Nintendo going software only.

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aba1

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Hard to say this is something people have been debating for a LONG time though.
 

meiam

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They might abandon the console market, but I doubt they would give up the handheld one any time soon since there still doing very well and have no direct competitor.
 

MetalDooley

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Seriously this exact thread pops up every few months.In fact I'm pretty sure you created at least one of them OP *quick search* Yup you posted this exact same topic earlier this year

To answer: Probably not.Thanks to the success of the Wii and DS Nintendo are on a fairly sound financial footing quite the opposite of Sega when they went software only
 

MysticSlayer

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MetalDooley said:
Seriously this exact thread pops up every few months.In fact I'm pretty sure you created at least one of them OP *quick search* Yup you posted this exact same topic earlier this year
I'm pretty sure VG_Addict has been doing this for a few years now.
 

Hero of Lime

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MysticSlayer said:
MetalDooley said:
Seriously this exact thread pops up every few months.In fact I'm pretty sure you created at least one of them OP *quick search* Yup you posted this exact same topic earlier this year
I'm pretty sure VG_Addict has been doing this for a few years now.
I can confirm, the same person has made similar posts before. And if it wasn't them, someone else will gladly make this same thread anyway.

OT: Sometimes, Nintendo's situation looks dire, but then there are so many ways that they will be just fine for a long time. The dedicated handheld market alone belongs to them now, which makes them an incredible amount of money. Nintendo has the funds and resources to survive another failure if they really had one, and I imagine they intend to go forward with a stronger strategy with the NX than the Wii U had.

If any console brand is dying someday soon, it's the Xbox. Anyone with a decent gaming PC sure doesn't need one, and a combination of Playstation and Nintendo consoles can go quite far in terms of exclusives and third party games. Even with all of that against the Xbox, I don't see it outright dying easily.
 

Yoshi178

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Going software only has clearly done wonders for Sega now hasn't it?..................
 

MHR

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Handhelds seem to do quite well despite my loathing for the platform.

If Nintendo thinks they get the most turnaround and the least risk by making handhelds, then that's probably what they're gonna do. But we'll be a stone's throw away from seeing more legit real game developers stooping to wanking out mobile garbage that will still get played less than Candy Crush, and will clean out addicts for hundreds of dollars worth of micro-transaction monopoly money.

Nothing matters. We're all going to die. Eat Arby's
 

Something Amyss

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Depends on your value for "fail." It would have to tank pretty hard to take Nintendo out of the hardware business. It'd be kind of nice to see them move away from quickly-abandoned novelty gimmicks, and going software-only could do that, but I don't see this leading to it unless the NX causes cancer or something truly horrific. If anything, a "failure" might make them re-evaluate their gimmick hardware nonsense that they think is required to sell to the masses and might actually get back to games that don't force gimmicky control ideas.

...or maybe they'd just double down and go Nintendo VR again. Because rehashing old ideas sometimes works for them?

Meiam said:
They might abandon the console market, but I doubt they would give up the handheld one any time soon since there still doing very well and have no direct competitor.
3DS sales have been in decline for several years now, even with the release of new core Nintendo titles that should ostensibly be beefing them up, but few have. While I wouldn't proclaim doom just yet, it might mean the market is no longer so interested in dedicated handhelds. Or it might mean that the distribution and pricing model for games just doesn't have the same appeal with the advent of F2P and relatively cheap games/etc.

It could also be, as I suspect may be more likely, that Nintendo are doing some really things, like branding the Wii U without marketing it, making a "New 3DS" that splits the base, having N3DS exclusives, confirming a rumoured new product but trying to keep what exactly it is a secret, which causes market confusion within their own brands...The NX has kept me from buying a Wii U, and if I didn't have a 3DS, I might do the same for that. Telling us something about what exactly it was and wasn't would go a long way to helping the consumer make an informed decision as to whether or not to hold off. We know that it's not strictly a replacement, but that was the claim about the 3DS and the Game Boy, so I don't trust them even there. It looks like it's got a portable element, but is that the whole system? Maybe it's their version of an iPhone or iPad, or maybe it's something closer to the tablet controller with an independent brain. We don't know. And I bet that uncertainty has been hurting sales.

