16 ms·

The Legend of Nintendo

394 points by tim_sw 8y ago

saagarjha 8y ago
No mention of the 3DS, which sold 75 million units?
- lloydde 8y ago
  “Nintendo’s existing handheld platform, the 3DS, kicked in an additional $1.7 billion“
  - saagarjha 8y ago
    That's after the Switch was released. The article makes it seem like Nintendo was about to go bankrupt because Wii U did not do well, and seems to conveniently ignore the fact that the 3DS did relatively well–two thirds as well as Wii did. So while Nintendo wasn't doing great, they weren't about to fail either.
    - pvg 8y ago
      A second failure of the flagship console might have ended Nintendo's run as a hardware maker. Nintendo pulled another rabbit out of its hat. That's the narrative being presented - not a particularly controversial or contrarian one.
      - rainbowmverse 8y ago
        This seems to be true of any hardware-based business. Hardware is expensive, has long development cycles, and can't always be fixed with a patch. Maybe they're pulling rabbits out of their hats, but they seem to have an inexhaustible supply. People have predicted Nintendo's demise at least since the GameCube. Somehow, they keep surprising cynics every other hardware cycle.
        pvg 8y ago
        It's much riskier if you're in a particular, relatively narrow vertical - there are not a lot of survivors in that business that are pure toy & game makers. Sony could eat the PS3 and a string of unsuccessful portables. Nintendo probably can't. You don't have to be a cynic to be surprised at their continued success - statistically-inclined is enough.
        ehnto 8y ago
        Their history suggests they are happy to pivot. I also don't imagine hardware sales are their bread and butter. Merch alone could probably fund their empire for a bad console or two. They seem fairly well diversified at least within the bounds of their industry.
        ehnto 8y ago
        I am always excited to hear about their consoles because they always do something interesting with the human to computer interface. It also always seems just a bit childlike in its attempts at innovation which I love, and by which I mean "Imagine if you had TWO screens" is something an 8 year old would say with unwavering glee. It's a sentiment other manufacturers miss out on entirely and that's fine, but I am super glad Nintendo is still around to fill the gap.
        Sangermaine 8y ago
        Other manufacturers just seem obsessed with raw specs and power, rather than actual gameplay experience.
    - Volt 8y ago
      It should be said: Nintendo has always had another console or handheld as a crutch, and lots of money in the bank. They've never been in danger of going bankrupt. Ever.
blahedo 8y ago
Whoa! "More radically to that end, in April, Nintendo began selling a toy line called Labo, which consists of cardboard assembly kits that gamers can use to transform the Switch’s detachable controllers into rudimentary motion-sensitive objects such as fishing rods or mini pianos. The contraptions can then be used to play accompanying games on the TV screen, by catching sharks with the rod, say. The games’ code is somewhat customizable, so precocious kids can program new uses for each of the accessories."
- tootie 8y ago
  Labo is super cool, but my kids' attention has waned. It doesn't sound like it's been much of a success. On the flip side, we've cleared Mario Odyssey 4 times already. And when we get tired of it, we fire up Lego Star Wars on the Wii.
  - tyfon 8y ago
    I considered buying labo for my kids but I thought the cardboard would be destroyed in a week max. How does it hold up? I have two, one is three and the other is seven. We've cleared odyssey at least two times as well, and I catch the older one looking for moons from time to time. Kirby seems to be the current attraction though :)
    - rainbowmverse 8y ago
      If anyone can make invincible cardboard, it's Nintendo.
    - cma 8y ago
      "Thankfully, Nintendo is already selling Toy-Con cardboard replacement parts for Labo" https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/4/20/17262280/nintendo-toy-con-cardboard-replacement-parts-labo https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/4/20/17262280/n...
    - hrktb 8y ago
      It’s surprisingly sturdy. For your 7 yo it should be perfect: on some parts some help might be needed, but mine got it done 99% by himself. The app is really well done. One interesting thing is he’s super attached to it (specially the robot one) as it took him so much time to build. I’m waiting for the interest to wane a bit to go for the customizations and try to build new things.
yazaddaruvala 8y ago
I find it amazing that, to detect hand and leg movement, the Vive and Oculus teams had to do so much on coming up with expensive sensors and configurations. These systems require the need for a dedicated room, which has been setup basically by experts. Nintendo delivers 80% of the experience and 100% of the fun with an IR camera (already in the switch) and some $4 cardboard they sell for $80. And it is portable! While the better sensors will definitely win in the long run, this is one of the best instances of engineering simplicity and "perfect being the enemy of good enough". It's hard to be anything but speechless.
- SerLava 8y ago
  Well, when the screen is attached to your face, perfect is the friend of good enough. Anything less and you throw up.
  - mynameisvlad 8y ago
    For hand and leg movement? Not really. Maybe I can see the case for leg movement if it's considered the same as 6DOF, but you definitely don't need those two to be perfect. You need your 6DOF implementation, and specifically your head tracking to be perfect to prevent throwing up.
    - SerLava 8y ago
      But when the helmet already requires it, the setup is already there, so you might as well use the same equipment to track position of hands.
    - Impossible 8y ago
      You will not get motion sick, but high latency and imprecise controller tracking feels bad and makes it hard or impossible to perform a large class of interesting interactions in VR, interactions that most existing apps are built on. One thing that Nintendo does not compromise on are poor quality controls or game feel.
- carlosdp 8y ago
furgooswft13 8y ago
