Most of us will never make it to the century mark, it's just not in our DNA, nor are we willing to give up the debauchery of our youth in the off-chance that we'll defy Father Time. But, there are things we can do that could potentially extend our stay among the flesh walkers, like eating healthy and looking both ways before running red lights. Or we could play videogames.
Until a couple of years back, it seemed as if Nintendo simply could not put a foot wrong. But things have changed drastically in this time and the company hasn’t been in the best of financial health lately. Just to give you an idea of Nintendo’s financial plight, the company is now expecting its first annual loss in 30 years. It’s pretty obvious that it desperately needs a spark from somewhere to fire up a financial revival. Will that much needed spark come from the Wii U and its tablet-like controller? Well nobody can say for sure at this point. However, there’s something we now know for sure: that the Wii U’s controller will pack NFC (Near Field Communication) support.
Nintendo President Satoru Iwata announced a new digital network for the 3DS handheld and upcoming Wii U consoles that will finally bring the company's online operations up to par with its competitors, or so Nintendo hopes. It's called the "Nintendo Network" service, a platform that, among other things, will let gamers grab hold of gamertags. Welcome to the Internet, Nintendo, do stay awhile, would you?
Nintendo offered a couple of excuses as to why it posted significant losses for the April-December period when one year prior the numbers were looking pretty rosy. The house that Super Mario built got beat up during the nine months ended December 31, 2011, with sales totaling 556.2 billion yen, or $7.2 billion, down nearly a third from the same time period in 2010.
Unless you're talking tumors or processors, the general consensus seems to be that "Bigger is better," and the Guinness Book of World Records built itself into a household name on the back of the axiom. The publication definitely stuck with its bread and butter for the release party of the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2012. Most launch events are actually kind of boring, consisting of ceremonial ribbon cutting and some hors d'oeuvres if you're lucky -- but Guinness brought the big guns in the form of the world's largest controller, a massive NES gamepad.
With Wii console sales declining and the slow start of the 3DS handheld console, it might have been easy to count Nintendo out of the game in 2011, but it's all about how you view the numbers. Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime points out that Nintendo sold over 12 million pieces of hardware between the Wii, 3DS, and DS family in 2011.
The economy being what it is, companies are quickly figuring out consumers don't have the same kind of disposable income to toss around as they used to. Nintendo caught on fairly fast after launching its 3DS console for $250, prompting the game maker to take a mulligan and readjust the price to $170. Here we are nine months later and the 3DS has notched over 4 million unit sales.
With each revision, the list of SOPA supporters seems to be shrinking. In the most recent silent update, gaming companies seem to be the ones pulling back. Sony, EA, and Nintendo are no longer listed as supporters of the bill, but were on the list in November. None of the companies has acknowledged the change in position. 
Shigeru Miyamoto is the big man on campus in the gaming community. He's the guy who imagined Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Donkey Kong, three of the most popular gaming characters and franchises in the history of gaming. Star Fox? Pikmin? Those are his creations, too. So it was big news when an interview seemingly revealed Miyamoto was planning to step down as head of Nintendo to focus on smaller games, but is he really?
Out of the three major consoles (Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, and Sony PlayStation 3), it's the Wii that's in most need of a hardware refresh. Appropriately enough, Nintendo is the only one of the bunch to announce a next generation console, and other than alternate color options, has mostly refrained from launching a bunch of different SKUs with features added on (like increased storage)" to extend its lifespan. The Wii U is Nintendo's next big console, but can it compete?.
-
Technology
Entertainment
-
Music
-
Creative
Sport & Auto
- About Future
- Jobs
- News
- Advertising
- Digital Future
- Privacy Policy
- Cookies Policy
- Terms & Conditions
- Shop
- Investor Relations
- Contact Future
© Future US, Inc. 4000 Shoreline Court, Suite 400, South San Francisco, California, 94080. All Rights Reserved.