Is there room for the Wii U in this gen?

[slacey1070]

3ds has sold well.. just below ninty projections. Again. Whoever decides their projections? They are always over optimistic.

We hear a lot about their war chest. I wonder if it really exists. If you don't spend when your company needs to, when will they spend? Unless they have written the Wii u off already?

[Matt_B]

3ds has sold well.. just below ninty projections. Again. Whoever decides their projections? They are always over optimistic.

We hear a lot about their war chest. I wonder if it really exists. If you don't spend when your company needs to, when will they spend? Unless they have written the Wii u off already?

Given that their financial statements are a matter of public record, I think we can be pretty sure that it exists.

At least if it doesn't, someone would have had to pull off an accounting fraud of Enron proportions.

[slacey1070]

is it "real "money or invested?

[outdated_gamer]

Here's an amusing next Ninty consoles' specs rumour that popped up over the net:

http://gaminrealm.com/2014/01/21/ninten ... tem-specs/

Maybe in 2018...

[Matt_B]

is it "real "money or invested?

Mostly it's real money, although they do also hold some short term investments and property.

I gather that it all goes back to Yamauchi's early brush with bankruptcy. He vowed never to borrow money again, so everything has to be paid for up front in cash.

[retrosofer]

If ninty really have access to vast funds, why don't they go out and buy 3 or 4 of the big developers? Bank roll the Wii u with the best developers on the planet?

Ninty is up against a difficult situation, developing for ps4, xbone and pc is easy, as they ate very similar.

More worrying in.some ways is the underperformance of the 3ds... Nintys.home turf.

Because most of them are owned by EA or Activision these days. Still I think it would be a good idea though and would certainly help see the WiiU through.

[Megamixer]

I gather that it all goes back to Yamauchi's early brush with bankruptcy. He vowed never to borrow money again, so everything has to be paid for up front in cash.

A sound strategy too. Credit cards, load and 'invisible' money is why the financial world is so messed up after all.

[slacey1070]

Not sure if this has been posted before, haven't seen it..

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2 ... es-tablets

[killbot]

The key problem with producing games for smartphones is... how do they do it without destroying the one piece of hardware they have which is still making money for them (the 3DS)? If Mario and Zelda games are available on iOS and Android, who is going to want to buy a 3DS to play them? Nobody, that's who.

Nintendo aren't in imminent danger of going bankrupt, they have the time and resources to properly plan a strategy to take them forward. Just shouting 'Oh crap, let's drop the Wii U and start making iPhone games!' might fix some problems short-term but store up more for the future. The fact is, Nintendo make games people want to play. That's a given. How best to deliver those games in order to maximise the potential revenue is a matter for them to decide but I'm not at all convinced that joining in the unrestricted, uncontrolled, elbows-out free-for-all of smartphone gaming is the right way to go.

Having said that, one thing they could do is make simple, accessible smartphone games that act as tie-ins with 3DS and Wii U games. For example, if they release something like Link's Crossbow Training on phones and sell it for a quid, make sure it works well with touchscreen controls, is accessible and has that Nintendo polish about it (which most smartphone games don't have by a loooong chalk) then it's not going to cannibalise sales of Link Between Worlds because it's an entirely different kind of game. What it might do is remind some people who gave up on handheld consoles in favour of phones how much they used to enjoy Zelda titles and encourage them to pick up a 3DS.

[slacey1070]

Well, killbot, here's the issue... You say they make games that people want to play. But they don't want to play them enough to buy the consoles... Or at least, not enough to pick ninty over Sony or MS.

Which probably says a lot about rank and file gamers.

[killbot]

Well, killbot, here's the issue... You say they make games that people want to play. But they don't want to play them enough to buy the consoles... Or at least, not enough to pick ninty over Sony or MS.

Which probably says a lot about rank and file gamers.

Well... whether players are willing to buy Nintendo hardware is another issue. But the fact that they would like (given the opportunity) to play their games is surely evidenced by the thousands of blog posts littering the internet demanding that they start publishing Xbox/PlayStation games.

[slacey1070]

If they want to play them that much, they can.on the Wii u for less than £200.

I wonder if ninty rolled out say a new Zelda on the xbone at £55 how many of these blogs would buy it?

[killbot]

If they want to play them that much, they can.on the Wii u for less than £200.

I wonder if ninty rolled out say a new Zelda on the xbone at £55 how many of these blogs would buy it?

Are you seriously arguing that nobody wants to play Mario or Zelda games any more? Because that's a bold statement.

[retrosofer]

If they want to play them that much, they can.on the Wii u for less than £200.

I wonder if ninty rolled out say a new Zelda on the xbone at £55 how many of these blogs would buy it?

They wouldn't, they would bemoan the fact that the games cost so much and hold their price, then they would reminisce of the glory days when Nintendo used to make consoles and damn those who didn't buy a WiiU, overlooking the fact they didn't buy one themselves.

[ALK]

Apparently, both Amazon and Argos slashed £50 off the normal Deluxe model to £180 today.