Don't get me wrong, I love Nintendo, own a Switch, and will happily shell out hundreds of dollars each generation just to get the chance to play 2 or 3 new Mario/Yoshi titles. But from the Wii era on, their hardware and success seems largely based off of gimmicks. Maybe that is what is needed to stand out in an age of increasingly homogenized games and gaming platforms, but for me what makes Nintendo stand out is their 1st party titles that consistently combine nostalgia, excellent gameplay/mechanics, charming visuals, minimal (if any) storytelling, great music, and recently multiplayer co-op (bring your wife and kids!). Ok, I'm a sucker for Mario-type games and have not much been into Zelda since Ocarina, but I struggle to find games with those qualities and quality on any other platform, if at all. It has nothing to do with the hardware and their gimmicks. I can count on one hand the number of times I've used the Switch outside the house, or seriously played a Wii motion-control game, or a WiiU game that effectively used the dual/touchscreen features (does Mario Maker count?). If Nintendo released Mario Odyssey for PC I'd never even think of purchasing the Switch and very happily play the game at 4k 60fps on my puter. Being able to remap "shake your controller like an idiot" to spin-jump to a button in Dolphin made various Mario New's tolerable. But yea, that'll never happen. So as long as Nintendo keeps producing on the games front, I'll happily keep biting. Plz take my money. But how could I go on this rant without diverging into lionizing the glory of the SNES days, when Nintendo and videogames themselves were at a peak which shall never again be reached. The SNES was inarguably (though not at the time, Blast Processing and all) superior in graphics, audio, and control compared to other popular consoles at the time (that being Sega Genesis of course). And developers took advantage of all this power in spades. I'm still impressed by Mode 7 (what, you don't pause SMW when Bowser's clown-ship is zoomed to the max?), and many SNES game music are still among the best examples of VGM, before compressed digital audio removed all constraints on composers (with all due respect to the glorious SOTN and Mario Galaxy compositions). Many people have stated that early 2d games have aged better than early 3d ones, and I think that is true. The SNES shows this well, with vibrant, colorful, glitzy graphics, and excellent music. But what I think has been lost with the new generation of consoles is unique character. One could tell at a glance whether a game was was produced for the NES, Genesis, or SNES, and even the PS1 and N64. Now that characterness is left up to the developer, and the consoles/PC mostly interchangeable. That's fine I suppose. But there is something impressive, especially as a programmer, about taking these limited machines to their absolute limits, and eking every bit of unexpected power out of them. I remember once my friend messaged me, he just had to play FF3 (or FF6) like RIGHT NOW. So I sent him the ROM. We then both marveled at how it was only 4 megabytes in size. Kefka is truly rolling in his grave, laughing maniacally.
sheetjs 8y ago
For those who have a switch: https://www.switchbru.com/dns/ https://www.switchbru.com/dns/ is a simple hosted DNS server that lets you browse the web. And the web browser runs webkit! https://i.imgur.com/0h803Ux.jpg https://i.imgur.com/0h803Ux.jpg shows a Chart.JS demo running in a canvas. Unfortunately the File API does not work: https://i.imgur.com/GA5kNGp.jpg https://i.imgur.com/GA5kNGp.jpg
- backpropaganda 8y ago
  annddddd.... patched. Seriously, though, it's gonna be very easy for Nintendo to patch this particular DNS out. While running a browser doesn't really hurt their bottomline, a browser is typically the weakest link in any console and thus is often used to find an exploit and run homebrew. The Switch as of now doesn't have a non-intrusive exploit, but allowing arbitrary javascript could result in one.
  - striking 8y ago
    This is a minor abuse of the captive portal resolution function, that opens the web browser to let the user log in to any captive portal. There's no real way to "patch" this.
    - backpropaganda 8y ago
      > There's no real way to "patch" this. Just disable custom DNS. Only allow a few whitelisted DNS that 99.9% of people are going to use anyway.
      - detaro 8y ago
        What does that gain? It prevents people from browsing the web, what's the issue with that? For exploits/jailbreaks/... it'd be easy to use a local fake captive portal, so it doesn't protect against that unless they kill that feature completely, making the device unuseable with many networks.
billybolton 8y ago
The most important line in the article: "And it’s teaming up with Universal Studios to create theme-park attractions based on Nintendo characters, the first of which will open in Osaka in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics." AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH NINTENDO LAAAAAAaaaaAAAaaaaaaAAAAAADDDDD!!!!!!!! IT'SSSSS HAAAAAAAPPPPPPEEEEEENING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's like Disney Land but a millions times better. Actually screw Disney Land, Disney Land sucks.
- Larrikin 8y ago
  Nintendo IP is far more interesting, but after living in Tokyo and meeting a lot of people that liked Disney. It's a difficult task to not have fun in a Disney property. They just make it enjoyable for everyone. Not sure if it's worth the price outside of families in the US, but I have always had a good time no matter what continent I was on, even as an adult.
  - billybolton 8y ago
    I'm not that attached to the Disney IP at all. I don't care about Pixar, Mickey Mouse, Starwars or Marvel. I'm very attached to video games, especially from the gamecube/ps2 to the wii/ps3 era. That was my childhood, Halo3, Bioshock, GTA San Andreas, Mario Galaxy. I got recently into more retro games from the N64/PS1 era, and I absolutely love those, they have this charming simplicity to them. I just don't feel anything for Disney, didn't grow up with it.
  - krageon 8y ago
    While it is really fun (I went a bunch of times and it was enjoyable every time), I think the pricing is so exorbitantly high that it doesn't compare. There are other things which I really love doing that I could do very extravagantly for a tenth of the price. I wish that was hyperbole.
gallerdude 8y ago
Nintendo is awesome - they’re absolutely obsessed with making games as fun as possible, which is shockingly rare.
- billybolton 8y ago
  Nintendo, unlike most companies are focused on making games with gameplay. Most companies are making movies with gameplay segments in between.
  - mpg33 8y ago
    Sony is the most guilty of this imo. Even Microsoft's 1st party games are more "gamey" than Sony.
    - billybolton 8y ago
      cough Uncharted, Last Of Us cough
      - justrobert 8y ago
        Two games by the same studio who are praised for their ability to tell a story. To be honest there are only a few games I played during the ps3 era (bought it for the cell chip+linux and left it unpatched when they removed it from the firmware until the system was broken wide open), but the last of us was a great story and fun game.
  - scrooched_moose 8y ago
    That's been my biggest gripe with modern gaming. It feels like 2 of the first 3 hours of most modern games are cutscenes. I miss powering on a game, hitting start, maybe reading a paragraph, and going straight to the action. Luckily some recent indy games have filled that itch. Yooka-Laylee, A Hat in Time, and Hollow Knight have felt like modern updates of what I grew up on.
    - 8y ago
pimmen 8y ago
