Going mobile and developing for other consoles is not the answer for Nintendo
I've been reading articles for the past few months saying that Nintendo should just start developing for other consoles and go mobile. Heck here's a recent one from Fortune. In said article it states that they should become third party, jump on mobile and get rid of the Wii U.
These articles are offering suggestions which will "BRING NINTENDO MORE MONEY" like Nintendo will read their articles and say, "Hey that's a really good idea, Lets do that". How many times has that happened? Saying Nintendo should start developing for third party is like asking Apple to make OSX compatible with Windows machine. Unless you do some sort of hack its almost impossible.
Nintendo is first and foremost a first party publisher. They have loads of cash to continue funding the Wii U Console and even the next generation of consoles. They will release first party titles which will always sell no matter what. People need their Zeldas, Marios, Metroids, Etc, Just like people need their Halos on Xbox and God of War on PS3.
Now before you get the idea of I'm a fanboy defending Nintendo, let me tell you. I did not like the Wii, I thought it was a stupid Idea on Nintendo's part and the Wii U is just a continuation of that. Yes it's a horrible idea to have a Wii U gamepad which is forced upon us. But that's not to say that the Wii U does not have it's perks. Yes I have a Wii U and play it every now and again. Mostly Black Ops 2 online but at least it gets some use in my household. But that's subject is for another time in another article.
First let's tackle the Mobile Issue. When was the last time you played a good platformer like Mario on mobile and said to yourself, "The controllers for this game are really awesome, never mind the fact that my thumbs are practically covering 40% of the screen". There are third party bluetooth controllers which fixes the issue but that means carrying another accessory which sort of defeats the purpose. Mobile is only good for angry birgs or games where the levels only last 1 minute or less. Another issue is too much competition. People are cheap. They want a great deal on whatever it is their buying. Need Proof. Look at Black Friday. Enough Said. People will normally gravitate to the $1 games or freemium which is over flooding the market. If Nintendo were to go mobile, they would have to make games similar to that. If Nintendo does indeed go mobile I can imagine a mushroom kingdom type game just like smurfs village but with mario characters. That pretty much makes it a close of all the other games out there. Mobile gaming is not the answer and analyst should just stop bringing it up.
Nintendo should go third party for Xbox and Playstation. That's a great idea except that Nintendo would have to follow Sony and Microsoft Standards for licensing and compete with other third part publishers who release games almost once a year. Which means that the title is not as polished or working as intended. Look at CoD, Battlefield 4 and other titles that look good on one console but bad on another. Developers have to make the graphics universal for multiplatform if they want to spend less money on making the game. Take too long to develop a game and the company goes bankrupted. With the Nintendo hardware, Nintendo is at least bringing in some money with licensing fees and first party titles which sell millions of copies while they bring out another mario title. Not to go too far, look at the latest mario series on the Wii U. We have 3 versions that are almost exactly the same with Mario Bros 2, Luigi U and Mario 3D world. They're practically the same game with different costumes and Nintendo is doing that because they need to bring in money. When money becomes the bottom line, games start to become less fun and innovation dies.
Nintendo is suffering, there's no questioning it. Third Party support keeps dwindling every day which is like the kidney's of the gaming industry. Can you survive without kidneys. Sure, but not for long. Nintendo needs to turn around and make things happen with the Wii U.
One recommendation I would give Nintendo is not get rid of the Wii U Game Pad but make it an optional accessory. Instead of bundling it with the Wii U, why not just include a Pro Controller and charge $200 for a Wii U. Don't force the gamepad down people's throats because not everyone will like it. I hate it when im using the Wii U and when I want to access the options or the gameshop, I am forced to look down at the game pad. I hate using the game pad during gameplay when I am forced to look down to solve a puzzle or search for an item. It's too distracting, gives me a headache and hurts my neck in the process.
I play black ops 2 with a pro controller and its better that way. I want all the game Nintendo and Third Party developers to include it. I don't only want to use the game pad. The game pad is fine if I want to play using it or during a multiplayer game one player uses the gamepad and the other uses the TV. That is actually a great idea because each individual gets their own screen without distractions. Sell the gamepad separate for like $50 or $100 bucks. It's way cheaper than buying a PSVita or a tablet and it has a more useful purpose for those that only game at home. Why not do that? Limited on Memory, why not make the OS only use 256mb of Ram and release the other 1.75gb for games only. The OS doesn't need a full 1GB of ram dedicated to it.
Nintendo can definitely get out of the whole they dug themselves in without going mobile or third party. We will just have to wait and see if and how they do it. In the meantime, I do hope those articles would just die out.
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