Nintendo in crisis

Nintendo is a great company with very informed people. The "problem" is two-fold:

1) Nintendo is not just a publisher of its own games, but also a platform for others. In Japan, there are major hits like the Monster Hunter[1] franchise that is currently exclusive to Nintendo. Japanese people do not look at devices for the devices themselves, per se, instead they will buy the device that allows them to play the franchise that they enjoy the most (ie, Monster Hunter or Pokemon, etc.)

Thus, it is wise for Nintendo to continue to make revenues that will be tied to successful software/game franchises.

2) Nintendo has a culture of ROMs and direct addressing. You will notice that when a game boots up that it is impossible to switch back to the home screen. In actuality, the OS/core libraries are actually statically linked into the software. The philosophy of the Nintendo platform has always been one where the device won't get into the way of the gaming experience. In other words, I would doubt if you ever see multitasking on a Nintendo console.

Nintendo is in its own unique position and is fortunate to have a wonderful and caring fan-base. They are building a new corporate office here in Kyoto and things are relatively well for them.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Hunter

Debatable. 3DS is doing very well. I agree that the WiiU is not doing so fine, but I expect the games shortage to end soon... The 3DS also had the same problem in the beggining.

Also, this is the "nintendo is doomed" cycle that repeats itself everytime..

"A gaming platform doesn’t have to compete with iOS on its own terms, but it does have to at least match it in the areas that are relevant to gaming."

I wonder if this is true. I'd like to think that, if you're doing a game console, you don't necessarily have to match Apple at "ownership experience". Like, you can maybe make up for that by putting, say, buttons, on your console. Or Pokeymans.