A Spirited Perfect Ten

[the.dreamfinder]

Yeah, you don't get in-depth gaming experiences on smartphones. Mobile gaming is the home of Angry Birds and associated knockoffs, puzzle games, horrid bootleg games of popular properties, and various "Let's trick children into spending thousands of dollars of their parents money on building a virtual town" freemium titles.

Gotta love that Disney, the company where gambling disagrees with their values unless it involves Iron Man and his buddies, has pushed Free To Play very, very hard over the past couple of years.

 

[Skip]

Yes, but does Nintendo want to be nothing more then a niche player for their most loyal fans? Nope. They've been mainstream and have profited incredibly from it. It's critical they remain such. With 8.8 million unit sales that's not mainstream enough.

Their brands and characters are mainstream, regardless of how sales of the Wii U are doing. 3DS is doing just fine, and the characters are still in the public consciousness and will be for decades to come. I'm not hear to talk about Nintendo's business prospects in the console wars - we don't know enough about their next moves to really speculate. But it is awfully curious that we always hear about Universal's latest IP partnership is just a "fad" and won't work out for them at all.

 

[khale1970]

LOTS and LOTS of people when it was announced....many pixie dusters

Anybody with children of a certain age should have known Potter is something special. The same way people of a certain age should know the phenomena Star Wars was and is. Nintendo seems to be a great thing, but it's not at that level. I think @CaptainAmerica is on to something with his speculation that the gaming community and the theme park community are pretty intertwined.

The excitement about Nintendo and UNI on these boards is based on this cross pollination. I think it's a great pick up for UNI because a passionate built in fan base guarantees a certain level of success. Quality attractions will seal the deal for the general public. But despite the fanboi love of UNI and Nintendo, there won't be any 2 hour lines to meet foamhead Mario, Zelda, or whatever a Pokemn is because the IP is too niche. It's not that kind of IP to the general public.

 

[twebber55]

You don't understand demographics of video games, then. You think the fanbois (nice derogatory description there by the way) are the people making up the 10 million sales of Black Ops # whatever?

Families love to game. You'd be shocked how many 13 year olds play Call of Duty or Super Smash Bros. Mario Kart is nuts. It's huge, and if you're really going to pretend it's some weird little niche, you need a reality check.

not debating your info just thinking this may be a little sad for our society
go outside and play a sport once in a while

 

[lazyboy97o]

Their brands and characters are mainstream, regardless of how sales of the Wii U are doing. 3DS is doing just fine, and the characters are still in the public consciousness and will be for decades to come. I'm not hear to talk about Nintendo's business prospects in the console wars - we don't know enough about their next moves to really speculate. But it is awfully curious that we always hear about Universal's latest IP partnership is just a "fad" and won't work out for them at all.

Isn't a big part of the WiiU's problem is that it is not differentiated enough from the ubiquitous Wii?

 

[twebber55]

Anybody with children of a certain age should have known Potter is something special. The same way people of a certain age should know the phenomena Star Wars was and is. Nintendo seems to be a great thing, but it's not at that level. I think @CaptainAmerica is on to something with his speculation that the gaming community and the theme park community are pretty intertwined.

The excitement about Nintendo and UNI on these boards is based on this cross pollination. I think it's a great pick up for UNI because a passionate built in fan base guarantees a certain level of success. Quality attractions will seal the deal for the general public. But despite the fanboi love of UNI and Nintendo, there won't be any 2 hour lines to meet foamhead Mario, Zelda, or whatever a Pokemn is because the IP is too niche. It's not that kind of IP to the general public.

I somewhat agree
I would say you see a strong following of 18-30 year old guys who are "gamers" demographic who frequent these boards not that everyone is that but certainly quite a few

 

[khale1970]

You think the fanbois (nice derogatory description there by the way)...

Everybody likes the derogatory descriptions until their ox is gored. Don't like the term? Take it up with the OP.

 

[Skip]

Everybody likes the derogatory descriptions until their ox is gored. Don't like the term? Take it up with the OP.

I don't have a horse in the race, I just don't think ad hominem attacks of fans of things is an effective way to make an argument.

 

[FigmentJedi]

Isn't a big part of the WiiU's problem is that it is not differentiated enough from the ubiquitous Wii?

Yup and name confusion's gonna mess up the New 3DS's prospects too.

