Nintendo Expecting Mobile Business To Eclipse Wii And DS Era Profits In Three Years

Makes you wonder what they have in there sleeves to show off, to make them think that it going sale just as big as The Wii/DS did.

Well it is possible seeing as how phones are used everywhere.

But I don't know if it will sell more mobiles here because mobiles have to be gotten whether its for joy or for demand and not something like an entertainment product.

Also to note that Nintendo could only benefit on software when releasing on mobile and this isn't something that Nintendo can't replace hardware unless they made a mobile system brand dedicated to mobile gaming only.

But I seriously doubt that they will move over to mobile gaming even if they dominate there. Because eventually, they will get tired of just implementing games on a touch screen only along with gyro functions.

It sounds ridiculous to us but we're 'core' gamers looking into a alien market. I don't see how any of these free to plays make money or why anyone would play them but they make a killing. Think we need to accept odds are these 5mobile games are not for us "core" gamers and for those DS mums

Eight languages could be the usual European five (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish) as well as Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. 100 countries could refer to all the territories that have major support from both the App Store and Google Play.

In regards to the bold claims by Nintendo's new president and CEO, I really do believe Nintendo can do its best to grasp at so much financial stability from its mobile business in the coming years, if at least not reach to Wii and Nintendo DS levels of success. People often forget that Nintendo isn't some small company, and has been around for more than a century and a quarter!

To be fair he didn't say that mobile will be more profitable than Wii and DS. He said that in three years he expects Nintendo as a whole to be more profitable than they were in that era. And between their home console, portable, the success of Amiibo and the potential of mobile? I think it's entirely possible.

It's a leader's job to speak aspirationally and ambitiously, comes with the territory. Wouldn't go down too well if he said, "Well, to be honest, we're going to give it a few years and see how it goes, but I wouldn't expect much to come of it".

Is there much chance of it coming to fruition? I haven't got the foggiest.

Oh dear. I really, really hope the mobile business to be nothing more than a secondary source of income for Nintendo. I'm fine with mobile eclipsing Wii and DS as revenue, but if this means Nintendo will ALSO focus on mobile as much as they did on Wii and DS, this is the end of Nintendo's console focus as we know it. Imagine Nintendo working primarily on Nintendo console as they do now, while developing a few apps for Android. Now imagine the exact opposite, with next E3 being almost nothing but apps and little to no focus on WiiU, 3DS and NX. I'm truly worried now.

I'm absolutely sure of it.

What's more, I am sure that Nintendo, one of the longest-running, most successful companies in the world, knows what it's doing.

"Nintendo Expecting Mobile Business To Eclipse Wii And DS Era Profits In Three Years"

Hahahaha... hahaha... oh, sorry...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

No. Not happening.

Nintendo will do fine in the mobile market and that's fine by me. I just hope they will step up their game on consoles. They seriously need a steady stream of first party titles, especially when the third party support is this non-existent.

...makes me wonder if this has something to potentially do with the NX. Those are some pretty wild claims, especially considering Nintendo's brain seems to have disappeared for awhile now. However, if the NX is some type of detachable mobile device while you're out (and a console when you place it on the home hub or something), I could maybe see considerable profits in that regard: an on-the-go device with buttons capable of playing handheld-quality games (instead of app store junk). Or I can see money buckets overflowing in another, more deplorable scenario: junk transactions (read: free to download "games" and in-app purchases).

@Kaze_Memaryu @davidevoid

You guys obviously have some useful insight on the matter. Care to share what you know about the multinational entertainment software business?

Last week I'd have said they'd do it no problem. They'll have to do better than that social networking app though. That could have derailed the whole thing. They had everyone's attention for that first game and dropped the ball. Even if they get it right with the next game, it won't get such a big focus for the announcement.

Nintendo can grab profits that match or even surpass the biggest mobile games out there (which are freaking HUGE). The problem in mobile is always getting noticed. Nintendo wouldn't have that as their game was going to get mentioned everywhere.

As a Brazilian, I want to know if my country is included in those 100. That's actually something that could actually benefit me in this whole mobile debacle, as the mobile market in Brazil is pretty big, meaning there's a chance the Big N could have official representation in the country again.

I think he is going too far. Smartphones are actually micro-computers first that just happen to play games. (People who had to struggle with touch controls can testify to this.) Nintendo- should just try to go back to making software relevant to everyone's (not just males in the adolescent and young-adult category) lives.

Does this mean in 3 years, i will need to buy a smart phone in-order to play Nintendo games?

...Well that's a bit optimistic. A bit TOO optimistic. I'm sure it could be successful, but eclipse the Wii and the DS's sales? Oh no. I don't foresee that happening.

I think they're going to have to do better than Miitomo...

@ikki5 Unless the NX only lasts for 1 or 2 years, probably not.

It's very ambitious. Nintendo will need to announce some killer smartphone games in order to do this.

Am I the only one caring more for games than for Nintendo getting richer?

