Nintendo Is The Next Disney+, Says Activist Investor Which Now Has A $1.1 Billion Stake

It’s gonna happen one day in the future all games will be streamed only. Not sure how I feel about this x x x x

That's an expensive way of knowing very little about the medium.

Nintendo? the Disney of gaming? I doubt it, I see Microsoft or Sony, possibly even Valve, taking that role first.

Saying Nintendo will one day be as big as Disney leaves a very bad taste in my mouth as much as I like Nintendo.

Disney but with a soul.

@Dragonslacker1 You're right of course and I don't like it either, but I think we are a long way from it. Sony and MS are just now releasing new consoles so an all streaming future won't be happening anytime soon. The lack of interest in Stadia too suggests that the market isn't ready for it just yet either.

@JayJ Nintendo? a soul? heh, you know nothing. Sure, the creatives have a soul, but the big corporate overlords absolutely don't - they're equal with Disney in that respect.

@Ooccoo_Jr Yeah I think when it comes to the subject of streaming the Stadia is pretty much the testing ground for how big of a market it has. Considering how it's been doing very poorly a streaming future isn't looking bright. Maybe one day it will be the best way to go, but that day doesn't seem to be anytime soon.

It is also worth noting how streaming is a terrible way to go about a portable console which is one of the major selling points for the Switch. Sure the Vita did streaming but last I checked that wasn't exactly a big success.

@Noid Well compared to Disney, Nintendo are saints.

This may end up being my last generation to buy physical media. Honestly, I'm getting fed up with day 1 patches, physical carts that required a download, or simply a download code in the case. I will treasure my physical collection of games and relish the fact I can always play them when I want but I'm not sure how to fight the change anymore. I started 100% physical with Switch but I've been gradually changing to digital.

@Ooccoo_Jr I agree I think it’s still a way away, but I understand this stadia stuff as testing the water so to speak. I think the endgame whenever it is is streaming as the mainstream with physical maybe a limited base. In theory when internet speeds can handle it, and for arguments sake most of the SNES, game boy advance, n64, GameCube catalogue available for say the equivalent of 10 pounds a month, that’s a future I can get on board with. For me the games and playing the games are the important thing. I’m not a person who has games on a shelf for visual display, but the advantages are that you “ own” it and can resell and lend to a friend etc, but these things seem to be slowly fading away x x x x x

@Nintendofan83 I am the same. Becoming more and more digital for the convenience mainly. I use discount codes on CDkeys for my digital purchases which brings the prices down to roughly those of physical games. The way I see it provided I look after my microSD cards and have multiple copies of downloaded games across different cards I’ll never lose them if and when the servers go dead. In fact the data will be safer than physical games because you only have one copy of physical games plus physical is rapidly becoming just download keys anyway.

@Dragonslacker1 I would be on board with a Nintendo subscription service to access old games, but only if you could download them. I guess that's kind of what the Online subscription is but as you say if they expanded up to Gamecube and also Wii then I would happily drop 10 quid a month for that. Whilst an all digital future is guaranteed, I'm not sure we'll ever reach streaming only, I think downloads will always have their place (I hope).

This some illuminati stuff right here

Having said that when devs put the entire game on cart like Sabre Interactive with Witcher 3 I like to buy physical to support and applaud the effort.

I think the Disney comparison is apt.

Nintendo has a broad range of high profile, family friendly, IP in a diverse range of genres.

IP that is massively under exploited - there’s not been a Zelda cartoon series for more than 30 years! People have put hundreds of hours into Splatoon - where is the feature film where are the toy sets and collectables?

They also have a vast back catalogue.

It’s not a 1-1 but they have a basically unique scope to develop.

I personally hate subscription based services. You never get what you want, take Disney plus for example, where's Song of the South or the WW2 Donald toons? Just look at Nintendos current nso! Very limited selection compared to vc and even that's lacking compared to the full libraries of the consoles it represents! At least with vc you only had to pay for what you wanted!

