Nintendo Hates Money and These 4 Games Prove It

Ed from Twinfinite writes: Nintendo is not in a great place right now. The Wii U is struggling, and even great games such as Mario Kart 8 haven’t been enough to turn the tide. If Super Smash Bros. doesn’t get the job done this holiday season, then Nintendo and the Wii U could be in big trouble.

While the hardware and third party support have been under constant criticism, Nintendo can get themselves out of this mess as they have done in the past. There are a couple of game ideas that, like it or not, everybody knows would print money. But Nintendo hates your money, and they will never get made.

[shaw98]

I am sorry, but Metroid makes Nintendo nothing. The most any metroid game has ever made is 3 million units. Each installment has an average of a million units. It takes millions just to make a metroid game, so they are actually losing more money then gaining. I am surprised on how much loves Nintendo gives it. You know why they still give it love? Because they think it is a great gaming franchise.

[WeAreLegion]

I agree. I think all three of them do this, but Nintendo and Sony to a greater extent. How much extra time and money did they give Team ICO for Shadow of the Colossus? Or ThatGameCompany for Journey?

I think there are great people in this industry who, despite the probable fiscal outcome, love to see great games get made. Iwata seems to be that way. Shu seems to be that way. I'm sure Phil will prove to be that way, as well.

[Moonman]

Well said Wearelegion, deserves a bubble. I'm just happy a new Star Fox is being made. Super Mario Sunshine 2, Metroid Prime 4....well i'll have to think positively those will come.

[WeAreLegion]

Thanks for the bubble! Back at ya!

[OpieWinston]

I think we can all agree this list sucks.

Metroid would help sell units but I doubt Pokemon Snap U is the best selling Pokemon game to add to Wii U.

Open world Pokemon game on Wii U would sell like hotcakes...It literally sells the 3DS by itself.

@WeAreLegion
I agree, Nintendo and Sony do funnel lots of money into studios they believe in to make good games that sell and blow people away.

I believe Phil will follow that method(Especially with him bringing back classics like Phantom Dust), Don Mattrick didn't after Too Human busted and they put about $100 Million into Silicon Knights for that game.

[Vegamyster]

"It takes millions just to make a metroid game"

Out of curiosity do you actually know how much it takes to make a Metroid game? If it only takes a couple million to make then it's not hard for them to make that money back.

[MSBAUSTX]

Yeah I dont understand his point or how this framchise looses money at all. If it takes 1 or even. 2 million dollars to make a Metroid game and it sells 2 million copies at 60 bucks a copy that is 12 million it made.

I am not a math genius but if you subtract the production cost for Metroid Prime of between 1 to 4 million dollars, the average for that time, from the profits of 12 to 13 million dollars you have between 8 to 11 million dollars of profit.

I am pretty sure that is a good thing and would mean Nintendo does make money and likes it.

[deafdani]

@MSBAUSTX

2 million x 60 bucks = 120 million bucks, not 12.

XD

[Concertoine]

Thats probably plenty of units to make profit though. Really the metroid series has been plagued with poorly chosen release dates and a lack of advertising. Metroid Prime is one of the best selling games on the cube. But the last two Prime games suffered from poorly chosen release dates to compete with Halo 2 and 3. Even Other M, a game no one really wanted, sold over a million.

[Loadedklip]

... Most games make a profit before they hit one million in sales. I'm sure Metroid is one of those gamesor else we would have never seen so many of them.

[Kidmyst]

If Nintendo made a new Metroid, with that and Zelda I'd actually move the WiiU from a not going to buy to, hey I'm thinking of picking on up now.

[3-4-5]

"Nintendo Hates Money"

Is this supposed to be credible? This sounds like a title from a High school news paper.

[Ark_]

Twinfinite hates clicks and your headline proves it ...

[KuroKazuma]

metroid is coming for wii u and 3ds...

[Moonman]

l'll do a happy dance next E3 if so.

[Theyellowflash30]

"Nintendo is not in a great place right now. The Wii U is struggling, and even great games such as Mario Kart 8 haven’t been enough to turn the tide. If Super Smash Bros. doesn’t get the job done this holiday season, then Nintendo and the Wii U could be in big trouble."

Forgetting to mention that the Nintendo 3DS is selling quite well and Super Smash Bros for 3DS has sold nearly 2 million units in Japan alone. YOY Wii U sales are actually up and there forecast for this Physical Year is 3.6 million Wii U's. Nintendo's actually right on track to meet all sales goes especially with the Nintendo Nintendo 3DS, Monster Hunter 4, Smash Bros, Amiibo, Pokemon, Bayonetta, Hyrule Warriors, and Captain Toad launching this year.

Sony is forecasting a loss of $2 billion for the physcial year, and this idiot writer is talking about how Nintendo is in trouble?

Not only that, but he didn't include any financal forecast, profit made, or data to back up his opening statements other than 'Nintendo is struggling and Mario Kart 8 didn't turn the tide.' WTF.... ?

What kind of journalism is this? Twinfiite get some writers who know what they are F**king talking about.

[LOL_WUT]

The Wii U doing bad has nothing to do with Sony nor is it the authors obligation to bring up the company's financial situation every time they talk about the Wii U's poor hardware sales. After all last time I checked this is a Wii U article.

Retro working on a new Metroid thats a given as for those Pokemon games I don't care for them but i'm sure they will sell. Nintendo just needs to ramp up development for their ip's to help keep sales steady if they plan on staying in 2nd spot. ;)

[marloc_x]

Nintendo makes a TIDY sum on their games. Sales of the machines themselves is only part of the picture.

