Pokemon Go's success shows that Nintendo is not fit as console makers anymore

It shows that Nintendo has a massive appeal, people are just not willing to buy a new console just to play 5 games. Nintendo should start going third-party as that is where the money lies for them, and what their casual audience demands. Unless they hate money, yeah.

Yes they could go PC. Or, since nobody here buys Nintendo exclusives anyway, they could stop making exclusives and make a third party box like MS and Sony. Nice and easy. I think most electronics companies could pull that off.

Or they could make more games and hope that works. It sounds like they are going for that last option.

It shows that Nintendo needs to get out of the hardware game period. Their next handheld is going to be a disaster going up against the flooded mobile market.

They need to ditch handhelds and focus on releasing games on as many platforms as possible. They could move hundreds of millions of units of software a year if they did that. There is no reason they need to keep limiting people to their own, proprietary hardware.

They've been defeated in the console market and the handheld market is being destroyed by the rest of the mobile market. Pokemon GO shows the value of the mobile market. Imagine Nintendo going full out on Android/iOS. They could even make their own Android hardware with a built in gamepad. That would be much better than some proprietary OS with no cross compatibility.

It would also be awesome if they made the Virtual Console compatible with Android and iOS. They would push billions of units of software over its life on a platform like that.

Oh, jeez. I'm just going to leave this instead.

Apparently its impossible for businesses to multitask now.

"Whelp, we just had a very successful mobile game, time to burn everything that isn't mobile to the ground."

@night-dreamers: But Nintendo did go third party, they make games for mobile now and can reach a gigantic install base. Its time for Sony and Microsoft to try and do better at going third party like Nintendo did. If they cant reach the kids, theyll soon go dry and start to lose appeal.

Maybe. I'd say it shows that there is demand for Nintendo, as long as they make something that people want. In Pokemon GO's case, that happened to be a game. But in the future, it could just as well be a console or a handheld that is actually appealing, unlike the Wii U and to a lesser extent, 3DS.

Well, it would depend on the multitasking for sure. A nothing but mobile Nintendo is just as bad as them third party on other systems and with their success, don't be surprised if they go "All the Bravest".

Go Zynga? How in the world is that a good idea? Does anyone still play Farmville?

Why couldn't they go mobile AND still make consoles and handhelds? Nintendo only makes video games afterall. This "handhelds are dying," "consoles are dying," and "PC is dying" type of doom and gloom talk is getting tired at this point. Gaming is growing and there will always be demand in one area or another. Nintendo made tons of money on the 3DS. Was is DS kind of money? No. But why does that mean they have to pack up and leave the market all together? With this type of logic nearly every company would have closed up shop by now. Apple should just leave the mobile market because their market share and profit margins have shrunk, right? Get real.


Edit: Oh and "console makers" doesn't mean what it once did. The big 3 just buy custom chips from AMD. The Xbox One and PS4 have more in common than any consoles in the past. Nintendo could easily ask AMD to "make us one of those" and that would be that.

Yo guys, i know Nintendo is the seconded richest gaming company and worth more then Sony as a whole. But if yall REALLY want to make some money, and i mean REALLY, yall gonna need to do like other gaming companies and become richer. You feels mes bro?

Actually TC it shows the popularity of the pokemon franchise. Im not sure how you work out this means they need to jump ship from their own hardware.

Pokemon is super popular and almost everyone has a smartphone now. Duh Poke Go is going to be massive it's not rocket science

Wise words.

I bet half the people that downloaded it have no idea who made it.

@Jshoelace: Or that both Nintendo and The Pokemon Co, who helped develop the game, own part of Niantic. Or that Nintendo owns part of The Pokemon Co. Or that the other owners of The Pokemon Co, Game Freak and Creatures, are also partially owned by Nintendo.

@iandizion713: or even had any interest in pokemon before.. Let alone play one of the gameboy games.

@nintendoboy16 said:

Oh, jeez. I'm just going to leave this instead.

I know right.

It has to be accessible. Having to invest $200-300 in hardware to play something you may or may not like is a huge hurdle. Almost every man, woman, and child in the free world could play Pokemon Go with very little effort and no risk.

Miitomo's failure shows that Nintendo isn't fit to be in video games anymore. They should go back to making playing cards.

And if they're not able to recreate Pokemon GO's success with another game? What happens then?

I agree and the proof is out there, sadly Sheep will never admit it.

@iandizion713: I know Sony has mobile games, MS is starting to release their biggest Xbox games on PC as well. I still think that they both should still make consoles so as to not have a monopoly on the market.

@Kruiz_Bathory: Until Dawn would have been more successful on mobile, im hoping Sony releases it soon so i can play it. Gran Turismo will be sweet too. Hopefully theyre already working on it. Unless they hate money of course.

