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They seem to be trying to position themselves so that they're not viewed as competing with App Store games. Granted, they still, to some degree at least, have t

by T-R 15y ago

They seem to be trying to position themselves so that they're not viewed as competing with App Store games. Granted, they still, to some degree at least, have to compete over developer resources, and their attitude toward indie developers is incredibly ill-advised. I really don't see the controller as gimmicky, though, at least in the sense that touch screens in general aren't really seen as a gimmick anymore, and other aspects of the controller have been done before. Moreover, someone upgrading this time would actually have to buy fewer peripherals than for previous systems. Harsher things were said of the Wii, and it was ultimately pretty successful. I'd wager Nintendo will stay relevant precisely long as it continues to produce quality first party titles, but not a moment longer.

9999 15y ago
If the only thing keeping Nintendo relevant is their first party software, I would expect them to go the way of Sega fairly quickly. I don't think Nintendo will be in the hardware business in 15 years unless they dramatically change their corporate culture and attitudes towards third party development. That means everything from who they allow to develop titles to what tools they provide for development. Given the overall level of enmity they've created amongst the indie development community and the large third party devs (thanks for telling everyone about the motion plus about half a year too late, jerks), I strongly doubt they'll win any hearts and minds. The only reason any third parties even bother with Wii dev now is because of the marketshare, even then, that marketshare has not resulted in the expected returns for most third parties.
- T-R 15y ago
  Not insignificantly, though, Sega dropped the ball on their (already limited selection of) first-party software before they dropped out of the hardware business. Nintendo has multiple franchises that are all at least as strong as Sonic was in the Genesis days. Nintendo's console sales have always been held up by first party franchises - they burned bridges with 3rd parties long ago by charging extortionate license fees on the SNES. It'll be interesting to see how far they need to go to tip the scales against them.

by T-R 15y ago

9999 15y ago

If the only thing keeping Nintendo relevant is their first party software, I would expect them to go the way of Sega fairly quickly. I don't think Nintendo will be in the hardware business in 15 years unless they dramatically change their corporate culture and attitudes towards third party development. That means everything from who they allow to develop titles to what tools they provide for development. Given the overall level of enmity they've created amongst the indie development community and the large third party devs (thanks for telling everyone about the motion plus about half a year too late, jerks), I strongly doubt they'll win any hearts and minds. The only reason any third parties even bother with Wii dev now is because of the marketshare, even then, that marketshare has not resulted in the expected returns for most third parties.

T-R 15y ago
Not insignificantly, though, Sega dropped the ball on their (already limited selection of) first-party software before they dropped out of the hardware business. Nintendo has multiple franchises that are all at least as strong as Sonic was in the Genesis days. Nintendo's console sales have always been held up by first party franchises - they burned bridges with 3rd parties long ago by charging extortionate license fees on the SNES. It'll be interesting to see how far they need to go to tip the scales against them.