the way I see it, this is terrible advice. Nintendo is at heart a hardware company -- they make game consoles. If they started porting their most valuable property to other consoles, it would be the end of their own, particularly when Apple has such a huge head start.
Nah, their margins on the hardware is small, in some cases barely over the break-even point. They make far more money from software sales and licensing. For each hardware device, approximately 10 games are sold over the lifetime of the device.
Lifetime Wii hardware sales has been 86 million units. Lifetime Wii software title sales has been 716 million units (source: Nintendo 2011 Annual Report, available at www.nintendo.co.jp/ir).
Maybe if Nintendo can sell an iPhone (or iPod) add-on that would wrap the device in a case that featured real, external buttons. I really don't like games where I have to press the touch screen.....it blocks my view of the game.
Except people who use dedicated games machines play a lot more games (and spend a lot more money on gaming) than the average person. Nintendo might not be addressing the majority of gamers but they are addressing the most valuable gamers ...
This is really just wishful thinking. I don't see how you have any facts to support these assertions.
It's true that moving their games to iOS would ultimately destroy their hardware business, but any intelligent analysis of the market would indicate that this will happen fairly soon anyway. They need to get pro-active before they lose it all. If they don't start making some money, the company will end up being sold or go down in flames and then be sold.
Then the new buyers will just look at the assets and say "Hey, we should port all this old stuff to iOS and get the most money we can out of the purchase." So it's pretty much going to happen anyway.
Maybe if Nintendo can sell an iPhone (or iPod) add-on that would wrap the device in a case that featured real, external buttons. I really don't like games where I have to press the touch screen.....it blocks my view of the game.
Cases like this already exist. They are marginally popular with small groups of gamers.
I don't believe Nintendo should be considering porting their current games to any outside device. They would need to sell 10 or 20 times as many games at the prices iOS users expect to pay to equal their current revenue. iOS users are certainly not going to pay $50 for a game.
However, Nintendo has a large number of titles from its previous platforms that would sell well on iOS. That would seem to be a very lucrative move for them. I would be interested in a Mario 1,2, or 3 game on my iOS device.
Cases like this already exist. They are marginally popular with small groups of gamers.
The problems with those "cases," however, is that there's only one functional case that I've heard of (iControlpad)... and it requires jailbreaking. If you want to play games requiring precise input (platformers and fighters immediately come to mind), you need well-supported third-party solutions. Unfortunately, iControlpad is anything but well-supported. It's also huge and clumsy looking.
A lightweight Nintendo-created cover/slider for the iPhone with built-in D-pad and buttons would go a long way toward satisfying the admittedly niche market of gamers who want more precise control for many of their games. Of course, such a control mechanism would simply be an added option; touch controls would still work fine and touch games designed from the ground up as such would continue to sell well. Nintendo could output games via the app store that only operate with its controller, so they still make hardware sales. At the same time, they open their games up to an even larger audience.
I find it amusing that people predict doom and gloom for Nintendo because of a lackluster debut. It's as bad as the people thinking Apple is doomed whenever something doesn't go as well as expected (I.e. iPhone 4's problems at launch). The Wii is the top selling console and the DS I think is the most successful one Nintendo has ever had, and unlike Sony and Microsoft, they don't sell hardware at a loss.
SEGA failed in consoles because they made a lot of bad decisions and ran out of money. I don't think Nintendo's going broke anytime soon, and I think they know when they need to adapt to a changing market. Don't count them out yet.
Nintendo would better off partnering with somebody.
I can see nintendo partnering with Apple on say a new apple tv (with a wii controller, the apple remote software). Nintendo provides the hardware. Apple provides the OS . Nintendo and Apple both use arm chips so i think it would work. Sell it for say $150 split the profit down the middle .
It would sell millions. they would not be able to keep them in stock.
This would not happen because the japanese stock holders would not want to partner with an american company.
Also i just read an article that states this story is blown out of proportion. the person who gave a suggestion said to just release some games for iOS. NOt dump everything for IOs
Nintendo hedge their future on the casual gamer and snubbed the hardcore gamer. They didn't figure on Apple and Android outright owning casual gaming market like they did.
Nintendo has a tough road ahead. I personally love their products, but I fear they will become another Sega. Which sucks because Sega use to make awesome titles, but now most of their stuff just plain sucks (probably because they write to so many platforms)...
