As a certified Old Person, I must object and say the NES era was Nintendo's golden age. Not based on finances or sales figures or even cultural impact (although there was once a time where "playing Nintendo" was synonymous with "playing video games", to the point where Nintendo actually got annoyed by it and worried about their trademark getting diluted.) Just because that's when I was a kid and any day it rained, I was on my NES trying to punch out Mike Tyson or get through the second quest in Zelda.
Bittersweet because Iwata didn't get to see any of this happen. He essentially laid the blueprint for the Switch era, his swan song really. If only he could have seen just what was to come for Nintendo
Ironic that before the switch was released, almost everywhere I looked online, people were saying that Nintendo was doomed and the switch was underpowered and so on
honestly, my main sale was able to play console games again and having a portable, but honestly, I just needed a portable console. I had skipped motion control era because I couldn't actually have the space to use it. But Switch merge my constant usage of portable with my desire to play console games, however, it has been a 50/50 with quality in main console games as Pokemon has kinda fallen off harder than ever.
Analysts, Gamers, and Video Essayists just can't predict what'll catch on in the casual market and with livestreamers. The Wii U didn't catch and had a lot of games that just weren't interesting console sellers at all, so Nintendo failing was an easy bet for armchair analysts, lol.
@@mjc0961 You're right, but the point of the comment is that it was a huge success despite being underpowered, and a lot of analysts were predicting it would be a colossal failure just like the Wii U when it was revealed.
@@themc3140not despite because it was underpowered so it was cheaper and had mass appeal. Parents will spend 300$ on a kids birthday but 500$ is a hard sell.
2 things: 1) Does that profit include only gaming related profits or does movie/themepark stuff contribute as well? 2) It’s also just goes to show a company can have record profits and growth without studio closures/layoffs which I love and is great to see
You have to remember studio closures are layoffs are pretty much socially unacceptable in Japan & much more difficult to do legally. These companies have to first have their executives take massive paycuts (hence why Iwata did it in the past) before layoffs, and it's much more difficult to actually close a studio. Notice how when Sony recently announced layoffs it was only in their US & EU studios? It's because they can't do it in Japan unless they're willing to take a paycut themselves.
I just wanna say it shows that you are happy doing this channel. I missed those times where you are actually excited to do something. Really happy that you found a way to make it work with the weird algorithm of today.
And to elaborate on that, I think if Arlo ever feels burnt out making videos for this channel, he shouldn't feel obligated to stick with the upload schedule, it's fun just seeing Arlo excited about things!
You put into words I couldn’t. I think I love this channel so much bc it’s just Arlo talking about WHATEVER HE WANTS TO like he used to be able to on his main
Earlier this year, Nintendo was named richest company in Japan, period. Not just video game company, EVERY company, with the highest cash flow and no doubt. $11.44 Billion USD.
@@alibabaschultz352 because unlike other corporate bloodsuckers they invest that money back into the company or keep it in savings so that they can weather dark times
@@alibabaschultz352it's because unlike american companies most companies care about the long term profitability and sustainability of profits, therefore making investors more anxious about buying stock. Additionally, Nintendo often does very stupid financial decisions due to the higher ups tradionality, therefore causing the stock to fall every now and again
What’s truly remarkable is that even though the WiiU bombed, the games that were made for it, such as Mario Kart 8 and Breath of the Wild, went on to be huge and acclaimed successes. Even at the bottom, when other studios would be laying off whole divisions, Nintendo believed in its people and poured ever more resources into producing stellar games.
@@jasonpeterson3860 BotW was geared more towards the Switch though. Sure it came out on the Wii U too but it was extensively marketed as the launch title for the Switch.
No, the finest comeback was being a dying hanafuda playing cards business then shifting gears and effectively risking drifting high speed into uncertainty from kids toys to the iconic and innovative video game company that burst onto the scene after it was laid to waste by Atari that we know today.
@@CK-iv1lq BOTW was marketed for the Switch but the vast majority of development was done on Wii U. They didn't even START making the Switch version until 2016.
For some reason, TH-cam is suggesting Arlo's video "How the Switch Could Ruin EVERYTHING" from 7 years ago, and that's the funniest shit given the subject of this video.
Now I want him to at least reference that video somehow. Just kind of... look at what he said and then either issue apology or try to just move on, pretend we do not see it.
@@star-rock6466I meant it in a joking manner, that Arlo would see how thoroughly off his prediction was and present a pretend-remorseful apology for being so wrong, exaggarating his reaction for conedic purposes, or try to pretend it never happened out of exaggarated embarrasment for his previous assumption. No serious intent was behind my suggestions, I assure you.
@@DumplingDoodlethat, and also because Nintendo making money means they have money to spare to invest into new titles. The Wii U era sucked so bad largely in part because Nintendo couldn’t afford new stuff before gambling a bit on the Switch launch instead
@@niictar The Wii U truly was one of the consoles of all time. While their monetization is a little anti-consumer it is really nice getting quality games that other companies don't really like to make.
It warms my heart when companies make money the old-fashioned way...by making and selling goods and services and contributing to the overall real value of the economy.
@@Kniffel101 I don't think Nintendo really makes any money by removing this kinda copyrighted material, it seems more like they just pay for lawyers and then whenever those lawyers don't have any real problems to fill their quota with they go after harmless fan projects instead. It's bizarre how they deal with copyright, but I imagine they probably have no real incentive to fix it considering most customers are likely not even aware of this stuff.
@@Nicdehouwer I mean, it's better than seeing companies making a lot of profit by firing thousands of employees to cut their losses and making money by basically cheating the system, it's more "honest" even if I'd argue that all corporations are bad, it's still much healthier if a company makes money like Nintendo, and not like... EA, Microsoft and such
@@Nicdehouwer In a world where capitalism is practically synonymous with glorified money laundering and rigged casinos calling themselves "capital markets", which flies in the face of everything I've dedicated my professional career to working in accounting for real businesses that actually make things, yes, it warms my heart. There are still businesses out there that make money by doing business. That's how the world is _supposed_ to work. As far as I'm concerned, there needs to be a 95 percent tax rate on creating money without creating real economic value. Crypto bros, hedge funds, private equity, asset flippers, day traders, all of 'em. Let 'em get rich but they only get to keep a nickel on the dollar so there's money around to fund the social programs we need to put the lives back together of everyone they've ruined. I'd probably have become a socialist by now if it weren't for companies like Nintendo or the fishing company I work for proving that you can still do honest business these days and make a buck.
What's crazy is how much COVID-19 helped Nintendo. Look at how explosive 2021 and following was compared to the first few years of the Switch. Once everyone was locked down and Animal Crossing came out, things got silly successful for them
it's actually hilarious how good Animal Crossing's release date was. A game where you can live a virtual life and almost have it substitute daily life in many ways, in a time where you couldn't live your daily normal life, which released within the week of schools shutting down (at least where I live). The fact it got delayed as well, honestly a miracle.
Definetly in thanks to Satoru Iwata... Its already been 9 years since his passing. Without him nintendo might have fallen during the wii-u era, and no switch era would have ever happend.
This makes sense. Combining their console and handheld leads to the higher game sales and not having to make two devices saves them a lot of money. I don’t think they will ever go back to the two device days.
_Meanwhile, bug found a loving partner and his career in acorn drilling has been really taking off. Not a day goes by he doesn't silently thank the blue giant that whisked him from the uncanny land of level surfaces and tiny suns._
I have to say, Furukawa has done a good job of carrying the rest of Iwata's vision to fruition by realizing his blueprints for the Switch concept and merging the audiences that Iwata helped create with the Wii and DS and long time/hardcore fans.
At first I thought it had specifically had the most profit of any specific generation, not all the other generations combined, woah that is a lot! Amazing! Also farewell bug, have a nice life I wish you the best!
I remember sitting at the dinner table with my siblings, and we were discussing that if Nintendo's brand new "NX" was gonna be a massive failure like the Wii U, that they might have to go 3rd party, or even dissolve entirely. In retrospect they obviously wouldn't dissolve, but I guess that's just how grim it was back then. It's like the temporal version of Culture shock. 10 years ago the world was upside down. Nintendo was the biggest punchline ever, and Sony & Microsoft were unstoppable. Now...
While the Wii was a great success, it was definitly too casual. The Switch is the best mix between casual and core gaming. Handy hardware, still strong enough to port all sorts of titles, great system sellers in the first few years and a decent price tag. Also the audience for gaming has grown quite a bit.
