5 ms·

Nintendo finds itself under fire from furious shareholders

21 points by Impossible 12y ago

hayksaakian 12y ago
The success and failure of Nintendo was always based on trying things that the market didn't believe in. Sometimes they succeed (Wii) sometimes they flop (Wii u) The main reason I like Nintendo is their willingness to go All-in on something controversial or new.
- Someone1234 12y ago
  Wii U was definitely an initial failure but they've been clawing it back in the last few months. Since the release of Mario Kart 8 and the free game thing, Wii Us have quite literally been out of stock at quite a few places (since the demand spike was quite unexpected from the retailers). It remains to be seen if the Wii U will be a long term success or failure, but we might yet see it do well. The Wii didn't really hit the big time until its price came down and it had software like Wii Fit. Maybe the Wii U will have a Wii Fit equivalent and will hit the right price point?
  - deciplex 12y ago
    I still maintain that they'd see at +20% sales if they had named it almost literally anything else. Wii U is such a stupid name that it really makes me question wtf is going with the management there. Even with the Wii, that console succeeded in spite of the terrible branding, not because of it.
- autokad 12y ago
  i dont know, i think their success has been solidly in portable (DS/gameboy) and when they had a monopoly on the top game producers NES, SNES. However, I admittedly don't follow new games. The people at best buy looked at me like i had 4 eyes when I asked where their ATARI's were at. I meant those ones with the controllers and pre-installed games, but still
bnolsen 12y ago
Nintendo seems like it's firmly attached to a narrow business plan and wants to ride that into the ground. At the very least they could be toying with the phone market by releasing mini-games or something under a "nintendo mobile" name. Tons of people would download that stuff. It would at least get their feet wet, get some developers up to speed and get them some idea of what they can or can't do with the mobile market with probably very little risk.
- brinker 12y ago
  It's a little sad to see things the way they are. Nintendo has a load of beloved IP, and a generation of developers who would likely love to build for a Nintendo platform. But they've failed to capitalize on either.
  - Abraln 12y ago
    You have to realize their history though. The "Nintendo seal of approval" exists because the game market was filled with horrible games when they first started, so trusting some other dev with their IP, which could potentially be ruined by a third party. They have been making strides with this (see Hyrule Warriors), but considering the piles of garbage games on the app store, their aversion is understandable. On top of that if you could get Nintendo games on other platforms, their console sales would suffer. Plus, a touch screen would just be frustrating for platformers like Mario, only turn based RPGs seem to port well.
    - brinker 12y ago
      I'm not suggesting they trust another dev with their IP. Perhaps I phrased things poorly. I think it could be potentially worthwhile to make their platform more open to allow devs to introduce their own IP on it. I also think that Nintendo could be doing more to get older gamers who grew up on their games to play Nintendo again (including, yes, potentially making games available on non-Nintendo platform). Would console sales suffer? I'm not so sure. The market for, say, tablet games may not be the same market that exists for Nintendo DS games or WiiU games. More than anything, it seems that Nintendo has just decided to do nothing to fix the situation. Even small-scale experiments in expanding their marketplace reach or opening up their platform may potentially encourage investors in their ability to get things back on track again.
magoghm 12y ago
After reading all 17 questions and answers from the 74th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, I only see one question which might be interpreted as "Under fire from furious share holders", and the shareholder starts by saying: I do not understand video games and I even feel angry because, at Nintendo’s shareholders’ meetings, the shareholders always discuss things relating to video games or such childish topics as “what the future of video games should be.” http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/stock/meeting/140627qa/index.html http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/stock/meeting/140627qa/index...
- kingnight 12y ago
  Is it not bizarre that a shareholder has that sort of flippant perspective on the primary industry of the company they're invested in? I'm seriously wondering if they are operating on a level that I wouldn't expect — only caring about numbers etc and not the game at hand.
- chaostheory 12y ago