Want to point me to the massive number of parents who are going to sign up little Timmy for a 2 year phone contract in order to let him play crappy games?
I can see nintendo releasing a new ip or two on the iPhone/ipod touch that caters directly to having no buttons BUT I do not see mario or any of those ups on the systems because of the lack of buttons.
IF the next iPhone has a directional pad at least then i can see it but only new ups i can see.
I disagree about the button issue. Apps like Monster Dash have made it work. Nintendo could also. Either on board or even "The incident" style where there is an option to use the iPad as merely a screen with an iPhone/touch as the controller.
In fact I've been saying for months that Nintendo should release some of their older stuff like the original 2d Super Mario Bros titles for the iPad. They would sell great and it would stop the negative press of folks saying that Nintendo is scared of iOS. And it could be a great gateway to get folks to buy nintendo hardware to get the even cooler 3d games that are only available on the Wii etc.
Except people who use dedicated games machines play a lot more games (and spend a lot more money on gaming) than the average person. Nintendo might not be addressing the majority of gamers but they are addressing the most valuable gamers.
People buy Nintendo hardware because of Mario and other Nintendo games. By releasing their exclusive titles on other platforms they would be helping to kill their own platforms which would do far more damage to Nintendo's profits than they could hope to gain from releasing an iOS titles.
Saying that Nintendo doesn't need to make games for phones, (or make phones itself) because the valuable gaming consumers want dedicated kit is massively short sighted. It would have been like Apple ignoring the smartphone market in 2007 because most people who care about music wanted a dedicated PMP.
Nah, their margins on the hardware is small, in some cases barely over the break-even point. They make far more money from software sales and licensing. For each hardware device, approximately 10 games are sold over the lifetime of the device.
Lifetime Wii hardware sales has been 86 million units. Lifetime Wii software title sales has been 716 million units (source: Nintendo 2011 Annual Report, available at www.nintendo.co.jp/ir).
Mostly true.
But I think XBox and Playstation divisions sell their hardware at a loss and try to recoup the loss with software. MS and Sony make profits somewhere else in their corporation and can keep losing billions.
Nintendo is about gaming fun and only about gaming fun, and that's all they want to be. Everyone thinks they are stubborn just like Apple for not throwing their software everywhere. And I love it.
I want Nintendo to stick to their guns, because in the end it will make them make good games. Imagine if Nintendo made more money from iOS than their own offerings. They'll get Red Rings of death, buggy games, and not value their core customers.
If anybody has ever tried to play games like Madden on the iPad know that most gaming really does need a control stick and buttons. Madden with the PS3 control is great. The iPad, not so good. Even other games like Battlefield Bad Company 2 controlled horribly. Glad I only paid .99 for each or I'd consider them a rip-off. I may be in the minority, but I would rather play great games on dedicated machines than crappy games that are cheap. I also tried Street Fighter IV and ugh, still controls poorly.
Nintendo's first part games are mostly not "casual" games. Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc are not "casual" games. They tried to re-invent themselves in the casual market with the Wii. It worked well selling consoles, but causal gamers don't buy many games. Hence the part where Wii failed. It failed to capture the hardcore gamers due to the graphics and motion controls.
The Wii U is going back to more traditional controls complimented by motion controls and the secondary screen.
I take it that Sony and Microsoft should just give up the hardware+software market for smartphone games. Since this is an apple-centric site, let's have nothing but iPods and iPads for games. I am sure games like Halo, Gears of War and Uncharted would be great on a system with no control sticks and no buttons.
The iPad/iPod/iPhone are great for causal games like Angry Birds or Cut the Rope but hardcore sports, FPS, TPS, and platformers are better left to systems that cater to them.
Exactly WHO would want a 'Playstation Phone' or 'Wii Phone'?
Want to point me to the massive number of parents who are going to sign up little Timmy for a 2 year phone contract in order to let him play crappy games?
Nah, it's called the iPod touch. Apple sells two of them for every three iPhones.
The demographic for the iPod touch is considerably younger, the 13-24 age bracket whereas the iPhone is the lucrative 25-49 age bracket. Various surveys have shown that iPod touch users download far more apps (and more games) than iPhone owners. As Steve Jobs mentioned, the iPod touch is training wheels for the iPhone.
Holiday quarter sales of the iPod product line are about twice the sales as the other three non-holiday quarters. Apple claims the iPod touch is now the top selling device in the iPod family. This is basically the stocking stuffer parents are giving to their kids each year.
