Games Industry Analysts Somewhat Divided On Nintendo's Partnership With DeNA

This sounds like a good thing to me. Integrating their handheld and smart phone devices to its home console attracts more sales.

Ugh.

Is it just me or is Iwata looking really sickly in that picture? He looks like he's lost a lot of weight, but not in a good way.

I'm all for it.

I'm just as divided as the gaming industry itself.

I think we all know the only analyst who matters are Nintendo Expert Michael Pachter.

Isn't it too late for njnte do to make any real push. Apple and Google have let the mobile market for games rot on the vine and premium charged content has a hard time selling these days

I agree with the "It's Too late" crowd, that ship has long sailed - the "wild frontier" of Mobile gaming is seeing a lot more failures than successes these days, I doubt there's any "motherloads" left to dig up. But good luck standing out in a crowded marketplace where no one wants to pay a dime just to play games on the bus or in the lunchroom for a few minutes, Ninty. Seriously, you'll need it.

I love how the analyst get news from Nintendo that they have been dying to hear for the past few years and some still feel the need to complain. Me personally, i'm interested in what Nintendo put out on other platforms. Even if it's just some simple games andor virtual console titles, i'm optimistic about the recent Nintendo announcements.

Games Industry Analysts. Always looking for things to say that will make us despise them more and more. And they are reeeeally good at it.

Who cares what they say, what do the consumers say?

Its really amazing.......first these critics warn Nintendo that smartphones are rising in the game market, then now they say that its too late to get into the smartphone market. What a way of giving pointless comments.

Stocks are +20%

rofl

Who cares. This doesn't really affect most of us, because the games they'll put on phones will be simplistic in nature, like Pokemon Shuffle. Which hey, that's cool for anyone who likes phone games, but me, I don't care one way or the other.

Do what you do Nintendo. Just so long as you never stop making consoles and games for those consoles, I don't care what endeavors you pursue. Knock yourself out.

@CanisWolfred - "standing out in a crowded marketplace"

You don't think having Mario in an endless runner or Kirby in an endless flyer or Yoshi in some combination of the 2 will stand out from the crowd?

Only history will know if it's too late, but I doubt it. If anything Ntinedo will kill the rest of the crowd by name recognition alone.

If you want to know what Nitneod getting into the app game market really means, ask a bunch of indie developers who make their living makng app games what they think. Get GungHo and Freecells and Kings reaction. That will tell you more than these analysts.

One good point they did bring up, how wil the 2 companies mesh? Not all app games are free or 99c, some are - contrary to popular belief - really like the games on consoles. Will Nintneod be making really cheap match 3 clones like Dr Mario and Pokemon Shuffle available for free, or will they try to make more in depth games like Mario vs Donkey Kong or Pushmo and sell them for $8.99? The first type are really just advertising for the console games like Sony has done, the second type are more stand alone games to make money. I'm really curious to see which route they go.

Ntnedo has already made some crappy app like games available in Nitneod Land - Donkey Kong's Crash Course, Captain Falcon's Twister Race and Balloon Trip Breeze are all, IMVHO, garbage and belong on a smart device more than a home or handheld dedicated console. I say good riddance to them and their kind. I do look forward to Ntineod Land 2 being full of full blown multiplayer adventures.

@JaxonH - "Who cares"

Judging from the couple of hundred comments I read this morning many people care, some adamantly, it's about a 50-50 split for and against. You are 1 of the very few who doesn't seem to care ether way

Iwata looks so thin!

@rjejr people care when they shouldn't, like with most news concerning Nintendo. Oh, the stocks went down, people flip out. Oh, they sold x amount of a certain game, people flip out. It's nothing new.

This doesn't affect us in a negative manner, or positive (unless you like phone games). So again I say, who cares (or rather, who rightfully cares?)

@JaxonH I agree.
I'll just have to watch this development closely. Hope it's a major success.
@Zyph I mean, seriously!

I'm done with Nintendo.