Hiroshi Yamauchi was a very harsh man in some regards (at least most would agree that he was blunt) but the way he built Nintendo is admirable. He knew what many managers don’t, that you need to find talented people that you can trust and have a hands off approach to their work if you want to scale and that there is probably not a single person or division in your company that deserves all the credit. He had by all accounts equal respect for Gunpei Yokoi who built a lot of good hardware, Satoru Iwata who built a lot of good software and Shigeru Myamoto who created a lot of good content. I know that Iwata took the company to great heights after Yamauchi stepped down but sometimes I worry that as time goes by Nintendo will lose what made it great, which is their big picture thinking. They’re not a console company, or a game studio or a game publisher; they’re a game company and to create the best experience they sometimes need to reimagine how games are played while not looking too gimmicky. It takes a special kind of philosophy to pull that off and over time I’m afraid it’ll go away.
jdoliner 8y ago
One thing not mentioned, that I think will be adding to their legend toward the end of the year is the release of Smash Bros. Ultimate. Smash has always occupied an interested space, Nintendo intended it as fun-for-the-whole-family type of game. Which it didn't necessarily fail as, but it accidentally succeeded as one premier competitive esports titles. There's always been tension between Nintendo's original vision and the competitive scene, with the 3rd game in the series, Brawl being summarily rejected in competitive circles. As esports has gone mainstream over the past 5 years though, other companies have figured out how to embrace and profit from the competitive scenes surrounding their games. With Ultimate, Nintendo seems to have finally started thinking of Smash as primarily a competitive game. Everyone I know who's played Smash at all seriously is incredibly excited for the new Smash. I personally will be buying a Switch just to play it, which is nothing new to me, I often joke that I should just hot glue Smash into my Nintendo consoles when I get them, I literally never take it out, I don't even own other games for them.
- titanix2 8y ago
  You're totally right: after Smash Bros release owning a switch would finally make sense. Up until now I find all the titles pretty underwhelming. Especially the Zelda that was highly praised by the press but which in my opinion does not contains anything of what make the previous ones good (music, story, good gameplay, characters). I'm also waiting for Metroid Prime 4 and Pikmin 4 as I loved the two games released on GameCube.
  - graeme 8y ago
    I'd strongly urge you to at least try Zelda. I am a fan of past Zelda titles. This one was different, but wonderful. I went in knowing nothing about it, and was blown away. The first seven hours or so gave me a sense of helplessness, wonder and uncertainty that I rarely experience in a video game. The longer you can go without reading a guide, the better. Eventually it can become a grind, but I got months of play value out of it, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Super Mario Odyssey is also excellent. It's incredibly fun, even if it's easier than other mario games. Incredible attention to detail.
lloydde 8y ago
I was about to go with a different console to stop my 10yr old bugging me about Fortnite. Him and his friends short attention span and deserve to be messaging with friends means be still spends much of his time on mobile or laptop.
- cdolan 8y ago
  I’ve read this about 4 times and I still can’t quite figure out what this comment is trying to communicate.
  - titanomachy 8y ago
    s/deserve/desire s/be/he
duxup 8y ago
I remember after the GameCube was short on games and thrid party support. I was done with Nintendo. Nintendo then said their next console wouldn't compete with MS or Sony directly. I was sure they were just going to be a handheld gaming company after that as they were sure to die in the console market. Nope, the Wii sold like hot cakes and I bought one and had a ton of fun. They just keep doing it...
- throwawayqdhd 8y ago
  The Switch is the first console that has me excited about gaming in nearly a decade. A relative brought it over during a vacation and we had tons of fun playing Mario Kart. The last time I was excited for a game was Age of Mythology back in 2002. Nintendo solves the biggest complaint I have with modern games: they just take themselves way too seriously. So many are just trying to become wish fulfillment vehicles instead of actually being fun. I don't care about story or sitting through 10 minute cut scenes. I don't have that kind of time or patience. If I wanted story, I'd watch HBO and get far better stuff. I just want to launch and have fun for 30 minutes. Nintendo gets that.
  - duxup 8y ago
    Nintendo has somehow managed to pull off a great system where they have arcade like pickup and play fun... and yet still depth to some extent so it doesn't feel repetitive. There is some serious skill in that.
    - throwawayqdhd 8y ago
      Exactly. The only games - that I've played - that have the same arcade "pick up and play" level of fun are the GTA series (especially San Andreas) and racing games.
abvdasker 8y ago
I would love to know more about the inner workings of Nintendo corporate culture. For the company to have survived for so long means they clearly know something most games studios and tech companies don't. That their offices don't seem to include any of the flashy bullshit populating the offices of most tech companies seems telling.
- rublev 8y ago
  >they clearly know something most games studios and tech companies don't. money
- Izkata 8y ago
  Something I vaguely remember from years ago in an interview: Rather like this comment [0] I just read on another submission, it's along the lines of: Don't listen to what people say, throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. Two things that stuck crazy-well were the touchscreen on the NDS in 2004 and the motion controls on the Wii in 2006. In either case, they were the first to market with both ideas, but before that people would've said the idea was crazy. Two other examples that didn't stick at all, off the top of my head: Virtual Boy and the Power Glove. (Small aside: It's long enough ago that plenty of people seem to have forgotten, but the touchscreen on the NDS was a crazy idea at the time because that was nearly 3 years before the iPhone was released, let alone smartphones becoming common/popular. The got-to-have phone at the time was the Motorola RAZR.) [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17387468 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17387468
  - sh33mp 8y ago
