110°

Why I Fear for Nintendo's Future

Nintendo's been a fan favorite for years and years, but are they finally in danger of losing steam and entering their Dreamcast era?

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Theyellowflash303938d ago

No, the dreamcast was one part of many failed systems for SEGA. SEGA had multiple financial problems and issues.

Nintendo has far more money, and a hyper successful portable division.

geekspodcast3938d ago

I won't deny their portable success, but do you think it's suffered at all from the increased quality of game experiences on mobile devices?

dark-hollow3938d ago

Going by how well the 3ds is doing I would say no.

It probably won't do ds numbers, but I can see it reach 60-90 million maybe even more by the end of it lifespan.

Theyellowflash303938d ago

Yeah, going by the sales of the 3DS, I would say no as well.

Pokemon X and Y is going to smoke any iOS or Android game in revenue and thats a fact.

dark-hollow3938d ago

The thing that people forget is that even if the Wii u sales lack like the GameCube, Nintendo still have the 3ds as their main income.

They survived the GameCube era without any loses in profits due to the success of the gameboy advance.

deafdani3938d ago

The Gamecube was profitable for them, actually, despite its low sales. Unlike Microsoft, who lost more than a billion dollars on the first Xbox despite selling slightly better than the Gamecube. :P

And I expect the Wii U to sell better than the Cube, if anything just because the gaming market is now much, much bigger than it was back in the Cube / PS2 days.

Nintendo will be just fine.

PigPen3938d ago

This couldn't be more misleading. Even if I was to say the Wii U won't be successful, it will take much more unsuccessful hardware to enter the Dreamcast era. Everyone is over reacting when it comes to the Wii U. Next gen will be just as long, if not longer then current gen. I am sure the console will be successful.

PopRocks3593938d ago (Edited 3938d ago )

The thing that people don't consider (notably the people who seem to be the ones disagreeing with you and Theyellowflash30) is that Nintendo doesn't take large losses on hardware.

Sony takes losses but they sell a lot of hardware and software. Sega took losses but did not sell hardware and therefor not a great deal of software. In the Dreamcast's case it was riddled with rampant piracy, so even the few software sales they made were gimped. And this was after the Sega Saturn's poor performance as well.

These issues are barely even relevant to Nintendo because they do business in a different way. To say the Wii U being a failure will end their run is just unbelievable, unethical and just plain silly.

Kevlar0093938d ago

I'm certain they make money with every console sold, or at the very least need to sell like one game to make a profit

Ninteno is pretty frugal with their money, only two years with losses from a 50 yr plus company, and Im sure they don't spend money to secure third parties (if they do it's usually to assimilate them into a 1st/2nd party)

Nintendo functions off the strength of their franchises. Until we see Mario and co. falter with no back-up is when we can speak of their demise. Sega died because of a string of failures, Gamecube (at a profit) sold 4 million less than Xbox yet we don't consider Xbox a failure, Nintendo really has no strikes against them, WiiU would be a first in a long while

Kos-Mos3938d ago

Why I fear for the future of video game journalism: They write everything to get hits. Come at me geekspodcast.com. Write a reply to me. PLEASE!

geekspodcast3938d ago

Hey Kos-Mos,

I'm not sure what you want me to reply to, but I'm assuming your position is that I've written an article with the intention of hoping people will read it. In which case, you're absolutely correct.

Now if you're implying I don't stand behind what I write or legitimately feel this way, there's nothing I can say to convince you otherwise except that I took the time to write it and if you don't dig it, that's cool you don't have to read it but have a good day anyways and thanks for the comment :)

Bronxs153938d ago (Edited 3938d ago )

@geekspodcast
Very well said. Wish more ppl had ur level headed rational approach to things. I haven't read ur article yet and wasn't planning too, but will difinately check it out now as I just became more interested in your views just bases on how u replied to the guy calling u out.

Ok,just read the article and enjoyed it, thanks. Interestingly I really enjoyed zombiu as well but didn't finish it completely.

Have you played the last of us? It scratched the itch for that kind of game way better than zombiu did.

Playing zombiu felt great At the time but in a post last of us world it feels hallow

geekspodcast3938d ago

@Clyde san

Sorry, I'd have replied to you directly but it wouldn't let me for some reason?