11 million consoles is fantastic, especially for Bungie and Activision..

What piece of the puzzle is missing in that scenario?

Bloodborne and The Order:1886 you say?
Great games to be sure, but how soon will they run out of gas as an expectation of PS Plus?

Remember the tortoise and the hare?;)

[Theyellowflash30]

The Wii U doing bad has nothing to do with Sony nor is it the authors obligation to bring up the company's financial situation every time they talk about the Wii U's poor hardware sales. After all last time I checked this is a Wii U article.

- MISSING THE POINT dude.

This article title is fail, and the article clearly states Nintendo, and the Wii U will be in trouble. YET they don't list actually what Nintendo's actual forecast is. I'm sorry, but I have a problem with that.

[KaladinStormblessed]

"Nintendo hates money".Well if they don't want it I'll take it. Haven't read a title that bad in a while.

[Jyndal]

Meanwhile....on the horizon of 2015....
The Legend of Zelda.

[benji101]

Yeah... forget the 45million 3ds systems they have sold. and the 2. 5 million copies of a yokai watch 2. Forget smash bros on 3ds. And forget that they have yet to release Bayonetta 2 to the rest of the world. And forget smash for wii u.

Nintendo are in the crap.. they are I swear...

[benji101]

Oh and forget Pokemon ruby and sapphire ...Monster hunter 4.. New 3ds... Forget it all it does not fit with the story that we want to write..

[DougLord]

Nintendo needs to totally change its model. It can't compete in the highend, and it's best IP doesn't need that much horsepower to be fun to play. Focus everything on cutting the cost to make the console. Get it down so you can retail for $50-$100. Work with Google to fix your online, streaming and social capabilities. Google wants a $50 streaming box that plays android games, why can't it play Wii U games too? Focus on cheap fun and your IP.

[MSBAUSTX]

Wrong. How are they going to make money if they charge less than the production cost of the system. Not to mention they are already giving the systems 2 games with the purchase. Those games were over 100 dollars combined value if you buy them seperatly.

So that means they HAVE already cut the price for the system by giving away two free software titles. Get your facts straight dude. They are doing exactly what you are asking but they are not going to just cut the price by 50 percent because you think they should. Thank god too because if they did there wpuld not be a Nintendo any more.

[imXify]

I'm scratching my head over the Mario/Sonic 2D platformer.

A Mario platformer consists mainly of cubes/squares.

A Sonic platformer consists mainly of curves/circles.

How can you merge them ?

[MSBAUSTX]

I recommend asking an idiot how that would happen. Good news, one wrote this article. Lets ask him.

[deafdani]

Nintendo hates money, yet they're the most profitable gaming company out there, regardless of the bad time they've had lately due to the Wii U (and they're starting to recover from that).

Wow. Imagine if they loved money!

[randomass171]

By my understanding several economic changes hit Japan pretty hard and Sony and Nintendo both reported some big losses with Sony taking the bigger loss of the two. Sony had to downsize while Nintendo has expanded since then. I think the industry is in a very experimental stage and everyone is just trying to see what works and what does not with a mass media crowd. These games don't prove Nintendo hates money. Just that those games are not as popular as Mario, Zelda and Smash. If I heard stuff like this every time Sony stopped supporting one of their exclusive franchises I'd be a hermit in the mountains bashing his head on the wall! :p

[HonestDragon]

Good grief this article is stupid. "Nintendo hates money". Give me a break. Everyone who writes about Nintendo being doomed or not trying hard enough clearly haven't seen the latest reports on Wii U sales for both the console itself and its games. A simple Google search will reveal that the Wii U (as of late September) has broken through seven million units sold. The author also neglected the success that the 3DS is having, too.

Could Nintendo be doing better? Well, of course they can. Their console didn't have many games in its first year; however, that has changed. With games like Mario Kart 8, Hyrule Warriors, and the soon to be released Bayonetta 2, Super Smash Bros, and Pokemon, Nintendo is not short on delivering the games people both want and have been waiting for. Some people are just too quick to jump the gun on things and make them sound worse than what they truly are.

[BigDuo]

It's public knowledge that it was Retro Studios' decision to make a sequel to DKC: Returns. They had some unused ideas leftover that they wanted to feature in a direct sequel, which is a typical occurrence in game development.

Nintendo and Retro have teased us in the past about returning to Metroid and also considering the revival of the 3D Donkey Kong Country series. Nintendo likes having their games sell a lot of copies, that is in fact, the easiest ways to make money as a platform holder. However, Nintendo's never been afraid to take risks with their IPs and new ones too.

Take a look at some of this generation's titles:

Kid Icarus: Uprising - a spin-off title based on a really old IP.

The Wonderful 101 - an unconventional, over the top, challenging action game with a fairly steep learning curve that's also Platinum's biggest project to date.

Fatal Frame 5 - a niche horror series even in its home country

Bayonetta 2 - a sequel to a critically acclaimed game that didn't sell well enough , hence why Sega didn't ended up not fully funding and publishing it.

Devil's Third - a non-mainstream Japanese-developed third-person shooter, you don't see many of those around.

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M - a steam punk, turn-based strategy title set in London with shooter elements.

Splatoon - an unconventional, kid-friendly shooter that defies genre tropes.

Xenoblade Chronicles X - a spiritual sequel to the first game that didn't exactly sell very well (especially in Japan). X is an even bigger game in terms of scale and of course, more expensive to develop for.