I can see nintendo releasing a new ip or two on the iPhone/ipod touch that caters directly to having no buttons BUT I do not see mario or any of those ups on the systems because of the lack of buttons.
IF the next iPhone has a directional pad at least then i can see it but only new ups i can see.
Why do people believe gaming on the iPhone require no buttons? It would be no trick to a fold out button controller for the iPhone or iPod touch.
Comments
the way I see it, this is terrible advice. Nintendo is at heart a hardware company -- they make game consoles. If they started porting their most valuable property to other consoles, it would be the end of their own, particularly when Apple has such a huge head start.
Nah, their margins on the hardware is small, in some cases barely over the break-even point. They make far more money from software sales and licensing. For each hardware device, approximately 10 games are sold over the lifetime of the device.
Lifetime Wii hardware sales has been 86 million units. Lifetime Wii software title sales has been 716 million units (source: Nintendo 2011 Annual Report, available at www.nintendo.co.jp/ir).
Except people who use dedicated games machines play a lot more games (and spend a lot more money on gaming) than the average person. Nintendo might not be addressing the majority of gamers but they are addressing the most valuable gamers ...
This is really just wishful thinking. I don't see how you have any facts to support these assertions.
It's true that moving their games to iOS would ultimately destroy their hardware business, but any intelligent analysis of the market would indicate that this will happen fairly soon anyway. They need to get pro-active before they lose it all. If they don't start making some money, the company will end up being sold or go down in flames and then be sold.
Then the new buyers will just look at the assets and say "Hey, we should port all this old stuff to iOS and get the most money we can out of the purchase." So it's pretty much going to happen anyway.
Maybe if Nintendo can sell an iPhone (or iPod) add-on that would wrap the device in a case that featured real, external buttons. I really don't like games where I have to press the touch screen.....it blocks my view of the game.
Cases like this already exist. They are marginally popular with small groups of gamers.
However, Nintendo has a large number of titles from its previous platforms that would sell well on iOS. That would seem to be a very lucrative move for them. I would be interested in a Mario 1,2, or 3 game on my iOS device.
Cases like this already exist. They are marginally popular with small groups of gamers.
The problems with those "cases," however, is that there's only one functional case that I've heard of (iControlpad)... and it requires jailbreaking. If you want to play games requiring precise input (platformers and fighters immediately come to mind), you need well-supported third-party solutions. Unfortunately, iControlpad is anything but well-supported. It's also huge and clumsy looking.
A lightweight Nintendo-created cover/slider for the iPhone with built-in D-pad and buttons would go a long way toward satisfying the admittedly niche market of gamers who want more precise control for many of their games. Of course, such a control mechanism would simply be an added option; touch controls would still work fine and touch games designed from the ground up as such would continue to sell well. Nintendo could output games via the app store that only operate with its controller, so they still make hardware sales. At the same time, they open their games up to an even larger audience.
SEGA failed in consoles because they made a lot of bad decisions and ran out of money. I don't think Nintendo's going broke anytime soon, and I think they know when they need to adapt to a changing market. Don't count them out yet.
I can see nintendo partnering with Apple on say a new apple tv (with a wii controller, the apple remote software). Nintendo provides the hardware. Apple provides the OS . Nintendo and Apple both use arm chips so i think it would work. Sell it for say $150 split the profit down the middle .
It would sell millions. they would not be able to keep them in stock.
This would not happen because the japanese stock holders would not want to partner with an american company.
Also i just read an article that states this story is blown out of proportion. the person who gave a suggestion said to just release some games for iOS. NOt dump everything for IOs
Nintendo has a tough road ahead. I personally love their products, but I fear they will become another Sega. Which sucks because Sega use to make awesome titles, but now most of their stuff just plain sucks (probably because they write to so many platforms)...
I really have to ask...
Want to point me to the massive number of parents who are going to sign up little Timmy for a 2 year phone contract in order to let him play crappy games?
What? Have you heard of the iPod Touch?
I can see nintendo releasing a new ip or two on the iPhone/ipod touch that caters directly to having no buttons BUT I do not see mario or any of those ups on the systems because of the lack of buttons.
IF the next iPhone has a directional pad at least then i can see it but only new ups i can see.
I disagree about the button issue. Apps like Monster Dash have made it work. Nintendo could also. Either on board or even "The incident" style where there is an option to use the iPad as merely a screen with an iPhone/touch as the controller.