Thank you very much for the kind words I surely appreciate it! I can understand Kos-Mos position because there are a lot of people out there who like to write purely to get people riled up, but I do my best to stay away from that type of writing. I think the perception of bloggers or other content creators on the web is that they're just exploitive and don't truly believe in the work they create but that's not the message I want to send and I hope to do this for a very long time. So thank you for checking it out because every reader/viewer I get means the world to me.

I LOVED ZombiU I just hated that I hit a game-breaking glitch and never got to finish it and was especially disheartened to read there wouldn't be a sequel. It wasn't just a fantastic showcase of the Wii U's abilities, but a solid return to survival-horror in its own right and I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent with it.

I know what you mean about The Last of Us and (last shameless self-promotion I promise) wrote another article I submitted here on Monday about my feelings about the ending if you'd like to read it :)

http://n4g.com/news/1306246...

But to your point, I think a lot of people feel the same way about games right now. Someone (can't remember who) called it the Citizen Kane of gaming and I'm inclined to agree. A lot of games that were even solid in their gameplay appear lackluster by comparison because the storytelling doesn't even approach TLOU.

It just took the entire medium to a whole new level and that's the stuff that keeps me passionate about covering games. It's a medium that, sadly, will have some of its greatest moments and contributions to our culture lost on some who say they just 'don't play games' which to me is as bizarre as saying you just don't watch movies or listen to music.

Anyways, apologies for the tangent there.

TLDR, Clyde is awesome, loved ZombiU, sad there's no sequel, adore The Last of Us

Kos-Mos3937d ago

Even if you reply maturely (which I really respect you for), it doesn`t change the fact that your headline in the article is screaming for hits. That`s the problem. If you want your site to look like The Sun (I reckon you know what newspaper that is), you will experience comments like mine from above.
Have a good day, and thanks for the mature reply:)

geekspodcast3937d ago

Hey Kos-Mos,

It's a literal statement of the article's content. One submitted as an opinion piece with a title explaining how *I* feel- Not everyone, not Nintendo fans, and certainly not the universe entire.

If a headline is too generic you won't read or If it's too inflammatory, well, you STILL wouldn't read. I went with a literal statement and some evidence to support my position.

I'm prepared to consider a different headline if you have one to offer :)

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 3937d ago
AWBrawler3938d ago

not me. i refuse to put click bait articles on my site unless my opinion just so happens to line up with click bait.... so far that hasn't happened yet. from my experience, people enjoy articles more when it comes from you and its what you really feel.

Trago13373938d ago

Can we give them a chance to release the big games they have coming AND THEN see if their future is in peril?

They have yet to release Smash or Kart or anything else, or launch a huge marketing campaign.

Godmars2903938d ago (Edited 3938d ago )

The thing about this is that much of what is being said now was said with the Wii. If not the NGC and even the N64.

Nintendo has been diverging into their own world since they got burned by Sony and turned off CD tech. Have never really allowed their games to mature unless underpressure. And they're just now underpressure.

@McScroggz:
Its a chicken/egg argument. Sony worked the deal too much in their favor, Nintendo was too late in realizing it, so they went behind Sony's back and worked another deal with Philips.

McScroggz3938d ago

You know it was Nintendo that burned Sony right?

Show all comments (28)
80°

Nintendo's Massacre Of The 3DS And Wii U Is Finally Complete, Regrettably

Hanzala from eXputer: "The cruel hammer of Nintendo has fallen. Farewell, 3DS and Wii U, you surely brightened my life and many others; you won't be forgotten."

280°

Xbox's Preservation Step Sets A Much-Needed Example, Especially For Nintendo

Hanzla from eXputer inquires: "If Xbox can care about preserving its games and legacy, what exactly is wrong with Nintendo, trying to kill game preservation single-handedly?"

purple10110d ago

Ahh yes the good old game preservation of saving all your games to a removable hhd on the Xbox 360, taking it round your mates house, setting up multiple tvs to
Be met with “save data corrupted, please re download”

Or how about removing 360 games
From the store
, download them now or else, and, better hope to god that save data doesn’t corrupt, or it’s lost for ever

Nice one ☝️

Zeref9d ago

It's better than what Nintendo and Playstation is doing. It might not be perfect but at least they are TRYING. Unlike the others.

DarXyde9d ago

Trying? Take off the blinders for a moment, mate.