@@blau6832I mean they aren't sugarcoating. The Nintendo Switch has a VERY big lineup of software. Triple AAA, third party, and indie. It already has more than 4,000 titles on the last record, with claims that it could be reaching to more than 10,000, as of 2024. Comparatively, Xbox One has about +7,000 games, while the Xbox Series X only has around 400. PS4 has +8,000 games, while the PS5 has more than 2,000.
And not only was it too casual, but because it was too casual, all those "casuals" who bought the Wii basically treated it as a fad and never became reliable fans. So the Wii craze basically ran dry by 2009, and when Nintendo tried to double-down on the Wii branding with the Wii U, everything fell apart. Even though Nintendo could easily find themselves in the same situation with the "Switch 2", the advantage they have this time around is that the Switch wasn't just a fad that ran its course after a couple years. It's still going strong and people WANT the next system to just be another Switch.
It's understandable Nintendo is unwilling to dive headfirst into the new generation. As long as they can squeeze more juice, they will sell more and more Nintendo Switch consoles.
They've likely spent all this time doing massive amounts of r&d to make sure their next console isn't just a minor incremental upgrade with a higher number slapped on it. Also they might be planning out the concurrent game releases so the new console has a decent library of new games at launch.
it still shocks me people are saying "oh somy this, xbox that," while they are both struggling (xbox mostly) and nintendo is just doing their own thing making money with quality products (mostly)
I believe it, animal crossing during the pandemic made finding a switch neigh impossible. Plus, from what I understand the big wigs at Nintendo take a reasonable pay rather than making more than any human could ever need in a lifetime(let alone yearly).
From what I’d heard elsewhere, Mr Furukawa takes an annual salary equivalent to $2.9 million US, with Miyamoto taking in $2.7 million. Compare that to what someone like Bobby Kotek was taking for an annual salary with Activision Blizzard, and it’s clear to see how Nintendo has been able to succeed the way they have. Lower operating costs, quality releases, a console with a distinct appeal, and there you go.
@@Swampert384 They also don't buy out smaller studios to force those studios to make console exclusive games, which hurts the sales figures of those games and then gives false justification to shut down that newly acquired studio.
I remember the rush to get a Wii feeling so huge and it's crazy the Switch has completely eclipsed that. It'll be interesting to see what they do with this large amount of profit.
same as it ever was i suppose. cant get too crazy with spending i mean it didnt work out to well for microsoft with buying studios up and shutting them down.
The thing with Sony is that the PlayStation always sells consoles, and it’s always been an attractive platform for third party developers, but Sony’s stable of first-party franchises has never been stellar. Nintendo has always had strong first-party franchises, but outside of the NES and SNES eras (when the market was smaller) they suffered in getting the third party developers. The Switch era brought the third party developers back (especially indies), with strong console sales and stellar iterations of first-party franchises. They pulled off the trifecta.
People forget that the Wii era and DS era were the same era and both of those systems were incredibly successful on their own in terms of units sold. It's consistent franchise-best software sales that are the big factor here.
Another thing that helps is likely that they only have 1 single console. If you look at older generations, it was a handheld + home console, so that also eats into production costs as you are making 2 consoles for a single gen. The WiiU TRIED to be this combo of mobile+home console, but flopped hard. Nintendo didn't give up in this idea though and simply used the WiiU as a learning experience of what to correct and change, and in this generation they combined both sucessfully into a single platform that was much more effective at satisfying the wish of a game console you can easily take anywhere and/or play while moving.
Nintendo has the most sustainable business model. Going lower-tech and lower-spec was the smart play. Nintendo is one of the only companies that realizes they make video games... not "technology". GAMES. Sony has completely lost this perspective, and I'm not sure that Microsoft ever had this perspective. Nintendo is the last REAL game maker around that happens to also make consoles. I think Nintendo has seen this coming for a long time. With age comes experience, and this company has seen many adversaries rise and fall. Nintendo saw their competitors promising better and better production to the point where there is no return on investment and only their frail fundamental IP to justify hardware. Now the third parties are fleeing and afraid of partnering. Nintendo have been playing the long game and it has paid off in spades. Nintendo thrives in limitations it allows for more creativity Sometimes too much freedom means no direction But within a limitation you can challenge yourself how to be flexible within it like a fun puzzle you experiment with PEOPLE NEED TO STOP GIVING A DAMN ABOUT GRAPHICS IF YOU WANT GOOD GRAPHICS WITH REALISTIC TEXTURES GO OUTSIDE AND HUG A TREE NINTENDO WAS SMART AND REALIZED WHAT EVERYONE ELSE IS TOO SLOW TO Nintendo realised long ago that competing in graphics is pointless. No matter how powerful your console is, in a couple of years it is going to be obsolete, and anybody who really cares about graphics is going to buy a PC, because that is where the best graphics are. Instead, Nintendo focuses on their strengths: * Nintendo likes hardware gimmicks, because it makes their console stand out. Nobody bought a Wii because it had the prettiest graphics, they bought a Wii because they wanted to play with the motion controls (An idea so good both the “superior” PS3 and Xbox 360 tried to copy it). The same thing is happening with the Switch: people are buying it because they can play their games anywhere, and can move between a handheld and a home console. They like to focus on giving customers something that they cannot get anywhere else. * When Nintendo did try to compete on power, they didn’t do very well. The N64 and Gamecube were the most powerful consoles of their generations, but were both massively outsold by the “inferior” PS1 and PS2. The Wii was the weakest of its generation, but outsold the PS3 and Xbox 360. This proves Nintendo’s approach to console design clearly has something going for it. * Performance is expensive. Performance is even more expensive when you are using it in niche applications. If Nintendo wanted to have something as powerful as an Xbox One or PS4, while still being portable, then it would probably cost twice as much. This means that Nintendo would have to charge more for the console (probably not something the market could sustain) and/or eat a hefty loss on each console sold. Instead, by not focusing on performance, Nintendo make a profit on each console, and keep it at a price point where more people can afford it. * One of Nintendo’s biggest strengths is their first party titles, all of which rely on stylised graphics and strong art-style. It doesn’t matter that the console is not very powerful when Pokémon, Zelda, Mario (and its millions of spin offs), Smash Bros, Metroid and Donkey Kong are incredibly popular and all don’t care about high end graphics. Why make your console more expensive to make and develop for when you don’t even need it? * The companies that tend to focus on graphics are third party developers, such as EA, Activision, and Rockstar. If the console sells well (like the Switch currently is), then those developers will find a way to bring their games to it or, failing that, make unique games that work best on the hardware. * By not competing with the other consoles, or PCs, in terms of power, while offering unique gaming experiences, Nintendo has comfortably found a niche as an optional second system. If you have a PC, PS4 or Xbox One you have very little reason to buy one of the others, because they are all basically the same. Nintendo’s consoles offer things that none of the others offer, and thus can easily tempt people with another gaming device into purchasing it. * Nintendo has also found a strong market in all ages These people don’t care about graphics, so why waste money on giving them something that they don’t want? An families don’t care that the Switch doesn’t have the best looking games, they’re just happy that they can have fun Ever since the Wii era Nintendo has. Been trying to train us that power doesn’t matter Whimsy and imagination and creativity and memorable experiences are more important to them And y’all still aren’t getting it Move on from Power it don’t matter Nintendo doesn’t want it They think it’s boring They don’t care Official quote from iwata: "Even when we were going to launch the Wii system, there were a lot of voice saying 'Nintendo should stop making hardware'," Iwata recalled, talking to Gamasutra. "The reasoning behind that was Nintendo would not have any chance against Microsoft and Sony. The fact of the matter was: I did not think Nintendo should compete against these companies with the same message and same entertainment options for people. "We have not changed our strategy," he added. "In other words, we just do not care what kind of 'more beef' console Microsoft and Sony might produce in 2013. Our focus is on how we can make our new console different than [others]." The switch is faithful to iwata’s legacy .
another thing to note, by not purely focusing on power and using last gen specs for the wii, their consoles don't suffer from major issues over time like the original xbox 360 and fat PS3 did, and they could use their mistakes as a guideline for how far they should (not could) their graphics and power for reliability in summary instead of focusing on better specs, streamline the existing specs already for a more reliable experience
Gunpei Yokoi's lateral thinking with withered technology which resulted in the Gameboy. Other handhelds were more powerful and had color, but the Gameboy was the only practical handheld back then. Sony and Microsoft were never game companies, they supplied the platform for 3rd parties. Nowadays Microsoft is haphzardly buying up studios for the IPs like EA did in the 2000s to only shut them down. Only Valve has the same sort of perspective.
I agree with everything you said except the part on the switch being a second system to someone that owned a PS4 or Xbox One the switch is not a system for me it’s my primary system because I don’t own a PlayStation or Xbox and have no desire to own a PlayStation or Xbox because they don’t vibe with what I want and only Nintendo vibes with what I want.