  That's not true if you know about Japanese culture, where politeness is taken to a higher level than many other cultures (where a maybe means no). imo this is a hard question that gets harder and harder to fight off > As a fan of this company, I was reminded once again that Nintendo is, after all, a great company and still alive after seeing “Splatoon,” a new game announced at E3 that has been well-received by video game fans. The current stock price of Nintendo is, however, far from satisfactory, so I hope you will work hard to make an improvement. I would like Nintendo to maintain its solid business policy and not to turn to businesses such as the business of today’s social games, but I am concerned about the fact that young children today often use smartphones handed down from their family members to enjoy free games without additional payments. I do not think even Nintendo will be able to ignore iOS, Android or games playable on web browsers in the future. How much have you studied these factors, and how will you make use of them? In places like the US and Germany, the question would probably be shortened to "I am concerned about the fact that young children today often use smartphones handed down from their family members to enjoy free games without additional payments. I do not think even Nintendo will be able to ignore iOS, Android or games playable on web browsers in the future. How much have you studied these factors, and how will you make use of them?"
Abraln 12y ago
Considering the three way fight between Xbox, playstation and PC, it seems Nintendo is trying to claim a less saturated portion of the market. While Xbox and playstation fight over who has the best graphics (which will always be worse than PC games), Nintendo focuses on creating unique experiences that cannot be found anywhere else. It seems to me to be a great long-term strategy as more xbox and playstation users switch to PCs as they become more common. As far as their slow start, look at the 3DS!
- EpicEng 12y ago
  "as more xbox and playstation users switch to PCs" Is that actually the case? Sure, you can get more horsepower from your PC, and they continue to advance as a console becomes obsolete, but that HP also comes at a much higher price tag (even if you build your own rig, as many of us do). A PC also add complexity. I'm not convinced that more people are switching to PC. The PS4 has so far outsold all of its predecessors. Perhaps more people are playing games on a PC (and I'm not counting mobile stuff here, different audience), but I don't think that it's coming at the expense of consoles.
Zergy 12y ago
Nintendo develops hardware to support their IPs just as much as they alter their games to take advantage of each generation of hardware. Each generation of console adds a new method of adding input to the game. Each generation they evolve both evolve their existing IPs to best take advantage of the new hardware and develop their hardware to best support the development of their IPs. For example the C buttons for the N64 controller were added to solve the cameras issues encountered during the development of Mario 64. This is lost on a lot people. The pairing of Nintendo hardware and software developed as a package to compliment each other is a huge part of Nintendo's success. Just look at the Mario service and see how many times its been reinvented using the same basic controls, running and jumping. All of those reinventions were developed in tangent with new hardware. I suppose my point is, putting Nintendo's IPs on mobile or another console destroys what has allowed the IPs to remain so successful for so long. It would make both Nintendo's hardware and software less valuable.
fit2rule 12y ago
It is pretty clear to me that there is one way that Nintendo (or someone) can innovate and really capture their market again, and it revolves 360degrees around one thing, and one thing only: development tools. Imagine if they released a console that had development tools bundled - i.e. onboard. Wouldn't that be a wonder! Especially if it were designed in such a way that it were Nintendo-easy to publish to a world-readable games store .. Seriously, I believe this is one area that can blow open the whole game industry. Ship Unity developer edition on the next console, Nintendo, and make it available to everyone. You'll get a new game market created in no time...
- seivan 12y ago
  I agree with this as well. Nintendo seems like a developer hostile company. And iOS developers complain about provisioning profiles and Apple Review. At least we have awesome documentation and Xcode keeps getting better.
  - Relys 12y ago
    Getting a Wii U development unit costs around $[2000,4000]+import tax. It's free for the first n months (1 or 3 I can't remember) and then you have to pay to keep the unit. If you plan on releasing it on the eshop you will have to pay an exorbitant sum to each countries ESRB equivalent which is a complete racket. So yes, it is a developer hostile company. Then again, Nintendo has always been behind with keeping up with the latest tech trends and features. For example just look at their online services: * No party chat. * Very little 3DS/Wii U cross compatibility for NNIDs (and don't forget the horribly long FCs). * No cross licensing between 3DS/Wii U. If I want to buy Super Mario Bros 3 I should NOT have to pay for it twice. * No remote play support * No 3DS controller support (besides Monster Hunter) * Digital Games on the eshop aren't priced competitively as you can almost always find a physical copy cheaper. This part baffles me.
yellowapple 12y ago
> And partway through the meeting, a shareholder puts simply: "I do not understand video games and I even feel angry because, at Nintendo’s shareholders’ meetings, the shareholders always discuss things relating to video games or such childish topics as 'what the future of video games should be,'..." You're a shareholder of a video game company, and you're wondering why they're talking about video games? Seriously?