I stopped playing and generally like Nintendo consoles or games because of their fiscal policy. Ι find outrageous the double prices of games from other systems, or old games on full price. Even in covid 19 enclosure days was the only company that didn't gave a free game.

Don't believe this will be the case for many years. Most countries don't have the internet speed for this to work.

Don't care for Disney in the slightest, they're just one of those companies that seem really shady which is weird for a family-friendly brand.
Nintendo has always been a bit odd, but it works most of the time. I'd like to stick with that route for now.

@Kimyonaakuma Disney Used to be cool but not anymore
At least Nintendo still bring out modern classics

imagine telling a 100+ years old company what they should do loll

Bah! News like this really irks me. Investors chomping at the bit to emulate other successful companies so as to make a buck. Meanwhile, we as gamers have to stomach a landscape that is slowly becoming more and more homogenised because of it. It's like walking down a street and all the shops are different coffee houses. Don't get me wrong, I love coffee but...come on. Seriously, there are always other types of opportunity than 'oh, let's copy that.'

These people are in for a surprise if they think they can buy some stock and tell a Japanese company what to do.

It's possible they'll talk Nintendo into, but if they think they're gonna force the issue, they'll be in for a rude awakening.

Funny isn't it.. the bigger the company gets the more expensive they get and less quality items they give you. WII/WII U/Switch they are 1 or 2 generations behind and still somehow dominates the world. Let this sink

@Noid Nintendo still has game designers in its administrative board. Not sure if it will last but it's the only big company of the industry who still has that. They've not been completely taken over by financial people. And before you start, no, Pokemon is not and has never been a Nintendo IP.

The day gaming goes all digital is the day i stop collecting games. Sorry but there's just something special about having a physical game in a box rather than some download or streamed game. When i was a kid i thought game cartridges were just the neatest thing ever! All those microchips inside a little plastic case that contained a whole other world i could escape to for a few hours! It was amazing and felt so futuristic! Plus it was funny watching the old folks in bewilderment at this newfangled technology!

These "investors", just like the "analyst" in yesterday's article, are helping to push the industry more and more toward digital streaming and subscription models. Why should that concern you and me as consumers?

Well, for starters, it takes the EULA already in existence (you know, the thing many games, particularly from mega-publishers like EA, make you agree to in order to play the product you JUST LEGALLY PURCHASED, on the basis of calling said product a "service") and amps it up to 11. Do you like having basic rights as a consumer? Do you like owning what you invest in, knowing it's yours to keep "forever" as opposed to knowing somebody on the other end could suddenly pull the plug on a server and erase all that money and time you've spent? Then you will vote with your wallet and say NO to streaming or any subscription services for games.

These people do NOT care about us as consumers, let alone as gamers. Their motivations are only about making as much money as possible by utilizing online as a means of control and exploitation (yes, these are the same sort who authorized business models like Season Passes, Always Online, and Loot Boxes, among other things). The last question on their mind is how anything benefits or offers value to the consumer. They're the worst thing that's ever happened to this hobby: people in control of corporate decisions (or who wield the power to heavily influence them) who know and care little or nothing about videogames or gamers, just $$$.

As I commented below yesterday's article, I have never and will never subscribe to PS Now, Xbox GamePass, or any other subscription service. I buy the games I want, period. And if streaming or subscriptions ever become the only way to access new games, then I will walk away from the hobby I've supported and loved since the Atari 2600.

Gamers are "activist investors"; many of us have put more money and time into this hobby than any other entertainment type. But one rich schmuck who doesn't even care about games or care about why we play them can go and buy up a bunch of stock and then tell us he's helping to take the industry in a direction diametrically opposed to our interests or those of the hobby. Yes, that irks me, and if you love videogames and the ability to own what you legally buy, then it should irk you as well.

The next Disney+? Give me a break 🙄 As much as I want Nintendo to succeed, this sounds like car salesman talk from a fraudster.

Either this 'investor' is BS'ing its stakeholders big time, or Nintendo are playing their cards really close and have some game-changing plans. But it doesn't seem to ring true. You'd expect Nintendo to be making such announcements to the public, not some investor.

