Iwata: Nintendo to expand beyond games

[Flame]

I can understand the desire to branch out into other product lines. After all, Nintendo did start out as a hanafuda company. Imagine what would have happened (or what wouldn't have happened) if Hiroshi Yamauchi didn't venture out into video games back in the late 70's.

Spoiler

Of course, it is possible to be a successful company with just one simple product. Look at Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikigaisha. All they make is zippers. If you're wearing something with a zipper right now, chances are, your zipper says YKK on it.

wow man. thanks for that. I love learning stuff like that.

and YES my zipper does have YKK on it.

 

[tbgtbg]

Not around back in the 80's huh? That's been done already.

.

I used to eat the stuff for breakfast, d00d

 

[osirisjem]

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if we actually do end up seeing some sort of Nintendo phone in the future.

You have to be kidding.
Nintendo can't make Game Consoles.
And you think they'll break into the ultra competitive phone market ?
Absolutely zero chance.
or less.


The QOL platform was announced to reassure investors that Nintendo was going to diversify in the future. The lack of anything concrete about the idea just highlights it wasn't a long brewing idea .... it's just something to say to investors to keep them from dumping Nintendo stock.

The idea that Nintendo is pursuing other platforms significantly reduces the chances they will ever release another Home Console.
The Wii U is probably the last.

 

[luisedgarf]

You have to be kidding.
Nintendo can't make Game Consoles.
And you think they'll break into the ultra competitive phone market ?
Absolutely zero chance.
or less.


The QOL platform was announced to reassure investors that Nintendo was going to diversify in the future. The lack of anything concrete about the idea just highlights it wasn't a long brewing idea .... it's just something to say to investors to keep them from dumping Nintendo stock.

The idea that Nintendo is pursuing other platforms significantly reduces the chances they will ever release another Home Console.
The Wii U is probably the last.

Can you explain better about this, rather than using one-liners?

 

[TripleSMoon]

You guys need to look at the bigger picture here.

Nintendo competes directly against SONY and Microsoft.

Each console cycle there is usually a console that doesn't do so well. With SONY and Microsoft, if they don't do well in a division, they can push it off into their other divisions because they are so massive. In this way they can find balance until they push out a successful console. This allows them also to offset problems with investors and the stock market.

Nintendo doesn't have this option.

They are a purely gaming company. If they don't do well in a console cycle somewhere, they cannot offset it at all but are forced to rely mostly on cash reserves.

Nintendo doing this is a way to diversify their risk, and to ensure the survival of the company itself and to avoid unhappy investors. They need to show a way of profitability for investors, they need to show a plan.

Obviously gamers don't like the idea of a gaming company getting involved in nonsense like mobile gaming and other things out in left-field, but we have to think about the why behind this decision.

Except that PlayStation is one of the only departments that's making Sony money right now.

I get what you're saying (and it applies quite well to Microsoft, who weren't making money on the Xbox brand until recent years, iirc), but Sony isn't the best example of what you're saying.

 

[calmwaters]

Gahars, you beast. Only you could come up with such depictions on a picture and then wonder if we should be excited about this. And nobody has been showing confidence in Nintendo lately: hopefully this move will be a boon to people's confidence in Nintendo and the things they do. And the quality of life is exactly what it sounds like: but hopefully their quality assurance will go up because they're kind of in the dumps right now.

Well: the beginning of the end was when they released the Wii U. Underpowered, no games in two years: yup, definitely going under. Now, with this business move, they're hoping to turn the end of a beginning into a new beginning. And you, dedicated Nintendo fan that you are, should support this. "Out with the old, in with the new", I think it goes.

 

[duffmmann]

You have to be kidding.
Nintendo can't make Game Consoles.
And you think they'll break into the ultra competitive phone market ?
Absolutely zero chance.
or less.


The QOL platform was announced to reassure investors that Nintendo was going to diversify in the future. The lack of anything concrete about the idea just highlights it wasn't a long brewing idea .... it's just something to say to investors to keep them from dumping Nintendo stock.

The idea that Nintendo is pursuing other platforms significantly reduces the chances they will ever release another Home Console.
The Wii U is probably the last.

Dude the mobile phone market is perfect for Nintendo. Every mobile analyst wants Nintendo to release games to the mobile stores. If Nintendo made their own phone and made mobile games and rereleased oldschool roms to be used only with their proprietary phone, then that could be a goldmine. I don't see why they wouldn't enter the "ultra competitive phone market" as their moto has always been about fun at an affordable cost, they could be the anti-apple. While their phones would be proprietary like Apple and have its own exclusive and vast game market, it would come at an incredibly affordable price as opposed to Apple's ridiculously expensive prices.