21 points by Impossible 12y ago

The success and failure of Nintendo was always based on trying things that the market didn't believe in. Sometimes they succeed (Wii) sometimes they flop (Wii u) The main reason I like Nintendo is their willingness to go All-in on something controversial or new.

Someone1234 12y ago
Wii U was definitely an initial failure but they've been clawing it back in the last few months. Since the release of Mario Kart 8 and the free game thing, Wii Us have quite literally been out of stock at quite a few places (since the demand spike was quite unexpected from the retailers). It remains to be seen if the Wii U will be a long term success or failure, but we might yet see it do well. The Wii didn't really hit the big time until its price came down and it had software like Wii Fit. Maybe the Wii U will have a Wii Fit equivalent and will hit the right price point?
- deciplex 12y ago
  I still maintain that they'd see at +20% sales if they had named it almost literally anything else. Wii U is such a stupid name that it really makes me question wtf is going with the management there. Even with the Wii, that console succeeded in spite of the terrible branding, not because of it.
autokad 12y ago
i dont know, i think their success has been solidly in portable (DS/gameboy) and when they had a monopoly on the top game producers NES, SNES. However, I admittedly don't follow new games. The people at best buy looked at me like i had 4 eyes when I asked where their ATARI's were at. I meant those ones with the controllers and pre-installed games, but still

bnolsen 12y ago

Nintendo seems like it's firmly attached to a narrow business plan and wants to ride that into the ground. At the very least they could be toying with the phone market by releasing mini-games or something under a "nintendo mobile" name. Tons of people would download that stuff. It would at least get their feet wet, get some developers up to speed and get them some idea of what they can or can't do with the mobile market with probably very little risk.

brinker 12y ago
It's a little sad to see things the way they are. Nintendo has a load of beloved IP, and a generation of developers who would likely love to build for a Nintendo platform. But they've failed to capitalize on either.
- Abraln 12y ago
  You have to realize their history though. The "Nintendo seal of approval" exists because the game market was filled with horrible games when they first started, so trusting some other dev with their IP, which could potentially be ruined by a third party. They have been making strides with this (see Hyrule Warriors), but considering the piles of garbage games on the app store, their aversion is understandable. On top of that if you could get Nintendo games on other platforms, their console sales would suffer. Plus, a touch screen would just be frustrating for platformers like Mario, only turn based RPGs seem to port well.
  - brinker 12y ago
    I'm not suggesting they trust another dev with their IP. Perhaps I phrased things poorly. I think it could be potentially worthwhile to make their platform more open to allow devs to introduce their own IP on it. I also think that Nintendo could be doing more to get older gamers who grew up on their games to play Nintendo again (including, yes, potentially making games available on non-Nintendo platform). Would console sales suffer? I'm not so sure. The market for, say, tablet games may not be the same market that exists for Nintendo DS games or WiiU games. More than anything, it seems that Nintendo has just decided to do nothing to fix the situation. Even small-scale experiments in expanding their marketplace reach or opening up their platform may potentially encourage investors in their ability to get things back on track again.

magoghm 12y ago

After reading all 17 questions and answers from the 74th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, I only see one question which might be interpreted as "Under fire from furious share holders", and the shareholder starts by saying: I do not understand video games and I even feel angry because, at Nintendo’s shareholders’ meetings, the shareholders always discuss things relating to video games or such childish topics as “what the future of video games should be.” http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/stock/meeting/140627qa/index.html http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/stock/meeting/140627qa/index...

kingnight 12y ago
Is it not bizarre that a shareholder has that sort of flippant perspective on the primary industry of the company they're invested in? I'm seriously wondering if they are operating on a level that I wouldn't expect — only caring about numbers etc and not the game at hand.
chaostheory 12y ago
That's not true if you know about Japanese culture, where politeness is taken to a higher level than many other cultures (where a maybe means no). imo this is a hard question that gets harder and harder to fight off > As a fan of this company, I was reminded once again that Nintendo is, after all, a great company and still alive after seeing “Splatoon,” a new game announced at E3 that has been well-received by video game fans. The current stock price of Nintendo is, however, far from satisfactory, so I hope you will work hard to make an improvement. I would like Nintendo to maintain its solid business policy and not to turn to businesses such as the business of today’s social games, but I am concerned about the fact that young children today often use smartphones handed down from their family members to enjoy free games without additional payments. I do not think even Nintendo will be able to ignore iOS, Android or games playable on web browsers in the future. How much have you studied these factors, and how will you make use of them? In places like the US and Germany, the question would probably be shortened to "I am concerned about the fact that young children today often use smartphones handed down from their family members to enjoy free games without additional payments. I do not think even Nintendo will be able to ignore iOS, Android or games playable on web browsers in the future. How much have you studied these factors, and how will you make use of them?"

