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Nintendo's Struggles Could Hurt Industry, Says Playstation Exec

by Addison Webb - February 5, 2014, 10:58 am EST
Total comments: 26 Source: Trusted Reviews, http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/sony-nintendo-s...

Nintendo struggling in the gaming market might not be the best news for Sony and Microsoft.

Playstation UK’s Managing Director, Fergal Gara, recently spoke about how Nintendo’s performance in the market could affect the industry.

"[The decline of Nintendo] could be detrimental to the market, unless people like us raise our game and help tap into the younger consumer group that they serve rather well", Gara said.

Along with noting the importance of reaching young consumers, Gara also stated his faith in the potential of the casual game market.

“We need to bring maybe more family-friendly, more casual experiences into the market. I think there's a big market segment there that we should take the challenge to engage and I see lots of potential to do that”, Gara said.

In contrast, Gara pointed Nintendo’s continued strength in the market, the DS family.

“Despite the stellar sales of the PS4 for the last four or five weeks, [The Nintendo 3DS] was still the best selling console or console family," Gara said.

Talkback

EnnerFebruary 05, 2014

The comments strike me as odd when you have Minecraft and free-to-play games on tablets and smart phones that doing well in bringing young and new audiences in to video games. Also, there's no stopping young boys (and maybe girls) from getting and playing the latest Call of Duty.

BlackNMild2k1February 05, 2014

Lots of young gamers get their start on Nintendo properties as parents see them as very kid friendly, and then they eventually grow up to want a more "mature" experience which leads them to a Sony (or MS) system instead.

Without Nintendo explicitly targeting the youth, that would mean that Sony would have to spend resources to do that themselves, when right now they are perfectly happy with picking up the gaming family after they've out-grown the Nintendo-life.

smallsharkbigbiteFebruary 05, 2014

Nintendo home consoles have been down for a while (excluding Wii).  Certainly a lack of n64 sales didn't lead to poor ps2 sales or a lack of cube sales leading to fewer ps 3 sales. I do think handhelds are more geared to children and there may be some truth that previous ds/3ds owners could move to sony/Microsoft home consoles. I think the 3ds is still selling great despite nintendo chopping the sales figure.

But maybe that's what they are concerned of. A child that gets hooked on tablets instead of a 3ds may not make the home console transition. They may be worried about the trend than think its an issue right now.

CericFebruary 05, 2014

Considering the Question of "Which Consoles do you Own." and "What was your first Console" are pretty common survey question Sony probably knows what its talking about.

Luigi DudeFebruary 05, 2014

It's like Iwata has said, Apple is the biggest competition to gaming because they worry all those cheap games will devalue tradition gaming.  If too many children grow up playing nothing but 99 cent games on their tablets and smartphones, what's going to make them care about suddenly spending $60 for a traditional gaming experience later in life?

smallsharkbigbiteFebruary 05, 2014

Quote from: Ceric

Considering the Question of "Which Consoles do you Own." and "What was your first Console" are pretty common survey question Sony probably knows what its talking about.

I own a PS3, about 80 games, and a bunch of PSN games and I've never taken a Sony survey.  I never took a Nintendo survey either before clubnintendo. 

StrawHousePigFebruary 05, 2014

After everything Nintendo has brought to the gaming world, having to seek out a younger demographic should be the last thing on this dudes mind.

A gaming future without Nintendo would be so bland, homogeneous, and boring.

the asylumFebruary 05, 2014

Nintendo going under would be the worst thing imaginable. Rest easy though, friends. For Nintendo to sink, Iwata will REALLY have to screw something up (even worse than the Wii U), and he'll be given the boot before any crippling damage can be done.

Ian SaneFebruary 05, 2014

Quote from: Luigi

It's like Iwata has said, Apple is the biggest competition to gaming because they worry all those cheap games will devalue tradition gaming.  If too many children grow up playing nothing but 99 cent games on their tablets and smartphones, what's going to make them care about suddenly spending $60 for a traditional gaming experience later in life?

