This is a dark time for Nintendo. The popular and industry reception to the announcement of the Wii U at E3 this year was not, shall we say, entirely positive. The sales of Nintendo's new handheld were not, shall we say, stellar, necessitating a price drop the Nintendo 3DS. Nintendo's stock is at a, shall we say, five-year low. All of this adds up to a loss in profits. Nintendo predicts 82 percent lower profits this fiscal year. This is, shall we say, terrible.
The company is far from broke. In spite of all the bad news, they still predict $257M in profits this year, but that's a lot less than the $1.41B it previously expected.
Nintendo says the lower profits are due to "stronger-than-expected yen appreciation and sales performance, the decided price reduction of the Nintendo 3DS hardware, and the sales outlook for the holiday season." In other words: People didn't buy the Nintendo 3DS in the numbers we would like.
So put yourself in the head of an investor for a minute. Nintendo's stock is really low right now; the question: Will it fall further, or is this the rock bottom? Do you have faith in the Wii U being a hot-seller when it launches? Do you have faith in that indefinable Nintendo magic to bring the company back to the money-printing juggernaut it was only a couple years ago? Personally, I do. I believe in Mario and company. Leave your opinion in our comment section.
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TheBRADLeyB
Nintendo has never had it's fingers on the pulse of the consumers.
When everyone was going to discs Nintendo stayed on Cartridge saying that their gamers wanted Cartridges.
When everyone was hooking up to the internet Nintendo said their gamers didn't care for such things.
Nintendo finally snags a ground breaking novelty in the Wii and gets casual gamers (housemoms, women, fat people, nursing homes and therapy people) to buy into games like Wii Fit and Wii Sports but then turns around and does something else 'ground breaking' that no body seems to care for.
The WiiU from what I've seen is basically just the Wii with a Controller with a screen. I mean I guess you could keep a Map or the PlayArt from a Madden game on the controller but I just don't see the potential.
Oh and it also might help Nintendo if they either stopped Regionalizing their games or made their games available in all regions.
juggernaut9
"shall we say" Stop Please....
JustTheBeginning
I fear the Wii U will be a massive failure and Nintendo will pick up its pieces, get smart, and release a real "next gen" console 1 year after Sony and MS do. The Wii U is like saying a PS3.5 or 360 2.0 is a good idea in this economy, its not not going to cut it when next gen consoles are right around the corner.
griffith506
ninendo's been counted out before. imho, they need:
1. a larger number of interesting and fun exclusive titles (mario and zelda titles won't carry them anymore)
2. the ability of their console to play all the other non-exclusive triple a titles, too
3. innovative controls are great. however, the ability and option to use a more 'traditional' controller is essential. they tried it with the wii's 'classic controller'...... it was great for the three games with which you could use it.
but that's just me.....
Stellerman7
Looking at this issue, Its going to get worse before it gets better.
T_Rexx
To launch a system with a lack of games is a big no no especially for Nintendo's 3DS. The controversy surrounding the 3D an kid's eyes also hurt them I think. This will also shun developers...poor sales means less games in development. I think they will bounce back, as their type of system an games are geared towards the kid's.
Micro$oft has gone the route of Nintendo and is now focused on the kid's, hence the success of Kinect. The difference between the 2 is tht Micro$oft has a few more kiddie games than Nintendo. Games like sesame Streets, Disney land, Rabbids an more.
SONY on the other hand made a few loss due to (as we all know) the PS network hacks & a unstable Japan economy. Good thing going for SONY is that they have stayed the course an remained committed to Hardcore Gamers with their slew of 1st Party exclusives coming out for the PS3 along with the mighty PSVita.
crocodilius
Stephen needs, shall we say, a new catch phrase >.>
BertSaxby
From an investor standpoint Nintendo is a good bet, however I think it has a bit more downside to go before it bottoms. Unless Wii U hits this Christmas they don't have anything new coming to the table for the holiday which would spell yet another dismal sales. Perhaps the price drop on the 3DS will spur sales, but I wouldn't be on that, the handheld market is getting crowded considering the popularity of smart phone gaming.
QuickKick89
Honestly? I think this is the beginning of the end. Cutting the 3DS price is just going to push consumers further away, and looking at the Wii's current state won't get people excited for the Wii U. It may take a few years, but I think you'll see Nintendo's numbers enter red from the black in about 2-3 years time, and after that Nintendo will give up hardware and start making games for the 360 and PS3. They just don't have the resources to weather a massive storm like Sony and Microsoft do.
DPsx72
Nin never disappoints. They know how to make some of the best games each generation and for that I'll keep buying their consoles. I only need a few good games to add a platform to my collection. I appreciate that Nin does their own thing. I get what I need from Sony and what I need from Nin. To copy each other would be redundant.
The 3DS is a neat piece of hardware but Nin has never been one to rapidly release games. That's the only thing holding them back on that front. Once we get Kid Icarus, Zelda, Mario, Luigi's Mansion, Kart, and all the familiar titles this will heat up a lot faster. Of course I went from an original DS to the 3DS, perhaps those with Lite's and XL's don't feel much has changed.
The Wii U has promise, but let's admit there wasn't a whole lot to see at E3. A lot of possibilities, little actual games and features. Due in part to the launch still being a ways off so the closer we get the more we'll see what it can do. I imagine that's why it hasn't caught on yet. It's unlikely we'll have to worry about either platform failing. As we saw with PS3 a slow start will lead to a really strong system later.
lucidity
IThe last four years were a great run for Nintendo, they can afford to drop 82% and still make a profit.
Sony on the other hand is looking at a 3 billion dollar loss and the PS3 sales are off 25%, 600,000 unut's from last year.
Only MS is tracking upward with a 45% increase in revenue and 30% more console sales, the best year for a console that's in it's 6th year.
Jax009
This kind of serves them right to decide and sorta BRAG about not learning from their competitors. Its like they think they don't have any competition. Which can be described in different ways.
xRaymond9250
if they want our trust back, along with our money, then they need to start listening to us rather than assuming they know what we want. for example, they assume we want Wii Play Motion with a free remote, WRONG! we want pandora's tower, the last story, and xenoblade. if they can pull their heads out of their butts then all will be right in the world.
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