If they are truly strapped for creating their AAA and AA titles maybe it's time to look at digital releases and in particular, indie developed titles. Steam sells games at price points well below full retail purchases and they manage to do just fine. This is an area that Nintendo is just recently branching into and this is an area where they truly need to improve upon. If Nintendo became THE place for indie developers and digital goods, they would stand to be at a much more competitive place for home consoles. As it stands, unless you're completely satisfied with the few releases currently available, you're sort of out of luck. Nintendo is at a point right now where it can either remain stagnant or truly shine. It's up to them how they can improve or lose their current position in the video game market.
Pride clouding Japanese judgement... That sure is a rare thing isn't it? In all fairness however, the US market is the same, the developers just do a better job catering to their market than the Japanese market. I have faith in developers providing new and interesting games and concepts to keep me going for quite a while. One of the key areas I see this expanding in is the now-powerful indie market. Games that I didn't think I would ever see are now beginning to become more commonplace. The bigger devs and publishers are starting to notice and take notes. With all of this competition from not just each individual market, but also from different country and developer creates a breeding ground for new and innovative games and ideas. It's a great time to be a gamer right now, and anybody that disagrees really isn't looking hard enough at the offerings on display right now.
Well when you keep your flagship titles anchored in Japan along with all the support for them, (looking at you pokemon), you send a message that the US market can wait. Well, no it can't. Nintendo can't sit on the sidelines anymore and say "We'll get around to it" anymore. Pokemon launching in the US and Japan at the same time is a good example of this. The next games will launch at the same time and SHOULD be supported with updates and pokemon releases on the same dates. I'm buying a 3DS this month because I can't ignore the games for it anymore and my gf started playing pokemon. I think Nintendo's announcement of key franchises for the handheld will obviously draw more sales and interest this year. Now can we see some games for Wii U please?
The Wii U is an investment. An expensive investment. With, at the moment, quite limited software and hardware offerings. Games can save this system. They need to happen now. Not later. Right now. Nintendo, as much as I love them, has to either embrace or abort this system and move forward quickly if it wants to remain successful.
I was about to say something derogatory till I saw "must provide clear benefits." I agree wholeheartedly with this statement. If Microsoft can provide real tangible benefits such as cheaper downloadable games, enhanced content, or other bonuses, it will ease this transition that they are clearly headed towards. But this is Microsoft. At this point they don't seem that highly motivated to provide ANY benefit towards their consumer.
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