Should Nintendo ditch the hardware?

http://www.gamespot.com/news/nintendo-to-become-primarily-a-software-company-says-bing-gordon-6388228

What do you guys think? With cell/smart phones dominating the handheld market, do you think Nintendo stands a chance?

I think that's a load of bull. Nintendo is the only company who can outsell Call of Duty, and they franchises are truly exclusive. Fightingfan

They can't outsell that

if nintendo is on the downslope then where is sony and microsoft? at the peak?

I wonder why it is Nintendo and not its competitors that are the targets of these so-called analysts.

I wonder why it is Nintendo and not its competitors that are the targets of these so-called analysts.

thom_maytees

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems there's perhaps a media bias against Nintendo.

1. This story was written back in July so its old, but whatever.

2. Cheap little smartphone games will never compare to a quality 3DS game. Even the "good" phone games arent something most people will play for over an hr!

3. Nintendo made profit on every Wii and DS sold and apparenlty after the sale of just one Wii U game they make a profit on that! They arent getting out of the hardware business anytime soon!!!

lol, I think he should stick to talking about what he knows rather than talking *hit. :P

Out of the consoles, the Wii is the best-selling console of the 7th generation. I wouldn't say Nintendo should get out of consoles.

[QUOTE="Fightingfan"]I think that's a load of bull. Nintendo is the only company who can outsell Call of Duty, and they franchises are truly exclusive. Jaysonguy

They can't outsell that

Wii Sports 40+ million

Wii play 28+ Million

Black Ops 25+ million

Modern Warfare 2 20+ million

New Super Mario Bros. Wii 28+ million

Can't find numbers for BLOPS 2

[QUOTE="Fightingfan"]I think that's a load of bull. Nintendo is the only company who can outsell Call of Duty, and they franchises are truly exclusive. Jaysonguy

They can't outsell that

They have.

How many gens in a row now have people been saying that? Never happens, won't stop stupid predictions next gen either.

[QUOTE="Fightingfan"]I think that's a load of bull. Nintendo is the only company who can outsell Call of Duty, and they franchises are truly exclusive. Jaysonguy

They can't outsell that

I reckon its more they want to see Nintendo games - Mario etc etc ..on 360/PS3. Mario sells its as simple as that & everyone with open eyes knows this.

Those analysts are on par with System Wars when it comes to predictions on hardware.

Cell/and smartphones are selling very well. The smartphones are doing awesome biz. But only a tiny faction of people play anything more than Cut the rope, Angry Birds/Angry Birds Space, maybe a tetris clone. On the way to work on the subway etc.

So while smartphones sell billions. I've never heard of anyone lining up for the latest iPhone so they can play videogames on it. Games on smartphones are an afterthought at best. So it only appears that Nintendo is facing doom from smartphones.

No The Big N should continue with consoles/handhelds

[QUOTE="Jaysonguy"]

[QUOTE="Fightingfan"]I think that's a load of bull. Nintendo is the only company who can outsell Call of Duty, and they franchises are truly exclusive. Fightingfan

They can't outsell that

Wii Sports 40+ million

Wii play 28+ Million

Black Ops 25+ million

Modern Warfare 2 20+ million

New Super Mario Bros. Wii 28+ million

Can't find numbers for BLOPS 2

Well good way to start putting Wii Sports in there, you know a game that was packaged with the Wii. As stand alone software it hasn't cracked 4 million.

You followed that up with a game that had a free controller in it for the same price as a controller itself, so yeah 2 for 2.

Now let's start to get to actual games and see where Nintendo can do that shall we?

First of all I see you made a mistake by not including digital sales, a common mistake so I don't hold that against you.

The best performing franchise is Wii Fit but that only sold 44 million and the whole balance board muddies the mix so no, let's not count that.

