This past Tuesday, Nintendo posted a third year of losses. Satoru Iwata refuses to let this happen for another year. He has some ideas that can help save Nintendo's future.

Live Consoles

Nintendo has obviously been looked down upon by the high end console makers: Sony and Microsoft. If you look at their consoles capabilities, they both have something in common. The ability to record and upload video directly from the console. How is this important you ask? Well, one of the theories I came up with was that people do this regularly. Check Youtube, you'll find a HUGE gaming community dedicated to Let's Plays and collaborations which are all recorded and uploaded from the device (or not because of editing). It is a vital modern feature. People, especially gamers, don't watch tv or movies. They watch Youtube and online streaming. This is a key concept that Nintendo must grasp in order to grab a bigger share of the video game console market.
Mario Kart 8, when released, will have a new feature named "Mario Kart TV" where players can upload their best races and times to show the world via internet. This is an important step towards Nintendo's revival because it will be available on most platforms (PC, smartphone, etc.) Nintendo will be trying to catch up with it's competitors "live" consoles this way.

New Consoles in Emerging Markets

Now this is an idea I'm sure many people have heard of. It's not the already known idea of Nintendo launching some of it's Virtual Console games into the App Store and Google Play Store, because Nintendo denied that rumor a few months ago.
Iwata stated his surprising intention to develop new consoles for emerging markets. These will be entirely unique platforms rather than modified versions of the Wii U or 3DS. “We want to make new things, with new thinking rather than a cheaper version of what we currently have,” Iwata said. “The product and price balance must be made from scratch.”
This could potentially mean Nintendo launching entirely brand new consoles in countries like Brazil and India where they have not made a huge influence, and places where the middle-class does not have any past experience using video game consoles. And again, it's about finding new ways to diversify its potential market without making the dramatic leap toward developing games for other platforms such as smartphones.

NFC Characters

A big problem with the Wii U is that one of its major capabilities is not being used. NFC (near-field communication) is being well adapted in the smartphone world. NFC can be used to digitally use your banking account, or to set certain functions when you slide your phone past an NFC tag. On the Wii U gamepad, it can read data from an NFC object nearby or on top of the controller. This technology has been extremely successful with the series "Skylanders". Nintendo did announce that this fall they'd be releasing characters (NFC) that could store user data. I'm not sure exactly what this means but maybe real-life Mii figurines? Or somehow be able to login directly to Nintendo Network is your 'character' is nearby.

"The 'toys to life' sector is currently dominate by Skylanders and Disney Infinity, both of which are pumping the market with updates and new figures, so its arguable whether there's any growth left in the sector. But if there is, cute Mario, Zelda and Metroid figures are going to be the way to find it." (Keith Stuart, The Guardian)

Health and Fitness

A final way for Nintendo to step up, is through the world of fitness. We've seen many other companies do this. Nike with it's fuelband and Jawbone with it's Jawbone Up. Nintendo did try this when it released the Wii Fit and Wii Fit Balance Board. The functionality was great and I personally know many people who still use it today. It is an exploding market right now because the world is getting FAT. Just kidding. People just like staying fit, but don't like the harsh running or gym memberships. Wii Fit was an amazing product of the Wii and it's hilarious because Nintendo was being laughed at when it first released the Wii for having to get up and be fit and move around. Now, Xbox has followed suit and so has Playstation. The Wii has sold over 100M units in it's entire lifetime.

The Verdict

Nintendo has a lot to do before it can possibly dream of achieving a spot at the top again. They still produce prime games and great consoles, but the world of gaming is changing, and so are big companies. Nintendo does have the potential to regain it's place on the top, but it'll have to go through some tough changes. This isn't to say that it will ever fall to the bottom and become neglected. I'm just saying Nintendo will do it, and it will have to do remarkable things. If this means new and cooler games and devices, then by all means, do your thing Nintendo.

Sources:
-http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/may/08/nintendos-five-ideas-to-save-its-future
-http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/08/us-nintendo-emergingmarkets-idUSBREA4703U20140508
-http://recode.net/2014/05/09/nintendo-is-playing-catch-up-with-interactive-toys-that-might-be-a-good-thing/
-http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/flagging-sales-increased-competition-could-it-be-game-over-for-nintendo/article18543032/

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