Nintendo could move away from home console development, says company president - Sensationalist Headlines

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-01-06-nintendo-may-move-away-from-home-console-development-says-company-president Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa has hinted that the hard- and software developer may move away from home console design in the future to ensure the developer remains flexible to the changing demands of the entertainment business. "We aren't really fixated on our consoles," Furukawa told Nikkei (via, and translated by, Nintendo Everything). "At the moment we're offering the uniquely developed Nintendo Switch and its software - and that's what we're basing how we deliver the 'Nintendo experience' on. That being said, technology changes. We'll continue to think flexibly about how to deliver that experience as time goes on. "It has been over 30 years since we started developing consoles. Nintendo's history goes back even farther than that, and through all the struggles that they faced the only thing that they thought about was what to make next. In the long-term, perhaps our focus as a business could shift away from home consoles - flexibility is just as important as ingenuity." Asked about how Nintendo intends to adapt to "fluctuations" in the industry, Furukawa added he was "thinking about little ways we can reduce that kind of instability" and said he'd "like to increase" Nintendo's smartphone game development to secure "a continuous stream of revenue". "We're also dabbling in theme parks and movies - different ways to have our characters be a part of everyday life. I'm anticipating a strong synergy like that," he said.

So the Switch was a huge hit, which means give up now and put all your chips on "mobile gaming" to secure "a continuous stream of revenue." Got it. Hoooooooo boy.

Is this like, pretending to quit after being fired?

Nintendo being 10 years behind shows again. Didn't the rise of mobile games happen around 2009?

Diablo, Alien, Nintendo, etc. This shit's just getting started.

I really like the Switch, and use it to play games more than any other device (even my phone, which I have on me pretty much every moment I breath). If Nintendo continued to make things in the niche of home console-mobile hybrids, I will continue to buy them because I think it is the best money I have spent on any tech in ages. I understand that from a company point of view they set their expectations to high in 2018, but it was still a solid year, and I have spent so much money on the damn eShop. Make the mobile games too, they're cool, but the Switch is so close to perfect. Make a Switch U (SwUtch) in 3 years.

IDK what he's worrying about,isn't the Switch the fastest selling Nintendo console ever?

Switch is plenty powerful for a handheld, and they've released some great games for it. They just have to keep riding the Switch wave and they're set for the next 5 - 6 years. Hopefully their shares suffer for this comment.

Pretty sure the switch has enough power to run those, specially at 720p, of course with downgraded graphics.

If they said this 2-3 years ago after the Wii U, I wouldn't be surprised, and a lot of us thought they would go that direction. A bit of a weird thing to announce after the Switch setting sales records. But maybe the whole point is to appease shareholders that they are willing to become a 3rd party dev if need be? Its not like Nintendo couldn't. They have a massive library of valuable IP.

You guys are misinterpreting what he's saying. He's not saying, "Yeah in the future we're totally gonna stop making consoles in favor of mobile games." It comes off more like, "If the console market starts to fail or become stagnant, then we'll probably focus on other forms of revenue. (mobile, theme parks, movies, etc)" More future-proofing in case shit hits the fan and less YEAH CANCEL EVERYTHING MOBILE ALL THE WAY WOOOOO

I don't really see what's wrong with what he said and I think a lot of you are reading too much into the headline. He's saying that the company is primarily focused on the Switch (which they are) but are also diversifying into other markets (which is smart), and should the console market change in the future (which it probably will) then the company isn't tied down to what it's been doing for the past thirty years (which they shouldn't be). What's wrong with that?

After what happened with the transition Wii to WiiU, they're probably very self aware that not every console they're gonna make is going to be a smash hit. Like he said, "flexibility is just as important as ingenuity", if they just put all their eggs in one basic (home consoles) it could potentially bite them in the ass like the WiiU almost did.

https://i.imgur.com/GaC4H8M.png This sounds more like "we're diversifying to make sure we aren't only in consoles just in case bad shit happens there" instead of "lmao bye consoles mobile gaming number one". Standard stuff.

Fuck. Nintendo? More like, Nintendoomed. Do you expect fluctuations in business performance to continue from here on? Furukawa: I’m thinking about little ways we can reduce that kind of instability. I’d like to increase the (amount of) games on smartphones that have a continuous stream of revenue. We’re also dabbling in theme parks and movies – different ways to have our characters be a part of everyday life. I’m anticipating a strong synergy like that. Oh wait, looks to be "Hey if we release bomb after bomb after bomb of a console we'll go elsewhere"

https://youtu.be/O0TQbRNmYus Honestly this wouldn't sound so bad if mobile games including Nintendo ones weren't shit in a completely predicable way, it's all just same shit with a different skin

