7 ms·

They already do: The 3DS and the Wii U. I suspect we shall not be seeing a Nintendo-approved Mario platformer on iOS or Android anytime soon. Seems like it wou

by chasing 11y ago

They already do: The 3DS and the Wii U. I suspect we shall not be seeing a Nintendo-approved Mario platformer on iOS or Android anytime soon. Seems like it would just undermine their hardware sales.

louhike 11y ago
For old games like that, it can be interesting financially. I'm not sure it matters a lot in the sales of the 3DS and the Wii U.
tracker1 11y ago
Games designed for a gamepad don't work well on a phone/tablet. There have been attempts at normalizing a standard input, and it simply hasn't emerged. I think nVidia Shield is probably the most successful, but I don't even have a controller for mine (it was simply the closests to a sucessor the the Nexus 7 when google went the "premium" route). I would truly love to see Nintendo move towards a more open (in terms of platform) space... I don't know how much they make on hardware, but if they released a bluetooth controller that combined with software for iOS/Android could be a boon to their back catalog sales... though sharing 30% with Apple/Google is probably what keeps them away more than anything... not sure how open Google would be to a reduced sales rate given their size, I know Apple would be unlikely.
maxsilver 11y ago
Yes, exactly. I don't understand the obsession people have with Nintendo releasing their games inside Apple's walled garden. Nintendo already releases really great games, on good hardware specifically designed for playing those games. It's widely available, designed well for it's intended purpose and priced very competitively (32gb iPod Touch is $250, 32gb Wii U is $300 but also usually includes a ~$50 game). They also sell a reasonable back-catalog of their older games. Their Wii U hardware is backwards compatible with nearly everything they've ever released (hardware-native compatible with Wii and GameCube, software-emulates N64, SNES, NES, GBA, DS, etc). Nintendo isn't perfect by any means. But their setup right now is pretty competitive, and their hardware has been intelligently selected and priced. Nintendo might gain a little bit of sales by jumping into iOS, but they'd loose a lot too -- way more than most people might realize.
- belthasar 11y ago
  Small correction, the Wii U does not play GameCube discs. Other than with Smash Brothers there is no way to use the GameCube controller.
  - maxsilver 11y ago
    Right. The GameCube discs don't work in the drive. But the Wii U hardware is still compatible with GameCube games. (A Wii U can naively run GameCube games without any modifications. So if Nintendo released one on their online store, for example, you could download and run it without any emulation)
    - belthasar 11y ago
      Thanks, I didn't know that.
- mikeash 11y ago
  I think the reason people are obsessed with this is because no matter how good Nintendo's hardware is, or how cheap it is, or how available it is, it can't compete with the smartphone I already own and carry around in my pocket all day. All else being equal, I'd rather have Nintendo games on my iPhone than pay $1 for a 3DS or a Wii U, simply because I always have my iPhone. The problem, of course, is that all else won't be equal. Business concerns aside, the games are unlikely to be very fun on a touchscreen. Every fast-paced touchscreen game I've played has been an exercise in frustration and I don't think Nintendo can overcome that. But if a person hasn't figured that out, or thinks Nintendo can overcome it, then it's pretty reasonable to want their stuff on iOS (or their other mobile platform of choice).
  - chasing 11y ago
    > But if a person hasn't figured that out, or thinks Nintendo can overcome it, then it's pretty reasonable to want their stuff on iOS (or their other mobile platform of choice). It's reasonable to want it, I guess, but it's not reasonable to expect Nintendo to provide an inferior experience to players that also undermines their business.

by chasing 11y ago

They already do: The 3DS and the Wii U. I suspect we shall not be seeing a Nintendo-approved Mario platformer on iOS or Android anytime soon. Seems like it would just undermine their hardware sales.

louhike 11y ago

For old games like that, it can be interesting financially. I'm not sure it matters a lot in the sales of the 3DS and the Wii U.

tracker1 11y ago

Games designed for a gamepad don't work well on a phone/tablet. There have been attempts at normalizing a standard input, and it simply hasn't emerged. I think nVidia Shield is probably the most successful, but I don't even have a controller for mine (it was simply the closests to a sucessor the the Nexus 7 when google went the "premium" route). I would truly love to see Nintendo move towards a more open (in terms of platform) space... I don't know how much they make on hardware, but if they released a bluetooth controller that combined with software for iOS/Android could be a boon to their back catalog sales... though sharing 30% with Apple/Google is probably what keeps them away more than anything... not sure how open Google would be to a reduced sales rate given their size, I know Apple would be unlikely.

maxsilver 11y ago

Yes, exactly. I don't understand the obsession people have with Nintendo releasing their games inside Apple's walled garden. Nintendo already releases really great games, on good hardware specifically designed for playing those games. It's widely available, designed well for it's intended purpose and priced very competitively (32gb iPod Touch is $250, 32gb Wii U is $300 but also usually includes a ~$50 game). They also sell a reasonable back-catalog of their older games. Their Wii U hardware is backwards compatible with nearly everything they've ever released (hardware-native compatible with Wii and GameCube, software-emulates N64, SNES, NES, GBA, DS, etc). Nintendo isn't perfect by any means. But their setup right now is pretty competitive, and their hardware has been intelligently selected and priced. Nintendo might gain a little bit of sales by jumping into iOS, but they'd loose a lot too -- way more than most people might realize.

belthasar 11y ago
Small correction, the Wii U does not play GameCube discs. Other than with Smash Brothers there is no way to use the GameCube controller.
- maxsilver 11y ago
  Right. The GameCube discs don't work in the drive. But the Wii U hardware is still compatible with GameCube games. (A Wii U can naively run GameCube games without any modifications. So if Nintendo released one on their online store, for example, you could download and run it without any emulation)
  - belthasar 11y ago
    Thanks, I didn't know that.
mikeash 11y ago
I think the reason people are obsessed with this is because no matter how good Nintendo's hardware is, or how cheap it is, or how available it is, it can't compete with the smartphone I already own and carry around in my pocket all day. All else being equal, I'd rather have Nintendo games on my iPhone than pay $1 for a 3DS or a Wii U, simply because I always have my iPhone. The problem, of course, is that all else won't be equal. Business concerns aside, the games are unlikely to be very fun on a touchscreen. Every fast-paced touchscreen game I've played has been an exercise in frustration and I don't think Nintendo can overcome that. But if a person hasn't figured that out, or thinks Nintendo can overcome it, then it's pretty reasonable to want their stuff on iOS (or their other mobile platform of choice).
- chasing 11y ago
  > But if a person hasn't figured that out, or thinks Nintendo can overcome it, then it's pretty reasonable to want their stuff on iOS (or their other mobile platform of choice). It's reasonable to want it, I guess, but it's not reasonable to expect Nintendo to provide an inferior experience to players that also undermines their business.