Nintendo’s Future No More Secure After E3

Nintendo’s E3 showing wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but that isn’t saying much. E3 2016 should have been Nintendo’s to win. After all, the company that once single-handedly saved the video game industry has a new console coming out in 2017. The mid-generation release of the Nintendo NX should have put the company in a prime position. Just as their competitors’ consoles lost steam to the void between early adopters and late generation discount shoppers, the Nintendo NX would swoop in. If Nintendo could manage a perfect mix of power and fresh, creative titles, it could have been an epic come-from-behind win, one which the company badly needs.

Unfortunately for fans, everything that happened at E3 2016 suggests that the Nintendo NX’s reign, whenever it begins, won’t last long.

Sony and Microsoft both announced high powered updates to their respective systems. The specifications of the PlayStation Neo and Project Scorpio haven’t been released yet, but with the Nintendo NX struggling to match the power of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, it seems unlikely that the NX will keep up with the updates.

Nintendo knows that the NX is in a perilous position. According to Tech Times, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has already begun adjusting expectations for the new console.

“For us, it’s not about specs, it’s not about teraflops, it’s not about the horsepower of a particular system. For us, it’s about the content. We’re focused on bringing our best entertainment to both the Wii U as well as the NX in the future. So for us, whatever Microsoft and Sony are doing in terms of talking about new systems, that’s for them to fight out in that red ocean.”

Nowhere was Nintendo’s content first philosophy on display more than E3 2016. Microsoft devoted precious real estate in its glitzy press conference to its updated consoles. Sony opted to hold the unveiling of Project Neo, instead focusing on the PlayStation VR accessory. In their glitzy press event. Nintendo went with a more low-key event. The Nintendo Treehouse felt more like an unending series of behind the scenes breakout sessions than a press conference. Interviews and footage from the Nintendo Treehouse event focused on Pokemon and The Legend of Zelda, two exclusive properties that have always been gold for Nintendo. The Nintendo NX, which launches in March, 2017, didn’t appear at E3 2016.

The problem at Nintendo isn’t content, or rather it’s not the only problem. Nintendo still has a list of exclusive intellectual properties that are beloved by gamers of all ages. If Nintendo learned one lesson from the tragedy of the Wii U, it should have been that their in-house exclusive properties aren’t enough to sustain an entire console generation. Third party developers had trouble creating ports that incorporated the gimmick of the Wii, but a low price point and casual gamer appeal saved that console. The Wii U wasn’t as lucky, and by 2015, third party developers had abandoned the underpowered console entirely.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, none of the Top 10 video games of 2015 were Nintendo titles, in no small part because third-party developers largely abandoned the platform.

According to Forbes, everything at Nintendo isn’t doom and gloom. There are only a few things Nintendo needs to do to turn the situation around. A more third-party friendly development process, for starters. More third party content will bring stability and consistency to Nintendo’s release schedule — another must for them to get back in the console game. Unfortunately, the very things that Nintendo needs to change are the things that have put the company in the position it’s in.

If Nintendo continues doing business the way they have been, it seems just a matter of time before the NX goes the way of the Wii U, an unusually short life cycle that ends with a whimper and a new console release.

[Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images]