@rjejr. They shoud make a Wii Mini mobile exclusive to mobile phones purchased from Target! Think about it, I can smell the money being printed from here.

Honestly don't know what to think. If done right Nintendo's handhelds will still stay in the market. Interesting to hear of the NX.

@LUIGITORNADO

I doubt it.

It's too lat to start chasing this, Nintendo. :/ Trying to catch up takes so much investment now that they bitterly need at their other fronts.

@rjejr Well, 1) Those aren't app games… they are mini games in the vein of Mario Party. By that measure, Nintendo pioneered 'app games'… just on the big screen. (Well, and Game and Watch games if you think about it) 2) I doubt there will be a Nintendo Land 2… at least on this system. It was mostly one part Gamepad tech demo and one part tutorial for the system itself and for asymmetric/asynchronous gameplay. SEGA has a decent Sonic runner as well as a Peggle-like Monkey Ball game that are actually quite fun. I could easily see something in that vein, as well as some version of the Brain Age games or Nintendo's puzzlers. Nintendogs makes perfect sense. There are a lot of opportunities. A Pictures with Mario variant or a Chibi Robo photo game. I also think that if it's done right, this is an excellent way of pulling in those mobile gamers who haven't considered a dedicated device. Introduce them to an IP, give them a taste and have them watch a trailer of that IP in action in a fully fleshed out game. Boom. Say you have a 100,000 downloads of an app and you have a 2.5% conversion rate for new 3DS customers. 2,500 new 3DS gamers. And maybe it's a 1.5 attach rate at POS plus a download or two. And even if that is just an extra 1000… all from exposure to an IP through an app. Nintendo still makes money off of their systems, unlike the competition.

Edit: Just for a point of reference, I had noted after some Googling that the average app download varied between 40 and 60 thousand in 2013 (depending on platform). In 2015 and considering the weight Nintendo's IPs carry, I don't think 100,000 is at all out of the question. In fact, that might be downright pessimistic.

@JaxonH Lol, it affects me. I'm invested in Nintendo. Hooray, I made money today!

@TheLobster
Well... You're the rare exception

Man, it's much easier to predict stuff when industry analysts unanimously agree. We can simply assume the opposite will happen.

@ricklongo Sure feel that way. lol

@rjejr Totally disagree with you about Donkey Kong's Crash Course. Love that game. Takes real finesse and gets completely unnerving. Too few games go for that demanding arcade sensation while still remaining fun to play.

@JaxonH What is it that you actually don't care about? This partnership affects Nintendo in many ways. Aren't you expecting to take part in Nintendo's future loyalty program and planning on using your Nintendo account?

Put pokemon shuffle on the iPhone. That will make a lot of money. Mario infinite runner will probably happen though, and I'll never stop crying.

@aaronsullivan
Oh absolutely. I'm stoked to learn more about it! But I wasn't referring to the loyalty program, I was just referring to people all riled up over their decision to put games on mobile. Which doesn't really affect me one way or the other.

@LUIGITORNADO Bye. See you when NX comes out, I'm sure you'll be back by then.

@Inkling They all will.

Games Industry 'Experts': Nintendo is doomed! Wii U sucks! Nintendo is losing stacks of money! Nintendo should make mobile games!
Nintendo: OK, we are announcing a partnership with DeNA to make mobile games
Games Industry 'Experts': Oh noes! Nintendo is possibly doomed! This might not work after all!

facepalm

DeNA specializes in the free to play monetization model, which has traditionally run directly counter to Nintendo's marketing and gaming strategies, and indeed, as many have argued in the past of the mobile phone and tablet arena, runs counter to Nintendo's core methodology of game design. Contrary to the suppositions made by some of these analysts, these two companies are incompatible from a traditional stand point. A big shake up behind the scenes was probably necessary to make this deal happen.

It's really not that big of a deal, I think. They're still gonna make games for their own hardware like they already do. I'm hoping DeNA was a good choice to partner with. But anyway, I trust Nintendo to make the right decisions. I'm happy they're taking risks and trying to go forward.