In fact I've been saying for months that Nintendo should release some of their older stuff like the original 2d Super Mario Bros titles for the iPad. They would sell great and it would stop the negative press of folks saying that Nintendo is scared of iOS. And it could be a great gateway to get folks to buy nintendo hardware to get the even cooler 3d games that are only available on the Wii etc.
http://gigaom.com/apple/why-nintendo...OM%3A+Apple%29
Nintendo Handheld games are too button oriented. They could release an accessory and optional screen buttons I guess.
The last two Zelda games on the DS were controlled mainly with a stylus. They'd work fine on an iPhone. Super Mario though, not so much.
What? Have you heard of the iPod Touch?
good shot dude
lol
apple should get mario and etc
CALL OF DUTY SELLS GREAT ON Apple plat forms
9
Except people who use dedicated games machines play a lot more games (and spend a lot more money on gaming) than the average person. Nintendo might not be addressing the majority of gamers but they are addressing the most valuable gamers.
People buy Nintendo hardware because of Mario and other Nintendo games. By releasing their exclusive titles on other platforms they would be helping to kill their own platforms which would do far more damage to Nintendo's profits than they could hope to gain from releasing an iOS titles.
Saying that Nintendo doesn't need to make games for phones, (or make phones itself) because the valuable gaming consumers want dedicated kit is massively short sighted. It would have been like Apple ignoring the smartphone market in 2007 because most people who care about music wanted a dedicated PMP.
Nah, their margins on the hardware is small, in some cases barely over the break-even point. They make far more money from software sales and licensing. For each hardware device, approximately 10 games are sold over the lifetime of the device.
Lifetime Wii hardware sales has been 86 million units. Lifetime Wii software title sales has been 716 million units (source: Nintendo 2011 Annual Report, available at www.nintendo.co.jp/ir).
Mostly true.
But I think XBox and Playstation divisions sell their hardware at a loss and try to recoup the loss with software. MS and Sony make profits somewhere else in their corporation and can keep losing billions.
Nintendo is about gaming fun and only about gaming fun, and that's all they want to be. Everyone thinks they are stubborn just like Apple for not throwing their software everywhere. And I love it.
I want Nintendo to stick to their guns, because in the end it will make them make good games. Imagine if Nintendo made more money from iOS than their own offerings. They'll get Red Rings of death, buggy games, and not value their core customers.
Nintendo's first part games are mostly not "casual" games. Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc are not "casual" games. They tried to re-invent themselves in the casual market with the Wii. It worked well selling consoles, but causal gamers don't buy many games. Hence the part where Wii failed. It failed to capture the hardcore gamers due to the graphics and motion controls.
The Wii U is going back to more traditional controls complimented by motion controls and the secondary screen.
I take it that Sony and Microsoft should just give up the hardware+software market for smartphone games. Since this is an apple-centric site, let's have nothing but iPods and iPads for games. I am sure games like Halo, Gears of War and Uncharted would be great on a system with no control sticks and no buttons.
The iPad/iPod/iPhone are great for causal games like Angry Birds or Cut the Rope but hardcore sports, FPS, TPS, and platformers are better left to systems that cater to them.
I really have to ask...
Exactly WHO would want a 'Playstation Phone' or 'Wii Phone'?
Want to point me to the massive number of parents who are going to sign up little Timmy for a 2 year phone contract in order to let him play crappy games?
Nah, it's called the iPod touch. Apple sells two of them for every three iPhones.
The demographic for the iPod touch is considerably younger, the 13-24 age bracket whereas the iPhone is the lucrative 25-49 age bracket. Various surveys have shown that iPod touch users download far more apps (and more games) than iPhone owners. As Steve Jobs mentioned, the iPod touch is training wheels for the iPhone.
Holiday quarter sales of the iPod product line are about twice the sales as the other three non-holiday quarters. Apple claims the iPod touch is now the top selling device in the iPod family. This is basically the stocking stuffer parents are giving to their kids each year.
I can see nintendo releasing a new ip or two on the iPhone/ipod touch that caters directly to having no buttons BUT I do not see mario or any of those ups on the systems because of the lack of buttons.
IF the next iPhone has a directional pad at least then i can see it but only new ups i can see.
Why do people believe gaming on the iPhone require no buttons? It would be no trick to a fold out button controller for the iPhone or iPod touch.