Wii

What’s up webfolk? Today’s commentary for the Wii blog is purely based on my own observations and some speculations that I have read about on a few forums and blogs over the last few weeks concerning the future of Nintendo. The Wii was a huge success and in less than 5 years that little white console proved that true innovation will drive the market more so then just the latest technological version of what we have already seen. So why in the world would I be asking and this is not first time that someone has posted this notion that Nintendo should get out of the hardware business?

First off let’s start with the fact that the Wii is coming up on 5 years old and Nintendo recently announced a new Wii bundle that will be hitting the market in time for the holidays. To be honest with you the new bundle makes me wonder what the heck are they thinking over there? You can read more about the latest Wii bundle at this article over at the Cnet site. It will cost you $150 to get a Wii plus Mario Kart with one controller a nunchuck plus a plastic steering wheel. Are you scratching your head yet wondering where the heck is reason why everyone buys the Wii in the first place? Yep a Wii bundle with out a sports title can you imagine if the Wii was originally sold without the king of casual games and reason why it took off in the first place? Why break up a winning combination like that?

Then you take into consideration the introduction of the Wii U which has not wowed the critics or consumers at this point. The console is supposedly due out sometime in 2012 and there are tons of rumors about a rushed piece of hardware that is plagued by a lot of issues and developers are not to happy about it either. Then you have the less than stellar sales numbers for the 3DS which has seen a big price cut just 4 months after being released and rumors are starting to circulate that Nintendo is considering scrapping the thing or adding another thumb stick? As it turns out the idea of 3D with out glasses was not such a good idea and they appear to be back peddaling really quickly.

On the business side of things the Wii wave of sales success is long gone and the stock price and value of the company itself has gone down as well. Recently there have been a few new sources indicating that investors are pushing Nintendo to start developing their software for other hardware makers. Specifically opening their vast library of successful titles to the Android and Apple market and take advantage of the booming gaming market on smart phones and tablet devices.

As much as I love Nintendo and their products they are strictly a gaming company and they are trying to hang in an evolving market that is going to handheld smart devices. Unlike Sony and MS the other console makers who have their businesses in all sorts of things other than just gaming which makes them stronger in terms of being able to handle the ups and downs of gaming. If I were to look a couple of years into the future I would be willing to bet that Nintendo is going to eventually go the way of Sega and Atari and get out of the hardware business all together.

What are your thoughts on the future of Nintendo webfolk? Do you think the Wii was the last big successful platform for them in terms of hardware? Will they be able to hang in with the other console makers or will they eventually end up being a gaming software company in the future? Leave your interesting responses in the comments section down below and also if you just can’t get enough of my Wii commentary then check out the previous article about the development issues with the Wii U.

Until the nesxt time peruser, kudos to you

Dave