@JaxonH - "unless you like phone games"

Funny, never even thought of that. I think it's safe to say the majority of folks posting on here don't. I wonder if people in Japan are celebrating? I wonder if anybody at Gungho Online committed hara-kiri last night?

@Ryno - I can't even wrap my head around that tongue twister of a sentence, though I do catch your drift.

If they do make such a game, it will only be purchasable via Cartwheel. (It saves me 20 cents every time I buy a pack of gum.)

@Tsusasi - "Game and Watch games"

For the past few years I've been thinking about Game and Watch games, whenever anybody posts that Ntinedo should't spend their time making "app" games and instead should focus on real games like Mario and Zelda. Nintnedo's entire history looks like the evolution of app games.

100k downloads would probably be easy for a Mario endless jumper or Match 3 game. Maybe even 100 million if it hits both Android and iOS. A lessor known IP like Pitt in an endless flyer may generate far less though. I think it will depend on the IP and the quality of the game.

I feel like Nintnedo Land 2 is a possibility b/c of how much better they could make the game - online, amiibo support, maybe some building an decorating aspect. Wii Sports and Wii Play were followed by Sports Resort and Wii Play Motion, and SMG had SMG2. I think NL was early enough in the systems lifetime that a sequel next year is almost inevitable. Though they may call it "amiibo Land" and not NL2. Better than Wii Music U anyway.

@aaronsullivan - "Donkey Kong's Crash Course"

I don't understand how anyone can use "unnerving" "demanding" and "fun to play" in the same sentence. Well technically it was 2 sentences, but still

OK, my inability to enjoy stress aside, the main game mechanic - tilting a tablet back and forth to move a cart - is still imminently accomplishable on a large screen tablet, if not a phone. Maybe on a phablet. Compared to the Pikmin, Zelda and Metroid mini-games in NL those other 3 seemed very weak to me.

Analysts are like meteorologists: half of the time they're just guessing and are frequently wrong. I take little these charlatans say with any degree of seriousness.

@rjejr Yeah, after looking into this company's mobile strategies and positioning, I think 500,000 to 1 million is a good jumping off point, but that could be blown out of the water with the right game and marketing at the right time. And so again… 2.5% conversion rate would equal a LOT of 3DSs sold and games along with them.

As for Nintendo Land: It's mission was a bit more transparent and it didn't have the appeal of Wii Sports. Don't get me wrong; I love it. It just wasn't as universally well received. The Wii Sports games followed the evolution of the motion controller to its finally motion plus form and Wii Play was a way to really differentiate between the Wiimote and the Wiimote with motion plus. I think that Smash was the Amiibos launch vehicle/teaching moment.

Honestly, with the Gamepad and gyro controls, I'd rather see a sequel to Link's Crossbow Training!

@Tsusasi - "2.5% conversion rate would equal a LOT of 3DSs sold and games along with them."

And thats the reason while many on here have been pooh poohing the idea for years all Nitedo's investors wanted them to do this. It's not about making real games for smart devices, it's about marketing simple "taster" app games to the worlds millions of smart device owners and getting a small percentage of those to buy a real system like a 3DS or Wii U.

Well, SSBU was the amiibo launching point, but how about "amiibo Land" as the launching point for dual Gamepad support? If there is ever dual Gamepad support implemented - and Starfox and Splatoon could surely use it - I suspect we'll get NL2. You would really need the 2 Gamepads for people to play a Skylanders or Disney Infinity type game w/ amiibo, lots of switching of characters.

I bought Links Crossbow Training used for $2.25. Just the game, not the piece of plastic, but well worth it. It should have been ported as a Wii U download w/ Gamepad support like you said long ago.

So in light of Sonic Runners hitting 500,000 players, I'm going to up my numbers and say that a good Nintendo game should hit at LEAST 1 or 2 million…