1. A failure to preserve games is just that: a failure to preserve games. Don't try to sugarcoat it: NO ONE is doing it properly. Better than awful is nothing to write home about.

2. At the time of this comment, isn't it the case that you need an internet connection to play Xbox games even if you buy physical discs that are hardly in circulation anymore? I don't have a Series X and I can't verify, but I think that is correct. I'm fairly certain you can at least play PS5 games at version 1.0 (not much of a win really when many games require day one patches). I think Microsoft's all digital, licensing approach is by far more aggressive than anyone else's. They really try to push you to game pass where you lose your entire library by umm.... Skipping a month of payments.

I don't think anyone is doing it right whatsoever. Don't get me started on Nintendo, who goes after anyone looking to preserve their games better than they ever would with extreme litigation.

Don't be a simp for any of these companies. Get it together.

PhillyDonJawn9d ago (Edited 9d ago )

@DarX never speak on Xbox again. You lost all credibility with your internet connection comment. Smh you have 0 clue and misinformed yet speaking on something you don't no squat about.

Einhander19729d ago

What has Sony done exactly? You guys keep deflecting to Sony but I am not actually seeing any results, and ai am certain nothing that you can come up with even comes close to what Microsoft has done and what they have tried and failed to do, like tie all your disks to your account on xbone.

Microsoft removed their whole indie section when they moved to the xbone because they were going to only allow games on the service that came from a publisher, id@xbox started after xbone launched and it only exists because Sony embraced indie and Microsoft was forced to cancel their plans and reverse course.

And every single game that was part of games for windows live including disk games (I have gta 4 on disk that won't work) so hundreds of games that use that DRM no longer work unless the company themselves patched it out which of course very few did.

MrBaskerville9d ago

Not trying. Tried. they killed of the backcomp program years ago. They set something up again, but sounds like it's more of an attempt to save the current library on whatever they are planning next. With luck they save everything and more, but let's see. I could see them killing off parts of the OG xbox and 360 libraries. Can't imagine that they would allow us to play Forza 5-7 in the future.

With that said, I do like what they've done and really wish they could have done more.

shinoff21839d ago

Zeref

So killing off physical media is trying what exactly. Ms don't really give a fk if you think they do your kidding yourself.

Profchaos9d ago

They are not trying this team is established for forward compatability the team is. It interested in preserving Xbox or 360 games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 9d ago
isarai10d ago

Is that why Hellblade 2 is digital only?

Zeref9d ago

Just because it's digital only doesn't mean you can't preserve it. Just put it on an external and you have the exact same functionality of what a disc does.

MrNinosan9d ago

Guess you're trolling, but if you actually think that's how it works, I'd recommend buying some braincells.

mkis0078d ago (Edited 8d ago )

Volitile vs nonvolitile data. A disc will not corrupt either. A drive can be corrupted.

Einhander197210d ago

This is just a scammy PR move to distract from the fact they are going digital only and trying to push streaming and subscriptions only.

No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft.

Without discs there is no preservation, preservation can't be done by the rights holders it can only be done by the consumers, anything else is a lie.

10d ago Replies(3)
Einhander19729d ago

Anyone remember xblig which Microsoft removed their whole 360 indie section removing hundreds of games from people?

9d ago
9d ago
Zeref9d ago

Do you know you can put your games on an external and preserve them that way? There are no benefits to discs. ZERO. Idk why some of you are still obsessed with them.

DarXyde9d ago

Because games like Persona 5 exist. It's STILL V1.00. On Playstation, that's a win because 1.00 is installed on the disc—no need to download anything.

If a game does not require any updates, it's all on the disc.

Extremely low bar in the modern era, of course. It's not much of a win by any stretch.

But for now, physical media does have a purpose, at least on Playstation.

Einhander19729d ago

That is factually not how game licensing works, try plugging your hard drive into someone else xbox, It's not going to work, and it won't work if the licensing servers ever go down.

Einhander19729d ago

Anyone remember games for windows live.

I have around a dozen games, some on Steam itself that will not work because Microsoft shut off the licensing servers.

BehindTheRows9d ago (Edited 9d ago )

I do. I STILL have games (Gears of War being the big one) I cannot access because Games for Windows LIVE is total garbage and no one has held Microsoft accountable.

