Nintendo’s Progress
, by Av Kandola, 3 min reading time
Since figures were released last year that Nintendo had made a loss of around $97 million dollars, its place in the gaming industry was brought into question. Wii U sales were slightly up, though it could not escape the reputation of being a flop. Although many diehard fans found relief in the fact that their beloved company, with such history with many iconic franchises that pretty much carry them to this day, had fared well overall.
Since figures were released last year that Nintendo had made a loss of around $97 million dollars, its place in the gaming industry was brought into question. Wii U sales were slightly up, though it could not escape the reputation of being a flop. Although many diehard fans found relief in the fact that their beloved company, with such history with many iconic franchises that pretty much carry them to this day, had fared well overall.
However Mario Kart 8 upon release was still affected, even though sales of the Wii U were somewhat decent, compared to other consoles and the relative cost and failure of other franchises had subsequent affects. The 3DS was Nintendo's saving grace for the long run, even though sales figures were down at the time of the reported loss of $97 million being published.
Nintendo not only holds its place as the top provider for hand held console, it is precisely this which has kept them afloat over the last few years. The rise in competition and product quality from other big companies (mainly Microsoft and Sony) has piled the pressure on Nintendo to ''perform'', although with the Wii it seemed relying on a gimmicky controller was only going to last for so long, along with the seemingly more productive second screen on your controller for the Wii U would surely rake in my hardcore gamers. 
Alas, this novelty also wore off even with the latest instalment of the Smash Brothers franchise. The difference now though is that fans are no longer griping in the same way they were a few years back but they're holding out hope for the company to step up their game and bounce back, proving why they are considered amongst 'The Big 3' in today's market of modern gaming. Even with its somewhat childish themes in comparison to the likes of Mario, The Legend of Zelda or Pokémon, it still has a massive fan base that can easily rival games like Call of Duty or Fifa.
It's this unique stand point that had begun the exporting of Japanese produce some 35 years ago when the gaming scene had taken its first steps, encapsulating the imagination and love for these franchises, to which it has carried on strong ever since (even if the hardware provided for these games has been somewhat lacklustre) is the main reason that Nintendo has maintained its presence for the last decade. At present we have rumours of a new Nintendo console on the horizon, with consumers (including us here at games connection) as to what kind of console it'll be.
As we look at what many fans thought was missing from the last couple of generations is the lack of a platform for hardcore gamers and escaping such franchises like Wii Sports etc. as much as they were fun, it was only for a short period of time. All in all I feel that fans will be hoping for a machine that'll have the potential to rival the latest generations along with Nintendo providing top notch releases on a regular basis. It may sound like a lot but these releases can come in various shapes and sizes and doesn't necessarily have to be a new Legend of Zelda every fiscal quarter but to dip into the many brilliant franchises that Nintendo possesses would be the ideal situation, rather than trying to port games like Watchdogs or Call of Duty which are surely a waste of time.
As mentioned rather than Nintendo being out of the game, I feel they need to take a step back and rethink who it is they're aiming for, specifically when referring the Western world, with the scene of gaming being more varied than ever before, it'll give Nintendo a real chance to look at new ways to rake in not only new fans but establishing faith in the older ones too.