Famicom Dojo Podcast: Should Nintendo Go Third Party?

by Sean "TheOrange" Corse, filed in Famicom Dojo Podcast, Podcasts on Aug.26, 2011

In a word, no, but don’t worry: we’ll totally qualify that position. Nintendo’s financial troubles in 2011, and initially slow sales of the 3DS, followed by its steep price cut have renewed perennial calls for the company to forego the hardware market and release its titles on other platforms. SeanOrange and Vinnk discuss whether or not such a move would be vialbe for Nintendo, and if the company is leaving a lot of money on the table by not embracing the iOS market.

(Listen to the episode after the jump.)

Direct Link: Famicom Dojo Podcast 15: Should Nintendo Go Third Party?

See our Chicago Comic Con 2011 photos (including that one with Felicia Day) in our show notes:
http://famicomdojo.tv/podcast/15

Get a sweet discount on the Famicom Dojo Season 1 DVD if you use promo code “NOSHAME”:
http://famicomdojo.tv/store/fdojos1.php

Tags: 3ds, Mega64, Nintendo, Sega, Sonic, Wii U

BumblebeeZ3

Bayonetta, that was the last Sega game I played.� It was awesome.

Anonymous

Wow I totally forgot that one. �I guess when I think�Bayonetta�I this Platinum Games not SEGA. �I guess the publisher of The Conduit too weren’t they? �

connor_dalton

Oh damn. I knew what Sega system the Pokemon game was on. I have the Pokemon game. It’s a Katakana and Hiragana teaching game, I think. I don’t have a Pico.

Anonymous

LOL. �Join the club 🙂 I have a lot of games for systems I don’t own because they are unique. �I knew a few of you guys would figure it out before Sean.

Anonymous

Having recently played Urban Champion again on the 3DS, I was convinced it was actually a Game & Watch concept. �Sure enough, Google confirms that it was a sort-of-port of the G&W title “Boxing.” �It suffers that same problem that many G&W games have: it’s tediously easy until you get like 15 minutes into it. �It’s not too bad as a two-player game, though.

On the topic of Nintendo money-making schemes, I would love to see Nintendo pull off a Pokemon MMO. �I realize that Nintendo would probably botch it, given their lack of online-gaming prowess. �It would also hurt the sales of their regular Pokemon releases. �But, still, the potential is huge and a successful MMO can be a huge cash cow.
Crade Lit

I would say modding isn’t�a gateway drug to piracy.� If you are going to pirate stuff, you will probably mod, but modding doesn’t mean you will pirate stuff.� It just means you want to use your system in a way that the manufacturer doesn’t want you to.� They want to prevent you from playing games you already own so they can charge you another license for the same game and they want to prevent me from using my system to control my coffee maker or hook it into a remote�control airplane or whatever, but what do I care what they want 🙂
http://zacshipley.com/ Zac Shipley

I heard lots of comments on this episode about Sega not doing so well now… and well thats just not true.

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/05/14/mario-sonic-and-profits-in-segas-fiscal-2010/

Sega is more fiscally sound now than they were in the 90s, where despite being flush with cash from Genesis sales, they were burning it on stupid hardware projects that didn’t pan out.

Getting out of the hardware business was definitely the best move Sega could make. �Those Sonic games we keep complaining about keep selling copies by the truck load. �They also license Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, etc for movie tie in games that make them a lot of money. �

The idea that Nintendo makes all its money off systems only holds true because they still make systems and haven’t been taking full advantage of the software they do make. �Their online store is a mess, they offer no subscription services, and downloadable content for retail games is rarely available. �The console is the money maker because they’re too stupid, stubborn or both to make software a money maker.

Tapping the virtual console library for other platforms like iTunes would bring in billions. �Not millions, billions. �Very little R&D outside of emulation, and they can charge $5 all over again for an NES game.

Anonymous

I agree. �And I think the investors will eventually force Nintendo to do it unless Nintendo can get another hit like the DS to market. �But even then, I think the market has already changed too much.

As for SEGA they are making money now but it wasn’t until 2007 that their shift to 3rd party started to pan out. �And few games that Sega makes in house are hits. �Most of the money comes from outsourced projects. �As for sonic itself the newer games while not flops (except for a few of them) are not selling like they used to. �Most struggle to get past the 1 million point when back in the day they could be counted on for several million in sales. �But Sega need not be worried, the Sonic and Mario series makes up for any shortcoming in the main series. �4 of the top 6 best selling sonic games have Olympic in the title.

Is Sega doomed? �No, not by a long shot. �As a company they are doing great. �But from the perspective of the gamer rather than the investor, I think it is hard to say that Sega is making better games theses days. But yeah, we didn’t get that point across as well as we could have.

Great comment Zac. �I think you make a lot of really good points.

Featured Video

Staff Picks

Sponsor

Powet’s Finest

Sponsor

Meta

Famicom Dojo Podcast: Should Nintendo Go Third Party?

Featured Video

Staff Picks

Sponsor

Powet’s Finest

Sponsor

Meta

Famicom Dojo Podcast: Should Nintendo Go Third Party?

Possibly Related Posts