Nintendo was never a company that put out gaming consoles with the highest-end specs. Instead, the company always focused on the giving its clients new experiences, by providing a lineup of great games. This knowledge, coupled by the fact that Nintendo's hardware sales have been steadily decreasing, begs to ask whether or not the company would be better off dropping hardware altogether to focus on developing software.
The Numbers
As IGN notes, this year has been a particularly bad one for Nintendo - so much so that the company my as well have scrapped it altogether. Looking at the bigger picture, Nintendo just has not been able to repeat the success from its very first Wii console.
The Wii sold over 100 million units worldwide - which was record breaking for the company, in terms of a home console. But the truth is, Nintendo was experiencing declines in sales before the Wii, which broke the trend only for a while. Ever since the Wii U was released, Nintendo fell back into its old rhythm.
It must be noted, however, that throughout these relatively dark years, Nintendo has still been hard to meet in the portable industry.
The Problems Nintendo Will Face
But, when it comes to home consoles and sheer power, the Japanese company just cannot compare to the specifications and hardware of Sony's PlayStation or Microsoft's Xbox. And while Nintendo has constantly kept afloat with the help of portable console sales, there is the threat of smartphones looming near. More and more, the smartphone is getting more versatile and powerful in terms of game compatibility.
Nintendo's Saving Grace
Arguably, the fan base of Nintendo is a very loyal one. And if all reasons for this loyalty could be summed up, it would be that the company is great at developing games and software. It would make no sense if Nintendo would continue the downtrend of console sales and eventually lose the credibility to produce top of the line software as well.
Moreover, the exclusivity of Nintendo games to its consoles is totally hindering the abundance of sales that the company could experience by making these games compatible to other consoles.
But if Nintendo's history is anything to go by, the company will not go down with a fight. Maybe it's upcoming Nintendo NX will be a diamond in the rough, just like the original Wii.
