[smoldesu]

The past 20 years for Nintendo have been pretty interesting, to say the least. They started with the Gamecube, a console that sold weak numbers and faced stuff competition despite it's library of modern classics. They followed that up with the iPhone of game consoles, the Wii, and moved hundreds of millions of units like it was no big deal. Seeking to capitalize on that same success, they made the Wii U, which seemingly forgot all of the things that made the Wii great in the first place. Then they fixed it with the Switch, identifying the disappointment that people felt with the Wii U and streamlining the product to really dig in to consumer trends. It's a lot of ups and downs, and that's without even touching on their software and handheld history.

It's got me wondering what's up at Nintendo. Their mainstay studios like HAL Laboratories and MercurySteam haven't changed all that much over the years, and their presentation quality and infatuation with design has yet to waver. Overall, I'm starting to think their hardware and management teams are the weakest links: their least successful and least appreciated ventures have been when they wandered outside of their walled garden to make a quick buck (Super Mario Run or Mario Kart Grand Prix, anyone?), second only to their questionable hardware designs over the previous 2 decades. I have nothing but respect for the way Nintendo's developers and engineers deliver a polished product for all kinds of consumers, but I struggle to imagine how they're going to continue to adapt to the market. Especially if they're continuing to merge their handheld and home console markets, I worry they could turn this Switch success into another Wii U moment.

Time will tell, but Nintendo's got quite a tumultuous history with some exceptional highs and dumbfounding lows.

[oneoff786]

Nintendo has a lot of cash and is more of a toy company than a console company. I tend to think they will be fine.

Their weakest link is almost certainly their marketing team. The Wii U was really cool. Nintendo Land was insanely fun. The asymmetric local multiplayer was cool as shit. But nobody understood this. Most people didn’t know the Wii U was a different console.

[lots2learn]

Many many years later, my kids still get a ton of mileage out of the wii u. As one kids gets old enough to play, the others return to the games and get more out of the stellar multiplayer aspect. Nintendoland, Mario kart, Mario 3d world, new super Mario bros u, Wii party, Mario party - loads of fun.

[fartcannon]

I often think this has to do with the demographics of the current game buying population. Nintendo appeals to children, parents and people comfortable enough with their inner child to enjoy fun things.

There are a lot of people who are not like that. For example, there are huge popular mods for kerbal space program that add in military weapons and military vehicles. To some people that is cool as hell, to others its an abomination of the game. I think Nintendo's problem is also this same dichotomy and their popularity ebbs and flows with how the current game buying population leans. Population of gamers into safe and fun games like Mario? Nintendo does well and vice versa.

[hbn]

It's also wild how they flubbed the name so hard with the Wii U, right after they flubbed the name with the 3DS that had the same issue in early days, where people thought it was just another variant of the DS (which already had several variants previously)

Then once the 3DS had some success, they had to confuse everyone once again with the "new 3DS" which I suppose was at least less of an issue since it wasn't really a new console. But it sure as hell makes the used market confusing, when you don't know the difference between a new 3DS unit and a used "new 3DS" unit

[oneoff786]

Oh man I forgot about the new 3DS. I think they were going for a “New Super Mario Bros” vibe. But that was atrocious.

[datavirtue]

Their user experience for creating accounts and connecting profiles to consoles and making purchases is royal shite. Makes me want to visit the IRS website and try to log in.

[Fatnino]

Mario Kart Tour on mobile seems to be doing just fine. It's bringing in enough money that Nintendo is still making new tracks for it.

[hammyhavoc]

Strong console sales, weak software sales, especially for third-parties. Lots of Wii consoles sold, but a good number only ever played the bundled Wii Sports disc, and never bought any other title. 3DS and Wii U had the same issue for third-party titles.