Secondly we have Mario Kart and it's 33 million but that came with the wheel and some people would be like "well what about no pack ins" so fine, we'll exclude that one

We then come across New Mario at 27 Million and that's good and it's been around for almost 3 years

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 has sold over 40 million though and its only been around for two

Black Ops 2 has only been out a few months and it's already nearing 28 million

More importantly once we get New Mario out of the way the numbers for Nintendo's games drop like a stone with them not even able to crack 12 million for Smash Bros and it's downhill from there.

^ Stop making your own rules to what's valid, and what's not valid.

The point being; Nintendo has the capability and has outsold The Call of Duty Franchise.

It takes COD every platform to even try and reach the commercial success of what Nintendo does on simply one. I'm not going to read "this game had that, or was on sale, so it doesn't count" that's utter BS.

With Nintendo being able to sell 20+ million units on one platform, they print money, they're not going anywhere and to think otherwise is silly.

^ Stop making your own rules to what's valid, and what's not valid.

The point being; Nintendo has the capability and has outsold The Call of Duty Franchise.

It takes COD every platform to even try and reach the commercial success of what Nintendo does on simply one. I'm not going to read "this game had that, or was on sale, so it doesn't count" that's utter BS.

With Nintendo being able to sell 20+ million units on one platform, they print money, they're not going anywhere and to think otherwise is silly.

Fightingfan

[QUOTE="Fightingfan"]

^ Stop making your own rules to what's valid, and what's not valid.

The point being; Nintendo has the capability and has outsold The Call of Duty Franchise.

It takes COD every platform to even try and reach the commercial success of what Nintendo does on simply one. I'm not going to read "this game had that, or was on sale, so it doesn't count" that's utter BS.

With Nintendo being able to sell 20+ million units on one platform, they print money, they're not going anywhere and to think otherwise is silly.

jeffster85

It was on the DS, but New Super Mario Bros sold almost 30 million units and it wasn't a pack-in that I can recall.

Secondly we have Mario Kart and it's 33 million but that came with the wheel and some people would be like "well what about no pack ins" so fine, we'll exclude that one

Jaysonguy

I understand Wii sports and Wii play but the wheel is worthless, so yes, MK counts.

[QUOTE="jeffster85"][QUOTE="Fightingfan"]

^ Stop making your own rules to what's valid, and what's not valid.

The point being; Nintendo has the capability and has outsold The Call of Duty Franchise.

It takes COD every platform to even try and reach the commercial success of what Nintendo does on simply one. I'm not going to read "this game had that, or was on sale, so it doesn't count" that's utter BS.

With Nintendo being able to sell 20+ million units on one platform, they print money, they're not going anywhere and to think otherwise is silly.

WiiCubeM1

It was on the DS, but New Super Mario Bros sold almost 30 million units and it wasn't a pack-in that I can recall.

[QUOTE="WiiCubeM1"]

[QUOTE="jeffster85"] those aren't making his own rules. they're completely valid. show me a game that wasn't just a hardware pack-in and i'll believe you. if you can't acknowledge this, that's your problem. but its simple fact.jeffster85

It was on the DS, but New Super Mario Bros sold almost 30 million units and it wasn't a pack-in that I can recall.

Just to clarify, you challenged him to find a game that sold a lot that wasn't a pack-in.

[QUOTE="jeffster85"][QUOTE="WiiCubeM1"]

It was on the DS, but New Super Mario Bros sold almost 30 million units and it wasn't a pack-in that I can recall.

WiiCubeM1

Just to clarify, you challenged him to find a game that sold a lot that wasn't a pack-in.

[QUOTE="WiiCubeM1"]

[QUOTE="jeffster85"] if it did, then great. but thats not what i'm referring to. wii sports and wii play are what i'm referring to.jeffster85

Just to clarify, you challenged him to find a game that sold a lot that wasn't a pack-in.

As much as everyone doesn't like it, VGchartz, as the only other place I can find sales numbers is Wikipedia.

It's a rough estimate as VGChartz lists 28 million.