@Alucard83 nah, they’ve created their own playing field with their own quality IP’s and compared to other companies unique hardware. They are not behind anyone.

As they’ve shown in a graph years back, they’re right in the middle between phones, pc’s, tablets, bigger consoles, 3ds. New market. Same with the Wii. Wii U was a flop because they tried to be the same as Microsoft and Sony (and yes, they were behind at that moment). But not anymore.

glad I still have my wii u with over 1500 dollars worth of games on it - and not some homebrew garbage
I bought those games over the years.
Nintendo's got NOTHING on me.

Wishful thinking at best, comparing it with Disney.

@Nintendofan83 I haven't bought a physical game in two years now. Digital all the way. Infact it's now a chore to open up a box and change games, particularly now when the disc/cart essentially acts as a cd key and nothing more.

The Disney comparison can be made when you look at the two companies as both creating and nurturing a wide catalogue of beloved characters and IP’s that transcend generations. Disney may have pissed a lot of people off in more recent times but when you look at what’s on Disney+ it’s an incredible collection of classic content stretching back 80 years or so. Like them or not they elevated and transformed the medium of animation and the concept of family entertainment.

If Nintendo got their act together with their NSO service it would be a similar type of thing in regards to significance to games culture.

Maybe the guy knows something - probably not - but I think he’s just talking about the significance and quality that Nintendo have in their stable, the pedigree of them as a company to make original work and the potential for new forms of entertainment that they could develop.

It seems streaming is the future of gaming. Nintendo stands to lose the most in hardware sales if they do offer software on third-party devices. People are more accepting of MS and Sony putting their titles elswhere because they are willing to buy Sony and MS hardware. Nintendo hardware is less justifiable for many people.

Edit: It's also like clockwork with news like this. NPD announces Nintendo hardware sales are doing well and investors are poking them to go third-party. The juxtaposition is mind boggling.

2nd Edit: the contributor fails to point out that this firm has a 2% stake in Nintendo. They can't necessarily "push" Nintendo to do much, atm.

This is the kind of thing that could actually kill Nintendo.

If nintendo starts its own disney+ netflix etc with new Nintendo animes, 3D movies, series etc and if done right. I empty my wallet 🤣👍

Nintendo have always been the Disney of the gaming world. Come on, Mario is almost as recognizable as Mickey. They've always been the company with all the gaming mascots and family appeal vs the more blockbuster focused companies in the industry. To call them Disney+ when that's a service not a company is a bit strange though. Nintendo won't offer it's catalogue to be streamed on multiple platforms any time soon, it will still be reserved for it's own hardware with sample offerings thrown to smartphone devices to increase consumer awareness.

@The-Chosen-one If Nintendo got Studio Trigger to do some Nintendo anime, I think that the entire world would reach nirvana or enlightenment, we'd have world peace, a cure for all disease and...

Or just some really good entertainment. And that'd be enough.

According to a latter? Is that how it's spelled where you are?

People complaining about Disney
People complaining about digital

I’d say I’m surprised, but I’m not.

They'll be the next Disney when they start buying everything under the sun and start inching towards monopoly in their medium.
Which is never.

Nintendo was so much better a company before it was publicly traded. Actually nearly all companies were. The very concept of how investment has been twisted like this defeats the concept of running a stable business.

This is absolutely terrible news for the future of Nintendo and gaming. I truly hate when Western companies get a stake in Japanese ones knowing how idiotic 'activist' Western groups tend to act.

@ShadowSmile, Same here; in the case of the Switch itself; a game streaming service like Disney+ or Xbox Game Pass just can’t work on a system like the Switch without an internet connection.

"Activist investor" is an oxymoron.

@IronMan30 Do you know much about investment? It's absolutely a real thing and not an oxymoron. There are investors that will take a stake in a company in order to push for something they are concerned about, etc.

