We have repeatedly told you that some companies tend to allocate a large amount of resources to the creation of innovative devices with a double purpose: On the one hand, trying to innovate in a context marked by saturation and in which renewal is more than necessary, and on the other, with the aim of reversing a trend of negative economic results that can end up passing a serious bill to the firms. Some specific devices such as tablets for gamers, can be the perfect example to see how these devices can be a ball of oxygen for the sector in general at the same time that they become the salvation of many companies.
Today we will talk about Nintendo. The Japanese company, which became one of the pioneers in the video game industry in the 80s, today officially presented its latest attempt to win the favor of millions of users around the world: Its tablet-console Nintendo Switch. Next, we will try to see if this device, straddling both formats, can be the true turning point of the company after a few somewhat complex last exercises or, however, it will be another model that will pursue change but will find it difficult to achieve it.
Contextualizing
During 2016, profit and loss within the company, they have been paired. On the one hand, profits increased compared to 2015 thanks to the sale of a baseball team owned by Nintendo, at the same time, this contrasted with a loss in the value of the company's shares and also a strengthening of the Japanese yen that reduced even more the net profits of the company, reaching close to 280 million euros in the first half of last year. Much lower than expected sales on platforms such as Wii U were responsible for this situation.
Pokémon Go and Super Mario
To solve the economic situation that Nintendo has gone through in recent years, its directors have thought that a bet on the past and those titles that placed it at the top a few years ago, could be the keys to staying in such a changing environment . The appearance of Pokémon Go In the summer of 2016 it was successful, at least during the first weeks, since it served to stop the company's stock market declines and also increased its value since in a few months the game developed by Niantic gave them several hundred million euros of profit.
On the other hand, the bet on Super Mario, one of the icons of the firm and that has made the leap to the application catalogs, assuming the spearhead of the brand in formats in which until now, it started with a disadvantage.
Nintendo Switch: Breaking the mold?
Today, most manufacturers have realized that diversification can lead to success. This is manifested with the creation of models for groups such as Gamers what companies like Nvidia have already launched. But, in which category should we introduce the new of Nintendo? From the Topes de Gama portal they assure that it is a tablets to which some very curious elements have been added such as, for example, its removable controls called Joy-con and which are designed so that two players can play simultaneous games on a single terminal. Among other features of this terminal we would find a screen of 6,2 inches which of course, is tactile, an HD resolution and a range of up to 6,5 hours accompanied by a storage capacity of 32 GB.
Availability and price
This device, which has already been officially presented today as we told you before, will be marketed simultaneously throughout the world as of March 3. Its price, of U.S. dollar 299, has already been rated negatively. There will be two different versions in which the color of the joysticks will vary. On the other hand, until autumn there will be a free cooperative game mode that, from then on, will be paid and subscription mode.
The challenges
One of the aspects that has already aroused criticism from future buyers and lowered investors' expectations is, on the one hand, the fact that Nintendo continues to cling to the games that once gave it worldwide recognition and the maintenance of the essence from other devices that failed like Wii U. The controls are considered by many to be reminiscent of the latter platform. On the other hand, it is still unknown whether, despite containing, once again, franchises like Zelda or Super Mario, it will be able to attract heavier developers as stated from Top of the Range.
As you have seen, Nintendo Switch will see the light in a complex context in which it will have to overcome several challenges while looking for its fit between the tablet sector and traditional consoles at the same time. Do you think it will achieve new results in the future or do you think that the company should innovate even more to win the favor of other stakeholders? You have more similar information available such as, for example, all the data of another model of this family called Vision so that you know more about one of the rivals he will have to face.