[QUOTE="Fightingfan"]

[QUOTE="Jaysonguy"]

They can't outsell that

Jaysonguy

Wii Sports 40+ million

Wii play 28+ Million

Black Ops 25+ million

Modern Warfare 2 20+ million

New Super Mario Bros. Wii 28+ million

Can't find numbers for BLOPS 2

Well good way to start putting Wii Sports in there, you know a game that was packaged with the Wii. As stand alone software it hasn't cracked 4 million.

You followed that up with a game that had a free controller in it for the same price as a controller itself, so yeah 2 for 2.

Now let's start to get to actual games and see where Nintendo can do that shall we?

First of all I see you made a mistake by not including digital sales, a common mistake so I don't hold that against you.

The best performing franchise is Wii Fit but that only sold 44 million and the whole balance board muddies the mix so no, let's not count that.

Secondly we have Mario Kart and it's 33 million but that came with the wheel and some people would be like "well what about no pack ins" so fine, we'll exclude that one

We then come across New Mario at 27 Million and that's good and it's been around for almost 3 years

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 has sold over 40 million though and its only been around for two

Black Ops 2 has only been out a few months and it's already nearing 28 million

More importantly once we get New Mario out of the way the numbers for Nintendo's games drop like a stone with them not even able to crack 12 million for Smash Bros and it's downhill from there.

1. Wow you're pompous. Everyone knows you're intentionally going out of your way to derail threads, troll users, etc. You rarely do anything positive and I can't recall ever seeing you post anything tame that didn't sound like you brainstormed on what to say for five minutes. What does any of this matter? Its fun to debate these sorts of topics on the web but you always take it too another level. I imagine you love GameSpot due to the forum rules which allow your types of posts more so than a lot of other popular gaming sites.

2. MW3 has not sold 40 million copies. It has sold just under 29 million copies counting PC/Wii.

3. Seriously? You don't count Mario Kart Wii because of a pack-in despite the fact that it was normal game price? You don't count Wii Fit even though the fact is it must have been pretty compelling to consumers considering it was $100 with the board? I'd say 30 million at $100 asking price is far more impressive than 30 million at $60 asking price.

4. New Super Mario Bros Wii also hit 25 million before it got bundled. Mario Kart DS hit 23 million, and the Pokemon DS games have sold between 11-20 million each depending on which one we're talking about.

[QUOTE="Fightingfan"]

^ Stop making your own rules to what's valid, and what's not valid.

The point being; Nintendo has the capability and has outsold The Call of Duty Franchise.

It takes COD every platform to even try and reach the commercial success of what Nintendo does on simply one. I'm not going to read "this game had that, or was on sale, so it doesn't count" that's utter BS.

With Nintendo being able to sell 20+ million units on one platform, they print money, they're not going anywhere and to think otherwise is silly.

jeffster85

Mario Kart Wii, New Super Mario Bros DS, (NSMB Wii passed 20 million before it was a pack in), the Pokemon RPGs on DS hit 20 million.

As long as Nintendo's franchises remain as commercially potent as they typically are, Nintendo will always have a reason to develop hardware. However, the problem the Big N faces these days, with the rising costs of game development, is one that is constantly growing. Nintendo has to continue to find ways to make its products affordable, accessible, and appealing to the mass market to compliment its top franchises, like Mario and Pokemon. Without the interest from the average consumer, Nintendo's just fighting a battle it's constantly going to lose in some way.

I said it for forever now, there was a reason why the 3DS got off to such a start and why early impressions of the Wii U's sales are so mixed. Nintendo built both systems with the intention to please primarly the so-called 'hardcore', the media, and third parties out there that almost everyone suspects have avoided Nintendo over the years for strictly hardware-related reasons. However, listening to the 'hardcore'-minded demands simply doesn't work to Nintendo's strengths, nor does it help in maintaining mainstream interest or expanding a userbase. If Nintendo continues to follow this path, it'll find itself where it was 10 years ago with the GameCube. Granted, while that means Nintendo can still find success, it'll have to rely on the likes of Mario, Super Smash Bros., and Zelda to even make anyone outside the Nintendo loyalist pay attention to them.

