I’m probably what you’d call A Nintendo fan. Here in South Africa, those are rare – and it’s largely because for a long time, Nintendo wasn’t really a presence here. Yes, the Nintendo Entertainment System officially launched here, but it was too late in its life cycle to make a dent, and was also exclusive to a single retailer.
There were about a million Hong Kong pirate Famicom systems and games available, but they did little to make “Nintendo” a household name. The Gameboy also saw an official release, but the systems that followed didn’t. There was no Super Nintendo available in South Africa, and the N64 was absent too. On top of that, the Gamecube’s local distribution was terribly mismanaged.
It meant that gaming mindshare in the 16-bit era belonged almost exclusively to the SEGA Mega Drive (Genesis to our American chums), while the excitement over 3D gaming was almost exclusively help by the PlayStation brand (something that largely continues to this day).
For years now, we Nintendo fans have been hearing about how the company is doomed. The poor reception of the Gamecube was meant to signal the long-standing platform holder’s imminent collapse. The DS was poised to be a silly gimmick, before it ended up becoming one of the most popular handhelds of all time; a similar situation to what happened with the Wii.
The Wii U has, without question, been a bit of a failure. It may host some of the very best iterations of Nintendo’s franchises, but the lack of third party support has killed it. Nintendo’s upcoming NX then, seems like a last, desperate breath; a hope that the company can regain a foothold with more than just a vocal, fervent and loyal fanbase and once again grapple for that mindshare.
The other great hopes is that the company’s new push in to smartphone games actually delivers worthwhile games. We know that we’re getting smartphone versions of Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing, but I really think it’ll take a lot of Mario Magic to get the general smartphone gamer really invested.
The NX and these smartphone games can’t come soon enough. According to its most recent financial results, Nintendo’s profits have dropped by a staggering 61%. Though very nearly on track with company projections, net profit for the fiscal year ending on March 31 was ¥16,505 million ($149 million USD), down from the ¥41, 843 million a year earlier. That’s from a net sales of ¥505,459 million.
To put that in to a little perspective, Sony’s financial results show a total income of ¥1,479,775 million Yen. Of that total, ¥529,318 Million was just from the PSN (presumably sales and subscriptions). That means that yes, Sony’s PlayStation Network alone generated more income than the entirety of Nintendo as a company did in in the financial year (via Twitter).
For a Nintendo fan, that’s worrying – and more solid information on the NX can’t come soon enough. Still, you should never count Nintendo out.
Last Updated: April 28, 2016
Ottokie
April 28, 2016 at 10:39
Bought a boxed Nintendo 64 last year and a couple of games. Mostly just playing Mario 64 or Ocarina. If these consoles actually came to SA back in the day the local fandom would be massive today 😛
Geoffrey Tim
April 28, 2016 at 10:42
If the SNES was available locally, there would be many, many more Nintendo fans. So many great games on that system.
Ottokie
April 28, 2016 at 10:45
I would love to have owned one. But like most kids, I got gifted a Genesis back in my childhood and that set me on track with the Sonic fans. But I owned all the Game Boy consoles so Nintendo was always close by.
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
April 28, 2016 at 10:46
SNES > Genesis
Ottokie
April 28, 2016 at 10:46
^This
Admiral Chief in New York
April 28, 2016 at 10:43
Last year?
What did you pay for this?
Ottokie
April 28, 2016 at 10:45
Enough to buy a newgen console xD
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
April 28, 2016 at 10:47
And then you bought a new gen console anyway?
Ottokie
April 28, 2016 at 10:48
Blame Final Fantasy 15 for not releasing on PC
Admiral Chief in New York
April 28, 2016 at 10:50
NO wonder he is broke
Ottokie
April 28, 2016 at 10:50
The Legend of Zelda OoT game is a collectible so for that alone you are looking around the R800 mark
Admiral Chief in New York
April 28, 2016 at 10:52
Computer says no
Ottokie
April 28, 2016 at 10:54
Cartridge games just look so awesome, so even if I don’t play them they look awesome on display 😛
konfab
April 28, 2016 at 10:42
Nintendo would make far more than that if they put a couple of titles on the Xbox or PS4.
Nintendo would do ridiculously well as a 3rd party dev.
Original Heretic
April 28, 2016 at 10:44
That they would. I got Zombi on the PS4 and damn, it’s really an awesome game! I need to put more time into it, though, but Dark Souls 3 has me in its clutches!
RinceThis
April 28, 2016 at 10:44
Yeah, well if you can’t create NEW mature content for a mature audience then you’ll lose a lot of interest. Mario!
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
April 28, 2016 at 10:45
@Geoffrey Tim:disqus
http://img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/apvXREE_460sa.gif
*RUNS
RinceThis
April 28, 2016 at 10:53
HAHAH! About right…
Ottokie
April 28, 2016 at 10:48
Great to see a Nintendo Bundle on Humble Bundle, want to give Shantae a try.
Geoffrey Tim
April 28, 2016 at 11:04
I bought it for that, and the digital copy of SFIV. A game I’ve now bought WAY TOO MANY TIMES.
Umar
April 28, 2016 at 10:50
Things are gonna get crazy real soon. New console revisions and the NX release…sheesh. But I really feel it for Nintendo fans. This whole Zelda situation is pretty shit as well.
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
April 28, 2016 at 10:50
And they f***d up Star Fox. 🙁
Ottokie
April 28, 2016 at 10:52
Wasn’t Star Fox original like the first game to have (sort of) voice overs?
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
April 28, 2016 at 10:56
Dunno tbh
Umar
April 28, 2016 at 10:53
What’s left for wiiU, honestly? Paper Mario and SMT X FE….They’re abandoning that console and releasing their biggest title on a new console too. this is really bad year for them.
RinceThis
April 28, 2016 at 10:54
And they’ll do the same shit with the new console because everyone on the board is a Samurai from 500 years ago.
Captain JJ vs ..............
April 28, 2016 at 11:40
This entire comment was just a rollercoaster from start to finish.
Raptor Rants
April 28, 2016 at 10:59
They need 3rd party support to keep up. That’s the sad unfortunate truth.
Microsoft and Sony would be in trouble too if either of their products was just 1st party games.
Avithar
April 28, 2016 at 12:53
Donkey Kong…