    Just a gamer here, but there's something to be said about the success and failure of the 3DS and PS Vita. The 3DS, based on hardware/system alone, should have failed. It was tremendously underpowered, and it forced a terrible 3D technology on all its users, which never really took off or became anything other than a novelty while raising the cost of manufacturing. The Vita was a truly next-generation portable gaming device, with a beautiful screen, incredible graphics, properly analog sticks, an extremely modern interface, and great connectivity and human-interface (camera, capacitative touch) features. Even incorporating the cost of a proprietary Sony memory card, for the amount of power you got, I think it was very reasonably priced. Comparing the 3DS and Vita was like night and day in terms of a modern gaming device. Even today, I think it can stand head-to-head with the Switch in terms of portable gaming. But Nintendo continued to pour resources into developing top-tier games for the 3DS, slashing its price to bolster adoption, and sticking to its still unorthodox 3D screen/touch screen combo. Whereas for the Vita, Sony quickly got spooked that the Vita didn't perform as well as the PSP, pulled first-party support and general marketing support, and major 3rd party developers (particularly outside Japan) fled the device. The 3DS is now seen as a major success for Nintendo, while the Vita died (or is still dying) a slow and unceremonious death. Sometimes sticking to your crazy guns works.
joeax 8y ago
What I find interesting is the Nintendo is sitting on a billion+ worth of IP that they haven't even scratched the surface of unlocking. The Zelda universe alone could generate millions with movies, novels, merchandising, and other content, but instead it remains on lockdown, with just the flagship game title releasing every 5-6 years with limited toys or figures (basically just Amiibos and some collectibles). The best we've gotten is a rumor of a GoT-style Zelda series headed to Netflix, a rumor quickly shot down by Nintendo. Had the Switch failed, I believe this could have been their next play. Even if they exited the console market their IP could sustain the company for decades.
- aczerepinski 8y ago
  For sure. They don't have quite the roster that Marvel did when transitioning to film/merchandise but Zelda, Mario, and a few others have quite a bit of potential. I hope Nintendo takes note of everything Marvel left on the table with its early Fox/Sony film deals.
- qbrass 8y ago
  >What I find interesting is the Nintendo is sitting on a billion+ worth of IP that they haven't even scratched the surface of unlocking. Why risk making the next Super Mario Bros. when they can print money making Pokemon videos?
- danbolt 8y ago
  I think they’re quite sensitive to how the brand is perceived in terms of merchandising.
  - joeax 8y ago
    In the long-term it's to their detriment. If the company finds itself on the decline, they may look back on it as a missed opportunity.
    - simcop2387 8y ago
      I think zelda in particular has a rough spot for them because of the CD-i games, the 80s cartoon, and other rights merchandising stuff they tried in the past that didn't really work out well for them.
amimetic 8y ago
Does anyone else find the overwhelmingly positive coverage of Switch and its games a little puzzling? From a consumer's perspective I just don't get it. The Switch costs more than a vastly more powerful PS4 or Xbox One S. It (particularly) versus a PS4 has a tiny library of games. And the PS4 has actual VR. But even more remarkable is comparing the prices of games on the systems: often you will pay 2-3x as much for a (probably inferior) version of a game (compared to PS4/Xbox/iOS/Android). I bought a Switch a few months ago. Played (and loved) the nostalgia of Mario. Played and dropped (as it seemed frustrating/grind-y) Zelda. And as far as I can tell that is basically the two games worth getting it for it. So I sold it. As I have a dozen great games ready to go on my PS4, and seems like more excellent stuff on the way, I just don't get the point of the Switch. If I want to play games on the move I can use my iPhone.
- cmrdporcupine 8y ago
  With the Switch you are playing for mobility. And for us parents, it's a kind of brand safety thing, too. Nintendo really makes an effort to keep their platform pretty kid focused. Not that there aren't killing/shooting games for it, but there's always a really good library of family friendly titles for it, and the system and its OS is very approachable for young kids.
  - cmrdporcupine 8y ago
    oops, too late to edit, but meant to say 'paying' for mobility :-)
- floatboth 8y ago
  > that is basically the two games worth getting it for it Splatoon 2, Bayonetta 2, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, ARMS. Also homebrew and Linux :)
  - seba_dos1 8y ago
    It's just so sad that they aren't exactly friendly towards homebrew. It would be a perfect gaming device I would buy with no hesitation - instead, I have no idea now if they'll ban me from using their services for using GNU/Linux if I decide to buy it.
hitekker 8y ago
>When it was Furukawa’s turn to speak, he noted that Nintendo makes “playthings, not necessities” and that if consumers stop finding its products compelling, the company could be swiftly forgotten. Never. Never. A thousand times never. Some experiences are just fond memories. Others are formative. For me, getting 120 stars, defeating Ganondorf, unlocking Mewtwo, throwing green polka-dotted eggs-- those moments rank among the most defining times of my youth. More than Disney, Youtube, TV or any other entertainment company, Nintendo was there for me, and there for my friends. Happy or sad, when I was alone, I'd adventure in the rolling slopes of the Mushroom Kingdom. When I was with friends, we'd obliviate one another in a final destination. And when we were nowhere near our consoles, we'd argue about our escapades and the “strats”. Starcraft, Half Life, Age of Empires, and the like are all great, amazing games, and I love them so. But Nintendo has my childhood. Through-and-through. It would be unfortunate if they go down the path of Sega and and ruin their franchises. But I will cherish the memories they gave me. And I will never forget them.
- trynewideas 8y ago
  For a 128-year-old company, it could take two generations passing away for them to be forgotten and it'd still be swift by their measure.
  - Alex3917 8y ago
    The best old movies will live forever thanks to the lists from AFI, BFI, etc. Eventually we’ll likely have better versions of things like this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_games_considered_the_best https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_games_consider... (Right now it’s still missing NetHack and a bunch of other basic stuff.)
    - z3phyr 8y ago
      Notice the number of games considered the best per year. Late 1990s and early 2000s have a bunch. Are people making lesser games nowadays? Or the stakes have increased?
dfox 8y ago
One thing that I would really like to see is how Nintendo's Japanese hardware development organization really looks like, because at least since Wii all of their hardware design is quite obviously outsourced to the US.
Isamu 8y ago
>The notion of abandoning a core craft was anathema to Nintendo’s culture, though—the company was, after all, still selling packs of hanafuda, the flower-adorned playing cards that it set out with in 1889. Anybody have experience with hanafuda cards from Nintendo? I'm thinking of buying the Tengu pack. I've been learning Koi Koi (ever since watching Summer Wars.)