Those who think that Nintendo has a chance of capturing the Call of Duty/Grand Theft Auto/Madden audience in a major way with ANY of its systems anytime soon are fooling themselves. Nintendo's success has never and will never depend on those games or the market those games feed off of. Therefore, it'll be up to Nintendo to make sure it has games that have equal or greater potential to move hardware and software, catering to a more diverse userbase. The Wii and DS proved how well Nintendo can do it and how potent they can be with it, but they have to be able to maintain the efforts in reaching out to those consumers with fresh concepts, which is something they've struggled doing for a few years now.

Well good way to start putting Wii Sports in there, you know a game that was packaged with the Wii. As stand alone software it hasn't cracked 4 million.

You followed that up with a game that had a free controller in it for the same price as a controller itself, so yeah 2 for 2.

Now let's start to get to actual games and see where Nintendo can do that shall we?

First of all I see you made a mistake by not including digital sales, a common mistake so I don't hold that against you.

The best performing franchise is Wii Fit but that only sold 44 million and the whole balance board muddies the mix so no, let's not count that.

Secondly we have Mario Kart and it's 33 million but that came with the wheel and some people would be like "well what about no pack ins" so fine, we'll exclude that one

We then come across New Mario at 27 Million and that's good and it's been around for almost 3 years

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 has sold over 40 million though and its only been around for two

Black Ops 2 has only been out a few months and it's already nearing 28 million

More importantly once we get New Mario out of the way the numbers for Nintendo's games drop like a stone with them not even able to crack 12 million for Smash Bros and it's downhill from there.

Jaysonguy

[QUOTE="Fightingfan"]

^ Stop making your own rules to what's valid, and what's not valid.

The point being; Nintendo has the capability and has outsold The Call of Duty Franchise.

It takes COD every platform to even try and reach the commercial success of what Nintendo does on simply one. I'm not going to read "this game had that, or was on sale, so it doesn't count" that's utter BS.

With Nintendo being able to sell 20+ million units on one platform, they print money, they're not going anywhere and to think otherwise is silly.

jeffster85

Like Call of Duty hasn't been bundled? There are trilogy bundles for 20, and there's a console edition of every single once since World at War. To go back to the intial discussion; if Nintendo can do what does what COD does on a single platform(which is does) it's not going anywhere.

Bundles are irrelevant because it's a sale regards for Nintendo. Their profits margins exceed Call of Duty and their overall target audience for their games is less in comparison to a mutiplatform developer.

[QUOTE="Jaysonguy"]

[QUOTE="Fightingfan"]

Wii Sports 40+ million

Wii play 28+ Million

Black Ops 25+ million

Modern Warfare 2 20+ million

New Super Mario Bros. Wii 28+ million

Can't find numbers for BLOPS 2

bonesawisready5

Well good way to start putting Wii Sports in there, you know a game that was packaged with the Wii. As stand alone software it hasn't cracked 4 million.

You followed that up with a game that had a free controller in it for the same price as a controller itself, so yeah 2 for 2.

Now let's start to get to actual games and see where Nintendo can do that shall we?

First of all I see you made a mistake by not including digital sales, a common mistake so I don't hold that against you.

The best performing franchise is Wii Fit but that only sold 44 million and the whole balance board muddies the mix so no, let's not count that.

Secondly we have Mario Kart and it's 33 million but that came with the wheel and some people would be like "well what about no pack ins" so fine, we'll exclude that one

We then come across New Mario at 27 Million and that's good and it's been around for almost 3 years

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 has sold over 40 million though and its only been around for two

Black Ops 2 has only been out a few months and it's already nearing 28 million

More importantly once we get New Mario out of the way the numbers for Nintendo's games drop like a stone with them not even able to crack 12 million for Smash Bros and it's downhill from there.

