In news that I'm sure will be heartbreaking to hear for KGB Nintendo super-fans Pat and Zack, the big N just posted a huge loss for the 2011 fiscal year. That means that from April 2011 to March 2012, Nintendo lost over $530,000,000. That'd be like losing a million dollars 530 times. Which seems like an awful lot.
Hardware sales have not been as quick as Nintendo had hoped for, and even ended up falling short of the revised numbers they predicted earlier this year. According to reports, the 3DS sold 13 million units, the Wii 10 million, and the DS sold 5 million. It seems safe to say that the bulk of the blame for the sluggish sales can be placed squarely on the fact that there's just not a lot of games coming to these systems. The 3DS had one of the worst launch line-ups ever, and only recently have quality titles hit the system with any sort of regularity.
The Wii is obviously at the tail end of its life cycle, and the Wii U remains a giant question mark with consumers and investors alike. A re-unveiling of the new system is planned for E3 this summer, and Nintendo needs to impress with what they show. With the expected announcement of next-generation hardware from Sony and Microsoft sometime in the next 12 months, Nintendo's Wii U is already facing an uphill battle in terms of winning core gamers over.
In fact, Nintendo has so much faith in what they have to offer, they are predicting a net profit for fiscal 2012. The house of Mario hopes to bring in $245 million this year, with the launch of the Wii U and stronger sales of the 3DS leading the charge. If anyone out there remembers the Nintendo 64 days, you may have a strong case of deja vu. It seems that Nintendo has floundered when attempting to reach anything more than the casual market. The Wii caught the public's imagination with its then-innovative motion controls, but quality games were hard to come by, and most 3rd party developers abandoned the Wii late in its life cycle. The Wii U announcement at last year's E3 brought the promise of major 3rd party support, but whether or not that comes to fruition is another matter.
 |
| I just wanted an excuse to use this image again. |
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNintendo did not expect the DS sales to drop as fast after the release of the 3DS. Also having 3 to 4 year development cycles for core franchises mean they have limited software.
DeleteRight, just like the Game Boy was going to be the third pillar in the Wii launch days.
DeleteI'm hardly a super-fan, just a fan. I don't want to see any of the big three go away.
ReplyDeleteHow much has the industry missed Sega's hardware? In fact, Sega's had a kind of post-console flourish since it gave up that ghost. It was sad, but we also got great systems like the Playstation & XBox consoles (two companies that had no claim to become console giants during the era of the "Big Two," but they were able to see ahead of the curve in the same way that Nintendo and Sega had done before). The gaming industry is going through some evolutionary throes right now, and it honestly makes sense that the companies that stay with, or ahead of, the curve instead of running, sweatily, behind it are the ones who deserve to survive. I'm not saying that Nintendo needs to close down, but since it can't seem to keep up with both hardware and software demands of modern gamers, what right does it have to stay a big name in the business (aside from nostalgia or respect)?
DeleteIf anything, this is indicative of the larger Japanese-development problem. Japanese game development in aggregate seems to have been stuck in neutral for the last few years, to the point where even a few key Japanese figureheads have come out to say that the only way for Japanese developers to stay viable is to change the formula they've so vehemently stuck to. I don't see this as a case of " 'Merica's Great!" and "Japan suxorz!!1!" I see it more as a response to the question: "Where do gamers look for the product that speaks to them?" During the glory days of the SNES and Playstation, it was Japan, hands down. Now that's not the case anymore with the rise and success of new markets in gaming (especially with the handheld hit Nintendo has experienced thanks to the proliferation of smartphones and portable computing), but Japanese developers––and a big finger is pointed at Nintendo--still seem to base their decisions on fifteen year-old, or older, mentalities.
Shape up, Nintendo. A brand name will only get you so far. It reminds me of the beginning of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, where Jack Sparrow is sailing into port while standing on the crow's nest of his boat because it's the only thing still above water, yet he looks as proud as he was during his heyday. There, I said it: Nintendo is Capt. Jack Sparrow.
Wow. excellent points here, D.I couldn't agree with you more. I think one reason why Japanese development is stagnating is because the audience there hasn't really demanded that they change. Since western games almost never do as well in Japan, it makes sense that Japanese developers would feel very comfortable. But that only works if you're only selling in Japan, which is a pretty small market on the global scale.
DeleteThere is one reason and one reason alone that I would want Nintendo to quit the hardware game, at least as far as home consoles are concerned. I would hope that if they did go belly up, they'd pull a Sega and start putting their games out on other systems, exposing them to a wider audience. How many times have we heard it said of (insert Wii game here) "this is pretty good, but it would be a million times better on a different console"? I've heard it many times. I would love to play some of Nintendo's hot games! But there's no way I'm shelling out for one of their systems. They just don't fill me with any confidence.