It might seem strange that a major game company’s boss would have to come right out and reassure everyone, repeatedly, of the stability of the business… but that’s what we’ve been seeing from Nintendo over the past few months. Even though the 3DS is doing quite well across the globe, the Wii U is still suffering from poor marketing strategies—seeing abysmal sales and until quite recently, a severe lack of software to entice consumers and long-time Nintendo fans.
Even though the Wii U is the successor to one of the most successful and popular home consoles in gaming history, it’s having a hard go of it. And considering that this week is the 30th anniversary of the Famicom’s launch (Nintendo’s first entry into the home console market), it’s not unreasonable that a Japanese newspaper (Nikkei Shinbun) might ask Nintendo’s president, Satoru Iwata, how he feels about his company’s position right now. In fact, he was asked directly if Nintendo is “suffering” at the moment.
His response? “Coming from thirty years in the home console business, I don’t think we’re suffering.”
Both the GameCube and the N64 were “defeated” by their rivals in the home console market in terms of sales figures, and that didn’t sink the Nintendo ship! Clearly the company has experience in weathering the storms of the marketplace, in many cases coming back strong where other companies would sink faster than a lead weight tied to an anvil.
Regardless of whether Iwata might seem too optimistic to some, critics like Michael Pachter (the well respected analyst) have aptly reminded us that Nintendo has pockets deep enough to make it through several years of what might be considered “failure.”
Either way, if history has shown us anything, it doesn’t look like Nintendo will be admitting defeat any time soon.