Well he is spot on, with three years building and releasing games, apps, and what not, and given their IPs, they in fact would have the potential to rival and surpass Wii/DS revenue given the size of the smart phone market. But the key word is potential, and whether they can properly tap into and utilize said potential.

That...is not as hard as it sounds because you don't have to manufacture hardware.

@Aozz I think it's more about the fact that r&d costs are almost nonexistant, starting a new gen costs lots and lots of money, where in the mobile space there is little overhead, no hardware to produce, no need to fabricate and distribute retail software. The caveat is getting noticed in the tons and tons of crap that exists on mobile, but if your software is addictive and fun, it sells itself at that point.

Extremely ambitious, but with a solid game plan as well as ACTUAL releases for it's dedicated consoles, it's very possible. Just as long as they don't start to REALLY lean on the smartphone market and leave us consolers in the dust.

That means in 3 years time Nintendo will sell their console business and go mobile full-time. Why waste time and energy making console games that earn less than the simple mobile games, and they are quick and easy to make.

@NintendoFan64 I think they're being too optimistic as well. I just don't see it selling any way near as well as Wii and DS.

Seeing the same news on other sites, it appears obvious that the context of Kimishima's claim that profits ceiling in 3 years is above Wii/DS days — he does appear to be talking about the NX at the time. Not Mobile.
Do remember, for Mobile, Nintendo has so far only announced plans up till March 2017.

I'll believe it when I see it.

hmmmm...i wonder what else Ninty has up its sleeve???

Possible, due to how widespread these devices are, but i highly doubt it.
You have people on the app store, who complain about a 99cent game with several hours of actual play time being "way too expansive".

You either have to go the unethical way and rip people off with addiction tactics, intransparent cost models, "bait and hook" microtransactions....or you cant make a profit at all.

@shauntu @skywake Yup, company will be bigger in 3 years than in Wii/DS days. amiibo, NX, licensing, which is really what the DeNA deal is all about. It's not abut app games taking over the company.

Honestly, I'd like to see them make a whole lot more money from licensing. Not those awful Zelda game on CDi, but t-shirts, the amusement park licencing deal, maybe more tv shows. Donkey Kong has the right family to out do that Sonic Boom show. Toys. The Pikachu deal w/ Build a Bear is a good example.

Moving on...

"so that Nintendo has time to properly promote and market it;"

Nintendo doesn't even properly promote it's retail games on cartridge and disc, this is a free app. There is no promotion and marketing, you put it out, it pops up on peoples phones as "new" and they download it. And if that doesn't work you ask PewdeePie to play it b/c apparently his word is law. (That's what Game Theory told my kids anyway.)

This is 12 minutes long, if you play games it's worth a watch. Last 3 minutes is relevant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyXcr6sDRtw

Well, their mobile business will get nothing from me 'cause I use a Windows Phone...

Then they better have something interesting planned, 'cause Miitomo ainy gonna cut it.

C'mon Flappy Toad! fingers crossed

@skywake That's a really good point. Nintendo is not planning for mobile alone. It is still looking to its traditional strengths and the success of several new ventures.

If Nintendo can take advantage of casual gamers' stupidity to have a better bottom line, calm investors, and and then reinvest that money in real games, I'm okay with that. Im just a bit scared of the temptation to go for the easy buck with phone games vs creating their top tier games

@Yorumi home consoles are dead? PS4 is rapidly approaching the PS2 benchmark of sales as one of the best selling console ever. Xbox One is eclipsing 360 sales, which were also huge. The market is far from dead. Nintendo just needs to actually compete with NX, unlike with the Wii U. Thats as bad as Sony saying the portable market is dead and thats why Vita is a giant fail. Both markets exist if you have a competitive product, right pricing, and actually promote your products coherently

@rjejr That's a great video, thanks! Think we could get Nintendo to watch it and take note?

@Sakura "Nintendo to watch it and take note?"

Take note? I think you mean "take it down" with a cease and desist letter.

@rjejr Hahahahahaha! Sadly,..well, yeah probably. I'm all for walking my own path and not necessarily following trends just for the sake of fitting in with the popular crowd, but when not being part of scene is damaging, it's surely time for a rethink isn't it, Nintendo? No?

The game will have to be both addicting AND interesting enough to attract anyone and KEEP them attracted. Nintendo should be capable of this, but they need to keep in mind that mobile development ain't the same as 5th, 6th, and pseudo-7th gen level game development.

@skywake This is a massive, MASSIVE distinction in the context of this article. The headline is not only misleading, but flat-out wrong in its summary of the quote.

It's not mobile profits that are being referred to, it's the profits of the entire company (and in a distinctly NX timeframe).

go ahead and retag this to "weirdness"

I can definitely see that. With the hundreds of millions of mobile devices out there (or has it passed a billion yet?), it's not so unreasonable to expect massive profits from some of the most valuable IPs in the world. That said, I hope the incredible potential for profit that mobile offers doesn't pull Nintendo to the dark side.

