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The advent of“SuperMario Run” represents a huge change for the company. Five years ago Satoru Iwata, Nintendo’s late boss, warned that “Nintendo would cease to be Nintendo” if it went mobile. Until now it has clung to its “walled garden” model whereby its Mario games could be played only on Nintendo hardware, enticing players to buy its new consoles as well as the latest hit game.
“SuperMario Run”游戲的到來體現(xiàn)了任天堂公司的巨大變化谦屑。五年前袍患，任天堂的上一位領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人巖田聰曾警告說如果任天堂進(jìn)軍手游業(yè)，那么“任天堂就不再是任天堂了”沮翔。直到現(xiàn)在任天堂仍然緊守它的“圍墻花園”使得馬里奧之類的的游戲只能在自家的硬件上才能玩到，以刺激玩家同時購買新主機(jī)和新的大作神妹。
The problem is that these days, not even Mario, Zelda or Donkey Kong can shift enough of Nintendo’s underwhelming consoles. Sales of hardware, which have accounted for 50-60% of its revenue each year since 2005, are slumping. Nintendo’s first Wii, aimed at casual gamers, was the best-selling console of its generation. But its successor, the Wii U—pricey and poorly marketed when it was launched in 2012—was a flop. A big reason is that families and youngsters, its target market, were playing games on their parents’ tablets and smartphones instead. In contrast, Sony and Microsoft, which make the PS4 and the Xbox, respectively, target hard-core gamers. Nintendo reported annual losses in 2011-2013.
問題是在現(xiàn)今彼硫，即使是馬里奧、塞爾達(dá)或者大金剛這些游戲也無法刺激任天堂低迷的主機(jī)銷量剪芍。自從 2005 年以來硬件銷售的收入占比可以達(dá)到 50% 到 60% 碾牌，但這種收入正在下跌。任天堂的第一代 Wii 主機(jī)，瞄準(zhǔn)了休閑玩家，成為那一代主機(jī)中銷量最高的。但是在 2012 年它的繼任者 Wii U 發(fā)布時毫缆，高價和糟糕的市場營銷使得其遭遇滑鐵盧。一個重要的原因在于任天堂的目標(biāo)群體，也就是家庭玩家和年輕人開始在父母的平板或者智能手機(jī)上玩游戲官撼。相對的，索尼和微軟發(fā)布的 PS4 和 Xbox 則分別瞄準(zhǔn)了核心玩家。在 2011-2013 年間任天堂都在虧損工坊。
Free-to-play smartphone games always seemed to Nintendo like junk food, says Mr Toto, next to the gourmet fare—its $200 consoles and $60 games. The standard “freemium” revenue model for mobile games relies on in-app purchases of virtual goods that enhance the game. This is unpalatable to Nintendo as a games firm selling to families because it could be seen as taking direct advantage of the addictive qualities of its products. It also worried that allowing third-party games developers to use its characters willy-nilly in simple mobile games early on would cheapen them. When some repeatedly suggested going mobile, Mr Miyamoto declined. He was the only one at the company that Mr Iwata could not overrule, says a Nintendo watcher at a bankin Tokyo.
免費的智能手機(jī)游戲在任天堂看來就是垃圾食物啊易，Toto 先生說道割去，在他身邊的是一份珍饈，價值 200 美元的主機(jī)和 60 美元的游戲辐董。對于智能手機(jī)游戲而言壤靶，標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的免費游戲收入模式在于提升游戲體驗的內(nèi)購商品。這對任天堂這樣一家以家庭為市場目標(biāo)的游戲公司而言是不可接受的恬惯，因為這看起來就像是利用了他們游戲的易上癮特點向拆。同時，任天堂也擔(dān)心允許第三方游戲開發(fā)商隨意使用他們的游戲角色會使得游戲角色的價值受損酪耳。當(dāng)不斷有人提出開發(fā)手機(jī)游戲時浓恳，宮本先生拒絕了。東京的一個任天堂觀察員表示：他是公司唯一一個巖田聰先生不能反對的人碗暗。
