A Link To The Past, Indeed

Nintendo’s Path Forward

There have been a couple recent bits of Nintendo news that a few folks have asked for my opinion on — likely because I’ve been on the record as being a bit of a Nintendo bear. Which I don’t think is actually fair, by the way. As I’ve always tried to make clear: I love Nintendo. Like so many others, it was a huge part of my childhood. But over the past several years, their actions (or inactions) have concerned me as a fan of the company. I don’t want to see them go away. The world would be a worse place without them.

So, first and foremost there’s Pokémon Go. Some slow server issues aside, it’s a lot of fun. And it’s fun to see AR take off in such a way. I had played its spiritual precursor, Ingress, and was intrigued by elements of it. So I’m not surprised this is popular. I didn’t expect it to be this popular, but credit to both The Pokémon Company and Niantic. They tapped into something, with the right IP, at the right time.

Will the fervor last? Who knows. Hard to believe it will at its current level of excitement. But that’s okay. Even at some fraction of this level of engagement, Pokémon Go would be a substantial force in gaming. I just love this type of moment where the world seems a bit more connected, with so many people doing (and talking about) the same thing all at once.¹

Does this mean Nintendo now “gets” mobile? Not necessarily. Not only is The Pokémon Company not Nintendo — they’re simply 33% stakeholders — by all accounts, this was pretty much all Niantic. Nintendo worked more directly with DeNA on Miitomo and while it got some initial buzz, it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere meaningful.

What does make me excited is that this must show Nintendo the power of what they can do with their IP (even their indirect IP). If Pokémon Go is this huge, just imagine what Super Mario Brothers would be on the iPhone? Maybe it would need to be re-thought for touch screens. Or maybe Nintendo (or a partner) should make a better physical controller that wraps around the iPhone for their games. Either way, if you build it, they will come. If you build it well, they will stick around.

In 2011, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata was asked about the notion of porting their IP to smartphones. His quote, “This is absolutely not under consideration,” isn’t quite Ballmerian, but it’s not great. This is the right approach Nintendo. Keep going.

(Aside: Apple, you continue to gather more and more overseas cash… Just saying.)

The second element here is Nintendo’s just-announced “NES Classic Edition.” Naturally, I had to toot my own horn earlier as this is fairly similar to what I suggested Nintendo should do a few years back.

Granted, Nintendo’s implementation is actually cheaper than what I was thinking. And they’re not actually charging for the games. But I’m still not sure they shouldn’t be. I don’t know the full details of this forthcoming device yet — can new games, beyond those pre-installed, be added? — but my guess is that Nintendo will see there’s a lot of opportunity here. I will buy one the second it’s available. And I know I’m not the only one.

My only real complaint here is that the controllers will still have wires. Come on, Nintendo, this is 2016. If Microsoft and Sony can solve the wireless controller situation with far more advanced controllers, surely you could have made some Bluetooth NES badboys. Yes, it may have been slightly more expensive. But again, I think you’re selling this device too cheaply.

Anyway. I obviously don’t know what Nintendo has planned with their forthcoming “NX” system. (Update: This would seem to be a pretty good summary of what is likely.) But both of these recent revelations do have me more excited for the future of the company than I have been in a long time. I think Pokémon Go should be a wake up call for them, in a way, to the power of their IP on mobile. And I think the new “micro” NES system will showcase the same thing in a different way.

Regardless, it’s good to see them doing things a bit outside the game cartridge box here. Nintendo should cede the spec race to Sony and Microsoft in the “console wars” — that’s a losing battle, and eventually to iOS and Android devices, by the way — and do things differently, as they did with the Wii. I finally have some hope that they are.

¹ Yes, I know it’s only a handful on countries that are currently able to play the game. But you get my meaning.