4 ms·

Being slow and conservative has probably contributed to the fact that they have been in business for over 120 years.

wmeredith 10y ago
Eh, that's sort of disingenuous to say, though. They made playing cards for more than half of that. Ditching your business model of 70 years to going into an emerging technology market (video games in the 80's) isn't really conservative.
- vidarh 10y ago
  They're still making playing cards. And it took them 18 years (1956-1974) of experiments with new ventures (including a cab company, and love hotels, and assorted toy ranges) before they started selling video games. Another 5 or so before they got successful. Donkey Kong came out in 1981 and finally made them lots of money from it. So ~25 years from they realised the playing card business didn't have room for further expansion until they had settled on a new direction that made them enough money for it to become the main driver of the company. Yet 35 years after Donkey Kong, they're still selling playing cards... Seems pretty conservative to me.
  - duaneb 10y ago
    Are people buying the cards, though? How much of the business is dedicated to the cards? I'd reckon it could fall into an ocean and much of the world wouldn't notice. I don't call that success.
    - vidarh 10y ago
      It's probably a rounding error by now, though big enough that they host tournaments etc.. But the point was to illustrate that Nintendo is in fact a quite conservative company - they've held on to what they started doing well over a century ago, despite having switched focus to video games 35 years ago, after spending 25 years researching and developing new businesses to find the right new direction. I'd argue that assuming their play card sales are now a tiny proportion of revenue, that just underscores this point - I can't imagine they need it, but it's part of their legacy.
      - cma 10y ago
        > the point was to illustrate that Nintendo is in fact a quite conservative company - they've held on to what they started doing well over a century ago, despite having switched focus to video games 35 years ago, If they dropped the playing card business tomorrow I don't think it would change my opinion whatsoever on whether they are still a conservative company or not.
      - duaneb 10y ago
        > But the point was to illustrate that Nintendo is in fact a quite conservative company - they've held on to what they started doing well over a century ago, despite having switched focus to video games 35 years ago, after spending 25 years researching and developing new businesses to find the right new direction. I agree with this, but I can't say it's clear that's a good way of doing business.
        vidarh 10y ago
        Given how few companies worldwide survive this long, it would seem they are doing something right. Whether this is part of that or not, I don't know.
    - taeric 10y ago
      Considering that pokemon is also a card game... :)
      - duaneb 10y ago
        Even when the cards themselves were popular it was as a collectible supporting the video game and TV show, not as a primary interest. That their popularity derives entirely from recent innovations implies their conservatism is not what makes them successful.
        taeric 10y ago
        I don't know if I follow your point. They probably had some equipment that was ideal for printing and shipping cards. They were able to leverage that equipment to make money. Specifically stated, there is money they would not have been able to make, had they not also printed some playing cards. Do you think it would have made sense to just abandon that money?
        duaneb 10y ago
        > Specifically stated, there is money they would not have been able to make, had they not also printed some playing cards. Sure, there's also money I'm not making by not busking. It doesn't mean busking is a good way to invest my time and money.
        taeric 10y ago
        You are ignoring that it is an efficient utilization of equipment and expertise they have. It would have been foolish of them not to try a collectible card game on top of one of their franchises.

Eh, that's sort of disingenuous to say, though. They made playing cards for more than half of that. Ditching your business model of 70 years to going into an emerging technology market (video games in the 80's) isn't really conservative.

vidarh 10y ago
They're still making playing cards. And it took them 18 years (1956-1974) of experiments with new ventures (including a cab company, and love hotels, and assorted toy ranges) before they started selling video games. Another 5 or so before they got successful. Donkey Kong came out in 1981 and finally made them lots of money from it. So ~25 years from they realised the playing card business didn't have room for further expansion until they had settled on a new direction that made them enough money for it to become the main driver of the company. Yet 35 years after Donkey Kong, they're still selling playing cards... Seems pretty conservative to me.
- duaneb 10y ago
  Are people buying the cards, though? How much of the business is dedicated to the cards? I'd reckon it could fall into an ocean and much of the world wouldn't notice. I don't call that success.
  - vidarh 10y ago
    It's probably a rounding error by now, though big enough that they host tournaments etc.. But the point was to illustrate that Nintendo is in fact a quite conservative company - they've held on to what they started doing well over a century ago, despite having switched focus to video games 35 years ago, after spending 25 years researching and developing new businesses to find the right new direction. I'd argue that assuming their play card sales are now a tiny proportion of revenue, that just underscores this point - I can't imagine they need it, but it's part of their legacy.
    - cma 10y ago
      > the point was to illustrate that Nintendo is in fact a quite conservative company - they've held on to what they started doing well over a century ago, despite having switched focus to video games 35 years ago, If they dropped the playing card business tomorrow I don't think it would change my opinion whatsoever on whether they are still a conservative company or not.
    - duaneb 10y ago
      > But the point was to illustrate that Nintendo is in fact a quite conservative company - they've held on to what they started doing well over a century ago, despite having switched focus to video games 35 years ago, after spending 25 years researching and developing new businesses to find the right new direction. I agree with this, but I can't say it's clear that's a good way of doing business.
      - vidarh 10y ago
        Given how few companies worldwide survive this long, it would seem they are doing something right. Whether this is part of that or not, I don't know.
  - taeric 10y ago
    Considering that pokemon is also a card game... :)
    - duaneb 10y ago
      Even when the cards themselves were popular it was as a collectible supporting the video game and TV show, not as a primary interest. That their popularity derives entirely from recent innovations implies their conservatism is not what makes them successful.
      - taeric 10y ago
        I don't know if I follow your point. They probably had some equipment that was ideal for printing and shipping cards. They were able to leverage that equipment to make money. Specifically stated, there is money they would not have been able to make, had they not also printed some playing cards. Do you think it would have made sense to just abandon that money?
        duaneb 10y ago
        > Specifically stated, there is money they would not have been able to make, had they not also printed some playing cards. Sure, there's also money I'm not making by not busking. It doesn't mean busking is a good way to invest my time and money.
        taeric 10y ago
        You are ignoring that it is an efficient utilization of equipment and expertise they have. It would have been foolish of them not to try a collectible card game on top of one of their franchises.