I agree with everything with you said except the part that the switch is a second system to somebody that owns an Xbox One or a PS4 or PC I owned a PS4 before I had a switch and I didn’t like it. I did not enjoy it so I traded it and that Credit to get so games as I already had made up my mind. I was getting an Nintendo switch and when I got my Nintendo switch I was absolutely happy with it because Nintendo is the only one that understands what came as one and that they are the only ones that are committed, to physical media Nintendo philosophy dives with Sony and Microsoft philosophies do not, I do not care about graphics frame or 4K nonsense. I care about gameplay and having fun and Nintendo makes beautiful graphics that have farm over charmed and any photo realistic 4K graphics that Microsoft and Sony games produce.
Man, the Wii U was a disaster for them. No wonder they abandoned it relatively quickly. That's what smart companies do: if you fail, fail quickly and move on to something else. Don't double or triple down out of ego.
it's also a product of video games going from being a sizable industry to becoming a really _really_ big industry in the last decade. more people want video games than ever before
@@blau6832if it’s not showing up for you, TH-cam put the automatic “translate into English” button on this comment for some reason and it literally just adds two extra Os to the end lmaooo
I really hope they pump a lot of that money back into the company such as hiring more employees and just making even bigger and better games. Like..Nintendo has done this with hardware most would scoff at. I cannot wait to see what’s in store.
I don’t really wanna see “bigger” games. I think the main problem the game industry is facing is the fact that every company is rushing out enormous open world games every year, and those companies and fans are having burnout. But on the other hand, Nintendo is still making nice, small, quality experiences
@jackatk I agree but the price for smaller experiences should be smaller, too. Where are some first party 30€ quality games? Most remasters are full price which is a Joke imo.
more employees does not equal "bigger better games". just look at many other companies that do just that. the money needs to be spent smarter, not "bigger". also, Nintendo hardware at this point will always be less advanced/powerful than the other 2 console competitors. that's just how Nintendo plays (again, smarter not bigger).you don't need powerful hardware to make creative, well optimized games. it helps, but its not the end all be all.
The struggling yen is helping Nintendo’s numbers, since currently they make more yen per overseas sale. That’s how they can have a higher income despite hardware and software sales actually being down from last year (still really good though)
Actually think Nintendo is a prime example of a company that let developers build what they want with quality instead of just letting sales and PR people run the company.
They make money on software because of 2 reasons. 1: they rarely if ever lower the prices and 2: Their games are 15 years behind in terms of tech so, they cost what a game cost to produce 15+ years ago.
I've actually seen goofballs say that Nintendo should just make "regular" consoles and controllers . Sure, let's just kill any innovation in the video game industry.
Having regular console/controller doesnt exclude them from having creative games tho. People clearly like playing nintendo games with regular controllers,, that's why the pro controllers have always sold very well, and sometimes are even sold as pretty much a necessity. If by "regular console/controller" they mean a more powerful console that doesnt have drifting joysticks then l dont see why that would be the definitive end of nintendo's creativity
No I’m tired of nintendos gimmick machines. I’m tired of motion controls and ir sensor games and eye bleeding “3D”. Not only are they unnecessary but these gimmicks also make it impossible to port or emulate later down the road. If that makes me a goofball then so be it
@@evanpereira3555 okay thats cool, but that doesnt mean that nintendo couldnt still make creative games if they were to have regular controllers right? l like using joycons too, but whether people like using them doesnt really correlate with the level of creativity of the games they're used for :]
The upload schedule on TopicArlo is so insane that it felt like you were gone for an abnormally long time when your last upload was 2 days ago. This is insane.
I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but I like how Arlo uses the cursor as if it's his own hand while emphasizing or emoting while talking. It's the little things. 😂
More profit this generation than all of their previous existence AFTER adjusting for inflation. and yet $70 games, and yet artificial scarcity / ebay scalping, and yet no discounts for the consumer, and yet... Arlo talking about all the things Nintendo COULD do for the benefit of their customers, that they're NOT doing; with a vocal tone that implies its a good thing, flabbergasts me.
I'm actually kinda concerned, because it's kinda a trend that after an incredibly successful console phase. Like after the Wii with the Wii-U, or Microsoft after the 360, or Sony after the ps2. The companies get stupid, cocky or arrogant and flub the next generation. I worry after this staggering Switch success, Nintendo will do something boneheaded.
With Pokemon being on the system, I don't expect a GameCube or Wii U failure. But I also don't expect the Switch 2 to sell the same amount as the Switch.
Stop being so pessimistic I don’t think the switch 2 is gonna fail might make some head scratching decisions over so Microsoft are much much worse. Nintendo is the only one that understands that physical games matter. Nintendo is the only one that has made that commitment to physical games and they also understand that gameplay is what counts over graphics Fidelity and they had the sense to not, spend crazy amounts on hardware and development like both Sony and Microsoft
Nintendo have always had their biggest successes when they've lowered barriers to entry (the NES, DS, Wii, and Switch all follow this pattern) but with the Switch they captured the family audience with the tri-strategy of nostalgia, convenience, and family friendly gaming. NSO, BotW being based on the original Zelda, Mario Odyssey harkening back to the original Mario and 64 brought the nostalgia. Being able to steal five minutes play here and there on the train, in bed, or on even the toilet through its portability and sleep mode allowing quick access back into your game was incredibly convenient. And finally Nintendo's family friendly focus has brought dividends for them as parents feel safe leaving their kids in the hands of this trusted brand. Altogether it captured that market perfectly and is a big part of what made the Switch so successful for them.
The myth that Nintendo just only caters to families is outdated especially with games like Bayonetta even the Zelda games also have a dark tone to them. I’m intended isn’t sensitive their games anywhere near the scale of Sony and Microsoft.
@@Adamtendo_player_1 I didn't say they only cater to families, I said there was a focus on family friendly experiences. For every Bayonetta, Xenoblade, or Metroid (I disagree that some dark tones makes most Zelda games unsuitable for younger audiences) game that Nintendo releases into the market, they release at least 10 games which are considered suitable for everyone from young kids to their grandparents.
Are people not really looking at the actual answer? Nintendo used to divide handhelds and Consoles, the handheld version always sold better and now the handheld is the main version
With how they left out the cutsenes and music from Pokémon cartridges so they could charge less for them, I can see why people want digital. It's easier yeah, but you aren't even guaranteed the whole game will even be on it :/
I’m just hoping that Nintendo’s success doesn’t go to their heads and the become arrogant and do super anti-consumer things because of their success, not that they don’t do anti-consumer stuff already.
Crazy to think that less than a decade ago people were certain Nintendo was gonna go third party. Now it looks like Microsoft could be doomed to that fate.
I think the pandemic really helped them out, people where home playing and they already had the old wii u games they just had to port, printing money for them. I think the next generation will be a bit harder to keep this going.
Whenever nintendo does well xbox and playstation usually copies something like motion controls. I hope they copy the smaller budget fun games instead of just making a handheld.
Sony closed Japan Studio, Microsoft closed a bunch of studios, that ship has already sailed right into the budget whirlpool that they keep sinking deeper and deeper into.
That’s just because Gamefreak had never made home console games before the Switch, let alone open world 3D titles. They made 2D top down handheld titles. It’s not shocking they can’t make a smooth running game. Nintendo should offer them some resources from the Xenoblade teams or something. They don’t fully own Pokémon, so they can only do so much though.
@garvensman The Pokémon branch of Gamefreak has consistently had issues, even all the way back to 2nd gen. One of the more famous Iwata stories is that he assisted Gamefreak with GSC's compression and made the situation go from "can't fit Johto on a Gameboy cartridge" to "Kanto and Johto both fit on one cartridge." They have a history of not taking the time or investing heavily in their games' optimization.
@phillipclearman859 okay but like... they really had something going when they made ss/hg, right? Like they put a LOT into making all those lil walking sprites, to where it almost was too much for them to accomplish, and they made it work anyway.
Nintendo themselves also kinda have a tendency to think like that,, you can see it with the WiiU and the launchyear of the 3ds,, their predecessors sold So well that nintendo figured they'd sell pretty much on their own no matter what. l'm interested to see if they learned their lessons from those mistakes
Physical sales in stores do give the retailers a cut, but it’s a super minimal amount. I work at a game store - for reference, when we sell a PlayStation 5, we make $2 from that sale. When we sell a game, we make about 1% of that. The business stays afloat through other services such as peripherals,preowned games etc.
