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How come Nintendo keeps having to completely reinvent itself every couple of years? They go from being on the verge of bankruptcy to a hit then back again. It s
by thinkloop 10y ago
How come Nintendo keeps having to completely reinvent itself every couple of years? They go from being on the verge of bankruptcy to a hit then back again. It seems like one tiny misstep and they're done. Microsoft is still spending accrued value from the 90's after tons of mistakes, why doesn't Nintendo have an easier life?
- manmal 10y agoI think that's because they make hardware. Apple would also die soon if they stopped putting new hardware out. Since Moore's law is screeching to a halt now, hardware companies might catch a break (or get into real trouble) soon.
- threeseed 10y agoWell obviously Sony and Microsoft have other resource streams so they can weather any storm. And for both companies gaming is important but so is providing media and services into the living room. Nintendo seriously has missed the opportunity every generation to expand beyond gaming and so they are more susceptible to the strength of the games themselves.
- JimmyAustin 10y agoMicrosoft has Office/Windows/Windows Server as a dependable money making, which leaves billions in capital ready for spending outragous amounts of money on pushing into new markets, like Windows Phone and Xbox. The first gen never actually made a profit. Nintendo doesn't have that. They live and die by their console.
- ianai 10y agoAt the same time I feel like they could sell their brand more often. They could have 5 smartphone games by now at least. Heck, they could do crazy things like branding an iPhone with Apple or an android manufacturer or you name it. They could make a mario cloud where you get to play VC in a browser. I feel like they're missing out on a ton of money. Sure all of those things would take capital, but they've got the IP people want to buy.
- eridius 10y agoThey've historically been very averse to putting their IP on other platforms, and for a very good reason. Nintendo makes their money selling consoles, the games they develop are just ways to drive console sales. If they made their games for other platforms, that would cannibalize their console sales. This is why Nintendo's recent forays into iOS gaming are done by producing brand new unique games designed very differently from their console games. For example, Super Mario Run, that's not a game you'd find on a console because its design is tailored to the smartphone and the ways people use their smartphones. I hope they keep doing stuff like this, but don't ever expect them to release one of their console games on another platform.
- ianai 10y agoThat's a really good point. Maybe their core market is too narrow for even multiple hardware products.
- aikinai 10y agoNintendo's never been on the verge of bankruptcy. That's a ridiculous myth that's always tossed around by news sites to get more clicks. Nintendo is a surprisingly tiny company with billions in cash in the bank. As others have mentioned, they don't have backup cash cows like the other conglomerates so their short-term profits do vary wildly depending on the success of each platform, but the premise of one generation being a matter of life or death is a false.
- flukus 10y agoThey've never been close to bankruptcy, but at times it's only been because of the gameboy/DS line.
- riffraff 10y ago> Nintendo is a surprisingly tiny company with billions in cash in the bank. I never realised this, so I went and checked. Nintendo has (per wikipedia) only 5k employees, compared to MS and SONY which both have more than 100k (across all divisions clearly).
- rhizome 10y agoIt's kind of hilarious to juxtapose your comment with the other one that says Nintendo only ever repeats themselves.