Zeref9d ago (Edited 9d ago )

You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership.

Chevalier9d ago

"You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership."

Damn how many times do people got to explain your idiocy to you? You can take a copy of Persona 5 like someone used as an example and play that game on ANY console WITHOUT logging in which means I can lend the game to a friend without internet and they can play my game. Can you lend your hard drive to anyone without logging in for them to play? NOPE. That is a huge difference and if you think otherwise then sorry you're an idiot.

Tacoboto9d ago

"No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft."

Ubisoft is literally erasing games people bought from their libraries... My PS1-3 discs are useless on modern hardware. Nintendo's re-published and resold almost their entire Wii U library, and the eShop is completely dead with no BC mechanism in the Switch software. Microsoft publishes everything they make today day one on Steam and Xbox/Windows. Sony only brings to PC the titles they think you might want some years later and Nintendo won't even design a functional long-lasting joystick.

You're absolutely trolling and not serious if you think Microsoft today is the worst offender.

shinoff21839d ago

Yay steam

Not everyone fks with computers though. The disc is still the best way as a console player. Period.

Tacoboto9d ago

How do Sony and Nintendo feel about these discs from 2001-2013?

Don't be stupid, you know Xbox is the best at this today.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 9d ago
Hofstaderman9d ago

Nobody wants this. Sales or the lack of it in the case of XBOX is very telling. I wonder how the adorably all digital series X will fare. Adorably dismal perhaps?

crazyCoconuts9d ago

Only time will tell, but for from someone like me suspecting that Xbox is trying to gracefully exit the console market, that "forward compatibility" team is trying to get Xbox games playing on Windows PCs. I mean, it's nice that they're not planning on exiting with a "enjoy your games while the hardware still works" message, so that's nice. They still have a brand to protect via Microsoft so probably feel obligated to have a better exit strategy.

Xeofate9d ago (Edited 9d ago )

That is not their plan, their plan is to transfer users accounts to the cloud.

Phil Spencer himself said as much a few months back, plans could have changed but I think people are reading way too much into one statement where Phil said he would allow Epic on xbox because he wants to be able to sell xbox games directly on other platforms. Aka, instead of selling Sea of Thives through PSN he wants to have an xbox store to sell his games on PlayStation without giving PlayStation any money.

Again, it's extremely unlikely that Phil plans to put PC on xbox and licensing would prevent them from just giving out other publishers games purchased on xbox copies of thier games on PC, Microsoft does not own their games.

crazyCoconuts8d ago

The thing that doesn't align with the cloud strategy is the giving up on exclusives. You'd still need strong exclusives for cloud streaming - it's still a "platform" , just with a lower upfront hardware investment. I feel like they've learned what PS learned with PSNow long ago. We're not ready to stream games and it's only gonna lose them money to try at this point

FinalFantasyFanatic8d ago

I would love that, I'd buy up some of the Xbox games if they could run on PC, like the Rare Replay, Lost Odyssey and Dead or Alive Ultimate, probably a pipe dream though.

Show all comments (43)
90°

Nintendo's War Against Player-Made Content Will Hurt The Company In The End

Danish from eXputer: "Nintendo has historically gone against player-made content and emulation of its games. This has done much to harm the company's image."

XiNatsuDragnel16d ago

I agree nintendo hire some these folks to help in your games it'll help imo.

banger8815d ago

They need to stop announcing these mods and fan remakes until they're finished. Finish it, upload it, and then if Nintendo dmca's it tough shit. Once it's online, people can share it around, even if the original download gets taken down.

Jingsing15d ago

True, but most modders need constant admiration during the process to motivate them.

PRIMORDUS15d ago

Yup, once it's a torrent nothing can be done Nintendo is helpless at that point. But it would be wise if they just had a site on the dark web, it's also easy to use with Tor and no one will bother you.

mastershredder14d ago

This is all coming from the mouth of short-sighted fandom and grifting madness.
No.... it wont. There is a clear defined reason why they don't. This is nothing new. Make your own shi7 from your own original ideas especially if you are trying to capitalize of it it. Duh.

Yeah, hire people that have zero respect or understanding for an established process. Wow. Yep. Totally makes sense.

shinoff218314d ago

Those guys that made that sonic game got a gig from sega or something along those lines and that game was dope as hell. One of the best sonics as of late.