[What Defines A Monster?]

Words can't truly express the eyebrow raising.

http://readwrite.com/2014/01/31/nintendo-next-console-quality-of-life-platform-health#awesm=~oBpoIaOwDjzNQr

“What Nintendo will try to achieve in the next 10 years is a platform business that improves people’s quality of life in enjoyable ways,” Iwata said. “What I see as our first step into a new business area in our endeavor to improve QOL is the theme of ‘health.’ Of course, defining a new entertainment business that seeks to improve QOL creates various possibilities for the future such as ‘learning’ and ‘lifestyle,’ but it is our intention to take ‘health’ as our first step.”

[Jorpho]

Did you miss this story back in January?

Really, it makes at least as much sense as some of the outlandish scenarios bandied about by the legions of armchair CEOs; there were a lot of Wiis sold by the Wii Fit and the general premise of getting people to be more active.  But it is really quite useless to speculate further at this point.

[What Defines A Monster?]

"But it is really quite useless to speculate "

No it's not.

Seems that you're angry about Nintendo's new focus, but them abandoning game consoles and focusing on something that can make them profit seems perhaps a smart idea.

That does mean no more installments of Zelda or Metroid... Probably they'll find a way to shoehorn Mario in there somehow.

[Jeville]

That does mean no more installments of Zelda or Metroid... Probably they'll find a way to shoehorn Mario in there somehow.

Why? They can still maintain the gaming business. Sony and Microsoft have other venues, so why can't Nintendo?

[What Defines A Monster?]

Why? They can still maintain the gaming business. Sony and Microsoft have other venues, so why can't Nintendo?

Because, to be quite frank about it, they just can't afford it. Sony and Microsoft have massive, multibillion dollar war chests from their external divisions that have, so far, shielded them financially from the fallout of venture losses. The abysmal Vita, for example, doesn't run the risk of bankrupting Sony.

Nintendo doesn't have that buffer. They went this year, as a company whole, from a net gain (and projected profit of 100 billion yen) all the way down to a net loss of over 35 billion. Even after accepting responsibility and slashing his salary in half, Saturo Iwata knows that he and his company are in deep trouble. The board is looking long and hard at his leadership and there has been talk of a change.

Nintendo feels that their traditional business model isn't working. Their game console is a ball and chain dragging them under and the company needs to change direction. That means not only a refocus, but cutting off dead weight and getting rid of what they view as unprofitable.

To put it simply, the Yamauchis aren't at the helm any more. Nintendo is at the behest of a board of directors that wants results. Despite the fact that consumers may think fondly of Nintendo's stock of classic IPs, the failure of the Wii U has shown the company that reliance on staples like Mario aren't going to win the day any longer. Pure game consoles- the business Nintendo's been in since the late 70s-have been bringing Nintendo less and less core profit, and they know it. The complete and utter failure of the Wii U may be the nail in the coffin.

If Samus and Zelda don't sell units- don't expect them to last. I don't expect Mario to die off, being that he is Nintendo's mascot and all, but Nintendo can't be blamed for not wanting to maintain an unprofitable group of intellectual properties.

[JCE3000GT]

So why must Nintendo continue to be a stupid company?  Why must they move away from the norm?  Just make a regular console with regular hardware and license regular 3rd party games.  Being "different " and or "niche" won't cut it.  I'll never understand the move away from normalcy like they had with the SNES.  Starting with the N64 they've tried (and pretty much failed) to carve up the market share away from their competition because they wanted to put out unorthodox console hardware and limited 3rd party licensing.  And now they are paying the price and I do not feel bad for them.  Nintendo really should of continued the SNES CD project with Sony instead of backstabbing them and being blind toward the progression to disc mediums.  I guess I will always love my SNES and think fondly on the days were Nintendo was relevant. 

So now they are going on this fitness thing instead of making legitimate gaming material? 

Good riddance. 

[Jorpho]

No it's not.

Yes it is. 

Seems that you're angry about Nintendo's new focus, but them abandoning game consoles and focusing on something that can make them profit seems perhaps a smart idea.

Why the heck would I be angry about Nintendo?  See, that's what happens when you speculate. 

I get angry reading page after page of posts written by random gamers who seem to believe they know exactly how video games should be produced and marketed and feel they can dictate with authority precisely which moves Nintendo should have made and which moves they must make next.  I don't think it's unreasonable to believe that Nintendo actually has the resources to hire Competent People who might actually have a decent idea of what they're doing.

