Many of us already read that Nintendo *might* take a stab at the Smartphone game, all this following Friday’s announcement of slashing its profit forecasts from ¥55 billion to -¥25 billion and President Satoru Iwata said the company was considering a “new business strategy.”
“The way people use their time, their lifestyles [and] who they are have changed,” Mr. Iwata said. “If we stay in one place, we will become outdated.”
While this may have hinted more strongly at the smartphone game, there’s more at play here.
“The spread of smart devices does not spell the end of game consoles. It’s not that simple,” President Satoru Iwata said. “The key is to figure out a way to use smartphones to make people aware of Nintendo’s games, and encourage them to try out the console version of the games. It doesn’t mean that we should put Mario on smartphones.”
How exactly do they plan to pull this off is a big mystery. I’m hardpressed to imagine how Nintendo will make gamers aware of Nintendo titles via their smartphones and then persuade them to put down the very same hardware, packed full of free games, and buy a $170 console with games that cost $40.
Old news that the Wii U hasn’t really taken off as expected, but the 3DS is still selling well and Nintendo will get all the profits from it’s hardware and franchises, but what if they moved the Mario to iOS, or even PS4, Apple or Sony would take a chunk of the profits. This might spell doom for the 3DS. But there’s a chance that they’re missing out in a big way too.
Nintendo’s stock has plummeted 17% on Monday but has been noted that the company is pouring money into its research and development budget, perhaps to create a successor to the Wii U. Perhaps, something better.
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