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...
nameless12345
The answer to your question depends on what exactly Nintendo does and who they're aiming for. As long as Nintendo focuses on listening to the "hardcore-minded" gamers, media, and even developers, it's going to suffer both short and long term. The DS and Wii were built on principles that ignored such narrow-minded beliefs that a console's value is determined by horsepower and how many shooters/sandbox/sports games it has and aimed to reach out to a more diverse group of people. They both exceeded all expectations. Unlike many people, I don't believe for a second it was a fluke, but the result of the recognition that there was more to be gained from branching out than remaining status quo, along with delicate planning to compliment the vision.
However, 3DS was clearly not built and released with that same vision of being mass-market accessible ($250 for a portable with 3D as its primary selling point?), and as a result, Nintendo soon found itself in a troubling situation and relying on the likes of Mario Kart and New Super Mario Bros. to bail the system out (not to mention a massive price cut early on). The Wii U is cut from a similar cloth ($300-350, more complex standard controller, high concentration of ports of high profile PS3/Xbox 360 games), and so far, appears to find itself with challenges just as significant. Even though the system launched with New Super Mario Bros. U and Nintendo Land (keep in mind that the 3DS launched with Nintendogs), it simply doesn't seem like Nintendo is making strides to make the system appealing enough to a diverse enough audience. Instead, the company now appears to believe that it can find some imaginary balance between the so-called "hardcore" and "casual" stereotypes, and seemingly, not hitting its mark with either.
Nintendo can't assume it can get mass market attention through branding or by just releasing familiar names. Much like it did with the DS and Wii, they have to actually earn the attention of the mainstream/expanded audience by keeping things fresh, exciting, accessible, and easy to understand. If that happens, Nintendo will be successful beyond its devoted followers, and that should encourage other developers to want some piece of that pie. That, to me, is easily Nintendo's best option. The alternatives are just thinking that the same people will continue to buy Mario, Zelda and Super Smash Bros. in massive numbers, which will certainly mean a declining userbase, or believing that a Nintendo platform suddenly become a haven for a very specific group of gamers that Nintendo hasn't really had in droves since Sega became relevant with the Genesis, if even before then. Neither of the alternatives have anywhere close to the upside that Nintendo had just a few years ago.
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