Nintendo Posts First Loss (Smaller than expected)

[Gh0sti]

nintendo is losing thanks to the penny arcade market that is smart phones

if nintendo wants to compete or even own the mobile market they are going to have to create their own smartphone or just give up making handhelds and sell their software on iOS android much like sega is

 

[MelodieOctavia]

Really? Nintendo has less than 20 billion? I would have guessed they would have at least more than Apple's 40 billion. Eh, Nintendo's still better in every way possible. Hell, I'd rather listen to music on my 3DS than to listen to it on iTunes.

The difference is Apple makes profit on their hardware. Nintendo makes profit on their software (now).

 

[Hadrian]

While they may have less than 20 billion in the bank, their assets, licenses etc probably more than double that. I can't even imagine how much Mario is worth, that's probably worth more than any video game franchise. I mean NSMB DS alone has sold over 20 million worldwide and that is one game on one console. Imagine how much that game could make if it was EVERYTHING!

 

[Gahars]

If even Nintendo is losing money...is video games doomed?

Short answer: Nope.

Long answer: Ha ha, nope.

While game sales have decreased somewhat throughout the recession, we're still talking about a multi-billion dollar entertainment industry (of which Nintendo is just one part); one company having a loss does not mean the entire industry will come crashing down. Plus, losses just happen; sometimes unforeseen events hurt sales, or a new idea just doesn't work out with the public. As long as these losses aren't too large or frequent, and the company can find a way to reconnect with consumers, they'll get back on their feet.

tl;dr: Video games aren't doomed just because Nintendo had a bad year.