I grew up with Nintendo. I had the powerglove, the power pad and even still have a virtual boy. Nintendo dominated the gaming space for a long time and most of my childhood. With the coming of the smart phone and the launching of things like the wii u, it has practically killed Nintendo. I will be the first to admit that I do not and have no interested in owning a wii u. I already have a device (iPhone, iPad Mini), which can and already does connect to my 55in TV via an Apple TV (Thanks Nate).
If I was Ninendo I would pivot and embrace the change of the mobile/tablet market as well as the integration of social. The next leap in Gaming is just upon us. We have seen MMO as well as additive game mechanics (Candy Crush Saga), we have even seen replays and live video streams explode (twitch.tv). Marketing just like gaming, you need to evolve and embrace the changes with the times.
Google recently launched Google Chromecast a $35 device that allows you to stream video (Youtube, Google Music, Netflix) from iOS and Andriod devices. It’s pretty much a streaming device that replaces a HDMI cable, for now. Every company, including Nintendo should be screaming, “OMFG how can we jump on this platform and make $$$$?!”
Nintendo is sitting on all these games and content from Super Mario Brothers (original) to Tetris. Now imagine for a second Nintendo steps into the iOS and Andriod market, but instead of building new games, they reinvent the old. Imagine a world where you have leader boards with friends (facebook/twitter integration) where you can challenge your friend to a high score. In high school I used my TI-83+ to play friends in Tetris with a link cable. This would require you to play at the same TIME and in the same AREA. Transform time and location and let us all play one another.
Now, I understand some games you can’t go head to head if they are not there (mortal kombat), but you could implement a push notification system to notify you if you are home and up for a game. This allows for a fun and passive way to engage with games with friends. Taking it another step, imagine if you offered a dumbed down fun game that everyone can play, like a board game. But rather than a board, you have a TV with a apple tv or chromecast and people’s smart phones (s4, iPhone) or tablets (iPad, Nexus 7). Just think about how you played games as a child, and how with technology you could have games like pictionary reinvented with technology and family.
Time’s have changed, but just thinking about all the amazing games I used to spend HOURS on and how a multi player version could be sick. Imagine you rebuild the game Contra where you can not only play single, multi-player but with teams. Where you have a level/world like World of Warcraft and you go on various missions with many people around the world.
It kills me to watch a company that I admire slowly lose it’s edge. It’s much like a company that I support and am behind when they totally go off and make bad decisions. I really hope Nintendo comes back with guns blazing and reinvents gaming as we know it.