But that is speculation, and I can't rule out that the sales are because of Nintendo's irrelevance on the market.

I wouldn't mind seeing Nintendo do some sort of Android deal, because I'd love to have Pok?mon in my pocket without a separate handheld device. But alas, I doubt that'll be the outcome.

BaldursGateTemple said:
I hope not. Competition is a great thing.
Nintendo doesn't appear to be really competing with anyone.
 

Something Amyss

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Yoshi178 said:
Going software only has clearly done wonders for Sega now hasn't it?..................
Didn't particularly hurt it, though. Remember, it was questionmable decisions that led to them going third-party software, not going third-party software that led to them making questionable decisions.
 

Jingle Fett

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MetalDooley said:


Seriously this exact thread pops up every few months.In fact I'm pretty sure you created at least one of them OP *quick search* Yup you posted this exact same topic earlier this year

To answer: Probably not.Thanks to the success of the Wii and DS Nintendo are on a fairly sound financial footing quite the opposite of Sega when they went software only
Yeah for real. I literally have a GamePro magazine from 2001 where in the reader mail section somebody was saying that Nintendo should go third party software. People keep bringing this up like it's some radical new idea.

Nintendo is 126 years old, and of the big 3 they've been the ones with the least amount of red for the last 30 years. They could have multiple console flop in a row and still be fine.
 

Johnny Novgorod

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I think their last bastion is going to be handheld gaming, and in the long, long run they end up losing to mobile phones.
 

Souplex

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Every time this thread comes up, the answer remain unchanged.
Will/should Nintendo go software only?
No.
Will/should Nintendo go Handheld only?
Yes.
 
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Johnny Novgorod said:
I think their last bastion is going to be handheld gaming, and in the long, long run they end up losing to mobile phones.
This is pretty much my view. Outside of Japan, Nintendo seems to be a fringe dweller in the console market (the lack of third parties hurts them badly) and it's hard to see how they can absorb another unsuccessful console cycle (if the NX tanks) without the handheld market to cushion it. Given that the handheld market is getting swallowed more and more by the mobile phone market, it's hard to see where Nintendo's core market is in the coming years if they can't regain a significant foothold back in the home console scene (which seems doubtful if they can't win back third party support). Ultimately, I think Nintendo's fate as a hardware maker rides on NX; if it fails, I think Nintendo will finally yield to the inevitable and become a third party software publisher, and they will probably make more money that way than they have messing around with hardware.
 

VG_Addict

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Yoshi178 said:
Going software only has clearly done wonders for Sega now hasn't it?..................
The difference is that people didn't care about Sega's games whilst they still made consoles. With Nintendo plenty of people actually like and want to play their games, they just don't give a shit about Nintendo's hardware.

I think that if the NX does fail, Nintendo will pretty much have the options of giving up on video games (which for a video game only company isn't really a great option) or go multiplat.
 

Lightspeaker

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Should they? Possibly, at least as far as traditional consoles go (not handheld yet, they've got that market buttoned up pretty tight). They appear to be losing the plot a bit with the WiiU and the NEW 3DS; neither of which went down well.

Will they? Unlikely in the extreme. They've been producing consoles for decades and they've got at least a few more failures in them before having to call it quits given the absolute money mountain that the Wii brought them.
 

kilenem

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Some how Pokemon is second highest selling Franchise ever, only behind Mario. They would probably go handheld only before they went software only if the NX failed. the Attachment rate for Pokemon system is 1 to freakin 1. The 3DS is viable for exclusives from at least Japanese 3rd party developers . Granted I think Nintendo has worked with some devs to get some games localized such as Monster Hunter, Bravely Default and I believe Dragon Quest 7.
As long Nintendo doesn't rely on their Brand to sell handheld's like they did at the start of the 3DS life Cycle and just focus on a handheld's library, they still have a spot in the Market.

The 3DS is the only system where I'm like your PC can't replicate the features it provides and the games benefit from being on that system. They use the Street Pass feature, and the step counter.