I don't want ^ this to happen. But realistically, I can see this happening within the next decade for sure. Maybe it wont, but I would not say its outside of the realm of possibilities at all.

 

[gamefan5]

So nintendo can do "whatever it wants"...
- Is selling 3DS rather well for now but not expecting sales like DS or gameboy line
- Wii U is selling rather bad...

When Nintendo says it can do "whatever it wants", I took it as "We don't care what the customers or developers think, we do our own shit.

... Which is funny because it kinda shows in how their business work in a certain way. But I won't make any argument about it or else this thread will derail.

 

[duffmmann]

So nintendo can do "whatever it wants"...
- Is selling 3DS rather well for now but not expecting sales like DS or gameboy line
- Wii U is selling rather bad...

When Nintendo says it can do "whatever it wants", I took it as "We don't care what the customers or developers think, we do our own shit.

... Which is funny because it kinda shows in how their business work in a certain way. But I won't make any argument about it or else this thread will derail.

Um actually they definitely are expecting sales like that. The 3DS is selling like crazy, living up to its predecessors. It had a slow start, thats true, but now, its selling very well and constantly has games dominating the charts.

Second point is true though, Wii U isn't doing well at all.

 

[TheDarkSeed]

Stop.

 

[duffmmann]

Stop.

Hammer time?

or

Collaborate and listen?

 

[loco365]

Nintendo Mobile and Nintendo OS.

Not gonna lie these would be pretty cool.

 

[Gahars]

Not gonna lie these would be pretty cool.

No they wouldn't.

Now, if they used "NintenGo" and/or "NintendOS," well, maybe we'd have something.

 

[Vipera]

Nintendo condoms.

"You found the princess? Then stop jumping!"


I will show myself out.

 

[megaexplosion]

Dunno if this has been stated yet but I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo released a tablet-like device catering to kids of smaller ages. With already known characters like Mario and the gang, app-like games for children wouldn't be tough to engineer. Something like the Leapfrog or whatever.

Personally, I would love to see things like the Zelda manga. Maybe more commercial things of other media like that would be really cool if done right. Series like Zelda and Metroid might benefit. While something like children's Mario books could do okay. I'm not too sure about the cell phone market though. :o Maybe apps?

 

[NakedFaerie]

Well, hello Nintendo Clothing Line, Nintendo Music Store, Nintendo Food, Nintendo Mobile and Nintendo OS.

BUT It wont be normal. The closeline with be vertical, the Music store will only be 1950 to 1951 country, the food will all be jelly beans and the OS will be only for the Nintendo mobile which nobody will buy as its from the 1970s.

They do a lot of things wrong. Like a square controller which is the most uncomfortable controller ever invented. Its so not for the hand they needed to add a strap to stop it falling out. You dont see any straps on $ony or Micro$ofts controllers do you.

Ok, so the PS3 motion controller has a strap, but its round and a lot more comfortable than the wiimote.
We learn these things as a kid. You don't put the square block in the round hole. Well thats what NintenDOH have done.
YouTube is full of clips where people break things with the wiimote. You dont see any with the PS3 motion controller do you.

 

[grossaffe]

Well, hello Nintendo Clothing Line, Nintendo Music Store, Nintendo Food, Nintendo Mobile and Nintendo OS.

Is it time to finally bring the NES knitting peripheral to the public? http://kotaku.com/5939210/this-long...ould-have-let-you-make-sweaters-with-your-nes

 

[WiiUBricker]

Is it time to finally bring the NES knitting peripheral to the public? http://kotaku.com/5939210/this-long...ould-have-let-you-make-sweaters-with-your-nes

That's awesome. Even grandmas can play Nintendo!

 

[pwsincd]

I can understand the desire to branch out into other product lines. After all, Nintendo did start out as a hanafuda company. Imagine what would have happened (or what wouldn't have happened) if Hiroshi Yamauchi didn't venture out into video games back in the late 70's.

Spoiler

Of course, it is possible to be a successful company with just one simple product. Look at Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikigaisha. All they make is zippers. If you're wearing something with a zipper right now, chances are, your zipper says YKK on it.

erm your link says different : More product lines became available with the Quicklon (sometimes called Cosmolon) fasteners in December 1981. International and product expansion continued during the 1980s, with a real estate business in Singapore in December 1984, an agricultural business in Brazil in January 1985, and a plant in Indonesia in September 1986 producing zippers and aluminium parts for buildings. The company was finally renamed YKK in August 1994.

 

[shakirmoledina]

As Densetsu said, I doubt its going to be something huge at the moment. They shall probably start with the basic and simple technological items such as music players, headphones, and other accessories then probably progress into the bigger commodities such as TVs