashes that
weren't great. The 3DS lineup will improve and improve. I think it's great.

------
antidaily
A new Zelda for Wii comes out in a couple weeks. Too little, too late. That
system is collecting dust in homes everywhere.