I fear this as well but not from any financial perspective.  I just fear that it's ruining games as an artform, but then I feel a similar way about Nintendo's casual focus last gen.  Yeah why would someone pay $60 for Nintendo's casual fodder when Apple offers the same junk for only a buck?  But for core gamers that want deeper gameplay experiences $60 is worth it.  The industry just needs to admit to itself that casual gamers will not buy dedicated gaming hardware and that if they want to make consoles, it's going to be more of an enthusiast market.

I think the 3DS provides a bit of a preview for that.  Casual fluff like Nintendogs didn't sell it like it sold the DS.  The 3D gimmick didn't sell it either.  It took deeper gameplay experiences (and a price cut) to get it going and selling.  The casuals are gone and as much as Nintendo probably hates to admit it the 3DS works better as a more "hardcore" handheld gaming alternative to smartphones then a mass market game machine.  It's for the gamer that needs more than a phone can provide and that is the future for dedicated videogame systems.  The games have to come across as a more worthwhile experience then some phone game and thus be worth the investment.  You don't sell a Corolla for the price of a Cadillac.

Black JackalFebruary 06, 2014

Minecraft alone is starting to make Nintendo irrelevant to bringing in young players. Nintendo needs to get that game on wii u. The tablet controller would be great for crafting and inventory management in a way that the other consoles cant do.

OblivionFebruary 06, 2014

Are you completely braindead? That isn't up to Nintendo. Mojang has been pretty adamant in the past that they don't want Minecraft of the Wii U/3DS. Even though Notch has said he would love that, he isn't a part of Mojang.

Black JackalFebruary 06, 2014

Quote from: Oblivion

Are you completely braindead? That isn't up to Nintendo. Mojang has been pretty adamant in the past that they don't want Minecraft of the Wii U/3DS. Even though Notch has said he would love that, he isn't a part of Mojang.

You are laughably ignorant.

1. The 3ds' 128mb of ram and vastly different architecture would mean rebuilding the entire game not porting it. So it isnt just a matter of Mojang them wanting it there.

2. Mojang being "pretty adamant in the past that they don't want Minecraft of the Wii U/3DS" is a figment of your Imagination much like Notch not being part of Mojang since he is not only chairmain of the board but actively developing games there.

3. Notch's position is "I am not aware of any plans to release a Wii U version of Minecraft." They released a ps3 version 4 years after the pc version. Also Mojang is an indie developer with 12 developers and a handful of artists and "System developers" likey programmers. Do you really think that a 12 man development team making 2 games right now and Xbox One and PS4 ports of minecraft would not be busy enough to not have wii u in current plans?


Bow Down in the face of actual knowledge

OblivionFebruary 06, 2014

1. I fail to see how this is relevant. I am ignoring this first one.


2. You tell me to bow down the face of actual knowledge, yet provide nothing to back up your statement. Anyone with high school level English would know how to do this.


3. Again, I need a source. You can easily make that shit up and put quotes around it. Your link shows me nothing.


Regardless, you tell me in point 2 that he's the chairman and actively develops games their, yet you tell me in point three that he has no fucking clue what they are doing. Nice logic there, pal.


Seriously, back your shit up with sources.

smallsharkbigbiteFebruary 06, 2014

Minecraft is available on almost everything (PC/Kindle/Apple/xbox/PS3).  Surely any Wii U consumer has some product that can play the game.  I'm not saying I wouldn't mind seeing it on Wii U (I would).  But it's not going to do jack for Wii U sales. 

CericFebruary 06, 2014

So there is 12 developers that just like insulting their kin repeatedly...

BlackNMild2k1February 06, 2014

I had heard that they were willing to put it in Wii U, but they've never been approached by Nintendo.

StratosFebruary 06, 2014

Wasn't there aa rumor of a wii u version coming this summer? I would buy it full price even though I have the PC version.

OblivionFebruary 06, 2014


...and that rumor was debunked. That dude above and I were discussing just that.


http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/news/a540620/minecraft-not-planned-for-wii-u-says-markus-persson.html

BlackNMild2k1February 06, 2014

Quote from: Oblivion

...and that rumor was debunked. That dude above and I were discussing just that.


http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/news/a540620/minecraft-not-planned-for-wii-u-says-markus-persson.html

That doesn't debunk what I heard about him not making it a priority since he hasn't been approached by Nintendo yet. and if that's true.... Nintendo, pick up the phone. 10 minutes out of your day, I'm sure that's all it would take to get the ball rolling. Just reach out and COMMUNICATE.

