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180°

Nintendo Fans Are Growing Up – But Nintendo Isn't, and It Could Cost Them

Vice:
Tabata's statement sounds an awful lot like Nintendo cutting off its nose to spite its face. They published a game aimed directly at an audience the company isn't the master of anymore, while simultaneously alienating Chibi-Robo's original and older fans. And as Nintendo moves into 2016, with the launch of its new smartphone titles, and probably a new home-and-handheld hybrid console in the form of the NX, it needs to realise the contemporary needs of younger fans. If it doesn't, it risks losing them further, no matter how many cute games with Mario dressed up as a cat it lines up. Sometimes, pandering to a market backfires.

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Hoffmann3161d ago

"Nintendo Fans Are Growing Up"

They have this problem since the eighties though. And thats one of the reasons why less and less people like and buy Nintendo consoles and games.

OtakuDJK1NG-Rory3161d ago

actually less people are buying hardware not software.
The same amount is buying software.

It just the hardware numbers isn't high enough for it to be more. Especially when Mario Kart 8 is the best-selling exclusive this generation with the highest attachment rate.

ABizzel13161d ago

Software sales and hardware sales have dropped every generation excluding the Wii thanks to it's casual success.

It's good for Nintendo that they're games are selling, but being a Nintendo only console is the reason the hardware sales have been abysmal the last few generations excluding Wii.

Nintendo has to address all the issues they have, and all the areas they're 1 - 3 generations behind in, and then they can turn things around. Unfortunately for them, I'd say they only have 2 more generations top to do it, before they become a handheld only company.

Which honestly might be better for them so they can focus their entire first party efforts on a single platform, their handhelds are significantly better sellers than their consoles, and common mobile technology has already surpassed their current console in "graphics processing power" and RAM, so the tech is there as well. Not to mention their mobile market has felt the burn of smartphones and tablets, and that's an area they need to focus on finding a solution to the most.

Concertoine3161d ago

@Otaku

To an extent you are right since software attach ratio is on the rise on Nintendo platforms, but the numbers are still on decline. MK8 could surpass Double Dash which is currently the worst selling console title, but Smash 4 on Wii U, SM3DW and pretty much every other exclusive is looking to become their series low points.

Software sales are on the rise universally since we are coming out of a global recession and consoles launched much cheaper this time around.

miyamoto3161d ago (Edited 3161d ago )

LOL!

Did these dudes read my comment two days ago?

http://n4g.com/news/1856661...

"Nintendo is so traditional and conservative it does not want to grow, move forward or change.

They stick to what works and earn them money: games for little kids and teenagers. No matter what shape or form their hardware them kiddie games are still there as the common denominator.

This is why nintendo is caught up the the same ole cycle of hit and miss, win and lose.
They wait for the next generation of kiddie gamers to come and they have a hit console. but after 4 to 5 years these kids grow and move to more mature games and leaves Nintendo out in the cold and have to wait for another 4 to 5 years for the next batch kids.

They don't want to offer other products. It's like McDonald's service the same burger and fries and pop combo year in year out without introducing McChicken or McCoffee.

It's like the Beatles and Bee Gees singing the same ole pop songs and not reinventing themselves into something new and the music industry would have not evolved.

I have nothing against kiddie games because there is great demand for them but why won't they make a AAA Metroid or Zelda for their aging fans and keep both kids and adult gamers loyal to their platforms?

They cannot play it safe for so long.
They have to diversify.

I also noticed that the Japanese gaming community are also traditional and conservatories in their tastes: gamers and developers alike."

BullyMangler3161d ago (Edited 3161d ago )

khh . and that is why Nintendo wiiU has Donkey Kong Tropical freeze, a game that entered gamespots most challenging games ever created in the history of gaming list . .

then Bayonetta 2 . .

and nothing on any sony system or microsoft, is more gory more bloody than Madworld for the kiddy wii . .

If you stop being ignorant, and do some research, you will discover that Nintendo has had the most mature and challenging games ever created . and the list goes on . .

truth hurts you fanboys, huh

GordonKnight3161d ago

Nintendo is like the craft beer of video games. They operate on their own schedule. Aslo they aren't concerned about mainstream trends, unless the market makes them. They know that Nintendo is not for everyone and because of that there is never enough stock produced, special edition consoles, games, & amiibos. Then their products are sold be scalpers at a higher rate. Just like craft beer annual release special beers. Cigar city Hunahpu Imperial stout

pcz3161d ago

i want a new eternal darkness game.. or at least a hd remake of the original.

why are nintendo throwing this great ip in the dirt?

if anyone is interested they can check out a remix i recently made for the music in that game

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

:)

3161d ago Replies(1)
pompombrum3161d ago

To be honest though, there is absolutely nothing wrong with their games, I bought a Wii U as a gaming alternative that offers me something a little bit different and I haven't been disappointed. Their games have a certain imaginative charm that you just can't get anywhere else.