I understand Nintendo sales numbers get you excited but I am not an investor nor do I own any part of Nintendo and I personally think their best years was previous years when they were trying hard. Numbers mean nothing to consumers.
Either where you’re going, we’ll just come it was when they were competing with Sony and Microsoft blah blah blah blah and hardware blah blah blah blah blah and how did that work out for Nintendo? It didn’t really work out for them. Nintendo was found away that works for them by not competing with Microsoft and Sony and focusing on this gems, innovation and creativity And Nintendo games have a charmed that neither Sony or Microsoft can ever hope to match.
With nintendo already employing the grimy tactics of never lowering prices and preying on people through convenience, by investing heavily in the eshop presence, I can only shudder at the thought of what other unscrupulous methods they might employ for the next Gen console in order to beat profits from the switch. It is an inevitability, since the shareholders will, ultimately, always come before the consumers. At some point, mtx and lower quality games are to be expected.
4:21 That is not SOny published games vs nintendo published games. That is all games sales at playstation platform vs all game sales at nintendo platform. Sony's only game last year was spiderman and sold around only 10 million
3:09 "Including the one that I _preside_ in" - innocent mistake, or a telling reveal? We know Arlo has singlehandedly shut down the Google Play twitter account, willed the TTYD remake into existence, and created a new holiday to celebrate indie games. Who knows what else he might have been up to? Who knows how his power has grown, and will continue to grow?
The pandemic when people had to stay home really ended up good for Nintendo. The affordability compared to the competition, ease of play with handheld mode, the casual appeal, and having Animal Crossing drop at the perfect time to escape from reality really sold those Switches like hot cakes. Will this success be repeated with in the next generation? I highly doubt it. The Switch was like a perfect storm scenario for Nintendo that rarely happens. I would actually temper the hype somewhat because throughout the entertainment industry, corporations are struggling with the end of the pandemic high where profit was hugely inflated. I'm sure Nintendo will feel that as well eventually.
I figured the Wii/DS era was more profitable since their combined system sales STILL dwarfs that of the Switch, and because they had so many high-selling games on those systems just like the Switch does (with game development probably still being cheaper then because of older hardware), but APPARENTLY NOT. I underestimated the power of the EShop apparently.
@@ironicdivinemandatestan4262 I imagined that splitting the attention wouldn't cause much problems because both systems were making truckloads of money, but apparently not!
@@calvinbrinenestoris2357 Also, while the Wii as a console sold well, the game sales didn't reflect that. A lot of people bought it for Wii Sports, maybe got another game or two like Mario Galaxy, then were done. That's not the case with the Switch.
@@ironicdivinemandatestan4262 Oh very true, I just figured that that generation's console sales combined with their still incredibly high game sales had the Switch beat. I was mistaken.
You underestimated the power of the switch and imagine trying play down sales of the switch by combining the Wii and DS sales which I’m sure Nintendo doesn’t do.
Could only imagine how much higher if it wasn’t for the controversies, like the Joy-Con drift, the strikes on TH-cam videos, the Smash tournament fiasco, and all of the small dumb things that put Nintendo in a villainous, greedy, anti-consumerist situation. Nobody’s perfect, but they sure could have done better doing things for us instead of against us.
Speak for yourself the numbers don’t lie and I don’t think just because you are not happy with a lot of what Nintendo is done or they’ve made it wouldn’t have made a difference instead of whining about what Nintendo has done to make you unhappy with them celebrate the fact that Nintendo is the last two gaming company we have left The company you should be moaning or rather the companies that you should be mad at and Michael Roso we were a lot of the recent stuff they’ve done that are far more anti-consumer than anything Nintendo was done so Microsoft are true companies all they care about is 4K graphics and performance Nintendo cares about what’s truly important that is gameplay and a great story also Nintendo cares about physical media, unlike the other two.
another thing to consider is i can see families buying multiple switches for their kids whereas the Wii, why would you ever buy more than 1 unless it broke? Nintendo tapped into this way of thinking
I'm just so curious to see how they're gonna handle next generation. I know we're gonna get news on it soon, but... Looking into the past, The Gamecube didn't do well, the Wii made all the money, the Wii U is those red points on the graph, and the Switch made all the money². Which means... they can't keep up this pattern. How do they avoid losing all the money³?
We went from being a house with 0 Nintendo consoles to a house with 5 Switch players. I’m sure the fact the more of us have income now counts, but we still made the choice to buy Switches, because they’re just cool.
One other thing you forgot to mention! Because of Japan's conversion rate and prices, the money they make from western countries is even more valuable in yen then usd or euros.
Remarkable how the really big numbers seem to start around 2020. I wonder what could have happened that year to cause videogame sales to increase? Well, you didn't mention anything so I guess we'll never know...
![Why Paper Mario Sticker Star ISN'T Bad [Discussion Video]](/img/n.gif)
Kinda weird to think that we are currently in the Nintendo golden age. People will look back on this generation with much nostalgia
We have it good rn 😌
Honestly, on the consumer perspective I think the Switch era is a lot worse than the 3DS and Wii U era.
@@jonathanwilson7949Already it's nostalgic because THERE ARE NO MORE GAMES.
@@shrobbyy personally, I prefer nintendo releasing games regularly to them not doing that.
As a certified Old Person, I must object and say the NES era was Nintendo's golden age. Not based on finances or sales figures or even cultural impact (although there was once a time where "playing Nintendo" was synonymous with "playing video games", to the point where Nintendo actually got annoyed by it and worried about their trademark getting diluted.)
Just because that's when I was a kid and any day it rained, I was on my NES trying to punch out Mike Tyson or get through the second quest in Zelda.
Just the fact that nintendo makes feature films now and has multiple theme parks around the world gives u an idea of how successful they are.
They don't make them, they just license their IP. Sales would be a better indicator of success in that regard.
I find it bizarre they haven't been doing this for decades;
Mario has been one of the most recognisable characters since Super Mario Bros. 3
@BohemianRaichu if you wanna know why they haven't been doing this for decades. Well just ask
The mario movie 1993.
Nintendo does not have theme parks. They have licensed areas within much bigger theme parks.
@@sie4431 producing a movie is more expensive than making one.
Bittersweet because Iwata didn't get to see any of this happen. He essentially laid the blueprint for the Switch era, his swan song really. If only he could have seen just what was to come for Nintendo
who fucking cares. he's another businessman that doesn't give a shit about the end consumer. stop bootlicking faceless corporations
I'm sure he's seen it all as he rides the Rainbow Road in Heaven...
“Blessed is he who plants trees under whose shade he will never sit.”
Iwata was very blessed man indeed.
@@doomrider7 Well said
I'm not religious myself, but for those who are, it's really gotta seem like he's send blessings down from above
Ironic that before the switch was released, almost everywhere I looked online, people were saying that Nintendo was doomed and the switch was underpowered and so on
honestly, my main sale was able to play console games again and having a portable, but honestly, I just needed a portable console. I had skipped motion control era because I couldn't actually have the space to use it. But Switch merge my constant usage of portable with my desire to play console games, however, it has been a 50/50 with quality in main console games as Pokemon has kinda fallen off harder than ever.
Analysts, Gamers, and Video Essayists just can't predict what'll catch on in the casual market and with livestreamers. The Wii U didn't catch and had a lot of games that just weren't interesting console sellers at all, so Nintendo failing was an easy bet for armchair analysts, lol.
The Switch is underpowered. That we don't have the Switch 2 yet should be criminal.
@@mjc0961 You're right, but the point of the comment is that it was a huge success despite being underpowered, and a lot of analysts were predicting it would be a colossal failure just like the Wii U when it was revealed.
@@themc3140not despite because it was underpowered so it was cheaper and had mass appeal. Parents will spend 300$ on a kids birthday but 500$ is a hard sell.
2 things:
1) Does that profit include only gaming related profits or does movie/themepark stuff contribute as well?
2) It’s also just goes to show a company can have record profits and growth without studio closures/layoffs which I love and is great to see
It’s all their profits from everything, including investments.
To their credit, instead of spending billions on acquiring studios. Nintendo rather expand its EPD teams instead.
You have to remember studio closures are layoffs are pretty much socially unacceptable in Japan & much more difficult to do legally.
These companies have to first have their executives take massive paycuts (hence why Iwata did it in the past) before layoffs, and it's much more difficult to actually close a studio.
Notice how when Sony recently announced layoffs it was only in their US & EU studios? It's because they can't do it in Japan unless they're willing to take a paycut themselves.
I was wondering whether it accounted for merchandise sales in particular. Because from my understanding, Pokemon is a major merch machine.
