Did you hear that Apple is now the world's most valuable company? Nintendo investors also heard, and when they looked Nintendo's recent performance, recent 3DS price cut and slumping overall sales, they made the okay face.
Investors are hoping that Nintendo president Satoru Iwata goes back on his firm promise to only make games for Nintendo consoles. Or at least buy into the mobile/smartphone world.
"Smartphones are the new battlefield for the gaming industry," said Masamitsu Ohki, a fund manager Stats Investment Management. "Nintendo should try to either buy its way into this platform or develop something totally new."
The only recent jump in shares came when news of a Pokemon game for iOS and Android hit. Bloomberg said it hit a four-month high that day, but then quickly dropped again when Nintendo said there was no change in strategy for them.
"Nintendo should aggressively make acquisitions or increase returns to its shareholders," said Ii, president of Tokyo-based Commons Asset Management, which held 2,200 Nintendo shares as of February. "It’s management’s task to consider how to make use of the cash."
I get it. People are Angry Bird-ing everywhere, iThings are flying off shelves and Apple is raking in cash. Meanwhile, Nintendo is already dropping the price of the 3DS and no one is buying games. Nintendo, I'd buy the f*ck out of some iOS Mario games. Just saying.
Contest:
1:30 PM on 08.11.2011 | 
I'd buy it in an instant.
"The only recent jump in shares came when news of a Pokemon game for iOS and Android hit. Bloomberg said it hit a four-month high that day, but then quickly dropped again when Nintendo said there was no change in strategy for them."
Get over it, kids. Nintendo is only making a fraction of the money they thought they would recently, and investors are very unhappy. Reality must be embraced sometime.
Either way, I don't really care if Nintendo makes smartphone games, as I don't own one (however, I suppose I would care if Nintendo made a major title exlusively for smartphones, resulting in me missing out on it)
Nice header image. Try some of the harder levels of New Super Mario Bros with a virtual touch pad. In fact, load up a rom of the original Super Mario Bros on a jailbroken Iphone/pod and try completing it without getting a game over or using save states.
Gameboy/GBA/DS/3DS = made for gaming.
iPod/iPhone = picked up gaming along the way in it's crazy $0.99 multimedia mindfuck and does it half-arsed.
I don't give a shit about 3DS sales, i'd rather see them on the Vita than the iPod. The day Nintendo stop making hardware is a sad day for gamers everywhere, regardless of what your personal attitude towards the company is.
There you go, Nintendo and Apple. That one's for free.
Nintendo's in a jam and as a huge Nintendo fan, I want to see them get out of it. I like their hardware innovations and want them to keep making the hardware, its always well made hardware. They should please their investors so they can AFFORD to continue to make hardware. Nintendo's not nearly in the jam say Sega was in the late 90s, but it's still not a good spot. 3DS is a good system, but it's also a system that is built with a design philosophy that was more appropriate 4 years ago. 3DS should have launched with an online store that gave gamers the OPTION to buy full retail games online, we would probably seem more third party support early on had they done something like that and it's something I, as a Nintendo fan, hoped for. I hate dealing with tiny cartridges, I'm ready to have my handhelds go all digital.
Nintendo's in a jam and as a huge Nintendo fan, I want to see them get out of it. I like their hardware innovations and want them to keep making the hardware, its always well made hardware. They should please their investors so they can AFFORD to continue to make hardware. Nintendo's not nearly in the jam say Sega was in the late 90s, but it's still not a good spot. 3DS is a good system, but it's also a system that is built with a design philosophy that was more appropriate 4 years ago. 3DS should have launched with an online store that gave gamers the OPTION to buy full retail games online, we would probably seem more third party support early on had they done something like that and it's something I, as a Nintendo fan, hoped for. I hate dealing with tiny cartridges, I'm ready to have my handhelds go all digital.
Investing in that sort of volatile environment with anything other than garbage (which is all cellphone games are) is completely retarded. The bubble will pop and those people will stop caring. They already don't care about new games. They just want whatever's trendy.
nintendo is huge BECAUSE of their strategy - each Mario, Zelda, Metroid etc. game is like an event in gaming thanks to that. that's why they're making so much money. that's what sell Nintendo consoles and merchandise.
each Nintendo game is known for increadilbe quality and attention to detail - how many times we heard of nintendo scrapping entire games to start over simply because they weren't "fun enough". Super Mario Galaxy was created from ideas and levels that weren't fun and good enough for Nintendo in the first place and now it's in Top 5 best games OF ALL TIME.
if they degrade their status to creators of 0.99$ games on a market flooded with fart apps they will destroy their image and credibility.