The problem lays in their image. Just walking into a GAME shop in the UK and the Nintendo section looks like something out of a toy store. When my mum saw my Wii U she asked me what it was and when I told her she looked at my funny and I quote "Aren't you a little old for that?"

3161d ago
ABizzel13161d ago

Their software isn't the problem IMO either. They make quality games although they could also focus a bit more on quantity as well considering they have a stable of franchises that they just won't revisit regardless of how many people ask for those games.

The problem is Nintendo's once dominance as a mainstay gaming console, is now looked at an an alternative gaming console just like you said.

And that wouldn't be a problem if it was the only other alternative available, which isn't the case.

Mobile is dominating the child demographic

PlayStation is dominating the console demographic, with Xbox doing well and surpassing Nintendo this generation.

PC gaming touches all aspects of gaming.

Nintendo consoles are currently a niche buy, just to play Nintendo 1st party games, and that's why hardware is suffering.

Stealth20k3161d ago (Edited 3161d ago )

Nintendo sells more software every year than either Sony or Microsoft. So exactly what is so niche about Nintendo? They are number 1 in everything but game consoles. Not a bad position to be in

ABizzel13161d ago (Edited 3161d ago )

With less than a year on the market than Nintendo PS4 is already over 200m software units sold and closing in on the 3DS even with it's +54m install base and it's 5 years on the market. Meanwhile, XBO is over 100m software units if VGChartz is to be believed, and considering practically every single month NPD consistently has PS4 topping software sales there's little reason not to believe this, on top of the fact that PS4 games generally outsell their XBO counterparts 2:1 globally and in some cases 3/4/5 : 1 globally.

Meanwhile Wii U has +70m sold (directly from Nintendo themselves) even with an full year on the market before PS4 and XBO....

The only time Nintendo sold more software than MS and Sony this gen when in 2013, when the PS4 and XBO launch with only 2 months of software sales on the market.

What's niche about Nintendo is the fact that their home console has been on the market for over 3 years and 1 year before the PS4 and XBO and is already being outsold by both of those consoles, and has not once sold more than 4m units globally in a single year. On top of that while their handheld division is doing well, it's also at an all-time low for Nintendo, and both devices are seeing the worst software sales in Nintendo history (again all this information is courtesy of Nintendo).

That's what's niche about Nintendo, and instead of fluffing and debate to provide some ray of light, you should be offering insight on what they need to do to improve their hardware sales, overall software sales, and get out of this downwards spiral they're in.

Stealth20k3161d ago (Edited 3161d ago )

Again, how much of that is attributed to Sony? Not much.

As a studio, Nintendo sells more software than Microsoft and Sony every single year. They are the number 1 publisher globally every year.

Last year, Sony was the only one who sold more hardware than Nintendo globally.

(You are getting so many downvotes because you are making stuff up)

Nintendo is not niche by any stretch.

Sony might outsell PS2, Vita bombed harder than Wii U.

X1 stopped outpacing 360.

The market is down, yet you act like only Nintendo is suffering.

Read the article, it is about Nintendo's software image, not about hardware sales, you are bringing it there because as a troll, that is all you can do.

ABizzel13161d ago

No I'm getting down votes, because you / troll accounts / other Nintendo fans (which is proven but the fact that every legitimate comment has several disagress) / and adolescent n4g kids can't take criticism of a piece of plastic that plays your favorite games. Nor do I care about anyone disagreeing with me, which also shows a childish mentality.

And I don't have to make anything up when every bit of information is reported directly from Nintendo on their company page.

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/...

It's nice being number 1 publisher, but for the 3rd time that also reflects why their hardware is continuously struggling, because the majority of you only buy Nintendo games and 3rd party developers don't bother. And while it's nice to have that title, it means absolutely nothing if as a console manufacturer your hardware isn't selling equivalently.

Good for you from combining 3DS and Wii U sales, they need it. The Wii U has clearly struggled all generation, and the 3DS has dropped below the XBO finally as well, even though they launched new 3DS hardware at the beginning of 2015.

http://www.gamnesia.com/new...

