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...said everyone since at least the N64, and they've been doing quite well since then. The 3DS is doing fantastically right now, and the Wii U's getting some h

...said everyone since at least the N64, and they've been doing quite well since then. The 3DS is doing fantastically right now, and the Wii U's getting some heavy hitters very soon. They're not going down for a while.

threeseed 13y ago
Given the recent merging of the console and handheld divisions it wouldn't surprise me to see the next handheld become the controller for the console.
deelowe 13y ago
Time will tell. They do have quite a robust first party catalog, but I don't see nintendo being a major player in the console market for this generation. Outside a few loyal first party gamers, not many will buy the wii u. Everyone I know that bought a wii doesn't plan to get a wiiu.
- OrsenPike 13y ago
  I will get a Wii U for Mario, Zelda, Metroid and Smash Bros. Plus probably a few others like I did for the Wii (Xenoblade, Last Story, Paper Mario, etc.) Who knows if Nintendo can survive ~5 more years with that sales model though as I am pretty sure in 2 years time they will begin to feel the pain from phones and tablets a lot more for the casual gamers that they won over with the Wii.
w0utert 13y ago
Can't disagree the Wii has been pretty successful for Nintendo, and their handheld business has always been immensely profitable. I'm not very optimistic about the future of the Wii U though, IMO they are really to far behind with their hardware this generation. Nintendo consoles have never been about the best specs, but the Wii U is just barely matching 6 year old consoles at the end of their life cycle. Not a problem for many games and a large part of Nintendo's target audience, but with tablets and mobile hardware/software based devices getting more powerful each year, in 2 years or so we could have an Ouya 2 or an Apple TV with app store that will take care of the 'lighter gaming' segment that Nintendo pretty much depends on. If Nintendo fails to attract serious games and serious gamers because the hardware is too weak, and loses the light/casual segment to other players, they will have a hard time staying relevant in the console hardware business.
DannyBee 13y ago
"Quite well" is an interesting view, considering they just returned to profitability after some horrible years. They were actually doing pretty horrible. Look, just because it takes someone with many billion dollars a long time to run out of money doesn't mean they aren't going down.
gillianseed 13y ago
Well the 3DS seems to have picked up steam (fueled by 3DS LL?) but I can't see Wii U being much of a success. Obviously any talk of Nintendo being 'dead walking' is nonsense, if their hardware business would turn really sour they could do extremely well by just making games for other companies hardware given that it's their games that is selling their own 'often not particularly stellar compared to the competition' -hardware. Things like them demanding to get all ad revenue of videos of Nintendo games on Youtube makes me shake my head though, hardly the signal you want to send to fans.
ameen 13y ago
Really? Much anticipated titles such as Rayman (a previous exclusive) were just pushed to Q4 2013 for launch parity with other consoles. Wii U sales aren't great, they're decent but not great. Almost every console manufacturer makes money through software sales, but when there isn't much successful third party software sales, the investment required to develop for the WiiU can't really justify the pithy returns.

threeseed 13y ago

Given the recent merging of the console and handheld divisions it wouldn't surprise me to see the next handheld become the controller for the console.

deelowe 13y ago

Time will tell. They do have quite a robust first party catalog, but I don't see nintendo being a major player in the console market for this generation. Outside a few loyal first party gamers, not many will buy the wii u. Everyone I know that bought a wii doesn't plan to get a wiiu.

OrsenPike 13y ago
I will get a Wii U for Mario, Zelda, Metroid and Smash Bros. Plus probably a few others like I did for the Wii (Xenoblade, Last Story, Paper Mario, etc.) Who knows if Nintendo can survive ~5 more years with that sales model though as I am pretty sure in 2 years time they will begin to feel the pain from phones and tablets a lot more for the casual gamers that they won over with the Wii.

w0utert 13y ago

Can't disagree the Wii has been pretty successful for Nintendo, and their handheld business has always been immensely profitable. I'm not very optimistic about the future of the Wii U though, IMO they are really to far behind with their hardware this generation. Nintendo consoles have never been about the best specs, but the Wii U is just barely matching 6 year old consoles at the end of their life cycle. Not a problem for many games and a large part of Nintendo's target audience, but with tablets and mobile hardware/software based devices getting more powerful each year, in 2 years or so we could have an Ouya 2 or an Apple TV with app store that will take care of the 'lighter gaming' segment that Nintendo pretty much depends on. If Nintendo fails to attract serious games and serious gamers because the hardware is too weak, and loses the light/casual segment to other players, they will have a hard time staying relevant in the console hardware business.

DannyBee 13y ago

"Quite well" is an interesting view, considering they just returned to profitability after some horrible years. They were actually doing pretty horrible. Look, just because it takes someone with many billion dollars a long time to run out of money doesn't mean they aren't going down.

gillianseed 13y ago

Well the 3DS seems to have picked up steam (fueled by 3DS LL?) but I can't see Wii U being much of a success. Obviously any talk of Nintendo being 'dead walking' is nonsense, if their hardware business would turn really sour they could do extremely well by just making games for other companies hardware given that it's their games that is selling their own 'often not particularly stellar compared to the competition' -hardware. Things like them demanding to get all ad revenue of videos of Nintendo games on Youtube makes me shake my head though, hardly the signal you want to send to fans.

ameen 13y ago

Really? Much anticipated titles such as Rayman (a previous exclusive) were just pushed to Q4 2013 for launch parity with other consoles. Wii U sales aren't great, they're decent but not great. Almost every console manufacturer makes money through software sales, but when there isn't much successful third party software sales, the investment required to develop for the WiiU can't really justify the pithy returns.