 

[Crazydisneyfanluke]

 

[khale1970]

I don't have a horse in the race, I just don't think ad hominem attacks of fans of things is an effective way to make an argument.

Nor do I, but if you want to make an issue of it you should address @WDW1974, not @CaptainAmerica. He's the one who brought it into mainstream use on these forums.

 

[Bairstow]

Yup and name confusion's gonna mess up the New 3DS's prospects too.

They just refuse to learn from their past mistakes, don't they?
I would love to see if there had been any internal studies done at Nintendo as to how much money in console sales they lost by naming things poorly/confusingly.

 

[DDLand]

But it is awfully curious that we always hear about Universal's latest IP partnership is just a "fad" and won't work out for them at all.

Who said that? I just said that it's not as relevant as it used to be, and I believe they have better options. Now it could swing majorly to their favor if their mobile strategy works.

 

[Skip]

Nor do I, but if you want to make an issue of it you should address @WDW1974, not @CaptainAmerica. He's the one who brought it into mainstream use on these forums.

I don't have an issue with "fanboi." I have any issue with "underwear-wearing fanboi." (Which... good, I'm glad they're wearing underwear?)

 

[ford91exploder]

Yes and no.

No matter how many people Universal stuffs in their gates, Disney gets a cut.

Win-win for everyone.

No argument there, My point is most kids over eight would rather go to the dentist than WDW, Nintendo just adds to reasons to visit UNI instead of WDW if you have older kids

 

[khale1970]

For those complaining about the Nintendo deal, I'm curious to know your thoughts...

What is a franchise that:

1) Could be built for and aimed at kids
2) Would still be found enjoyable by teens and adults
3) Whom the average 5 year old and 50 year old could at least identify
4) Has been around for more than the past 5 years
5) Could support a full land with multiple attractions
6) Could sell t-shirts, plush, and general crap
7) Not already owned by Disney

Bonus... could have multiple foam head meet and greets for the toddler crowd.


That's why the Nintendo deal is a good thing. For Universal. It's not the absolute best, but the problem is Disney already has rights to the other 90%.



But, maybe I just really don't care that much for Spongebob..........

Doesn't UNI already have Dr. Seuss? If they couldn't leverage that market penetration, breadth of well known characters, and generational appeal into something like what you describe across all their parks then Nintendo won't help in the family demo. I think Nintendo is a nice get, but they already have the Grinch, Sam I Am, Cat in the Hat and all the rest which are a better family IP than anything outside of Disney.

 

[gmajew]

Quite a lot of sour grapes have come out on the forums today.

Funny.

No argument there, My point is most kids over eight would rather go to the dentist than WDW, Nintendo just adds to reasons to visit UNI instead of WDW if you have older kids

Where do you get that from? My kids still love MK sure we don't ride the same rides as often but they still look forward to going. I think it is more the adults that feel it has lost is place in their hearts. Sure they need a few more boy themed rides but they have pirates, space, thunder splash.... What rides are just for girls 11 and up?

 

[lazyboy97o]

I don't have an issue with "fanboi." I have any issue with "underwear-wearing fanboi." (Which... good, I'm glad they're wearing underwear?)

Maybe fanboyism is reduced by going commando?

 

[ford91exploder]

Where do you get that from? My kids still love MK sure we don't ride the same rides as often but they still look forward to going. I think it is more the adults that feel it has lost is place in their hearts. Sure they need a few more boy themed rides but they have pirates, space, thunder splash.... What rides are just for girls 11 and up?

Cant speak to girls but the boys in our crowd - 8-13 call WDW 'A park for little kids' and they want to go to UNI instead.

 

[StageFrenzy]

Doesn't UNI already have Dr. Seuss? If they couldn't leverage that market penetration, breadth of well known characters, and generational appeal into something like what you describe across all their parks then Nintendo won't help in the family demo. I think Nintendo is a nice get, but they already have the Grinch, Sam I Am, Cat in the Hat and all the rest which are a better family IP than anything outside of Disney.

That is a weird one. I'd point to Seussland's problem of a lack of family rides. Cat spins too much. (and has a height requirement?) The trolley/train loads too slow and is a downer/annoying. Fish you get wet and the carousel is well a carousel. Some things could be changed for the better but for now that is what is there. The execution of the Seussland has no impact on the final iteration of Nintendo world. That was a completely different company than the Universal today.