Because, to be quite frank about it, they just can't afford it. Sony and Microsoft have massive, multibillion dollar war chests from their external divisions that have, so far, shielded them financially from the fallout of venture losses. The abysmal Vita, for example, doesn't run the risk of bankrupting Sony.

Nintendo doesn't have that buffer. They went this year, as a company whole, from a net gain (and projected profit of 100 billion yen) all the way down to a net loss of over 35 billion. Even after accepting responsibility and slashing his salary in half, Saturo Iwata knows that he and his company are in deep trouble. The board is looking long and hard at his leadership and there has been talk of a change.

It is popular these days to note that Nintendo has tremendous cash reserves and could go on operating at a loss for many years if they were so inclined.  There is also much speculation (there's that word again!) that Microsoft and/or Sony might spin off their videogame divisions, as they are not particularly great profit-generators for either of them, depending on how you count it.  Certainly, both companies have other concerns of their own.  (There's been plenty of talk of Sony shuttering Sony Pictures Entertainment, and certainly Microsoft's made their share of missteps lately.)

[What Defines A Monster?]

"I get angry reading page after page of posts written by random gamers "

I'm not a random gamer. I've been playing games for over two decades. I worked at Nintendo for a short period of time. I've seen the industry go through shifts and crumble.

And, despite your best optimism, I've seen that arrogance, hubris and the inability to change can destroy even the strongest company. While you want to believe they "know what they are doing"- decades of incompetence, backstabbing and three-handed controllers signal otherwise to me.

You talk about Nintendo's cash reserves- except that no company with a loss-leading single focus can continue to survive on simple cash reserves for long periods of time. With Nintendo's downward spiral, if things keep going downhill within half a decade those reserves will be completely gone.

That's how bad things are.

[MisterJones]

I've been playing games for over two decades.

Whoah man, now you have impressed me!

(hint: some of us here have played games for over three decades!)

[What Defines A Monster?]

hint- Injecting yourself into a conversation simply to shout "I'm old! Pay attention to me!" has little to no relevance on the topic at hand.
I'm done here, since saying what deserves to be said about you would no doubt bring down NightCrawler's wrath and I don't feel like doing that at this point, and obviously neither you nor your friend here are prepared to actually listen to anything relevant.
Have fun.

[Jorpho]

hint- Injecting yourself into a conversation simply to shout "I'm old! Pay attention to me!" has little to no relevance on the topic at hand.

It serves to illustrate how laughable it is to establish authority by saying you've been playing games for a long time.  We've all seen the industry "go through shifts".

And, despite your best optimism, I've seen that arrogance, hubris and the inability to change can destroy even the strongest company.

Oh, but they've been playing games for over four decades! 

You talk about Nintendo's cash reserves- except that no company with a loss-leading single focus can continue to survive on simple cash reserves for long periods of time. With Nintendo's downward spiral, if things keep going downhill within half a decade those reserves will be completely gone.

Have you read about just how large those cash reserves are?

[Next Gen Cowboy]

Some of us are currently in the games industry. Some of us have been, but I can guarantee you one thing, none of us are sitting in the executive's chairs.

I have to honestly say that it's useless to speculate at this juncture. We can extrapolate information based on numbers, reports, interviews etc. But until that shift starts to take shape, and we actually see what form it's going to take, none of us are going to have any clear definition of what's being done, or what routes will be taken in the future.

[SargeSmash]

Nintendo is clearly trying to generate some extra cash flow.  I don't see this as any different from the Wii Fit stuff, and I'll bet you they didn't sink a whole lot of time and money into the development of that.  Finding a niche product to keep you tickin' while your other products are floundering isn't a bad move.

I don't see any of this as a new direction at all.  It's definitely not a simple "either games or fitness" proposition.  I have no doubt we'll be playing Mario and Zelda and whatnot for quite a few years to come.

[MrBing]

It makes perfect sense given the temperaments of most gamers. It will probably be successful, particularly among their diehard fans.

[MrBing]

And now I hear Gamestop is leaving the games business. My my, things are changing...

Of course this is probably one of the trends Nintendo wanted to stop when it insisted on cartridges for the N64.

I'm not sure what to make of it. On the one hand, games like Agarest are super cheap for PC compared to on PS3, but on the other we have to ask ourselves, will this really last? Are cheap digital games the future, or a setup a la cheap gas?

[Azkadellia]

And now I hear Gamestop is leaving the games business. My my, things are changing...

Not quite. They're closing 2% of their stores and opening 200 to focus on smartphone and tablet games.