Wii U Analysis
Nintendo’s Position in the Next Console Generation
Nintendo: Over the years
Nintendo Co, Ltd. is a large, multinational firm that is headquartered out of Kyoto in Japan. The company began over 120 years ago in 1889, but didn’t look or operate like they do now. In the beginning, Nintendo developed a popular Japanese card game, called Hanafuda. The demand for the game quickly increased, helping the company grow. The strategy of making playing cards continue all the way until the mid 1900s at which time they began to extend their brand, from owning a taxi company to operating a love hotel chain. Needless to say, these ventures failed and soon after, in 1974, Nintendo went back to focusing on their core competencies of making engaging games. They finally entered into the electronic market, starting off making games for the video arcade game industry. [1]
In 1985, Nintendo began to compete within the video game console industry by producing it’s first console, the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES. Over the next 20 years, Nintendo fiercely competed in an industry dominated by only a few key players, including Sega (Genesis), Sony (Playstation) and Microsoft (Xbox), with each company releasing newer generations of their consoles every 5-6 years at which time a new leader would emerge[2]. After leading the pack in most of the 1980s, Nintendo slowly lost traction until 2006 when they introduced their 7th generation, the Nintendo Wii.
At the time of the release, the Sony Playstation 3 and the Microsoft Xbox 360 were doing extremely well, both selling out at their launch. Despite Nintendo Wii’s inferior technological capabilities, such as graphics, the Wii quickly dominated the market due to the introduction of an innovative new controller that was wireless. The Wii’s relatively simple controls and games attracted a brand new target market – individuals who had never owned consoles before or who were not video gamers.. This allowed Nintendo to capture an
Nintendo: Over the years
Nintendo Co, Ltd. is a large, multinational firm that is headquartered out of Kyoto in Japan. The company began over 120 years ago in 1889, but didn’t look or operate like they do now. In the beginning, Nintendo developed a popular Japanese card game, called Hanafuda. The demand for the game quickly increased, helping the company grow. The strategy of making playing cards continue all the way until the mid 1900s at which time they began to extend their brand, from owning a taxi company to operating a love hotel chain. Needless to say, these ventures failed and soon after, in 1974, Nintendo went back to focusing on their core competencies of making engaging games. They finally entered into the electronic market, starting off making games for the video arcade game industry. [1]
In 1985, Nintendo began to compete within the video game console industry by producing it’s first console, the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES. Over the next 20 years, Nintendo fiercely competed in an industry dominated by only a few key players, including Sega (Genesis), Sony (Playstation) and Microsoft (Xbox), with each company releasing newer generations of their consoles every 5-6 years at which time a new leader would emerge[2]. After leading the pack in most of the 1980s, Nintendo slowly lost traction until 2006 when they introduced their 7th generation, the Nintendo Wii.
At the time of the release, the Sony Playstation 3 and the Microsoft Xbox 360 were doing extremely well, both selling out at their launch. Despite Nintendo Wii’s inferior technological capabilities, such as graphics, the Wii quickly dominated the market due to the introduction of an innovative new controller that was wireless. The Wii’s relatively simple controls and games attracted a brand new target market – individuals who had never owned consoles before or who were not video gamers.. This allowed Nintendo to capture an