Nintendo Expecting Mobile Business To Eclipse Wii And DS Era Profits In Three Years

If Nintendo actually expects that they better have more up their sleeve than that gimmick version of Facebook Miitomo. Otherwise their profit prospects are as unrealistic as they were for the Wii U.

@Damo: The title is a bit misleading. Profits of the entire company (hardware, software, amiibo, QOL, etc.), not just mobile games.

I have a feeling they may actually make it to that. Just hoping they don't drop a ton of ads and in app purchases on us when the mobile games come out. I'm fine with some though as it does help the company.

@Yorumi Taking the time to go into detail on how poorly thought out your argument is would make me late for work, so I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader for now.

Honestly, I don't think they'll make it very big on smartphone. I'd love to be proven wrong though. But on serious note, how many smartphone game company could create a hit upon hit? Most just had a single hit and declining after. The smartphone games market just follow what's on hit, there's hardly any loyal fans.

The headline runs: "Nintendo Expecting Mobile Business To Eclipse Wii And DS Era Profits"
The Twitter comment states however: "Kimishima also says that in 3 years time, Nintendo's profits will have the potential to exceed Wii/DS era profits."

While I don't know what the complete Japanese article says exactly, the Twitter comment appears to talk about Nintendo's profits overall, not only about the mobile business. So how I understand, he's not saying that the mobile business alone is to eclipse past profits, but Nintendo's profits in general. That's quite a difference. Also he isn't "expecting" it, but merely seeing the "potential".

@MussakkuLaden

What Mr. Laden said.

There appears to be a huge difference between what was stated by Kimishima, and what this headline gives off.

Misleading and flat out wrong title. They didn't specify the mobile business. Kimishima said Nintendo overall has the potential to exceed the levels of profit in the DS/Wii years, which is completely possible.

Also should point out that Kimishima said that Nintendo has the potential to do that, not that he expects them to. Massive difference.

Mobile gaming isn't the lucrative gold mine it once was.

Guess what this means, one word "microtransactions"

Another word "freemium"

If they make triple the profits, then you can see the traditional console will be forever gone

@gcunit Nintendo is trying to enter a market filled to the brim with complete oversaturation, where some of the most stupid ideas and practices turn out to be the most successful ones, and where the average attention span amounts to that of a rhinoceros.
For the most part, Nintendo grossly overestimates peoples' interest. They don't want Nintendo on mobiles, they want Nintendo games on mobiles, but Nintendo doesn't wanna use their existing IP's, which means their trademark characters will be amiss, despite being the source of interest and demand.
Moreover, they lack the ruthlessness to rip off enough consumers to make a good profit out of their apps, but also the fundamental understanding of the mobile business. All they can rely on is that enough people will be so gullible that Miis talking to each other is enough to make them buy a console, which is just delusional.

@Rockmin Great argument! Want a cookie?

I have no doubt it will be more than that.

@AlexSora89 Nintendo said mobile games aren't appropriate for E3.

"Nintendo's mobile profits" and "Nintendo's profits" are completely different things.

@ikki5 No. Miyamoto himself said he will not make mobile games, and that games aren't as fun with no buttons.

@Nintendian No. Miyamoto himself said he will not make mobile games, and that games aren't as fun with no buttons.

@rjejr MatPat has a close relationship with Nintendo as he was in a SMM level building challenge and Nintendo shows some of his videos on their YouTube channel.

It's hard to imagine that an indie company created one game, one which I have never heard about or seen besides from the Mario version, is now worth billions. Nearly everyone knows about Nintendo, and nearly everyone has a phone. I think Nintendo can be supremely successful.
I don't think Nintendo will abandoned consoles though. To them it's never been about the money. It's about the fun of making it, and the fun they give other people. Miyamoto said there is less fun when there aren't physical buttons, and that he won't make games for mobile. Also, Nintendo won't be putting much resources into the games, as Dena will be handling most of the technological side of game production.

@Pod @IceClimbers @westman98 I don't think they really care... Click-bait articles are appearing more frequently on this site, they could've corrected it in the meantime, but views are more important I guess...

@Octane I guess that means we can all migrate over to your Nintendo news site?

@Superryanworld The site isn't immune to criticism you know. Multiple comments on this article have called them out on the misleading headline.

It seems they have their heads in the clouds again! This bold statement also shows what everyone already could have guessed: The mobile area won't be their third-pillar, it will be their MAIN-pillar!!

@IceClimbers Fair enough. I just think people are a bit critical of the NL staff at times. Its not like gameinformer where they have the other two companies and all the publishers/ developers supporting them to report on.

@amiiboacid "MatPat has a close relationship with Nintendo"

I'm impressed they're working w/ the guy after that video last April. Didn't think Nintendo could handle criticism. Good for them. All of them. Now I need to tell my kids to go find his level.

@Superryanworld No, their headline is false, it's not even a misinterpretation. Many people have corrected them on that fact, but they don't seem to care to edit the headline.

Just because there are sites with worse click-bait articles out there, doesn't mean we shouldn't care about the quality of content that is produced on this site.