1. Wow you're pompous. Everyone knows you're intentionally going out of your way to derail threads, troll users, etc. You rarely do anything positive and I can't recall ever seeing you post anything tame that didn't sound like you brainstormed on what to say for five minutes. What does any of this matter? Its fun to debate these sorts of topics on the web but you always take it too another level. I imagine you love GameSpot due to the forum rules which allow your types of posts more so than a lot of other popular gaming sites.

2. MW3 has not sold 40 million copies. It has sold just under 29 million copies counting PC/Wii.

3. Seriously? You don't count Mario Kart Wii because of a pack-in despite the fact that it was normal game price? You don't count Wii Fit even though the fact is it must have been pretty compelling to consumers considering it was $100 with the board? I'd say 30 million at $100 asking price is far more impressive than 30 million at $60 asking price.

4. New Super Mario Bros Wii also hit 25 million before it got bundled. Mario Kart DS hit 23 million, and the Pokemon DS games have sold between 11-20 million each depending on which one we're talking about.

1. I've been here longer then you and I've predicted every single Nintendo move since the Wii launched. Get half a decade of being right under your belt and we'll talk.

Also this cloak and dagger act you're doing is tiresome, this blocked out profile and not allowing people to add you as a friend on the Wii U is growing old.

Me on the other hand? I encourage everyone to come see what I'm up to. I have a ton of friends on the Wii U (oh wait does me getting a Wii U at launch hurt that "Jason always says negative things" rant you're desperately holding onto?)

So yeah, great job you're doing, I come off as the good guy (because I am) and you come off as the angry guy waving his cane telling the neighborhood kids to get off his lawn.

Great job, high five!

2. I can't excuse you like I did the other poster, you're not adding in digital sales.

3. I'm just sticking with my formula, if you want to add that in fine, COD still beats it by many millions of units. That also doesn't address the whole "Nintendo games after Mario Galaxy can't even crack 10 million sold" Oh look what game that includes, Mario Galaxy 2 and it's 6 and a half.

4. Why are you dealing with handheld sales? Also why are you dealing with LOWER handheld sales?

[QUOTE="jeffster85"][QUOTE="Fightingfan"]

^ Stop making your own rules to what's valid, and what's not valid.

The point being; Nintendo has the capability and has outsold The Call of Duty Franchise.

It takes COD every platform to even try and reach the commercial success of what Nintendo does on simply one. I'm not going to read "this game had that, or was on sale, so it doesn't count" that's utter BS.

With Nintendo being able to sell 20+ million units on one platform, they print money, they're not going anywhere and to think otherwise is silly.

Fightingfan

Like Call of Duty hasn't been bundled? There are trilogy bundles for 20, and there's a console edition of every single once since World at War. To go back to the intial discussion; if Nintendo can do what does what COD does on a single platform(which is does) it's not going anywhere.

Bundles are irrelevant because it's a sale regards for Nintendo. Their profits margins exceed Call of Duty and their overall target audience for their games is less in comparison to a mutiplatform developer.

The problem is this, a few good franchises doesn't mean all Nintendo's games sell like that

Fire Emblem sold half a million units worldwide

Excite Truck sold half a million units

New Play Control Pikmin and Pokepark 2 combined barely sold over a million units

You make it sound like Nintendo has nothing but hits, it doesn't, they're feeling the effects of their software not living up to their sales projections every single year and have been having more projects fall into the "miss" category in recent years.

lol if nintendo was on a slope sony and microsoft must already be at the very bottom analyst have no clue because they don't make games ro actually know whats going on mariokart64fan

Hey look! It's the Wii/Wii U forum, it's almost like we only talk about the Wii and Wii U here!

So want to try again?

