Research

As part of creating a business card and letterhead for Nintendo, I also needed to look at a competitor of their’s in the gaming industry. I chose Sony’s Playstation because it has had strong success but also because their business strategy is different than that of Nintendo’s.

Nintendo is different than Sony in that they do have a richer history and more robust catalogue of games. Iconic characters are not created over night so in this aspect Nintendo will always have the upper hand because they have a huge portfolio at their disposal. Sony has made some excellent games and have created a few characters of their own, but unlike Nintendo these characters have fallen off as time progressed. There has not been a Crash Bandicoot game for five years. Likewise some of the characters that they have created like Nathan Drake or Joel from The Last of Us, are humans so they do not have that universal appeal.

I know what you are saying, that Mario, Link and Samus are all human too, but they are also humans in whimsical and fictional worlds. Heck, Mario is a plumber fighting a giant ape or dragon to save a princess. You can not get more factious than that plot line. There is something to Nintendo’s oddness and quirkiness that makes their games memorable. Their games are exactly how Nintendo is different than it’s competitors. They want people to enjoy playing with each other on the coach rather than the web. They want people to feel lost in a world they created rather than create a world that is so much like our own.

I believe the greatest advantage they have is the developers and minds they have to create these worlds. Likewise, the attention to detail in every game is what makes them reliable. When you buy a Nintendo game you know that it will be fun, it will be accessible and it will have longevity. Often in games, people talk about how a game has not withstood the test of time; that a game made back in the 80s that was fun just has not aged-well. Whether you pick up the Mario game that came out last year or one that came out 20 years ago, the core gameplay is what makes it a blast to still play. Nintendo has been able to rely on it’s 1st-party studios for the majority of their support and success rather than need to have AAA-developers make their games on their consoles, but now that strategy is starting to hinder them.

I believe that Nintendo needs to tap into both resources of having great franchises and amazing developers. They are doing a great job at continuing to make great games with Mario, Zelda and Donkey Kong but they also need to start developing new intellectual properties. Just like Disney sticks with it’s bread and butter and will release a new Monsters INC or Toy Story, but also have new franchises like Frozen or Big Hero 6. Nintendo needs to keep developing games with the characters we admire but also create new characters to fall in love with. People love to see and play with the character they grew up with but they also want new experiences and fresh ideas.

In addition to creating great games themselves, I think it is time that Nintendo really focuses on getting back the third-party support that they have lost. No one can argue that Nintendo is one of the greatest at making games, they have been doing so for over 100 years, but just like a captain of a ship cannot sail it themselves so too can Nintendo not keep themselves afloat simply on their own expertise. Giving their audience the option of having AAA-games like the Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto franchises alongside their very own games is a win-win for consumers.

Nintendo is already very different than it’s competitors but it is time that they become more like them in some ways. Adopting technology that keeps up with the trends and allowing game developers to easily develop for their console is where they need to go. Reminding their audience and consumers that they have the most iconic characters and best quality games while being able to offer everything else that the Playstation and Xbox is what will seal the deal for them.

Competitor Board – Playstation