394 points by tim_sw 8y ago

saagarjha 8y ago

No mention of the 3DS, which sold 75 million units?

lloydde 8y ago
“Nintendo’s existing handheld platform, the 3DS, kicked in an additional $1.7 billion“
- saagarjha 8y ago
  That's after the Switch was released. The article makes it seem like Nintendo was about to go bankrupt because Wii U did not do well, and seems to conveniently ignore the fact that the 3DS did relatively well–two thirds as well as Wii did. So while Nintendo wasn't doing great, they weren't about to fail either.
  - pvg 8y ago
    A second failure of the flagship console might have ended Nintendo's run as a hardware maker. Nintendo pulled another rabbit out of its hat. That's the narrative being presented - not a particularly controversial or contrarian one.
    - rainbowmverse 8y ago
      This seems to be true of any hardware-based business. Hardware is expensive, has long development cycles, and can't always be fixed with a patch. Maybe they're pulling rabbits out of their hats, but they seem to have an inexhaustible supply. People have predicted Nintendo's demise at least since the GameCube. Somehow, they keep surprising cynics every other hardware cycle.
      - pvg 8y ago
        It's much riskier if you're in a particular, relatively narrow vertical - there are not a lot of survivors in that business that are pure toy & game makers. Sony could eat the PS3 and a string of unsuccessful portables. Nintendo probably can't. You don't have to be a cynic to be surprised at their continued success - statistically-inclined is enough.
        ehnto 8y ago
        Their history suggests they are happy to pivot. I also don't imagine hardware sales are their bread and butter. Merch alone could probably fund their empire for a bad console or two. They seem fairly well diversified at least within the bounds of their industry.
      - ehnto 8y ago
        I am always excited to hear about their consoles because they always do something interesting with the human to computer interface. It also always seems just a bit childlike in its attempts at innovation which I love, and by which I mean "Imagine if you had TWO screens" is something an 8 year old would say with unwavering glee. It's a sentiment other manufacturers miss out on entirely and that's fine, but I am super glad Nintendo is still around to fill the gap.
        Sangermaine 8y ago
        Other manufacturers just seem obsessed with raw specs and power, rather than actual gameplay experience.
  - Volt 8y ago
    It should be said: Nintendo has always had another console or handheld as a crutch, and lots of money in the bank. They've never been in danger of going bankrupt. Ever.

blahedo 8y ago

Whoa! "More radically to that end, in April, Nintendo began selling a toy line called Labo, which consists of cardboard assembly kits that gamers can use to transform the Switch’s detachable controllers into rudimentary motion-sensitive objects such as fishing rods or mini pianos. The contraptions can then be used to play accompanying games on the TV screen, by catching sharks with the rod, say. The games’ code is somewhat customizable, so precocious kids can program new uses for each of the accessories."

tootie 8y ago
Labo is super cool, but my kids' attention has waned. It doesn't sound like it's been much of a success. On the flip side, we've cleared Mario Odyssey 4 times already. And when we get tired of it, we fire up Lego Star Wars on the Wii.
- tyfon 8y ago
  I considered buying labo for my kids but I thought the cardboard would be destroyed in a week max. How does it hold up? I have two, one is three and the other is seven. We've cleared odyssey at least two times as well, and I catch the older one looking for moons from time to time. Kirby seems to be the current attraction though :)
  - rainbowmverse 8y ago
    If anyone can make invincible cardboard, it's Nintendo.
  - cma 8y ago
    "Thankfully, Nintendo is already selling Toy-Con cardboard replacement parts for Labo" https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/4/20/17262280/nintendo-toy-con-cardboard-replacement-parts-labo https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/4/20/17262280/n...
  - hrktb 8y ago
    It’s surprisingly sturdy. For your 7 yo it should be perfect: on some parts some help might be needed, but mine got it done 99% by himself. The app is really well done. One interesting thing is he’s super attached to it (specially the robot one) as it took him so much time to build. I’m waiting for the interest to wane a bit to go for the customizations and try to build new things.

yazaddaruvala 8y ago

I find it amazing that, to detect hand and leg movement, the Vive and Oculus teams had to do so much on coming up with expensive sensors and configurations. These systems require the need for a dedicated room, which has been setup basically by experts. Nintendo delivers 80% of the experience and 100% of the fun with an IR camera (already in the switch) and some $4 cardboard they sell for $80. And it is portable! While the better sensors will definitely win in the long run, this is one of the best instances of engineering simplicity and "perfect being the enemy of good enough". It's hard to be anything but speechless.

SerLava 8y ago
Well, when the screen is attached to your face, perfect is the friend of good enough. Anything less and you throw up.
- mynameisvlad 8y ago
  For hand and leg movement? Not really. Maybe I can see the case for leg movement if it's considered the same as 6DOF, but you definitely don't need those two to be perfect. You need your 6DOF implementation, and specifically your head tracking to be perfect to prevent throwing up.
  - SerLava 8y ago
    But when the helmet already requires it, the setup is already there, so you might as well use the same equipment to track position of hands.
  - Impossible 8y ago
    You will not get motion sick, but high latency and imprecise controller tracking feels bad and makes it hard or impossible to perform a large class of interesting interactions in VR, interactions that most existing apps are built on. One thing that Nintendo does not compromise on are poor quality controls or game feel.
carlosdp 8y ago