I do think the console market is on its way out, personally. We're just about to head into Gen9 (Switch/Xbox Scarlett/PlayStation 5) full-swing and I think if this isn't it, then a potential Gen10 (Nintendo 8/Xbox 5/PS6) some years from now definitely will be. All three big players are starting to drift in different directions that deviate from what you traditionally see as a "home console", and the handheld side of dedicated game systems is pretty much dead. Vita was buried at around the same time Wii U was, and 3DS is winding down too with Nintendo's flagship handheld franchises (namely Pokémon) moving to Switch due to its hybrid form factor; after all, a big part of Switch's conception was to unify Nintendo's console and handheld dev teams. On the subject of the Switch, while it may be locked down as a dedicated game system, it's still identical internally to modern smart devices. It uses the same chip as the Nvidia Shield. The Joy-Con controllers are included, yes, but aren't far removed from the aftermarket controller clips you can get for your phone or tablet nowadays. And speaking of Shield, we're already seeing Android/iOS-based units replacing dedicated game systems for a lot of people, even those who call themselves "gamers". When those little streaming boxes you can get are capable of doing at least light gaming, can connect to Bluetooth controllers, and some (like the TV version of the Shield) outright able to run big games like Fortnite, there's not much technical reason to stick with dedicated consoles outside of exclusives. This is why Nintendo has been delving into full mobile games like Pokémon Go or Fire Emblem Heroes, and those games are huge. Even their "buy it once" offerings on mobile like Super Mario Run are highly successful. Xbox is doing something similar. While their diversifying was no doubt spurred on by the Xbone's initial failure, Microsoft has done a great job pivoting the system into a "TV PC" and unifying their platforms so that much of what you get on Xbone or PC can now be played on the other - after all, Xbone is an x86 machine and its firmware is just a variant of Windows itself. I think they see the writing on the wall for dedicated gaming devices, and are now viewing "console" as yet another form factor variant of modern do-everything computers, no different from a home-theater PC. While Microsoft will probably keep Xbox around as its gaming brand, we've already seen the Xbox platform become more akin to Steam as a distribution service and social platform, what with how we all have that Xbox overlay on PC now. I expect future Xbox hardware to be akin to Surface hardware - they're Microsoft's own first-party machines, but not the only way to access their services by a long shot. As for what Nintendo's future hardware will be, it's hard to say. Nintendo's modus operandi is to mix it up every time, but at the same time I expect the Nintendo 8 to be a sort of "Switch U" that builds on their current offerings rather than make a hard swerve like Switch itself did. You can't really predict Nintendo. That leaves Sony as the lone holdout. Part of this I think is out of pride. They only got into the console race out of sheer spite and desire to one-up Nintendo, and I think they want to end up as the last ones with a dedicated console so that they can claim that they ultimately "won" the console race. And if that's their goal, then honestly, let them at this point. The console race is dissolving - dissipating into the overall technology ecosystem - and I don't think the other two care about "winning" it anymore. But I can't say what Sony's plans would be aside from that. Like the Xbone, the PS4 is basically a PC with a custom OS now and with Sony going in hard on AMD Navi and Zen, I expect the PS5 to blur the line even further (it'll probably be a great machine to jailbreak, like the old "Linux on PS3" days). If anything, I see them positioning even heavier on PS5 as being able to serve as an all-in-one VR machine. Possibly with a PSVR 2 headset and something to succeed Move, like the Joy-Cons did the Wiimote. In short: technology is starting to coalesce. All these computing form factors are on more similar technology than ever. There's no real need for dedicated game systems anymore, and even branded stuff like Razer's and ASUS's "gaming phones" are still just general "do everything" devices that just have a more gaming-focused configuration. Gen9 is - if not the end itself - the beginning of the end of the console war.

Maybe the amount of emulation of their games on PC, which they have done everything to crush, should point them at the size of the untapped market there in a post console world.

As my neighbor is fond of saying to her unruly kids, "You a damn lie". A hge chunk of Nintendo's fortune still comes from consoles, and if you think Nintendo is going to abandon streaming games where they will finally have the all the control they always wanted and act like assholes to try to enforce, think again.

I really hope they continue to make new hardware for years to come. The Switch is hands-down the best mobile gaming console on the market. There are several games I play on it despite having PC versions simply due to the flexibility of the system (Stardew Valley, Civ 6)

Reminder that we're set to get a mobile mario kart in the near future, which will probably be a test run to see how effective this strategy is. https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/958876622517452801

Well it's not like we got a proper Mario Kart 9 for Switch, so I guess this is what'll serve as the ninth title.

A mobile game announcement isn't less AAA games, it's almost always another studio that's specialised in mobile games that will take care of it. And in the case of nintendo it not like they have the ressources for only one or the only.

Yeah, but I also don't see them doing anything for Switch besides the MK8 port. It's always been one Mario Kart per system (and one system per Mario Kart, but MK8D changed that...)

Yeah, that headline is a bit misleading. It sounds more like they are considering more involvement on other platforms, but not necessarily "moving away" from anything like the Switch.

MK8 is very complete. Idk what they could do to expand on the concept outside of rebooting the formula Botw style.

Could pull a Smash Ultimate and bring back everything. The full track and character lists from the first seven games. Same with NSMBUD now that I think about it: put in the NSMB1, NSMBWii, and NSMB2 content as well. I mean, if they're gonna refuse to resurrect Virtual Console and are determined to obsolete the Wii U's entire library, might as well just go the full mile and make all the Switch ports "complete works" of all their past systems. Would be the first time they did massive series compilations, what with Zelda: Collector's Edition back on GameCube and then Kirby Dream Collection on Wii.

Bullshit headline aside, I can see why they'd want to stick to a hybrid-mobile-console the switch is the most innovative piece of plastic since xbox live for me. It's just fucking good.

Seriously. It offers something unique that XBox and Playstation just doesn't.

It even offers something PC, tablets and laptops can't offer. It really is an incredible little thing.