@@EMLtheViewer Pokemon is under a different company that, yes, is jointly owned by Nintendo but they only own about a third of it.
I just wanna say it shows that you are happy doing this channel. I missed those times where you are actually excited to do something. Really happy that you found a way to make it work with the weird algorithm of today.
And to elaborate on that, I think if Arlo ever feels burnt out making videos for this channel, he shouldn't feel obligated to stick with the upload schedule, it's fun just seeing Arlo excited about things!
Great for the viewers too, always appreciate more Arlo content
You put into words I couldn’t. I think I love this channel so much bc it’s just Arlo talking about WHATEVER HE WANTS TO like he used to be able to on his main
Earlier this year, Nintendo was named richest company in Japan, period. Not just video game company, EVERY company, with the highest cash flow and no doubt. $11.44 Billion USD.
Because they focus on the consumer and not these companies that are buying into DEI woke ideology
And yet, i still haven't made any money off the stocks I purchased 6 years ago
@@alibabaschultz352 because unlike other corporate bloodsuckers they invest that money back into the company or keep it in savings so that they can weather dark times
@@alibabaschultz352 I'm 90% sure it's because Nintendo doesn't care about its stock price in the same way that American companies obsess over it.
@@alibabaschultz352it's because unlike american companies most companies care about the long term profitability and sustainability of profits, therefore making investors more anxious about buying stock. Additionally, Nintendo often does very stupid financial decisions due to the higher ups tradionality, therefore causing the stock to fall every now and again
the turnaround from the WiiU debacle is one of the finest comebacks in history
What’s truly remarkable is that even though the WiiU bombed, the games that were made for it, such as Mario Kart 8 and Breath of the Wild, went on to be huge and acclaimed successes. Even at the bottom, when other studios would be laying off whole divisions, Nintendo believed in its people and poured ever more resources into producing stellar games.
@@jasonpeterson3860 BotW was geared more towards the Switch though. Sure it came out on the Wii U too but it was extensively marketed as the launch title for the Switch.
No, the finest comeback was being a dying hanafuda playing cards business then shifting gears and effectively risking drifting high speed into uncertainty from kids toys to the iconic and innovative video game company that burst onto the scene after it was laid to waste by Atari that we know today.
I wrote an article predicting this back in 2014.
@@CK-iv1lq BOTW was marketed for the Switch but the vast majority of development was done on Wii U. They didn't even START making the Switch version until 2016.
Iwata died at Nintendo's worst time. If he lived up to now to see the Switch's success...
For some reason, TH-cam is suggesting Arlo's video "How the Switch Could Ruin EVERYTHING" from 7 years ago, and that's the funniest shit given the subject of this video.
Now I want him to at least reference that video somehow. Just kind of... look at what he said and then either issue apology or try to just move on, pretend we do not see it.
@goranisacson2502 apologies ? Who the hell is he apologizing to ? He doesn't need to do that
@@star-rock6466I meant it in a joking manner, that Arlo would see how thoroughly off his prediction was and present a pretend-remorseful apology for being so wrong, exaggarating his reaction for conedic purposes, or try to pretend it never happened out of exaggarated embarrasment for his previous assumption. No serious intent was behind my suggestions, I assure you.
never seen anyone who's not head of monetization or CFO be so utterly enthralled by a graph of a company's yearly profit growth
that's because arlo is actually reggie
@@DumplingDoodlethat, and also because Nintendo making money means they have money to spare to invest into new titles. The Wii U era sucked so bad largely in part because Nintendo couldn’t afford new stuff before gambling a bit on the Switch launch instead
One of the few companies I'm happy to see succeed.
@@niictar The Wii U truly was one of the consoles of all time. While their monetization is a little anti-consumer it is really nice getting quality games that other companies don't really like to make.
Yeah, Arlo goes beyond being a Nintendo fan... he's a freaking SIMP for Nintendo.
Looks like Bowser running the kingdom didn't turn out so bad after all.
It warms my heart when companies make money the old-fashioned way...by making and selling goods and services and contributing to the overall real value of the economy.
And waving their big dollars at lawyers that then remove fan projects and legal emulators. =)
Bro are you serious? It warms your heart?
@@Kniffel101 I don't think Nintendo really makes any money by removing this kinda copyrighted material, it seems more like they just pay for lawyers and then whenever those lawyers don't have any real problems to fill their quota with they go after harmless fan projects instead. It's bizarre how they deal with copyright, but I imagine they probably have no real incentive to fix it considering most customers are likely not even aware of this stuff.
@@Nicdehouwer I mean, it's better than seeing companies making a lot of profit by firing thousands of employees to cut their losses and making money by basically cheating the system, it's more "honest" even if I'd argue that all corporations are bad, it's still much healthier if a company makes money like Nintendo, and not like... EA, Microsoft and such
@@Nicdehouwer In a world where capitalism is practically synonymous with glorified money laundering and rigged casinos calling themselves "capital markets", which flies in the face of everything I've dedicated my professional career to working in accounting for real businesses that actually make things, yes, it warms my heart. There are still businesses out there that make money by doing business. That's how the world is _supposed_ to work.
As far as I'm concerned, there needs to be a 95 percent tax rate on creating money without creating real economic value. Crypto bros, hedge funds, private equity, asset flippers, day traders, all of 'em. Let 'em get rich but they only get to keep a nickel on the dollar so there's money around to fund the social programs we need to put the lives back together of everyone they've ruined.
I'd probably have become a socialist by now if it weren't for companies like Nintendo or the fishing company I work for proving that you can still do honest business these days and make a buck.
Now topic Arlo has STORYLINES?? THE TALE OF THE BUG CHARACTER?? And when I thought things couldn’t get better
Arlo is telling his own bug fables over here
The drama, the grief, the sheer overwhelming wave of loss in his voice as he bade his bug farewell... where's this monsters Oscar, I ask ya.
What's crazy is how much COVID-19 helped Nintendo. Look at how explosive 2021 and following was compared to the first few years of the Switch. Once everyone was locked down and Animal Crossing came out, things got silly successful for them
It feels kind of weird to me to not even mention it in the video?
Covid benefited many industries. But the Switch was already a huge success. It had been the best selling console every month since 2017.
it's actually hilarious how good Animal Crossing's release date was. A game where you can live a virtual life and almost have it substitute daily life in many ways, in a time where you couldn't live your daily normal life, which released within the week of schools shutting down (at least where I live). The fact it got delayed as well, honestly a miracle.
Nintendo in the last 7 years has made more money than the previous 127 years combined.
wow.
Topicarlo has become one of my favorite channels lately
Same ^^
Definetly in thanks to Satoru Iwata... Its already been 9 years since his passing.
Without him nintendo might have fallen during the wii-u era, and no switch era would have ever happend.
This makes sense. Combining their console and handheld leads to the higher game sales and not having to make two devices saves them a lot of money. I don’t think they will ever go back to the two device days.
Watching Arms fall off that list was physically painful
Poor buggy
He's free now
_Meanwhile, bug found a loving partner and his career in acorn drilling has been really taking off. Not a day goes by he doesn't silently thank the blue giant that whisked him from the uncanny land of level surfaces and tiny suns._
I have to say, Furukawa has done a good job of carrying the rest of Iwata's vision to fruition by realizing his blueprints for the Switch concept and merging the audiences that Iwata helped create with the Wii and DS and long time/hardcore fans.
At first I thought it had specifically had the most profit of any specific generation, not all the other generations combined, woah that is a lot! Amazing! Also farewell bug, have a nice life I wish you the best!
I remember sitting at the dinner table with my siblings, and we were discussing that if Nintendo's brand new "NX" was gonna be a massive failure like the Wii U, that they might have to go 3rd party, or even dissolve entirely.
In retrospect they obviously wouldn't dissolve, but I guess that's just how grim it was back then.
It's like the temporal version of Culture shock. 10 years ago the world was upside down. Nintendo was the biggest punchline ever, and Sony & Microsoft were unstoppable. Now...
They still had the war chest from the Wii and ds era and 3ds was doing relatively well. So it wasn’t immediately doom and gloom
While the Wii was a great success, it was definitly too casual. The Switch is the best mix between casual and core gaming. Handy hardware, still strong enough to port all sorts of titles, great system sellers in the first few years and a decent price tag. Also the audience for gaming has grown quite a bit.
"port all sorts of titles"? Okay, I can agree with the rest, but that's where you gotta put down the rose-tinted goggles.
@@blau6832I mean they aren't sugarcoating.
The Nintendo Switch has a VERY big lineup of software. Triple AAA, third party, and indie. It already has more than 4,000 titles on the last record, with claims that it could be reaching to more than 10,000, as of 2024.