furgooswft13 8y ago

Don't get me wrong, I love Nintendo, own a Switch, and will happily shell out hundreds of dollars each generation just to get the chance to play 2 or 3 new Mario/Yoshi titles. But from the Wii era on, their hardware and success seems largely based off of gimmicks. Maybe that is what is needed to stand out in an age of increasingly homogenized games and gaming platforms, but for me what makes Nintendo stand out is their 1st party titles that consistently combine nostalgia, excellent gameplay/mechanics, charming visuals, minimal (if any) storytelling, great music, and recently multiplayer co-op (bring your wife and kids!). Ok, I'm a sucker for Mario-type games and have not much been into Zelda since Ocarina, but I struggle to find games with those qualities and quality on any other platform, if at all. It has nothing to do with the hardware and their gimmicks. I can count on one hand the number of times I've used the Switch outside the house, or seriously played a Wii motion-control game, or a WiiU game that effectively used the dual/touchscreen features (does Mario Maker count?). If Nintendo released Mario Odyssey for PC I'd never even think of purchasing the Switch and very happily play the game at 4k 60fps on my puter. Being able to remap "shake your controller like an idiot" to spin-jump to a button in Dolphin made various Mario New's tolerable. But yea, that'll never happen. So as long as Nintendo keeps producing on the games front, I'll happily keep biting. Plz take my money. But how could I go on this rant without diverging into lionizing the glory of the SNES days, when Nintendo and videogames themselves were at a peak which shall never again be reached. The SNES was inarguably (though not at the time, Blast Processing and all) superior in graphics, audio, and control compared to other popular consoles at the time (that being Sega Genesis of course). And developers took advantage of all this power in spades. I'm still impressed by Mode 7 (what, you don't pause SMW when Bowser's clown-ship is zoomed to the max?), and many SNES game music are still among the best examples of VGM, before compressed digital audio removed all constraints on composers (with all due respect to the glorious SOTN and Mario Galaxy compositions). Many people have stated that early 2d games have aged better than early 3d ones, and I think that is true. The SNES shows this well, with vibrant, colorful, glitzy graphics, and excellent music. But what I think has been lost with the new generation of consoles is unique character. One could tell at a glance whether a game was was produced for the NES, Genesis, or SNES, and even the PS1 and N64. Now that characterness is left up to the developer, and the consoles/PC mostly interchangeable. That's fine I suppose. But there is something impressive, especially as a programmer, about taking these limited machines to their absolute limits, and eking every bit of unexpected power out of them. I remember once my friend messaged me, he just had to play FF3 (or FF6) like RIGHT NOW. So I sent him the ROM. We then both marveled at how it was only 4 megabytes in size. Kefka is truly rolling in his grave, laughing maniacally.

sheetjs 8y ago

For those who have a switch: https://www.switchbru.com/dns/ https://www.switchbru.com/dns/ is a simple hosted DNS server that lets you browse the web. And the web browser runs webkit! https://i.imgur.com/0h803Ux.jpg https://i.imgur.com/0h803Ux.jpg shows a Chart.JS demo running in a canvas. Unfortunately the File API does not work: https://i.imgur.com/GA5kNGp.jpg https://i.imgur.com/GA5kNGp.jpg

backpropaganda 8y ago
annddddd.... patched. Seriously, though, it's gonna be very easy for Nintendo to patch this particular DNS out. While running a browser doesn't really hurt their bottomline, a browser is typically the weakest link in any console and thus is often used to find an exploit and run homebrew. The Switch as of now doesn't have a non-intrusive exploit, but allowing arbitrary javascript could result in one.
- striking 8y ago
  This is a minor abuse of the captive portal resolution function, that opens the web browser to let the user log in to any captive portal. There's no real way to "patch" this.
  - backpropaganda 8y ago
    > There's no real way to "patch" this. Just disable custom DNS. Only allow a few whitelisted DNS that 99.9% of people are going to use anyway.
    - detaro 8y ago
      What does that gain? It prevents people from browsing the web, what's the issue with that? For exploits/jailbreaks/... it'd be easy to use a local fake captive portal, so it doesn't protect against that unless they kill that feature completely, making the device unuseable with many networks.

billybolton 8y ago

The most important line in the article: "And it’s teaming up with Universal Studios to create theme-park attractions based on Nintendo characters, the first of which will open in Osaka in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics." AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH NINTENDO LAAAAAAaaaaAAAaaaaaaAAAAAADDDDD!!!!!!!! IT'SSSSS HAAAAAAAPPPPPPEEEEEENING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's like Disney Land but a millions times better. Actually screw Disney Land, Disney Land sucks.

Larrikin 8y ago
Nintendo IP is far more interesting, but after living in Tokyo and meeting a lot of people that liked Disney. It's a difficult task to not have fun in a Disney property. They just make it enjoyable for everyone. Not sure if it's worth the price outside of families in the US, but I have always had a good time no matter what continent I was on, even as an adult.
- billybolton 8y ago
  I'm not that attached to the Disney IP at all. I don't care about Pixar, Mickey Mouse, Starwars or Marvel. I'm very attached to video games, especially from the gamecube/ps2 to the wii/ps3 era. That was my childhood, Halo3, Bioshock, GTA San Andreas, Mario Galaxy. I got recently into more retro games from the N64/PS1 era, and I absolutely love those, they have this charming simplicity to them. I just don't feel anything for Disney, didn't grow up with it.
- krageon 8y ago
  While it is really fun (I went a bunch of times and it was enjoyable every time), I think the pricing is so exorbitantly high that it doesn't compare. There are other things which I really love doing that I could do very extravagantly for a tenth of the price. I wish that was hyperbole.

gallerdude 8y ago

Nintendo is awesome - they’re absolutely obsessed with making games as fun as possible, which is shockingly rare.

billybolton 8y ago
Nintendo, unlike most companies are focused on making games with gameplay. Most companies are making movies with gameplay segments in between.
- mpg33 8y ago
  Sony is the most guilty of this imo. Even Microsoft's 1st party games are more "gamey" than Sony.
  - billybolton 8y ago
    cough Uncharted, Last Of Us cough
    - justrobert 8y ago
      Two games by the same studio who are praised for their ability to tell a story. To be honest there are only a few games I played during the ps3 era (bought it for the cell chip+linux and left it unpatched when they removed it from the firmware until the system was broken wide open), but the last of us was a great story and fun game.
- scrooched_moose 8y ago
  That's been my biggest gripe with modern gaming. It feels like 2 of the first 3 hours of most modern games are cutscenes. I miss powering on a game, hitting start, maybe reading a paragraph, and going straight to the action. Luckily some recent indy games have filled that itch. Yooka-Laylee, A Hat in Time, and Hollow Knight have felt like modern updates of what I grew up on.
  - 8y ago

