New Nintendo Console(s) Coming Soon?
Iwata Talks New Hardware
A mere 24 hours after news broke that Nintendo was suffering an operating loss of nearly $500 billion dollars, reports that the Japanese gaming giant will be adding to their line of consoles next year in hopes of expanding their customer base in emerging markets was leaked.
Bloomberg reported that Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said that the company would not sell cheaper versions of their current-gen consoles but would instead focus on new hardware. This new hardware will be developed for newer markets like China (which recently lifted a 13-year ban on video game console sales) and other countries that might yield greater profits.
Despite the growing popularity of casual gaming via smartphone, Nintendo is reluctant to remove themselves from the console market after over 30 years of developing them. According to Iwata:
Our games such as "Mario" and "Zelda" are designed for our game machines, so if we transfer them into smartphones as they are, customers won’t be satisfied. If customers aren’t satisfied with the experience, it will decrease the value of our content.
Is developing new consoles really the best way to go? When the Nintendo 64 failed to meet sales projections, Nintendo developed another console in hopes of recovering the losses it created, the Nintendo GameCube. Unfortunately, the GameCube also failed to meet expectations and ultimately received a deep markdown with new units going for as little as $99.99. It was only on the market for six years, and it suffered from lack of third-party software much like the WiiU. Despite its disappointing sales figures, the GameCube still sold over three times as many units as the WiiU has.
However, risky developing new consoles might seem considering the lackluster performance of their current console, Nintendo is known for doing business their own way and growing with the times in a manner that fits their namesake -”leave luck to Heaven.” After beginning business as a Hanafuda card company in the late 19th century, the company has certainly been in the business of gaming long enough to know how quickly trends can fade. Only one question that remains - just when will their luck run out?