OblivionFebruary 06, 2014

https://twitter.com/notch/status/416452962450300928


Wrong. It's not that Nintendo hasn't approached them, it's that they have too much to do already.

Black JackalFebruary 06, 2014

Quote from: Oblivion

https://twitter.com/notch/status/416452962450300928


Wrong. It's not that Nintendo hasn't approached them, it's that they have too much to do already.

I agree. Even if more games are in Nintendo's interest it is not their duty to knock down the door of every dev. It is the developer who spends time, resources and takes the financial risk  to make a game so unless It is working out a deal that doesn't make sense. Also here are the sources you wanted.


https://help.mojang.com/customer/portal/articles/331367-employees


http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/12/27/no-current-plans-for-minecraft-on-wii-u-says-notch


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojang_AB

BlackNMild2k1February 06, 2014

Last I checked Mojang was the one that had a full plate, Nintendo was the one starved for content. It's not gonna hurt for Nintendo to have a developer outreach program and spark some interest from 3rd parties to support their starving platform by actually reaching out to them and let them know that they are interested in the games that said developer is making and would love to see them on Nintendo hardware. "How may we assist you in becoming a licensed developer?"

Sure Mojang has shit to do right now and they are busy, but if Nintendo had directly reached out and said "Hey, we want Minecraft, and we want it now", I'm sure Minecraft on Wii U would all of a sudden become a priority.
You say it's not Nintendo's job to reach out to 3rd parties to get support.... well, that explains the situation we are in right now, because 3rd parties complain that Nintendo doesn't communicate with them, and they'd rather not be left hanging.

I personally don't care for Minecraft, but if all it took to get it was Nintendo to call them and insist they bring it over, then Nintendo should do just that. If Nintendo doesn't have a Developer Outreach Program, then maybe they should open a new department in each region and get on it.

Black JackalFebruary 06, 2014

Quote from: BlackNMild2k1

Last I checked Mojang was the one that had a full plate, Nintendo was the one starved for content. It's not gonna hurt for Nintendo to have a developer outreach program and spark some interest from 3rd parties to support their starving platform by actually reaching out to them and let them know that they are interested in the games that said developer is making and would love to see them on Nintendo hardware. "How may we assist you in becoming a licensed developer?"

Sure Mojang has **** to do right now and they are busy, but if Nintendo had directly reached out and said "Hey, we want Minecraft, and we want it now", I'm sure Minecraft on Wii U would all of a sudden become a priority.
You say it's not Nintendo's job to reach out to 3rd parties to get support.... well, that explains the situation we are in right now, because 3rd parties complain that Nintendo doesn't communicate with them, and they'd rather not be left hanging.

I personally don't care for Minecraft, but if all it took to get it was Nintendo to call them and insist they bring it over, then Nintendo should do just that. If Nintendo doesn't have a Developer Outreach Program, then maybe they should open a new department in each region and get on it.

Id be the first person to tell you Nintendo's inability to communicate with developers has severely harmed their viability as a partner for 3rd party games. Im just saying that how likely it is Nintendo has no clue about the absolute storm that minecraft is with young gamers that the only scenario I see them reaching out would be if they were going door to door jehovah witness style picking up indie dev parnterships

BlackNMild2k1February 06, 2014

If door to door is what it takes, then they better put on their walking shoes and get out there.

Profits are in the red, sales are in the shitter, and mindshare is shrinking everyday.

Black JackalFebruary 07, 2014

Quote from: BlackNMild2k1

If door to door is what it takes, then they better put on their walking shoes and get out there.

Profits are in the red, sales are in the shitter, and mindshare is shrinking everyday.

With the way that a traditional Japanese business like Nintendo, operates a lot of people including the NWR podcast has speculated NOA isn't very autonomous. Not that its hard to see, but imagine if instead of a proxy like Reggie NOA had an aggressive player in the industry out there wheeling and dealing with these developers and indies.

BlackNMild2k1February 07, 2014

That's exactly what I was suggesting they do.

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