The 3DS was actually up last year +40% over it's 2014 sales, thanks to the launch of the new 3DS, but sales dropped so hard over the last part of the year that that 40% lead ended up being a -20% loss by year's end. On top of that the not a single piece of Nintendo software was in the top 10 NPD for the biggest month of the year for hardware and software sales.

https://zhugeex.com/2016/01...

So Sony and MS are gladly collecting that 20% console manufacturer fee on every single top 10 game sold, and if you break it down by individual platform sales then Splatoon makes it into the top 10 with Uncharted TNDC and Halo 5 right behind it with all 3 companies collecting 50% of the $60 revenue sale at retail and potentially 30% 3rd party and 70% exclusive of the sale digitally (of which MS and Sony had been very vocal about games breaking digital records).

Vita flopping has nothing to do with the Wii U flopping and being on track to be the worst selling core console of all time "NICHE". The 3DS is selling well and I wouldn't call it niche, but collective with the Wii U and they are the worst selling hardware Nintendo has ever had.

No XBO is still ahead of 360, although I don't expect it to have the same continuous growth as 360.

The market is down, because it's transitioning from the last-gen console dying out to the current-gen, and because last-gen all 3 console did very good except the Wii which broke records, whereas this gen the PS4 is doing extremely well, the XBO is doing good, and the Wii U has flopped, and the Vita flopped, and the 3DS is just now passing 1/3 of it's predecessors sales 5 years into it's lifecycle.

All you did was run and spin, from the real problem. Nintendo's console isn't selling and mobile is hurting their handheld division, this has been the worst generation ever for Nintendo and no amount of spinning can fix that, and it doesn't help having people like you trying to put a band-aid on a patient that needs open heart surgery. You keep bringing up exclusive software a single component of a multilayered business, and if they had better hardware sales and 3rd party support they would be in a much better position, and not their worst ever.

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skydragoonityx3161d ago

It could cost them? Its already costing them

Maybay3161d ago

Nintendo's about games that focus on the gamer's experience level, rather than the maturity of obscenely graphic gaming content. Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze may look aesthetically cartoony, though its difficulty invokes itself into a mature scenario because of its skill-based platforming (Wonderful 101 also's stigmatized in this way).

The NX will hopefully remedy Nintendo from their current state of mind.

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60°

Miyamoto: Nintendo Won't Be Opening Museums In Other Locations

"We have no intention of expanding" - Miyamoto

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Chocoburger18h ago

Feels like a missed opportunity, since Nintendo is loved all around the world, a museum in USA / CAN / UK / AUS / etc. would always be packed with fans.

Yi-Long1h ago

Kyoto is already overrun by tourists as it is. It would probably make sense if Japan finds a way to spread tourism out over more locations instead of just the Kansai region (Osaka, Kyoto) and Tokyo, to both alleviate the burden of tourism on those two area, while bringing more interest and thus tourism money to other areas.

Of course, that’s not something Nintendo needs to concern itself with right now, and it makes sense that they stick with 1 museum for the time-being, and in their home-city of Kyoto.

I’m also not sure how big the appeal for a Nintendo museum would be elsewhere in the world. Many tourists flock to Japan BECAUSE of the (pop-) culture, so they are interested in anime, videogames, etc. So Pokemon Centers and Nintendo Stores are very popular, always bustling with tourists who spend a lot of money there, and obviously a Nintendo museum in Kyoto then makes perfect sense.

But generally speaking, folks don’t visit a Paris or New York for it’s pop-culture, so a Nintendo museum would make less sense. Not saying a video-games museum wouldn’t/couldn’t work, I believe it could, but I think in the west it would make more sense to open a museum with a broader spectrum of videogame-exhibits, so not ‘just’ a Nintendo museum, but something much wider in terms of scope …

80°

Nintendo Is Reportedly Targeting AI-Generated Mario Pictures

Tracer used AI to serve takedowns "on behalf of Nintendo".

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Valkyrye2d ago

Nintendo using "AI" company to take down "AI" created images is a bad sign.

Pyrofire9513h ago

I hope there's a huge flood of Mario Ai pics now.

50°

If Nintendo's new "wireless device" is for tracking movement, let's hope it's for VR

Nintendo's new 'wireless device' patent suggests it tracks movement. Could it be a precursor for VR?

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OtterX1d 2h ago

The prospect of having a proper Nintendo VR is exciting.

I'd die for another Astrobot on PSVR2, as the Rescue Mission on PSVR1 was incredible. Sony showed how amazing platformers can be in VR, and I have no doubt Nintendo could do some equally amazing things IF they were to embrace the platform.