@techhog89: they still make incredible games, but not many will want to buy a 299 machune to play just a few of them and nothing else.

No it shows how versatile nintendo is. The 3ds is a success and the wii was a great console and success, the wii u was a fluke but they will bounce back.

This proved that pokemon is very popular. Why are people so quick for nintendo to just abandon video game hardware making. Last time I checked the DS sold like crack and as much as people hated the Wii it sold like crack too. Nintendo will be in the hardware race until Mario and or Link becomes a virtual cancer like Sonic did and at this rate I don't see it happening.

Platform agnosticism is becoming (and should be) the new norm. MS is the most open advocate (among the big 3), but even their approach is still aimed at bolstering their own platforms.

Nintendo is so far behind in offering standard services with their hardware products that to catch up would require hefty investment, which goes against their mantra. Pokemon GO represents a two-edged sword: A) it's a loud and resounding message that the grass is greener (economically) outside the Nintendo ecosystem; but B) shifting software development to platforms not designed to drive or direct game design may have a negative effect on the widely-held "Nintendo polish." I agree with the latter to an extent (since Nintendo is opening itself to outsourcing development of its IPs to third parties) but am not of the opinion that it will erode the perception that Nintendo offers mechanically superior games (though I disagree with that general assertion, I digress).

When there is money to be had, the pressure to cash-in on much of the goodwill Nintendo has with its fanbase will grow.

I'm just saying that you can't use one game to prove that they'll make money as a third-party or a mobile dev.

But Nintendo didnt even make this game.....

I disagree completely

To be honest I'd bet that the Pokemon name holds more weight versus Nintendo. Doubt we would see Nintendo have this kind of success with their other franchises. Don't know why Nintendo doesn't push more Pokemon games. The name is huge and would push units. It will be telling to see how the new games sell on the 3DS.

That's irrelevant to a pro-"Nintendo should be third party" poster.

The success of pokemon Go has nothing do to with Nintendo's competency as a hardware maker. All it shows is that Nintendo's IP's have massive casual appeal.

The smartest comment in this thread.

Nintendo can still release console/handheld games for their platforms, and release mobile specific games ala Pokemon Go.

That's a hot take you have there

Pokemon Go's success comes from...the game is FREE

The game is free, of course its popular.

There are tons of free mobile games and none of them have even come close to being this popular. People also value their time and won't waste time playing something they don't like.

Pokemon Go proves that Nintendo can supplement slow hardware sales with the occasional mobile game.

It's just another way that Nintendo can do whatever they want on the console and handheld side of things, while still making heaps of money.

Candy Crush proves you wrong

A.k.a. Candy Ca$h.

Nintendo could make an amazing handheld that would be successful, but they need to be willing to take a small loss on each unit. The software sales could easily cover that temporary dip.

Nintendo needs to understand that the majority of people simply aren't interested in having to pay $300 for a machine that plays the same old Nintendo games we've had since the eighties that come out every 6-8 months with crappy services to support them. People want access to a wide variety of different developers and franchises on systems that HAVE competent services, something Nintendo refuses to give.

There's no value in their hardware in terms of diversity, and their IPs are not strong enough to float the boat on their own as the U's sales have shown. Nintendo consoles will forever remain niche if they only remain the home for more Mario, Zelda, Smash, Kart, Pikmin, and Starfox.

But that's what Nintendo appears to be content with, so I hope they're happy with a very small piece of the pie.

@MirkoS77: I know how you feel bro, i want to play Uncharted 4, but no way in hell im paying $450 for a Neo just to play one game. Then we got to wait how many years for Last of Us 2? WTF Sony, release that shat on PC, stop being greedy.

Sony needs to release Bloodborne on PC too, will make them a lot of money. Nobody wants to buy a device to play 2 exclusives when they can buy a PC and play 90% of the games plus a million more.

These companies be blind, you feels me.

It actually shows how much people buy into shit as long as it's got the franchise tag. Let's be honest Pokemon Go is a barebones fraking game as it gets and the only reason why it's doing so well is cause it's Pokemon and it's free.

The game has shit for gameplay (oh sorry you have to walk 6.2 miles to hatch this egg that probably is just a Pidgey), there's no vs mode outside of gym locations, no trading (yet) and to even fight at gyms you have to be literally on top of the damn gym location.

@Ballroompirate: Its an App for mobile phones, what did you expect? To not be mobile?

You mean a half assed "app" trying to be a mobile game.

There's nothing unreasonable about expecting a good game on mobile. The following sites cover a plethora of better games for Android:

http://www.hardcoredroid.com/

http://www.droidgamers.com/

http://www.supergamedroid.com/