Comparatively, Xbox One has about +7,000 games, while the Xbox Series X only has around 400.
PS4 has +8,000 games, while the PS5 has more than 2,000.
And not only was it too casual, but because it was too casual, all those "casuals" who bought the Wii basically treated it as a fad and never became reliable fans. So the Wii craze basically ran dry by 2009, and when Nintendo tried to double-down on the Wii branding with the Wii U, everything fell apart.
Even though Nintendo could easily find themselves in the same situation with the "Switch 2", the advantage they have this time around is that the Switch wasn't just a fad that ran its course after a couple years. It's still going strong and people WANT the next system to just be another Switch.
@@blau6832 I mean, it is true tho
It's understandable Nintendo is unwilling to dive headfirst into the new generation. As long as they can squeeze more juice, they will sell more and more Nintendo Switch consoles.
They've likely spent all this time doing massive amounts of r&d to make sure their next console isn't just a minor incremental upgrade with a higher number slapped on it. Also they might be planning out the concurrent game releases so the new console has a decent library of new games at launch.
@@jasonkeith2832lol it more like they planning all their major release to schedule with their new console
@khanhnguyen-tt3ff Exactly what I said in the last sentence, but admittedly, in actually understandable English.
it still shocks me people are saying "oh somy this, xbox that," while they are both struggling (xbox mostly) and nintendo is just doing their own thing making money with quality products (mostly)
I believe it, animal crossing during the pandemic made finding a switch neigh impossible. Plus, from what I understand the big wigs at Nintendo take a reasonable pay rather than making more than any human could ever need in a lifetime(let alone yearly).
From what I’d heard elsewhere, Mr Furukawa takes an annual salary equivalent to $2.9 million US, with Miyamoto taking in $2.7 million. Compare that to what someone like Bobby Kotek was taking for an annual salary with Activision Blizzard, and it’s clear to see how Nintendo has been able to succeed the way they have.
Lower operating costs, quality releases, a console with a distinct appeal, and there you go.
@@Swampert384 They also don't buy out smaller studios to force those studios to make console exclusive games, which hurts the sales figures of those games and then gives false justification to shut down that newly acquired studio.
One word........
Honor
I also believe timing was a factor, especially with the 2020s.
I remember the rush to get a Wii feeling so huge and it's crazy the Switch has completely eclipsed that. It'll be interesting to see what they do with this large amount of profit.
same as it ever was i suppose. cant get too crazy with spending i mean it didnt work out to well for microsoft with buying studios up and shutting them down.
Arlo is the master at having one point and making the same point for 10 minutes, while no one notices.
The thing with Sony is that the PlayStation always sells consoles, and it’s always been an attractive platform for third party developers, but Sony’s stable of first-party franchises has never been stellar. Nintendo has always had strong first-party franchises, but outside of the NES and SNES eras (when the market was smaller) they suffered in getting the third party developers.
The Switch era brought the third party developers back (especially indies), with strong console sales and stellar iterations of first-party franchises. They pulled off the trifecta.
But this data isn't including Sheriff from 1979, so I don't know if I can trust the final tally.
People forget that the Wii era and DS era were the same era and both of those systems were incredibly successful on their own in terms of units sold. It's consistent franchise-best software sales that are the big factor here.
4:18
"𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴"
Are these "PS5 games" in the room with us?
Another thing that helps is likely that they only have 1 single console. If you look at older generations, it was a handheld + home console, so that also eats into production costs as you are making 2 consoles for a single gen.
The WiiU TRIED to be this combo of mobile+home console, but flopped hard.
Nintendo didn't give up in this idea though and simply used the WiiU as a learning experience of what to correct and change, and in this generation they combined both sucessfully into a single platform that was much more effective at satisfying the wish of a game console you can easily take anywhere and/or play while moving.
Wiiu was not a portable console, the pad had to be close to the system
Nintendo has the most sustainable business model. Going lower-tech and lower-spec was the smart play. Nintendo is one of the only companies that realizes they make video games... not "technology". GAMES. Sony has completely lost this perspective, and I'm not sure that Microsoft ever had this perspective.
Nintendo is the last REAL game maker around that happens to also make consoles.
I think Nintendo has seen this coming for a long time. With age comes experience, and this company has seen many adversaries rise and fall. Nintendo saw their competitors promising better and better production to the point where there is no return on investment and only their frail fundamental IP to justify hardware. Now the third parties are fleeing and afraid of partnering.
Nintendo have been playing the long game and it has paid off in spades.
Nintendo thrives in limitations it allows for more creativity
Sometimes too much freedom means no direction
But within a limitation you can challenge yourself how to be flexible within it like a fun puzzle you experiment with
PEOPLE NEED TO STOP GIVING A DAMN ABOUT GRAPHICS
IF YOU WANT GOOD GRAPHICS WITH REALISTIC TEXTURES GO OUTSIDE AND HUG A TREE
NINTENDO WAS SMART AND REALIZED WHAT EVERYONE ELSE
IS TOO SLOW TO
Nintendo realised long ago that competing in graphics is pointless. No matter how powerful your console is, in a couple of years it is going to be obsolete, and anybody who really cares about graphics is going to buy a PC, because that is where the best graphics are.
Instead, Nintendo focuses on their strengths:
* Nintendo likes hardware gimmicks, because it makes their console stand out. Nobody bought a Wii because it had the prettiest graphics, they bought a Wii because they wanted to play with the motion controls (An idea so good both the “superior” PS3 and Xbox 360 tried to copy it). The same thing is happening with the Switch: people are buying it because they can play their games anywhere, and can move between a handheld and a home console. They like to focus on giving customers something that they cannot get anywhere else.
* When Nintendo did try to compete on power, they didn’t do very well. The N64 and Gamecube were the most powerful consoles of their generations, but were both massively outsold by the “inferior” PS1 and PS2. The Wii was the weakest of its generation, but outsold the PS3 and Xbox 360. This proves Nintendo’s approach to console design clearly has something going for it.
* Performance is expensive. Performance is even more expensive when you are using it in niche applications. If Nintendo wanted to have something as powerful as an Xbox One or PS4, while still being portable, then it would probably cost twice as much. This means that Nintendo would have to charge more for the console (probably not something the market could sustain) and/or eat a hefty loss on each console sold. Instead, by not focusing on performance, Nintendo make a profit on each console, and keep it at a price point where more people can afford it.
* One of Nintendo’s biggest strengths is their first party titles, all of which rely on stylised graphics and strong art-style. It doesn’t matter that the console is not very powerful when Pokémon, Zelda, Mario (and its millions of spin offs), Smash Bros, Metroid and Donkey Kong are incredibly popular and all don’t care about high end graphics. Why make your console more expensive to make and develop for when you don’t even need it?
* The companies that tend to focus on graphics are third party developers, such as EA, Activision, and Rockstar. If the console sells well (like the Switch currently is), then those developers will find a way to bring their games to it or, failing that, make unique games that work best on the hardware.
* By not competing with the other consoles, or PCs, in terms of power, while offering unique gaming experiences, Nintendo has comfortably found a niche as an optional second system. If you have a PC, PS4 or Xbox One you have very little reason to buy one of the others, because they are all basically the same. Nintendo’s consoles offer things that none of the others offer, and thus can easily tempt people with another gaming device into purchasing it.
* Nintendo has also found a strong market in all ages These people don’t care about graphics, so why waste money on giving them something that they don’t want? An families don’t care that the Switch doesn’t have the best looking games, they’re just happy that they can have fun
Ever since the Wii era Nintendo has. Been trying to train us that power doesn’t matter
Whimsy and imagination and creativity and memorable experiences are more important to them
And y’all still aren’t getting it
Move on from Power
it don’t matter
Nintendo doesn’t want it
They think it’s boring
They don’t care
Official quote from iwata: "Even when we were going to launch the Wii system, there were a lot of voice saying 'Nintendo should stop making hardware'," Iwata recalled, talking to Gamasutra.
"The reasoning behind that was Nintendo would not have any chance against Microsoft and Sony. The fact of the matter was: I did not think Nintendo should compete against these companies with the same message and same entertainment options for people.
"We have not changed our strategy," he added. "In other words, we just do not care what kind of 'more beef' console Microsoft and Sony might produce in 2013. Our focus is on how we can make our new console different than [others]."
The switch is faithful to iwata’s legacy
.
another thing to note, by not purely focusing on power and using last gen specs for the wii, their consoles don't suffer from major issues over time like the original xbox 360 and fat PS3 did, and they could use their mistakes as a guideline for how far they should (not could) their graphics and power for reliability
in summary instead of focusing on better specs, streamline the existing specs already for a more reliable experience
I don't want to read all that but I'm pretty sure I agree.
