Topic: Nintendo doesn't need to compete against MS and/or Sony

I dunno. It would be better to compete with MS & Sony than the iPhone. The iPhone currently has a monopoly really on the casual market (the only competitor is android, but there is almost no room between the two) and the only other market really is consoles. If Nintendo backs down from that they probably won't find another audience and they'll fail. They need to either go big or go home on this one, because the chance of a market being in between the PS4/XboxOne and iPhone is little to none. I want Nintendo to succeed on this one, and the only way is to get in with the iPhone (which the chance of is little to none) or compete with MS & Sony.

@Ryno
[re: Indies]
Yes. Yes yes yes!
Indie has evolved as a genre, as cliche as that may sound. In my eyes it has an identity and an appeal (visually, and a content expectation) that are increasingly well defined. Of course I understand if you're skeptical about the motivations of the publishers and the 'purity' of the experience; that is an ongoing question to be resolved by consumers as per usual.

But isn't that the opposite of indie?

I mean I have been loving Battleblock theater which is buy an indie studio but its been funded by microsoft which should negate its status as Indie. I'd classify all these indies from the Game informer preview for Ps4 as AA. Indies are self published.

Am I crazy or not? I mean Journey by definition shouldn't be an indie game since it was funded by sony and Sony Santa monica even worked on it.

Indie is a good marketing tool.

And leads to more interesting/variety of products.

That's all you need to know.

(see: the entirety of alt rock for the past 3-4 years)

So now your going to tel me that Falloutboy isn't punk music.

But yeah I see your point.

Whether Nintendo (or those celebrities over at EA), say(s) the Wii U isn't in direct competition, it is.

Nintendo will always be competitive regardless of claims, strategies or innovations.

You can only say that if they are after the same exact market. I just don't see it

To me Nintendo has done very little to alter it's business model, which at first looked like madness. The e-shop is slow moving and the physical game is still better value, 3rd party support is minimal, the graphical power is not 'Next Gen' (sic). But now with confirmation of Microsoft's Xbox1 which has the internet aflame with a mixture of apathy and disgust-due to keys for games which will stop the 2nd hand/rental markets, and the PS4 may follow suit, it seems Nintendo may have done it right. They will have more playable games by the end of the year after a wait, whereas the high end triple A games for the PS4/Xbox1 may take time to trickle out with the high production costs.

A while back CVG reported of a hidden rumour that was going to improve Nintendo's fortunes. Everyone presumed that Iwata had some killer game up his sleeve, but I wonder if it was perhaps referring to the fact that the 'Next Gen' isn't as fantastic as people thought, and is a double edged sword.

At the end of the day, Sony is involved with games, film, music, TV's DVD and Bluray players and other tech. Microsoft is involved with games, computer software and hardware, and phones. Nintendo does gaming. It doesn't try to implement the business practises of other markets onto it's products, and knows gamers needs and requirements very well, while being smart enough to keep its costs lower than its profits. Seems a good business model to me!

That's a tough statement to either agree or disagree with without having intimate knowledge of the market. On one hand, as fans and consumers, we've seen Nintendo survive these many years amongst stiff competition while "doing their own thing." The Wii was a HUGE departure from the other consoles in the previous generation, and after Microsoft's event today, the Wii U is set to once again be doing something totally different than the other guys.

But the bottom line is that Nintendo needs money. More "gamers" are leaving consoles for their phones and tablets, and if the remaining crowd is buying PS4s and Xbox Ones, then NO, Nintendo cannot survive without competing head-to-head. There's just no way to tell any of this stuff until next fall when all of this comes to a head and the other two consoles hit retail.

There is competition if someone can only buy one console each gen. I'm not in that position right now, I may be next gen (or next next gen) though, and frankly I think I will go with Sony, which will mean that Nintendo will lose business to the competition of another console maker.

Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony are all after the core and casual audiences.

Just because Nintendo appealed to casual gamers with the Wii (for the most part), doesn't mean this a different park now.

Just like how McDonalds doesn't have to compete with Wendy's or Burger King...oh wait.

They're all console makers competing for the same TVs. They're competitors. They have to compete. Deal with it.

Perhaps what the OP meant was that Nintendo need not employ all the same strategies with their competition in the market?

This is all that needs to be said.

sits in corner and pouts I will

Finally, SOMEBODY understands what I meant to say!

In any case, until Yamauchi backs Iwata, Miyamoto and the rest of the old guard, I believe Nintendo's philosophies will not falter.
I also fail to see the logic of adopting strategies that have only proven to be moderately successful in the past, such as launching a machine that is pretty much interchangeable with its adversaries (gcn). The golden era of the SNES' outstanding support is long gone and the Wii's impressive hundred million feat seems like an even older memory these days. Taking into account their inexperience with HD development, rusty (or nonexistent) relationships with most of the strongest third parties and flat-out refusal to money-hat that option makes even less sense...and that's without mentioning how Sony and MS have spent years cultivating a certain type of market, difficult to captivate from the big N's current position. In 2 weeks they will have a chance to actually shake off the murk that's been surrounding the damn thing for 2 years and start showing its real potential. With the right library and marketing, I believe the Wii U might bring back a lot of old fans and some new ones too..especially in light of MS's anti-consumer stance a PS4/U combo might be the way to go for most console enthusiasts.

They compete by doing whatever. Nintendo doesn't try to win, they just win on accident sometimes. I guess?
Actually, though, all of Nintendo's controllers are still relevant. Xbox One will still give the option to use Smartglass, but will still go Kinect for the most part, and still has the power under the hood like PS4(I believe it has more, but I'm just speculating). Wii U will use the Wii remote(like PS4 with Move), basically has SmartGlass as a pack-in with the GamePad, and still retains some of the features from Kinect, like a built in mic and camera in the GamePad, which isn't supported with voice commands, but it could be. The GamePad can also do camera games(obviously not as advanced as Kinect, but I think you get my point).
To be honest, I don't need about half of the hook up options it supports, the HDD is built in, and the power brick(which is assumingly pretty bulky) is built inside.
The reason why I bring up alot of the bulk, is because it makes the console seem strong, but alot of it is connections for cords which do nothing for the actual performance of the console. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I would literally only ever need HDMI, power, Kinect, and some USB ports(basically what Wii U has).
I saw that there were tons of ports, and I'm just pointing out that alot are dated and mostly unnecessary. Would Wii U look as bulky with the power brick, HDD, and more ports built in? This is what I am doing to compare the essential components of these machines.
I honestly like the hardware that the Xbox One has, but there was hardly s*** to show, games wise. That EA pre rendered demo looked weird as f***. It didn't even look real. I guess pre rendered isn't an option anymore. That's a good thing though...
I look forward to seeing what it can do, paired with my Wii U(which also hasn't shown much yet).

Wasn't going to get a wii u until that Microsoft conference fail.

Xbox One and PS4 will not affect Nintendo's plans for the Wii U whatsoever. It may, however, affect the development of the future home console. Gamecube sold poorly and Wii is born. A new branding and shift in focus from tech specs to control input and new casual games for wider audiences.
If Wii U sells like the Gamecube you may see a change from the Wii brand and another shift in the hardware focus.