Chris Kohler over at Game|Life is one savvy blogger, and his latest post on Nintendo is spot-on.
My latest big idea that I think Nintendo should consider is this: at some point, they should start throwing away cash into projects that might probably fail.
No, stay with me on this one.
At this point, Nintendo has proven that their strategy is viable. They’re expanding the market. DS did incredibly well in the US this holiday season. Wii is working on the same thing. They had to work very hard for a long time to get all that going.
What they need to work on now is to further expand the types of software available for DS outside of Japan. Because you know what? It’s not looking like anyone else is going to do it for them. Nintendo released Brain Age and Nintendogs, and sold millions of them, and proved that crazy new ideas can reach new players.
And how did Western publishers react? Why, by releasing brain-training games and pet sims. Kind of missing the point, there, guys.
A great point. Nintendo is 1986 gangbusters right now, and can afford to take risks.
One could argue they have already started, with both the Wii and the DS, but go further. Someone said recently that Western developers were driving the industry. BS. As Kohler notes, when Nintendo drops a Brain Age or Nintendogs, Western publishers are all too happy to drop a Dogz turd and call it innovation.
Nintendo makes great IP for its own systems, that point is obvious. What’s so mind numbingly frustrating however is that developers are being stifled by publishers who are too lazy to take a risk. When is someone going to get ballsy and at least try to unseat Nintendo as the No.1 developer for Nintendo systems? An almost impossible task, yes, but at least try. Anyone up for a challenge?