Big N, Big Loss?

Game Over? Not really, you can start all over again.

Nintendo is expecting an annual operating loss of 45 billion yen. The company that brought us Mario may be down on the dumps, but its not the end.  Lot of potential threats like cloud gaming, smartphones and  browser games are on the rise, but I feel nothing can still beat the feeling of actually owning a console from this a company that specializes in gaming.

Nintendo already had a ton of losses in the past. Entrepreneurship is all about risk, and believe me, Nintendo did a lot of those. Starting from a simple hanafuda card manufacturing company, they tried to venture into motels and taxi cabs. Apparently, venturing into other businesses didn't work out for Nintendo. It was until they actually ventured into video games that Nintendo actually found their calling.

Even in the video game business Nintendo wasn't always a success. One such system would be the Virtual Boy, that thing was a complete flop. But the great thing about Nintendo is if they do nail a successful console. One such example is the Famicom (Nes). This 8-bit console ruled, even in the 16-bit era. Then when the Super Famicom came out, that system ruled the 4th gen market. Especially during the time when Nintendo was still partners with Sony. I would have loved to see the CD-ROM add-on of the Super Famicom. But apparently due to the different business ideals of both companies, it was a partnership that was not meant to last. That CD-ROM extension is now what is known as the Playstation. Due to pride, Nintendo made one of their biggest rivals.


But during those times, despite the failures the company made, it seemed that Nintendo never experienced losses. They never never shown any problems like what they are experiencing right now.

Despite what happened, I think Nintendo is still going to make it through, there are just times when you should give pride a rest. Even in the darkest times, Nintendo will remain a stubborn company and will keep developing their own products. I mean, during the N64 days they were the only console during that generation that uses the cartridge. Even if they are facing this huge loss, I don't think they will venture into manufacturing smartphone games, Its not like them to do so. Only desperation would drive Nintendo to do such a thing. If such a thing happened, then its really that bad.

Nintendo games are best played in a Nintendo console, seeing a game by Nintendo playing in a different console would feel weird. In fact some of the games that used the licensed characters of Nintendo for a different console failed miserably. One good example would be the three Zelda games they licensed for the CD-I. You don't believe me? Then watch this.

I might sound biased, but that's not actually the case. I own each 7th gen console released, including the handhelds. There is no perfect console, each of them still has their own appeal. Do I own a smartphone? Yes I do, but my point is, nothing beats a game console with actual buttons. There are actually games that are great with touchscreen gaming, but there are still games that will still play best on an actual handheld or console. A d-pad on a touchscreen just feels..wrong. The losses Nintendo is experiencing right now might just be a push to make them a greater company in the future. Look at Son Goku, when he lost Krillin, he actually turned Super Saiyan!

Read the story in Reuters: Nintendo sees first annual loss, cuts 3DS forecast