Nintendo Ditches Plans To Create New Hardware For The Chinese Market

I'm surprised they don't just release the Wii U there, it is cheaper and has more friendly content in the games compared to the other consoles which could boost it in a country that has strong censorship and a poor population.

China is a huge market, but Nintendo is still developing other hardware: QOL and NX. They have a lot to deal with right now.

@arronishere
Nintendo needs to manufacture whatever system they want to sell IN China.
It isn't as simple as just releasing there.

@arronishere they have to open a manufacturer and build them in China by law. Also all of their games have to go through the ministry of culture. I'm sure Sony and Microsoft are loosing money on this.

One of the biggest markets in the world can now buy games. The government is still concerned about appropriate content. Nintendo's content has always been as "appropriate" as you can get. I have absolutely no idea why they're not just bombarding the country with Wii U's, NOW.

Good idea. Their resources are stretched as it is...

@DerpSandwich like I said it they have to build and manufacture all consoles in China to sell them there. They also have to create some kind of home office their but the details on that are muddy.

To my understanding, Sony and Microsoft are currently taking quite a major hit on their releases in China. There are just no games worth their salt available, and the localised hardware/software is considerably more expensive than grey-market imports. Oh, and networking services, if there are any, have to be region locked.

The barriers to entry in the Chinese market are high enough that people are, quite rightfully, remaining in their comfort zones of free-to-play PC and Mobile games. China is a huge market, definitely, but the public have spoken - unless you can find some worthwhile way to "convert" your F2P players into paying console players, they have no need for a home console, especially not at the expense they're expected to spring for right now.

China make mod-chips and flash carts to pirate video games. Game companies will not earn anything in that country. There will be lots of hardware sales but zero game sales.

@faint Considering how large the market is and how hungry these people are for games, I still don't see how that's not something to jump on. Sure it's complicated, but that doesn't mean it's not worth pursuing with speed.

Well....I live in Shanghai, and will continue to import, than. At least I can stay up to date on the 3DS.

That said, I had no idea microsoft and sony had launched their consoles here. Haven't seen any advertisements or anything.

I was going to ask why Nintendo doesn't just release the Wii U there, but @faint and @No-longer-postin already answered that question.

The real reason why they won't release the WiiU there is even simpler: People in China aren't interested in gaming consoles. Years ago you would at least see some people on the subways using their PSPs (mostly as book readers, though) and 25 years ago the Famicom was moderately successful, but those times are LONG gone. For at least 7 years now gaming is only done on PC and smartphones in China. The only places in China you will even find consoles for sale, only Western tourists or Westerners living there go there to buy something.
If Nintendo'd release the WiiU in China, nobody would give a damn about it.

Because giving China a localized N64 years after the real deal was released made that much more sense back in the day. When I first read about the iQue in the Italian Nintendo Official Magazine for the first time a while ago, I didn't know what to think about it. Neither can I do now.

@rferrari24

It's been, what, 2, 3 years since the announcement of the QoL platform? If it doesn't show up at E3, I doubt they're still doing it.

Overall, this is a disappointing, but not surprising move from Nintendo. It's going to hurt them in the long run as Microsoft and Sony build their fanbases and visibility there. But they have limited resources and are already struggling to support two region-locked systems at once.

My guess would be that they are planning to head into China by way of their mobile deal with DeNA and with the "maybe it'll finally be region-free" NX, which will most likely launch late next year.

Would it not make more sense to release the wii as a temporary measure as the manufacture would be cheaper and it, along with its games cold be sold much cheaper to avoid piracy more?

If they cant pirate Wii U elsewhere in the world then they definitely cant pirate it in China. Shame. I wod have been quite interested to see the Chinese Nintendo system.

That said, Nintendo do sell their games in Hong Kong.

I think they've missed a massive trick. They could have released the Wii with all their 1st party games, none of which need censoring, and made a shed load. Literally Nintendo consoles are the perfect fit. Sell them cheap, get a generation hooked. Job done. Billions made.

@Quorthon
QOL is apparently confirmed not to show up at E3 2015, but we should expect it to launch the first half of 2016. I think Nintendo's smartphone app is a good first step to enter China because creating new hardware is expensive.

I don't think the problem has ever been manufacturing in China - the WiiU was actually manufactured in China by Foxconn. I guess the problem is that people in China have an extremely low personal income, and so there's no point in releasing a $300 console if only the elite can afford it.
Sometimes we don't realize how lucky we are.

@Quorthon it was announced in January 2014, less than a year and a half ago

@Nintendian my thoughts exactly. I wonder if any bribes or better yet looking at the "cost of doing business", in China, is like.?

Investors see a mobile market already in place there and don't want to see dedicated hardware expansion. Remember, think three months at a time...

