Nintendo is arguably the company that created the console gamer. Sure there was the Atari, Intellivision, Colecovision, Pong, a Montgomery Ward system and other earlier generations of the gaming console, but the 8 bit original Nintendo Entertainment System was the first of the “first generation” household consoles.
Now, analysts are afraid the Nintendo has lost touch with it’s base.
Late last week Nintendo reported their fourth quarter earnings. Despite having a great month for the Nintendo DS and record setting sales for the Wii U game console, Nintendo missed their earnings forecast and then slashed the forecast for the rest of the year. Things are so bad at the Japanese based company that many are calling for the resignation of Nintendo President Satoru Iwata. However he spoke out on Friday and said he would not resign from his position.
While Sony’s Playstation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One are burning up the chart, Nintendo is hardly in a position to compete in the living room. The company had a year jump start on a new generation console when it released the Wii U in time for the 2012 holiday season, but a year later it’s completely failed to hit it’s sales goals.
Many analysts and industry insiders have speculated that this may be the last go-round for stand alone gaming consoles. There may be a good 6-8 years of life for each of the new systems but with Playstation Now and other cloud delivery gaming systems on the horizon, the console system may be on it’s last leg.
Adding to those factors that are stacked up against Nintendo, key industry analysts feel that the company has lost touch with it’s user base. “I hate to say this, but Nintendo is out of touch. It has a chance to change course, but I doubt it’s going to take it.” Architect Grand Design President Yoshihisa Toyosaki told The Wall Street Journal.
SMBC Nikko Securities Senior Analyst Eiji Maeda added fuel to the fire and distanced Nintendo from the rest of the potential problems the console gaming industry may be facing, “The decline of dedicated game consoles is not the cause of Nintendo’s Trouble. The problem is that Nintendo can’t understand game fans.”
Source: Dual Shockers