I've got an LG Banter, and I pretty much only use it to talk/text my girlfriend and occasionally text friends. I get my gaming fix through my DS, and data plans in Canada are pretty damn expensive x.x
Sofik made a valid point...
*mind is blown*
Nintendo: "Okee-Dokee, let's rush the 3DS to the market, just before the end of the fiscal year"
Result: Customers get a rushed product, sales stagnate, shares prices go down
Investors: "Boo-hoo we want moneyyy"
Nintendo: "Okee-Dokee, let's slash the price of the 3DS and let's announce it more than 2 weeks before, just in time for the meeting with the shareholders, to keep them happy"
Result: Customers feel cheated, nobody buys anything 3DS until the price cut date
The future (?):
Investors: "Boo-hoo we want moneyyy"
Nintendo: "Okee-dokee, let's make iMario"
Result: Since Nintendo games are the real added value of Nintendo consoles, nobody gives a crap about them anymore, content to "play" Mario on their iThing.
FUCK MONEY HUNGRY INVESTORS STAY AWAY FROM GAMES
As for the 3DS, add a branch of the eShop that's like XBL indie games, or like the app store itself (easily accessible to small developers and individuals with almost no cost to them to get started) and you'll start seeing some good new content.
Yeah, you'll get your fart apps and angry bird clones, but shit, doesn't the eShop already have crap like that with the Mario Clock, Mario Calculator, Notebook, and Valet Parking 1989? You can't say you're afraid of indie developers tainting your waters when you've already let other developers do it. Add a system like the App store where the most popular/highest rated games move to the top, and bam, the crap will sort itself out.
The last thing the smartphone game market needs is another dinosaur company from console land trying to impose the old ways on a new medium.
Nintendo live in Nintendo Land, high above the clouds!
Nintendo has build increadible awareness among people both with their consoles and games over the years. there's a reason why other companies struggle to sell several million copies of games despite 100+mln$ advertisement campaigns while games Nintendo easilly sells 10-25mln copies of just one title without pretty much any advertisement. there's a reason why games like Mario Kart, Pokemon or Wii Fit are in top 10 best selling games in entire year 2-3 years AFTER they've been released. it's the awareness - people see nintendo on the cover and people buy it.
Nintendo = quality
people buy nintendo consoles FOR nintendo games.
i know people who don't play games, have no idea what xbox or playstation is, but they have EVERY SINGLE console/handheld made by nintendo and bought almost EVERY SINGLE game released on those platforms that were made by nintendo as long as they've seen it on store shelf.
they walk into electronic store straight to Wii/DS alley and simply look on boxarts for nintendo mark - if they see game they don't have then they pick it up.
they have no idea what Call of Duty, Halo, Starcraft, Angry Birds or Warcraft is, but i can ask them anything related to any Nintendo game - if they have that title they know it.
4 more platinum games than the ds had.
Capcom, konami, level 5, namco are raking in 3ds money
People are buying a shit load of games
...but they probably won't unless things get really bad... Maybe they already are... If it comes to it, perhaps they should collaborate with Sony on a project... Oh, right- they probably won't go there again...
Surely these greedy investors can cut then enough slack that they'll see how the whole Wii-U thing takes off before forcing Nintendo to undermine it's own consoles... Post price cut, the 3DS could well be in a much better position... When it gets more games, of course- I still only have one 3DS title(OOT3D)- the rest don't really appeal.
Agreed, I love the little system to pieces, I just want better support for the system.
Reduce 3DS game prices to 20-25 bucks? Sell games on cell phones? How about you just wait for Christmas and see the shitload of money the 3DS brings in? I don't need to be an investor or an analyst to know it will sell.
Reduce 3DS game prices to 20-25 bucks? Sell games on cell phones? How about you just wait for Christmas and see the shitload of money the 3DS brings in? I don't need to be an investor or an analyst to know it will sell.
Reduce 3DS game prices to 20-25 bucks? Sell games on cell phones? How about you just wait for Christmas and see the shitload of money the 3DS brings in? I don't need to be an investor or an analyst to know it will sell.