Gunpei Yokoi's lateral thinking with withered technology which resulted in the Gameboy. Other handhelds were more powerful and had color, but the Gameboy was the only practical handheld back then. Sony and Microsoft were never game companies, they supplied the platform for 3rd parties. Nowadays Microsoft is haphzardly buying up studios for the IPs like EA did in the 2000s to only shut them down. Only Valve has the same sort of perspective.
I agree with everything you said except the part on the switch being a second system to someone that owned a PS4 or Xbox One the switch is not a system for me it’s my primary system because I don’t own a PlayStation or Xbox and have no desire to own a PlayStation or Xbox because they don’t vibe with what I want and only Nintendo vibes with what I want.
I agree with everything with you said except the part that the switch is a second system to somebody that owns an Xbox One or a PS4 or PC I owned a PS4 before I had a switch and I didn’t like it. I did not enjoy it so I traded it and that Credit to get so games as I already had made up my mind. I was getting an Nintendo switch and when I got my Nintendo switch I was absolutely happy with it because Nintendo is the only one that understands what came as one and that they are the only ones that are committed, to physical media Nintendo philosophy dives with Sony and Microsoft philosophies do not, I do not care about graphics frame or 4K nonsense. I care about gameplay and having fun and Nintendo makes beautiful graphics that have farm over charmed and any photo realistic 4K graphics that Microsoft and Sony games produce.
Butternut squash? Yes please
oooh, deep cut 😁😁
Yeah, but Solid Snake!
Man, the Wii U was a disaster for them. No wonder they abandoned it relatively quickly. That's what smart companies do: if you fail, fail quickly and move on to something else. Don't double or triple down out of ego.
it's also a product of video games going from being a sizable industry to becoming a really _really_ big industry in the last decade. more people want video games than ever before
People who grew up with the NES and SNES and N64 now have children and they're passing along the Nintendo childhood magic
NOOO THE BUG IS GONE, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
translation adds more O's XD
😢
@@profl0g1c38OOoOooOooo
@@profl0g1c38Translation into which language?
@@blau6832if it’s not showing up for you, TH-cam put the automatic “translate into English” button on this comment for some reason and it literally just adds two extra Os to the end lmaooo
This channel is truly a blessing. The outpour of videos here is amazing
I really hope they pump a lot of that money back into the company such as hiring more employees and just making even bigger and better games. Like..Nintendo has done this with hardware most would scoff at. I cannot wait to see what’s in store.
I don’t really wanna see “bigger” games. I think the main problem the game industry is facing is the fact that every company is rushing out enormous open world games every year, and those companies and fans are having burnout. But on the other hand, Nintendo is still making nice, small, quality experiences
@jackatk I agree but the price for smaller experiences should be smaller, too.
Where are some first party 30€ quality games?
Most remasters are full price which is a Joke imo.
more employees does not equal "bigger better games". just look at many other companies that do just that.
the money needs to be spent smarter, not "bigger".
also, Nintendo hardware at this point will always be less advanced/powerful than the other 2 console competitors. that's just how Nintendo plays (again, smarter not bigger).you don't need powerful hardware to make creative, well optimized games. it helps, but its not the end all be all.
If the Switch 2 fails people will still say Nintendo is going 3rd party
The struggling yen is helping Nintendo’s numbers, since currently they make more yen per overseas sale. That’s how they can have a higher income despite hardware and software sales actually being down from last year (still really good though)
The Mario Movie and theme parks helped significantly as well
Actually think Nintendo is a prime example of a company that let developers build what they want with quality instead of just letting sales and PR people run the company.
Well now we need Part 3: What can Nintendo expect for sales in the next generation?
Arlo bug arc continues
They make money on software because of 2 reasons. 1: they rarely if ever lower the prices and 2: Their games are 15 years behind in terms of tech so, they cost what a game cost to produce 15+ years ago.
selling 2009 games for 2024 prices is a bold move that seems to be working out flawlessly
Buggy is with Olimar
So it's dead?
It lives in the future, where Olimar comes from, after humanity went extinct.
I've actually seen goofballs say that Nintendo should just make "regular" consoles and controllers .
Sure, let's just kill any innovation in the video game industry.
Having regular console/controller doesnt exclude them from having creative games tho. People clearly like playing nintendo games with regular controllers,, that's why the pro controllers have always sold very well, and sometimes are even sold as pretty much a necessity.
If by "regular console/controller" they mean a more powerful console that doesnt have drifting joysticks then l dont see why that would be the definitive end of nintendo's creativity
No I’m tired of nintendos gimmick machines. I’m tired of motion controls and ir sensor games and eye bleeding “3D”. Not only are they unnecessary but these gimmicks also make it impossible to port or emulate later down the road. If that makes me a goofball then so be it
The Joycon, being two half controller, is one of the greatest innovation.
Using a classic controller just feels liké a downgrade for me now.
i hate the joycons and love the pro controller
@@evanpereira3555 okay thats cool, but that doesnt mean that nintendo couldnt still make creative games if they were to have regular controllers right? l like using joycons too, but whether people like using them doesnt really correlate with the level of creativity of the games they're used for :]
The upload schedule on TopicArlo is so insane that it felt like you were gone for an abnormally long time when your last upload was 2 days ago. This is insane.
I'm so glad that this channel exists, its so fun to see Arlo make these short but sweet videos
I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but I like how Arlo uses the cursor as if it's his own hand while emphasizing or emoting while talking. It's the little things. 😂
I love how you can put on Mariokart at whatever time and find an online game in seconds.
I love these videos. I get so excited every post, thanks Arlo!
iCarlo, I really appreciate these short form videos. Really love this new channel.
Satoru Iwata's last gift for Nintendo.
No way the will abandone this concept now.
More profit this generation than all of their previous existence AFTER adjusting for inflation.
and yet $70 games, and yet artificial scarcity / ebay scalping, and yet no discounts for the consumer, and yet...
Arlo talking about all the things Nintendo COULD do for the benefit of their customers, that they're NOT doing; with a vocal tone that implies its a good thing, flabbergasts me.
I'm actually kinda concerned, because it's kinda a trend that after an incredibly successful console phase. Like after the Wii with the Wii-U, or Microsoft after the 360, or Sony after the ps2. The companies get stupid, cocky or arrogant and flub the next generation. I worry after this staggering Switch success, Nintendo will do something boneheaded.
With Pokemon being on the system, I don't expect a GameCube or Wii U failure. But I also don't expect the Switch 2 to sell the same amount as the Switch.
Nintendo is uniquely stupid and cocky at the worst of times. I dread to imagine the lows they'll reach after a financial high like this.
Stop being so pessimistic I don’t think the switch 2 is gonna fail might make some head scratching decisions over so Microsoft are much much worse. Nintendo is the only one that understands that physical games matter. Nintendo is the only one that has made that commitment to physical games and they also understand that gameplay is what counts over graphics Fidelity and they had the sense to not, spend crazy amounts on hardware and development like both Sony and Microsoft
See I'm looking forward to that, because some of the best games Nintendo has ever created were always on the black sheep systems.
Nintendo is going to do fine just look at the Snes. It sold slightly less than the Nes but it carried the momentum from the last generation.
Glad to see arlo is a fellow bug lover
Nintendo have always had their biggest successes when they've lowered barriers to entry (the NES, DS, Wii, and Switch all follow this pattern) but with the Switch they captured the family audience with the tri-strategy of nostalgia, convenience, and family friendly gaming.
NSO, BotW being based on the original Zelda, Mario Odyssey harkening back to the original Mario and 64 brought the nostalgia.
Being able to steal five minutes play here and there on the train, in bed, or on even the toilet through its portability and sleep mode allowing quick access back into your game was incredibly convenient.
And finally Nintendo's family friendly focus has brought dividends for them as parents feel safe leaving their kids in the hands of this trusted brand.
Altogether it captured that market perfectly and is a big part of what made the Switch so successful for them.
I’m pretty sure Breath of The Wild fits in the Twilight Princess timeline given the mention of the glowing embers of twilight in one of the cutscenes.
The myth that Nintendo just only caters to families is outdated especially with games like Bayonetta even the Zelda games also have a dark tone to them. I’m intended isn’t sensitive their games anywhere near the scale of Sony and Microsoft.
@@Adamtendo_player_1 I didn't say they only cater to families, I said there was a focus on family friendly experiences.
For every Bayonetta, Xenoblade, or Metroid (I disagree that some dark tones makes most Zelda games unsuitable for younger audiences) game that Nintendo releases into the market, they release at least 10 games which are considered suitable for everyone from young kids to their grandparents.