I smell a bruised ego from that Jaysonguy guy. Avatar_Taxidous

Might want to check your antiperspirant

[QUOTE="Avatar_Taxidous"]I smell a bruised ego from that Jaysonguy guy. Jaysonguy

Might want to check your antiperspirant

[QUOTE="Avatar_Taxidous"]I smell a bruised ego from that Jaysonguy guy. Jaysonguy

Might want to check your antiperspirant

[QUOTE="Jaysonguy"]

[QUOTE="Avatar_Taxidous"]I smell a bruised ego from that Jaysonguy guy. young80s

Might want to check your antiperspirant

Please God be a spambot

[QUOTE="Jaysonguy"]

[QUOTE="Avatar_Taxidous"]I smell a bruised ego from that Jaysonguy guy. Avatar_Taxidous

Might want to check your antiperspirant

I try lol

I agree they NEED to ditch the hardware...i mean the hardware they make is weak anyways so why not just develop games for the pc and perhaps the other consoles. Their market base would quadruple, and they would be using dollar bills as toilet paper. Plus I would LOVE, absolutely LOVE to play the latest metroid/zelda/mario/ssb on my high end PC instead of the wii U lol. Also I want to add that they can bring out a game service similar to steam and control their own profits. They might make less profit per person but overall they will make more profit.

I agree they NEED to ditch the hardware...i mean the hardware they make is weak anyways so why not just develop games for the pc and perhaps the other consoles. Their market base would quadruple, and they would be using dollar bills as toilet paper. Plus I would LOVE, absolutely LOVE to play the latest metroid/zelda/mario/ssb on my high end PC instead of the wii U lol. Also I want to add that they can bring out a game service similar to steam and control their own profits. They might make less profit per person but overall they will make more profit.

blaznwiipspman1

Nah.

Their market share would actually shrink if they went 3rd party imho...

As long as Nintendo's franchises remain as commercially potent as they typically are, Nintendo will always have a reason to develop hardware. However, the problem the Big N faces these days, with the rising costs of game development, is one that is constantly growing. Nintendo has to continue to find ways to make its products affordable, accessible, and appealing to the mass market to compliment its top franchises, like Mario and Pokemon. Without the interest from the average consumer, Nintendo's just fighting a battle it's constantly going to lose in some way.

I said it for forever now, there was a reason why the 3DS got off to such a start and why early impressions of the Wii U's sales are so mixed. Nintendo built both systems with the intention to please primarly the so-called 'hardcore', the media, and third parties out there that almost everyone suspects have avoided Nintendo over the years for strictly hardware-related reasons. However, listening to the 'hardcore'-minded demands simply doesn't work to Nintendo's strengths, nor does it help in maintaining mainstream interest or expanding a userbase. If Nintendo continues to follow this path, it'll find itself where it was 10 years ago with the GameCube. Granted, while that means Nintendo can still find success, it'll have to rely on the likes of Mario, Super Smash Bros., and Zelda to even make anyone outside the Nintendo loyalist pay attention to them.

Those who think that Nintendo has a chance of capturing the Call of Duty/Grand Theft Auto/Madden audience in a major way with ANY of its systems anytime soon are fooling themselves. Nintendo's success has never and will never depend on those games or the market those games feed off of. Therefore, it'll be up to Nintendo to make sure it has games that have equal or greater potential to move hardware and software, catering to a more diverse userbase. The Wii and DS proved how well Nintendo can do it and how potent they can be with it, but they have to be able to maintain the efforts in reaching out to those consumers with fresh concepts, which is something they've struggled doing for a few years now.

Madmangamer364

I also think so.

They could get those games and say "best version!" and "extra content!" but people would still rather get them for the systems they own.

I know there are people who buy GTA games only on PlayStation systems even if that's usually the worst version.

Nintendo's strenght are 1st party and exclusives you can't find elsewhere.

The question is just if they can survive on that alone, given the lack of 3rd party/multi-plat interest...

[QUOTE="Jaysonguy"]

[QUOTE="Avatar_Taxidous"]I smell a bruised ego from that Jaysonguy guy. young80s

Might want to check your antiperspirant