Nintendo on how it will position itself amid more competing platforms
Compared to how things were during the NES era when gaming really took off for Nintendo, the company has to compete with many more platform holders. There’s obviously competition from Sony and Microsoft, not to mention that tons of people primarily play games on phones these days. More competing platform holders are also entering the gaming industry, so how will Nintendo position itself?
That’s the exact question one investor asked the Big N during the Q&A portion of its financial results last week. President Shuntaro Furukawa responded by stating that Nintendo “would like to grow by continuously offering the unique entertainment which is enabled by our integrated hardware-software development.” Outside of its hardware-software gaming business, Nintendo Accounts, and IP expansion, another important point is “to generate new interest in Nintendo games among people who normally do not play games, and encourage consumers who once used our game systems to return and start playing again.”
Furukawa’s full words regarding competition::
Going forward, we would like to grow by continuously offering the unique entertainment which is enabled by our integrated hardware-software development.
While maintaining our integrated hardware-software dedicated video game platform business at the center of our business, we also want to establish a framework through Nintendo Accounts that encourages more consumers to continue playing on Nintendo platforms over the long term.
Furthermore, by providing touchpoints for Nintendo IP such as visual content, theme parks and merchandise at retail locations, we hope to generate new interest in Nintendo games among people who normally do not play games, and encourage consumers who once used our game systems to return and start playing again.
We believe that it is important to operate these three areas as a business, that is, to stick to Nintendo’s unique entertainment at the core and to establish a structure in the surrounding areas that thoroughly invigorates our business.
