Topic: What would you do if [insert company here] dropped out of manufacturing gaming systems and became a third party developer? A totally mature discussion.

Cmon man this is the golden age of American Tv. Just watch Kamchatka, and cable channels

For me,this may only happen to Nintendo if Miyamoto is gone.When that happens,I will be getting an eBay account and looking up for Wii and wii u games.
If this happens to Sony or Microsoft,I would not care.

No...no...he just completely avoided the question. This is a "What If?" scenario. There is no, "Well, that's just impossible. I pass." response to What If questions.

I'm not avoiding your question, which was simply asking for the impossible. I simply just told you cold, hard facts. Sony and Microsoft are MAJOR electronic companies that roll in billions of more dollars than Nintendo could ever dream of coming close to. You might as well say that Sony or Microsoft will go bankrupt, because that is essentially what it will take for them to drop out of the console wars. Like I said, Sony and Microsoft have a lot more money than Nintendo do. Not only that, but they have a lot more third party support and popularity than Nintendo currently has.

Sony and Microsoft can pull themselves out of a financial situation a hell of a lot easier than Nintendo can. Both companies are also one of the biggest electronic companies in their respective country of origin. I wouldn't be surprised if the government would help them financially because of their importance IF they ever got in that bad of a financial bind. I highly doubt that Nintendo is in any such position.

The biggest difference between Sony and Microsoft compared to Nintendo is that the latter company is the only first party left that concentrates solely on video games. This puts said company in a much riskier financial position.

There also has to be competition in the video game market. In other words, you need at least two traditional video game consoles competing with each other. If Sony and/or Microsoft drop out of the console wars, then that would mean we are heading toward a future where traditional video game consoles will no longer be usable (which I'm not too fond of to be honest) and replaced by this rumored digital only cloud service BS that some journalists seem to think it's the best thing since sliced bread, but that's going way off topic here. But even if something like that happened, it will never happen in our lifetimes.

The point of the matter is that as long as there are traditional video game consoles, then Sony and Microsoft will be in the console wars. Nintendo however can drop out of the console wars without major changes to the video game market.

But go ahead and claim that I didn't answer your question, because I did...twice. I can't tell you what I will do in a ''What If?'' situation when something like that is practically impossible. But hey, if it makes you feel any better, you can mock me and say ''I told you so'' if something like that ever happened.

@KKSlider: I'm not trolling anyone. Instead, I'm entertained by this thread.

You say Microsoft and Sony roll in more money than Nintendo with such pride, I swear you're forgetting the fact that Nintendo only makes video game related merchandise.

Nope, I'm saying that Microsoft and Sony are much better off financially than Nintendo because they don't concentrate only on video games like Nintendo does. I'm well aware of the facts, Chrono.

@Knux
If someone asks you a "What If" question, then it involves you coming up with an scenario even if it isn't possible to happen.

You stated that the "What if" was impossible.
UR DOIN IT WRONG.

...Also, if a company doesn't focus on just one market, say video games, yet FAILS in the other ones, then they can most definitely be worse off then one who is less broad in markets. Of course, I'm not saying that Sony or Microsoft do badly in their other pursuits, but you are being overly smug in your 'fact' that Nintendo will never be as financially successful as Sony or MS, which, looking at Sony's losses last year, is not quite an impossibility.

Microsoft and Sony are better off financially than Nintendo? Please Knuxx, wow us with your newly found wisdom!

Guys, lay off Knux. He's got the right idea.

Nintendo is running a high-risk business. When you focus on one core product (in this case, gaming), it's relatively easy for the entire castle to fall down around you. If gaming continues to transition to iOS devices and the like, Nintendo is going to struggle.

Sony struggled with a very difficult transition away from old ways to do business and unprofitable hardware, to where it's headed now - content and Cloud. Both of which are profitable areas of opportunity, and coupled with Sony's multiple product lines, should see it re-emerge as a healthy company.

Microsoft... the lack of understanding about the breadth of Microsoft services amazes me. Microsoft is not a consumer business, first and foremost - that's a very small piece of its pie. Its enterprise services - cloud and the like - as well as its very powerful developer and OEM partnership model means it would easily survive if the entire consumer business fell off a cliff. Microsoft could easily go the same way IBM did and forget about selling stuff to people, and focus on selling stuff to business.

If Nintendo wants to stick to the gaming business, that's fine, but Nintendo would also be well aware that it is running a high risk business model. Don't attack Knux for pointing that out.

Don't get down on knux laying down that hot truth.

Nintendo is in the wordy position going into next-gen.

Hey waltz your knowledgeable on business. How big is the rumored buyoit of yatter?

You mean Yammer? Microsoft's looking at about a billion, I think.

Yeah thats the one. I'm wondering will they let it work on its own like they allow skype to or will they try to inrergate it into there sharepoint suite's social features.

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I would bet that it's going to be worked into Sharepoint. Microsoft is pretty keen on Cloud collaboration at the moment, and Messenger isn't enough for corporates.

From the sound of it, Wonderswan has potential. It was a handheld that was able to play both vertically and horizontally, it lasted a while, and was Gunpei Yokoi's (maker of the Gameboy/Virtual Boy) final project

The Wonderswan Color actually had a lot of potential in the Japanese market; Square Enix had initially said it would remake Final Fantasy 1-6 exclusively for the platform.

Unfortunately Bandai couldn't get any other killer exclusives, and the initial sales (pre Final Fantasy) were slow. Eventually Square Enix decided to go after the numbers with the GBA, and that ended that for the Wonderswan Color.

But by all accounts it is a really nice little console.

The Digimon games for it were kinda good...

You guys are the most entertaining people on the internet. I applaud you and your wonderful debates. And no, I'm not being sarcastic. This is probably the most entertaining thread I've ever read on NL.

By default, if Nintendo bowed out of the console/handheld business, I'd throw my support to Sony. After all, the PlayStation was originally going to be part of the Super Nintendo, so it would be the next closest thing in my warped mind. Already, while I favor Nintendo by far, I've owned PS, PS2, PS3, PSP, and will one day get a Vita. So, while I'd be in mourning and likely wear all-black for at least a year, I'd back Sony.

That said, my future support would depend on Nintendo. In the end, despite the unimaginable event of them leaving the video game system business, I'd still primarily be a Nintendo supporter. Thus, I would mostly support whichever console/handheld maker that Nintendo ultimately made the most games for. If they divided their support between Sony and Microsoft, I'd go Sony.

Unless their support goes to Apple, and they haven't learned by then that touch screen-only controls make games completely unplayable and miserable. In which case Nintendo and I would part ways. If everything is touch screen and social gaming by then, I'll hang up my joystick and find a new hobby, or become a retro-only gamer.

Mentioning the parallels with Sega and Dreamcast does worry me. Not only was Dreamcast their last console, about a decade later, Sega is barely staying afloat even as a third party developer. Last I heard, they were in so much trouble that they are now only making things like Sonic, which are sure-fire hits.

Truest words I've seen you say on this forum

You know, when a company focuses on many different departments, it doesn't mean one of those departments won't go bankrupt. They do have demacations, albeit low ones, I admit. The only thing that saves their a**es is the fact that they have other departments to bring in excess funds from - but with the way things are going in the economy nowadays, I wouldn't slap on the "impossible" tag on Sony and Microsoft just yet on the sole basis of the fact that they don't just focus on games.

But hey, two cents. Two cents.