Nintendo is one the most powerful video games manufacturers in the industry. The Japanese multinational company’s success in advancing its video games hardware after every four years has enabled it to become Japan’s third most valuable listed company with a market value of more than $85 billion. But now the company appears to be trading cautiously.
President Satoru Iwata’s declaration that Nintendo’ existing four year model is on the verge of being scrapped has raised a good amount of doubt. This might lead many to panic and believe that the company is lacking ideas and personnel to develop the much fancies hardware but the Iwata says that the policy is being done away with for strategic reasons.
Iwata’s believes that the four year cycle is too inflexible for his hardware engineers and software manufacturers to fulfill as they have to work in a hurry. That’s not to say that the personnel have lost their imagination and ideas but the plan does prove to be a thorn in the path of progress since it severely trims down the creativity by setting a time limit.
Mr. Satoru Iwata says:
I’m quite doubtful that such a notion of platform cycles can be applied in the future. As we continue our research and study for new hardware, when we will be able to launch a new kind of hardware will actually depend on when we can change entertainment completely, and so have a strong impact on people around the world. Or, there will certainly be a time when we have to say that we have done everything possible with the current machine, that we can never propose anything new. Scheduling for a rather fixed launch date four years from today, regardless of future changes in the industry and the market, appears to be too inflexible an approach to us.
So Nintendo’s policy of updating its hardware every four years is getting eradicated. What next for the Japanese company?
Image Source: Media Gamespy
Source: MCVUK