I love this channel!!!! Thank you for making these videos!!!
I’m so thankful you made this channel Arlo
Are people not really looking at the actual answer?
Nintendo used to divide handhelds and Consoles, the handheld version always sold better and now the handheld is the main version
Before the Switch outsells the PS2, just know the world has 2 BILLION more people than when the PS2 launched.
With how they left out the cutsenes and music from Pokémon cartridges so they could charge less for them, I can see why people want digital. It's easier yeah, but you aren't even guaranteed the whole game will even be on it :/
We will miss you Mr bug
I’m just hoping that Nintendo’s success doesn’t go to their heads and the become arrogant and do super anti-consumer things because of their success, not that they don’t do anti-consumer stuff already.
When Multibillion dollar companies do well, customers suffer. Mark my words.
I'm just waiting for the Switch U.
Crazy to think that less than a decade ago people were certain Nintendo was gonna go third party. Now it looks like Microsoft could be doomed to that fate.
I think the pandemic really helped them out, people where home playing and they already had the old wii u games they just had to port, printing money for them.
I think the next generation will be a bit harder to keep this going.
Whenever nintendo does well xbox and playstation usually copies something like motion controls. I hope they copy the smaller budget fun games instead of just making a handheld.
Sony closed Japan Studio, Microsoft closed a bunch of studios, that ship has already sailed right into the budget whirlpool that they keep sinking deeper and deeper into.
Arlo about to be like “Yo Pierre, you wanna come out here?”
So glad you started this channel
I miss the buggy
The bug is now living inside the belly of a blackbird.
He’s waiting for the rent prices to come down so he can move to a bigger place.
This is a double edged sword as successful companies don't see the need to always try or put their best effort forwards as seen with Pokemon sales.
That’s just because Gamefreak had never made home console games before the Switch, let alone open world 3D titles. They made 2D top down handheld titles. It’s not shocking they can’t make a smooth running game. Nintendo should offer them some resources from the Xenoblade teams or something. They don’t fully own Pokémon, so they can only do so much though.
@garvensman The Pokémon branch of Gamefreak has consistently had issues, even all the way back to 2nd gen. One of the more famous Iwata stories is that he assisted Gamefreak with GSC's compression and made the situation go from "can't fit Johto on a Gameboy cartridge" to "Kanto and Johto both fit on one cartridge." They have a history of not taking the time or investing heavily in their games' optimization.
@@jasonkeith2832 Who could forget how poorly Diamond and Pearl ran on the DS even though they were released 3 years after it came out?
@phillipclearman859 okay but like... they really had something going when they made ss/hg, right? Like they put a LOT into making all those lil walking sprites, to where it almost was too much for them to accomplish, and they made it work anyway.
Nintendo themselves also kinda have a tendency to think like that,, you can see it with the WiiU and the launchyear of the 3ds,, their predecessors sold So well that nintendo figured they'd sell pretty much on their own no matter what. l'm interested to see if they learned their lessons from those mistakes
And yet, i still haven't made any money on the stocks i purchased 6 years ago.
This kind of videos is pretty interesting, keep them coming 😁
Physical sales in stores do give the retailers a cut, but it’s a super minimal amount.
I work at a game store - for reference, when we sell a PlayStation 5, we make $2 from that sale. When we sell a game, we make about 1% of that.
The business stays afloat through other services such as peripherals,preowned games etc.
I understand Nintendo sales numbers get you excited but I am not an investor nor do I own any part of Nintendo and I personally think their best years was previous years when they were trying hard. Numbers mean nothing to consumers.
Either where you’re going, we’ll just come it was when they were competing with Sony and Microsoft blah blah blah blah and hardware blah blah blah blah blah and how did that work out for Nintendo? It didn’t really work out for them. Nintendo was found away that works for them by not competing with Microsoft and Sony and focusing on this gems, innovation and creativity And Nintendo games have a charmed that neither Sony or Microsoft can ever hope to match.
With nintendo already employing the grimy tactics of never lowering prices and preying on people through convenience, by investing heavily in the eshop presence, I can only shudder at the thought of what other unscrupulous methods they might employ for the next Gen console in order to beat profits from the switch. It is an inevitability, since the shareholders will, ultimately, always come before the consumers. At some point, mtx and lower quality games are to be expected.
4:21 That is not SOny published games vs nintendo published games. That is all games sales at playstation platform vs all game sales at nintendo platform. Sony's only game last year was spiderman and sold around only 10 million
3:09 "Including the one that I _preside_ in" - innocent mistake, or a telling reveal? We know Arlo has singlehandedly shut down the Google Play twitter account, willed the TTYD remake into existence, and created a new holiday to celebrate indie games. Who knows what else he might have been up to? Who knows how his power has grown, and will continue to grow?
The pandemic when people had to stay home really ended up good for Nintendo. The affordability compared to the competition, ease of play with handheld mode, the casual appeal, and having Animal Crossing drop at the perfect time to escape from reality really sold those Switches like hot cakes. Will this success be repeated with in the next generation? I highly doubt it. The Switch was like a perfect storm scenario for Nintendo that rarely happens. I would actually temper the hype somewhat because throughout the entertainment industry, corporations are struggling with the end of the pandemic high where profit was hugely inflated. I'm sure Nintendo will feel that as well eventually.
it probably isn't enough for nintendo and their shareholders, it never is.
I figured the Wii/DS era was more profitable since their combined system sales STILL dwarfs that of the Switch, and because they had so many high-selling games on those systems just like the Switch does (with game development probably still being cheaper then because of older hardware), but APPARENTLY NOT. I underestimated the power of the EShop apparently.
Having to support the production and distribution of 2 separate systems and separate development teams for each system ate into their profits.
@@ironicdivinemandatestan4262 I imagined that splitting the attention wouldn't cause much problems because both systems were making truckloads of money, but apparently not!
@@calvinbrinenestoris2357 Also, while the Wii as a console sold well, the game sales didn't reflect that. A lot of people bought it for Wii Sports, maybe got another game or two like Mario Galaxy, then were done. That's not the case with the Switch.
@@ironicdivinemandatestan4262 Oh very true, I just figured that that generation's console sales combined with their still incredibly high game sales had the Switch beat. I was mistaken.
You underestimated the power of the switch and imagine trying play down sales of the switch by combining the Wii and DS sales which I’m sure Nintendo doesn’t do.
Could only imagine how much higher if it wasn’t for the controversies, like the Joy-Con drift, the strikes on TH-cam videos, the Smash tournament fiasco, and all of the small dumb things that put Nintendo in a villainous, greedy, anti-consumerist situation.
Nobody’s perfect, but they sure could have done better doing things for us instead of against us.
Speak for yourself the numbers don’t lie and I don’t think just because you are not happy with a lot of what Nintendo is done or they’ve made it wouldn’t have made a difference instead of whining about what Nintendo has done to make you unhappy with them celebrate the fact that Nintendo is the last two gaming company we have left The company you should be moaning or rather the companies that you should be mad at and Michael Roso we were a lot of the recent stuff they’ve done that are far more anti-consumer than anything Nintendo was done so Microsoft are true companies all they care about is 4K graphics and performance Nintendo cares about what’s truly important that is gameplay and a great story also Nintendo cares about physical media, unlike the other two.
another thing to consider is i can see families buying multiple switches for their kids whereas the Wii, why would you ever buy more than 1 unless it broke? Nintendo tapped into this way of thinking
if the switch 2 releases as digital-only in 2025, all the games you buy for it will be rendered unplayable by 2032.
I absolutely believe that the Switch will overtake the DS and PS2 in the next year or two and become the best selling console of all time
"devs can't make good games if they're worried about their job security" and hope this rings true for the foreseeable future as well
I'm just so curious to see how they're gonna handle next generation. I know we're gonna get news on it soon, but... Looking into the past, The Gamecube didn't do well, the Wii made all the money, the Wii U is those red points on the graph, and the Switch made all the money². Which means... they can't keep up this pattern. How do they avoid losing all the money³?
We went from being a house with 0 Nintendo consoles to a house with 5 Switch players. I’m sure the fact the more of us have income now counts, but we still made the choice to buy Switches, because they’re just cool.
One other thing you forgot to mention! Because of Japan's conversion rate and prices, the money they make from western countries is even more valuable in yen then usd or euros.
I'll miss the bug. He was chill
Remarkable how the really big numbers seem to start around 2020. I wonder what could have happened that year to cause videogame sales to increase? Well, you didn't mention anything so I guess we'll never know...