With the amount of games they offer for their switch online service I honestly don‘t see it happening anytime soon. I mean come on, where the hell is Mario 64 for Switch? Such a service would have to launch with a lot more than even the VC has to offer and for some reason Nintendo doesn‘t see the (financial) potential just yet. Well who knows, maybe they will at some point.

I find a lot wrong with this future forecasting. Nintendo is certainly transforming but to disregard what they are at their core is a mistake. They still view themselves as a toy makers and this will guide their decision at least for one or two generations more. Disney, who at one time had a similar outlook based on the plan by Mr. Disney, is essentially an entertainment company which allows them to purchase and acquire all types of IP. Since there are no longer any Disney family members in power the company continues to become a corporate holding structure, not a focused strategy like Nintendo

Presently Nintendo is building out the same strategy to grow the IP they have and create more revenue streams. While they admire Disney it is the original Disney and not the current conglomerate they buys IP not create it.

Physical media will be here quite a while and there several reasons to consider. There is the lack of infrastructure to support streaming which according to most studies will take 7 to 8 years to build out to 85%. In addition there is the continued demand for physical cartridges which much like vinyl records will never subside completely.

@Nehalem I have an MBA and multiple retirement accounts and invest regularly. It's called a joke. Sorry to ruffle your brilliant feathers.

@IronMan30 Yeah, I probably came on too strong and completely missed the joke. I see comments like that a lot on the internet and most of them are real (generally following the consensus among some that all investors are bad, etc). But I do appreciate the compliment regarding my feathers!

@Nehalem in any case, it's funny to see stories like this pop up right after sales data shows hardware is selling very well. Yes, we're in the middle of a pandemic, but the contrast is mildly hilarious. What better way to maintain or improve hardware sales than offer your software on third-party devices?

Companies like this need to be kept universes away from Nintendo, both NoA and especially NoJ. Nintendo's success has historically come from their ability to devise left-field ways to have fun and leverage the value of their IPs by consistently producing master class video games and video games first, not from following industry trends or trying to be EA or Activision, which is a complaint this idealogue of a firm has made, as if Nintendo should be aspiring to be like either of these terrible industry joke companies. No amount of profit is worth exchanging an icon of a company like Nintendo for another EA. This PR is basically their way of suggesting Nintendo IPs should each have their own awful Netflix show stripped of Japanese humor and replaced with western influences, there should be a gaudy new Mario movie every six months, every game should be riddled with MTX, all Nintendo offerings should be moved to an always-online subscription service, etc. These companies take no interest in Nintendo as fans of what they do or out of respect for their industry. They are the first to demand Nintendo adopt the Disney media strategy when NTDOY stock gains make headlines, and they are the first to demand Nintendo go third-party or exclusively develop mobile freemium games when stocks are down or flat.

Those who think this would lead to selective, tasteful quality content like limited run animes based on Nintendo IPs are misled, as this would instead result in their IPs being used to push Tumblr-level western nonsense by stagnant rooms of multi-colored hair thirty-something activist writers at Netflix/Apple/Amazon/Hulu looking to make waves and earn PC points in journalistic and social media, not to expand on or provide any real value to the IP. Sexual abuse storylines for Ganondorf, Princess Peach harboring homosexual feelings for Rosalina, a transgender angle for Samus, racism and discrimination overtones in every story to add 'relatability', celebrity cameos and voice work, new token characters added in to market the shows to specific demographics — every 2010s issue/cringy fan fiction storyline you can imagine, none of which has remotely anything to do with what makes these IPs beloved in the first place. Nintendo's properties are too sacred to be influenced by investment firms with an agenda like this one (unless you particularly like the direction Adobe and Microsoft have taken since the early 2010s, that is).

@nessisonett This comment just reminds me of this classic:

https://youtu.be/8YWl7tDGUPA

I saw the name Michael Pachter and quit the article.

@Dragonslacker1 I tried the free Stadia trial and it was impressive... until I saw the business model. There's definitely a future in streaming but it will have to be a Netflix/Prime style service where you pay a subscription and get a whole **** ton of content. Because it isn't the tech that killed Stadia, it's the value (or lack thereof).

