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Nintendo's Stock Drops After Lackluster E3

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vicious796:
I'm not talking about personal opinions of what hardcore is - the market is what truly dictates who the "hardcore" players are and, right now, the market is CoD MW3. Society as a whole - not the actual gaming community - looks at gamers and considers those who are really "good" at MW3 to be the epitome of hardcore gaming. Just look around.

Right now, "nerd" is in. It's cool to be nerdy more often than not. Maybe not at the high school level, but definitely in the adult world. Nerd is now awesome. Not real nerd, of course. Hollywood nerd. Attractive male who knows a little bit about comic books, plays video games, and might wear glasses. That's who these articles are referring to when they discuss the "hardcore" community.

For that purpose, I don't believe Nintendo can or will grab them. They've been out of the game too long and focused too hard on family friendly games (with a few rare exceptions, of course). People don't associate MW3 with the Wii. They associate their "hardcore" games with the XBOX 360 and the PS3 and will continue to do so with only Microsoft and Sony's new systems.

SirSkyRider:
Nintendo has one advantage over Sony and Microsoft though: They've got a die-hard fan base which will buy their devices solely for a new Zelda, Mario or Metroid – something that kept them going even during the GameCube era (which was close to being a disaster for the company).

vicious796:

--- Quote from: SirSkyRider on June 13, 2012, 02:46:22 PM ---Nintendo has one advantage over Sony and Microsoft though: They've got a die-hard fan base which will buy their devices solely for a new Zelda, Mario or Metroid – something that kept them going even during the GameCube era (which was close to being a disaster for the company).

--- End quote ---

Yes, but as our generation grows older and starts to have more and more financial responsibilities (read: children, mortgages, higher car payments) and less free time (read: children) our willingness to purchase these systems goes down. I know I've mentioned that Nintendo has maintained a family friendly persona for all this time, but - honestly - the "raising" of children is returning (in America, at least) and less time is being spent as "go play that game". A side effect of being raised by late Boomers and early X'ers, I suppose.

As such, the demand for such games appears to be on the decline - a reason Nintendo is finally opening up to 3rd parties en masse and upping their system the be more "streamlined". Teenaged boys -> early-to-mid-20s-men have free time, money, and a need for entertainment. Microsoft and Sony aren't going anywhere. The real question is, can Nintendo find their way into the hearts of today's teenagers who do not have the same brand loyalty that we mid-20s folks do? It's a question that we will find an answer to sooner than later but I don't think Nintendo is going to like it.

SirSkyRider:
Though I agree with you on behalf of the family gaming market becoming less important, I think it may be too late for Nintendo to catch up on the CoD gamer market which is now firmly in the hands of Sony and even more firmly in the hands of Microsoft. They missed that jump long ago and even if they were to make it I highly doubt they will be successful enough.

One option to that would be to give japanese companies a platform they could work with – while japanese companies' games may not be the multi-million success bringers like Call of Duty, Battlefield or Medal of Honor, they still sell quite well. It may be a little risky, but seeing how Sony appears to try to appeal more to Microsoft's clientele, it'd probably make a good niche market.

vicious796:
But that's the question at hand - is Nintendo really doomed to the "niche" market, now? They've been on the top and close to the top for almost 30 years, is it really over? Is this a lesson to be learned by their current and future competitors?

Honestly, I believe the main reason Microsoft and Sony kept their mouths shut about new consoles at E3 this year was specifically to steal the wind from Nintendo's sails when they announce a release date and price for the Wii U within the next couple of months. I'm fairly positive that Microsoft, at least, knows a great deal about the processing power and planned release quarter for their next console. I would not be surprised if Microsoft releases details about their new console just a day or two after Nintendo gives us a release date for the Wii U. In fact, I'd be shocked if they didn't.

As expressed, I think the end for Nintendo as a console giant is near. They have a firm grasp on the handheld market but, Wii aside, they haven't had a solid selling system since the SNES. The N64 was out-classed by the Playstation and the Gamecube was nothing when compared to the Dreamcast, PS2, and XBOX. The Wii was a desperation move - one that worked wonders - but I still don't think they've made up enough ground to sustain their status beyond the next console lifespan.

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