pimmen 8y ago

Hiroshi Yamauchi was a very harsh man in some regards (at least most would agree that he was blunt) but the way he built Nintendo is admirable. He knew what many managers don’t, that you need to find talented people that you can trust and have a hands off approach to their work if you want to scale and that there is probably not a single person or division in your company that deserves all the credit. He had by all accounts equal respect for Gunpei Yokoi who built a lot of good hardware, Satoru Iwata who built a lot of good software and Shigeru Myamoto who created a lot of good content. I know that Iwata took the company to great heights after Yamauchi stepped down but sometimes I worry that as time goes by Nintendo will lose what made it great, which is their big picture thinking. They’re not a console company, or a game studio or a game publisher; they’re a game company and to create the best experience they sometimes need to reimagine how games are played while not looking too gimmicky. It takes a special kind of philosophy to pull that off and over time I’m afraid it’ll go away.

jdoliner 8y ago

One thing not mentioned, that I think will be adding to their legend toward the end of the year is the release of Smash Bros. Ultimate. Smash has always occupied an interested space, Nintendo intended it as fun-for-the-whole-family type of game. Which it didn't necessarily fail as, but it accidentally succeeded as one premier competitive esports titles. There's always been tension between Nintendo's original vision and the competitive scene, with the 3rd game in the series, Brawl being summarily rejected in competitive circles. As esports has gone mainstream over the past 5 years though, other companies have figured out how to embrace and profit from the competitive scenes surrounding their games. With Ultimate, Nintendo seems to have finally started thinking of Smash as primarily a competitive game. Everyone I know who's played Smash at all seriously is incredibly excited for the new Smash. I personally will be buying a Switch just to play it, which is nothing new to me, I often joke that I should just hot glue Smash into my Nintendo consoles when I get them, I literally never take it out, I don't even own other games for them.

titanix2 8y ago
You're totally right: after Smash Bros release owning a switch would finally make sense. Up until now I find all the titles pretty underwhelming. Especially the Zelda that was highly praised by the press but which in my opinion does not contains anything of what make the previous ones good (music, story, good gameplay, characters). I'm also waiting for Metroid Prime 4 and Pikmin 4 as I loved the two games released on GameCube.
- graeme 8y ago
  I'd strongly urge you to at least try Zelda. I am a fan of past Zelda titles. This one was different, but wonderful. I went in knowing nothing about it, and was blown away. The first seven hours or so gave me a sense of helplessness, wonder and uncertainty that I rarely experience in a video game. The longer you can go without reading a guide, the better. Eventually it can become a grind, but I got months of play value out of it, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Super Mario Odyssey is also excellent. It's incredibly fun, even if it's easier than other mario games. Incredible attention to detail.

lloydde 8y ago

I was about to go with a different console to stop my 10yr old bugging me about Fortnite. Him and his friends short attention span and deserve to be messaging with friends means be still spends much of his time on mobile or laptop.

cdolan 8y ago
I’ve read this about 4 times and I still can’t quite figure out what this comment is trying to communicate.
- titanomachy 8y ago
  s/deserve/desire s/be/he

duxup 8y ago

I remember after the GameCube was short on games and thrid party support. I was done with Nintendo. Nintendo then said their next console wouldn't compete with MS or Sony directly. I was sure they were just going to be a handheld gaming company after that as they were sure to die in the console market. Nope, the Wii sold like hot cakes and I bought one and had a ton of fun. They just keep doing it...

throwawayqdhd 8y ago
The Switch is the first console that has me excited about gaming in nearly a decade. A relative brought it over during a vacation and we had tons of fun playing Mario Kart. The last time I was excited for a game was Age of Mythology back in 2002. Nintendo solves the biggest complaint I have with modern games: they just take themselves way too seriously. So many are just trying to become wish fulfillment vehicles instead of actually being fun. I don't care about story or sitting through 10 minute cut scenes. I don't have that kind of time or patience. If I wanted story, I'd watch HBO and get far better stuff. I just want to launch and have fun for 30 minutes. Nintendo gets that.
- duxup 8y ago
  Nintendo has somehow managed to pull off a great system where they have arcade like pickup and play fun... and yet still depth to some extent so it doesn't feel repetitive. There is some serious skill in that.
  - throwawayqdhd 8y ago
    Exactly. The only games - that I've played - that have the same arcade "pick up and play" level of fun are the GTA series (especially San Andreas) and racing games.

abvdasker 8y ago

I would love to know more about the inner workings of Nintendo corporate culture. For the company to have survived for so long means they clearly know something most games studios and tech companies don't. That their offices don't seem to include any of the flashy bullshit populating the offices of most tech companies seems telling.

rublev 8y ago
>they clearly know something most games studios and tech companies don't. money
Izkata 8y ago
Something I vaguely remember from years ago in an interview: Rather like this comment [0] I just read on another submission, it's along the lines of: Don't listen to what people say, throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. Two things that stuck crazy-well were the touchscreen on the NDS in 2004 and the motion controls on the Wii in 2006. In either case, they were the first to market with both ideas, but before that people would've said the idea was crazy. Two other examples that didn't stick at all, off the top of my head: Virtual Boy and the Power Glove. (Small aside: It's long enough ago that plenty of people seem to have forgotten, but the touchscreen on the NDS was a crazy idea at the time because that was nearly 3 years before the iPhone was released, let alone smartphones becoming common/popular. The got-to-have phone at the time was the Motorola RAZR.) [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17387468 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17387468
- sh33mp 8y ago
  Just a gamer here, but there's something to be said about the success and failure of the 3DS and PS Vita. The 3DS, based on hardware/system alone, should have failed. It was tremendously underpowered, and it forced a terrible 3D technology on all its users, which never really took off or became anything other than a novelty while raising the cost of manufacturing. The Vita was a truly next-generation portable gaming device, with a beautiful screen, incredible graphics, properly analog sticks, an extremely modern interface, and great connectivity and human-interface (camera, capacitative touch) features. Even incorporating the cost of a proprietary Sony memory card, for the amount of power you got, I think it was very reasonably priced. Comparing the 3DS and Vita was like night and day in terms of a modern gaming device. Even today, I think it can stand head-to-head with the Switch in terms of portable gaming. But Nintendo continued to pour resources into developing top-tier games for the 3DS, slashing its price to bolster adoption, and sticking to its still unorthodox 3D screen/touch screen combo. Whereas for the Vita, Sony quickly got spooked that the Vita didn't perform as well as the PSP, pulled first-party support and general marketing support, and major 3rd party developers (particularly outside Japan) fled the device. The 3DS is now seen as a major success for Nintendo, while the Vita died (or is still dying) a slow and unceremonious death. Sometimes sticking to your crazy guns works.