Abraln 12y ago

Considering the three way fight between Xbox, playstation and PC, it seems Nintendo is trying to claim a less saturated portion of the market. While Xbox and playstation fight over who has the best graphics (which will always be worse than PC games), Nintendo focuses on creating unique experiences that cannot be found anywhere else. It seems to me to be a great long-term strategy as more xbox and playstation users switch to PCs as they become more common. As far as their slow start, look at the 3DS!

EpicEng 12y ago
"as more xbox and playstation users switch to PCs" Is that actually the case? Sure, you can get more horsepower from your PC, and they continue to advance as a console becomes obsolete, but that HP also comes at a much higher price tag (even if you build your own rig, as many of us do). A PC also add complexity. I'm not convinced that more people are switching to PC. The PS4 has so far outsold all of its predecessors. Perhaps more people are playing games on a PC (and I'm not counting mobile stuff here, different audience), but I don't think that it's coming at the expense of consoles.

Zergy 12y ago

Nintendo develops hardware to support their IPs just as much as they alter their games to take advantage of each generation of hardware. Each generation of console adds a new method of adding input to the game. Each generation they evolve both evolve their existing IPs to best take advantage of the new hardware and develop their hardware to best support the development of their IPs. For example the C buttons for the N64 controller were added to solve the cameras issues encountered during the development of Mario 64. This is lost on a lot people. The pairing of Nintendo hardware and software developed as a package to compliment each other is a huge part of Nintendo's success. Just look at the Mario service and see how many times its been reinvented using the same basic controls, running and jumping. All of those reinventions were developed in tangent with new hardware. I suppose my point is, putting Nintendo's IPs on mobile or another console destroys what has allowed the IPs to remain so successful for so long. It would make both Nintendo's hardware and software less valuable.

fit2rule 12y ago

It is pretty clear to me that there is one way that Nintendo (or someone) can innovate and really capture their market again, and it revolves 360degrees around one thing, and one thing only: development tools. Imagine if they released a console that had development tools bundled - i.e. onboard. Wouldn't that be a wonder! Especially if it were designed in such a way that it were Nintendo-easy to publish to a world-readable games store .. Seriously, I believe this is one area that can blow open the whole game industry. Ship Unity developer edition on the next console, Nintendo, and make it available to everyone. You'll get a new game market created in no time...

seivan 12y ago
I agree with this as well. Nintendo seems like a developer hostile company. And iOS developers complain about provisioning profiles and Apple Review. At least we have awesome documentation and Xcode keeps getting better.
- Relys 12y ago
  Getting a Wii U development unit costs around $[2000,4000]+import tax. It's free for the first n months (1 or 3 I can't remember) and then you have to pay to keep the unit. If you plan on releasing it on the eshop you will have to pay an exorbitant sum to each countries ESRB equivalent which is a complete racket. So yes, it is a developer hostile company. Then again, Nintendo has always been behind with keeping up with the latest tech trends and features. For example just look at their online services: * No party chat. * Very little 3DS/Wii U cross compatibility for NNIDs (and don't forget the horribly long FCs). * No cross licensing between 3DS/Wii U. If I want to buy Super Mario Bros 3 I should NOT have to pay for it twice. * No remote play support * No 3DS controller support (besides Monster Hunter) * Digital Games on the eshop aren't priced competitively as you can almost always find a physical copy cheaper. This part baffles me.

yellowapple 12y ago

> And partway through the meeting, a shareholder puts simply: "I do not understand video games and I even feel angry because, at Nintendo’s shareholders’ meetings, the shareholders always discuss things relating to video games or such childish topics as 'what the future of video games should be,'..." You're a shareholder of a video game company, and you're wondering why they're talking about video games? Seriously?