They're not missing anything. A bigger population does not give better sales. F2P pc and mobile games are the ones striving there, not console games. They're not loosing anything by not doing business there. Even if Sony and MS are there, I doubt even half of the population even know or care about them. They're not building any fanbase.

The mobile market seems like a better play for China.

@Curly_Brace

Man, it seems like forever.

Nintendo sure has a lot of "announcements" these days, but not a lot of follow-through.

Perhaps this is where the DENA deal is going to shine? Give everyone else apps for purchasing and membership services and give China most of the games?

@flightsaber

Microsoft reportedly did way better in China than Japan.

@Quorthon QOL isn't even gaming related, so I don't really understand why Nintendo should reveal it at E3..

@Quorthon They already revealed their first QoL product last year in October!

China is not a suitable market area for anything. They make cheap replica's of everything from phones to cars to coffee shops. Why? Because literally everything is made in China in the first place and they don't understand copyright infringement.

Also, I bet you they're already mass producing replica PS4's and One's, or atleast their games. Therefore, Microsoft and Sony have no market.

nintendo should not lose this opportunity, I don't know why they don't just throw a nintendo 3 d s in there as is

@Octane

Which part of "Electronics Entertainment Expo" says that it's a gaming-only show?

@Quorthon It's not, but people expect video games there from a company primarily known for video games. E3 isn't the place for QoL. That's better suited for events like CES (which I was rather surprised at it not showing up at). They'll probably have a keynote or something to show it off later this year.

Shame. Nintendo should probably test the waters there with the NX instead. Creating a new dedicated console would probably not work out well in the long run.

I think it's for the best to have Nintendo stay VERY FAR away from China. Sure, it sucks for them, but the chinese regime is absolutely ruthless in its attempts to control and censor (and of course, copy) whatever makes it past the border. I would seriously be concerned for the integrity of Nintendo's online structure if it ever arrived in China.

@DerpSandwich Keep in mind that most of the country makes far less than the "middle class" of other countries, so the market is not as big or profitable as you think it is.

@Quorthon: That's not saying much at all. On average the Xbox 360 and One only sold 200-300 consoles a week in Japan. The Wii U probably outsold both systems combined in Japan. That's pretty pathetic. Heck, I don't know why Microsoft even bothered with Japan since the flop of the 360 in the country.

Also, you seem to forget that Nintendo was already in the Chinese market for years through the iQue.

From what I heard the "consoles on emerging markets" approach is on hiatus. Its understandable though: Nintendo finds it very risky, and they just know they can make tons of money on mobile. I guess they bank on the mobile for now.

I think the reality is Nintendo doesn't want to at this point in time incur the losses that starting up in a new country would likely entail. Others have listed a bunch of rational reasons as to why it may be difficult there.

The reason the iQue was fine for them i'd imagine had to do with the fact they likely had spare consoles/parts they could cheaply convert. If you further consider the fact it was dated technology, it likely would have also been cheap to manufacture if they needed to. Just my guess on the whole matter.

As for QOL it's already known that the first product is a sleep sensor. http://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-reveals-first-quality-of-life-product-a-s/1100-6423266/

There's even a video out there of the likely product made under the name of Nintendo's partner in this venture.

More on QOL:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-30/nintendo-s-next-product-may-look-something-like-this.html

Too many hoops to jump through. I was reading up on this and it seems like the chinese government will be pocketing most of the profits from the consoles anyway. Not worth it. You'd have to sell hundreds of millions of units just to justify the decision. They made the right choice.

1 billion people and Nintendo hands them over to MS & Sony on a silver platter...

Nintendo... you've been so stupid lately. You're not going to last another 100 years like this.

@NebulaGamer duly noted.

@arronishere Even with the high number of people in china, Alot of chinese people are also poor or not interested in video games that much. It could be very successful there. but i think nintendo wants to wait until their next console release. Maybe its too late to just launch the Wii U their now and they want to focus on other markets that seem more profitable. It may seem easy just release a console their with child friendly games and profit, but its not as simple as that

@LztheQuack

How did I "forget" the iQue? Which is pictured above and was a very late to the game version of the N64?

While it would be easy for readers to suggest Nintendo just repurpose the Wii mini for the Chinese market, I am definitely interested in Nintendo's future plans for the region.

Why wouldn't they just release the Wii there? Or even the Wii Mini?

@Quorthon From E3's official site: ''E3 is the world's premier trade show for computer, video and mobile games and related products. At E3, the video game industry's top talent pack the Los Angeles Convention Center, connecting tens of thousands of the best, brightest, and most innovative professionals in the interactive entertainment industry.''

QOL isn't related to computer, video or mobile games. Nintendo won't reveal QOL at E3.