joeax 8y ago

What I find interesting is the Nintendo is sitting on a billion+ worth of IP that they haven't even scratched the surface of unlocking. The Zelda universe alone could generate millions with movies, novels, merchandising, and other content, but instead it remains on lockdown, with just the flagship game title releasing every 5-6 years with limited toys or figures (basically just Amiibos and some collectibles). The best we've gotten is a rumor of a GoT-style Zelda series headed to Netflix, a rumor quickly shot down by Nintendo. Had the Switch failed, I believe this could have been their next play. Even if they exited the console market their IP could sustain the company for decades.

aczerepinski 8y ago
For sure. They don't have quite the roster that Marvel did when transitioning to film/merchandise but Zelda, Mario, and a few others have quite a bit of potential. I hope Nintendo takes note of everything Marvel left on the table with its early Fox/Sony film deals.
qbrass 8y ago
>What I find interesting is the Nintendo is sitting on a billion+ worth of IP that they haven't even scratched the surface of unlocking. Why risk making the next Super Mario Bros. when they can print money making Pokemon videos?
danbolt 8y ago
I think they’re quite sensitive to how the brand is perceived in terms of merchandising.
- joeax 8y ago
  In the long-term it's to their detriment. If the company finds itself on the decline, they may look back on it as a missed opportunity.
  - simcop2387 8y ago
    I think zelda in particular has a rough spot for them because of the CD-i games, the 80s cartoon, and other rights merchandising stuff they tried in the past that didn't really work out well for them.

amimetic 8y ago

Does anyone else find the overwhelmingly positive coverage of Switch and its games a little puzzling? From a consumer's perspective I just don't get it. The Switch costs more than a vastly more powerful PS4 or Xbox One S. It (particularly) versus a PS4 has a tiny library of games. And the PS4 has actual VR. But even more remarkable is comparing the prices of games on the systems: often you will pay 2-3x as much for a (probably inferior) version of a game (compared to PS4/Xbox/iOS/Android). I bought a Switch a few months ago. Played (and loved) the nostalgia of Mario. Played and dropped (as it seemed frustrating/grind-y) Zelda. And as far as I can tell that is basically the two games worth getting it for it. So I sold it. As I have a dozen great games ready to go on my PS4, and seems like more excellent stuff on the way, I just don't get the point of the Switch. If I want to play games on the move I can use my iPhone.

cmrdporcupine 8y ago
With the Switch you are playing for mobility. And for us parents, it's a kind of brand safety thing, too. Nintendo really makes an effort to keep their platform pretty kid focused. Not that there aren't killing/shooting games for it, but there's always a really good library of family friendly titles for it, and the system and its OS is very approachable for young kids.
- cmrdporcupine 8y ago
  oops, too late to edit, but meant to say 'paying' for mobility :-)
floatboth 8y ago
> that is basically the two games worth getting it for it Splatoon 2, Bayonetta 2, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, ARMS. Also homebrew and Linux :)
- seba_dos1 8y ago
  It's just so sad that they aren't exactly friendly towards homebrew. It would be a perfect gaming device I would buy with no hesitation - instead, I have no idea now if they'll ban me from using their services for using GNU/Linux if I decide to buy it.

hitekker 8y ago

>When it was Furukawa’s turn to speak, he noted that Nintendo makes “playthings, not necessities” and that if consumers stop finding its products compelling, the company could be swiftly forgotten. Never. Never. A thousand times never. Some experiences are just fond memories. Others are formative. For me, getting 120 stars, defeating Ganondorf, unlocking Mewtwo, throwing green polka-dotted eggs-- those moments rank among the most defining times of my youth. More than Disney, Youtube, TV or any other entertainment company, Nintendo was there for me, and there for my friends. Happy or sad, when I was alone, I'd adventure in the rolling slopes of the Mushroom Kingdom. When I was with friends, we'd obliviate one another in a final destination. And when we were nowhere near our consoles, we'd argue about our escapades and the “strats”. Starcraft, Half Life, Age of Empires, and the like are all great, amazing games, and I love them so. But Nintendo has my childhood. Through-and-through. It would be unfortunate if they go down the path of Sega and and ruin their franchises. But I will cherish the memories they gave me. And I will never forget them.

trynewideas 8y ago
For a 128-year-old company, it could take two generations passing away for them to be forgotten and it'd still be swift by their measure.
- Alex3917 8y ago
  The best old movies will live forever thanks to the lists from AFI, BFI, etc. Eventually we’ll likely have better versions of things like this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_games_considered_the_best https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_games_consider... (Right now it’s still missing NetHack and a bunch of other basic stuff.)
  - z3phyr 8y ago
    Notice the number of games considered the best per year. Late 1990s and early 2000s have a bunch. Are people making lesser games nowadays? Or the stakes have increased?

dfox 8y ago

One thing that I would really like to see is how Nintendo's Japanese hardware development organization really looks like, because at least since Wii all of their hardware design is quite obviously outsourced to the US.

Isamu 8y ago

>The notion of abandoning a core craft was anathema to Nintendo’s culture, though—the company was, after all, still selling packs of hanafuda, the flower-adorned playing cards that it set out with in 1889. Anybody have experience with hanafuda cards from Nintendo? I'm thinking of buying the Tengu pack. I've been learning Koi Koi (ever since watching Summer Wars.)