Nintendo's Situation: The Wii U Failure and App Announcement

Nintendo led the revolution in video games with the release of the NES in 1983. Since then, there's been many ups and downs for the company. Lately, however, Nintendo has been falling behind the competition. Xbox and Playstation lead in terms of users and developers. Today Nintendo announced details, albeit very few details, about its upcoming smartphone game. Is this a last resort on Nintendo's part to gain more revenue? Or is it a natural progression? Is it even a bad thing?


I'll start off by saying Nintendo isn't in danger of going out of business any time soon. From years of success the company has built up $10.5 billion in savings. They could take a $257 million loss every year and still be in business until 2075 through selling its intellectual property. But while Nintendo isn't in danger of going out of business, I can't help but want them to succeed.

Now, that isn't to say Nintendo doesn't deserve what it's getting at least a little bit. The Wii U isn't the best for third party developers. Naming it "Wii U" even though it's hardly related to the Wii at all makes it seem like outdated hardware instead of a new console. A lack of users created a lack of developers and ended up making an endless cycle that makes it really hard to want a Wii U. Thankfully, Nintendo does make some awesome games. Splatoon is a title I've been putting tons of hours into since this summer, all because Nintendo continued to update it at a steady rate. One game does not make up for the lack of third party developers, however. Nintendo has also been remaking its old titles lately instead of making new ones, with releases including Wind Waker HD, Ocarina of Time 3D, and Majora's Mask 3D. These kind of releases would be great if they were accompanied by new titles, but they're not. Consistently, at least.

Nintendo's announcement of a smartphone game today is only a natural step now that people aren't buying their consoles. Nintendo makes good games, but releasing them exclusively for their own consoles really limits their market. It may have worked before, but after Xbox and Playstation took over the market, there's no way Nintendo can keep up without major changes. They'll have to really grab developers attention with their next console, but in the meantime, a few apps for platforms people already have will get them some more revenue.

Sources: Wii U Daily, Engadget, Nintendo