As of right now, Nintendo's current "digital media strategy" involves a single Mario animated movie that is scheduled for a 2022 release.

Regardless of whether or not you like activist investors or not, there is no way you can deny that Nintendo could be doing so much more in the realm of non-gaming digital entertainment. Business diversification is always a good thing.

@Dragonslacker1 Even if that turns out to be true, a system like the Switch will continue to remain a desired device since you could stream the games to the Switch, which would be perfect thanks to its hybrid nature. In a lot of ways, the Switch is pretty future-proof. They can always make it more powerful, but the appeal of it's core concept isn't going to disappear, and as it stands now, it's capable of playing streaming games regardless of the power it takes to play the titles that are streaming to the Switch.

@Heavyarms55

Hahaha exactly!
Even the incredible Hulk would be at peace "Hulk Angry, no more.."

I can’t believe no one has yet mentioned theme parks. If they are done well (and I think Nintendo is capable of making that happen) then there is a huge potential upside to all of Nintendo’s IP.

I'll buy the new ps5 to allow subscribing to my Nintendo catalogue.

Oh wait, the switch sells more... well...

There are always two sides to the same coin I guess.

@Noid Google.

This article is so full of it.

Why comparing Nintendo with STREAMING SERVICES?! Doesn't make any sense.

They also mention that Nintendo hasn't grown as much as EA or Activision....is like comparing Apple to Watermelons. Nintendo makes Hardware/Software. Ea and Activision doesn't for starters. Also Nintendo has improving in the last years. Didn't they check on that?

All it tells me is that these investors are just investing on Nintendo because of its recently momentum thanks to the Codvid pandemic making everybody staying at home. But they cannot even understand that. The comparisons they make are BS and like a way to explain their investment without knowing why.

Anyway, good for Nintendo. But I hope, really HOPE, that they don't listen to them.

@Noid ultimately the only reason Nintendo might or probably will take the title of the Disney of gaming is due to their characters. Microsoft lacks a range of well known to most characters they got master chief and banjo and kazooie but I havn't seen a banjo game in forever. sony is better off on that regard but they havn't made games for them in a long time.

An investor who is pulling strings and looks at Disney plus as the future of nintendo.... Not sure how I feel about this.

@Ensemen

Everybody knows mario, ask people from age 4 till 85 who he is, they point him out.
he has the same cult as mickey. You can not say that about master chief or crash bandicoot lol.

nintendo is basicly a modern way what disney was in the 21th century.
So i understand this investors motives.
Although i dont think nintendo has the same business drive that walt disney had.

The company clings too much on japanese tradition, americans have balls in business so to say.
Im not an american btw

So, Ninflix for Nintendo original gaming content one day, or for Nintendo original movies, cartoons, etc? I like the latter idea and hope the coming Mario movie opens the door too this. Showing my age, but yes I remember the Mario and Zelda cartoons back in the late 80s early 90s. Good times.

@JayJ Once it becomes as big as Disney, the soul will leave its body and will be filled with money instead

What will happen if all of the companies like Nintendo is only focused on money when they make subscription services?

@Dragonslacker1 it will de a few more decades before streaming takes over and physical is gone completely.

@PALversusNTSC they actually cling to what made the company. Other companies sell out.

@RPGamer I agree. Once gaming is all digital I'm done. I have plenty of games to last me and my great great great grandkids throughout their lives lol.

@8itmap_k1d you mean Game pass? Works great. Also Microsoft has xcloud coming and the beta for it was quite impressive on all my devices.

@Dirty0814 would I be sad if gaming becomes digital?

I mean I wouldn't say no to a Ninty sub service, but I really do dislike the term Activist Investor. It's a term very deliberately used for its more positive wider world activism connotations, but investment "activists" from what I've seen very rarely act in the interests of the wider world. It's a really misleading term.

As much as I loathe streaming games, it's not coming, it's already here, and Nintendo would be foolish to ignore that. But it needs to be an option, not a replacement