Why Nintendo Is Doomed (hint: they're not)

Nintendo is in a dark place these days. At least, that's what many in the media would have you believe. Well, if so many people are saying it, it must be true, right? Wrong. Nintendo is here to stay, and I'll give a billion* reasons why.

Nintendo has Mario

Never underestimate the plumber's power to please. Since Mario Bros. was released in the arcades, Nintendo has sold over half a billion Mario games. Let that sink in for a moment. Half. A. Billion. Clearly, Nintendo is doomed. And it's not just the old games that have sold well. New Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros. Wii each sold over 25 million copies. Super Mario 3D World has sold over a million units since it was released at the end of last year (and was the #1 selling video game on Amazon for a few days during the holidays). And it's not just numbers. Many Mario games are consistently listed as some of the most influential of all games. Mario 1, Mario 3, Mario World, Mario 64, New Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario 3D World are all games that have redefined and refined the genre, along with gaming as a whole.

Nintendo has a ton of money

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that Nintendo sold a whole buncha Wiis. Over 100 million, in fact. And they put a lot of that money in the bank. In fact, as of about 2 years ago, Nintendo had over $10 billion in the bank. With that much money, Nintendo could create several systems that totally fail and still not be bankrupt. It's ridiculous to think that just because one of their systems is selling less than expected, that they are doomed. And for the record, the Wii U has still sold more than the Xbox One or the PS4.

Nintendo has the 3DS

Some bloggers and other retards often forget that the 3DS is selling very, very well. Over 40 millions units, in fact. That's over 5 times more than the "so-powerful-it-will-kill-Nintendo" Playstation [Vel]Vita. The reason? Games. The 3DS has Animal Crossing, Fire Emblem, Zelda, and several Mario games. And the Wii U will likely get the same bump in sales with its new crop of titles in 2014, such as Mario Kart and Smash Bros.

Nintendo has big franchises

These days, it's cool to think that a company that owns Pokemon, Donkey Kong, Zelda, Animal Crossing, Kirby, and F-Zero will just suddenly disappear. It's cool, but it's stupid. Each of the series mentioned (and many others) have sold millions of games. So yeah, of course Nintendo is dead. I mean, come on, how could they possibly make money when they sell so many games? RIGHT?!

Nintendo is not Sony or Microsoft

Everyone knows Nintendo is the best company ever (not a joke). I believe that much of their success is their dedication to one thing: games. Sony and Microsoft are different. They sell software, electronics, and many other things. What some people do not realize is that the gaming divisions of these companies are often losing money. In fact, shareholders for both Sony and Microsoft are pressuring their board members to sell off those divisions completely. Now, of course, shareholders are completely irrational and often completely idiotic, but the fact remains that the Xbox and the Playstation often lose money. In fact, in the first 10 years of Microsoft's foray into gaming, they lost $3 billion dollars. And when the Playstation 3 first launched, Sony was losing an estimated $300 per console. Those sound like winners to me!

There's a lot more, but I think you get the point. Nintendo is fine. Do they need to make changes? Sure. Will they have to adapt to stay relevant? Maybe. But they are nowhere near the dire straits that they are painted to be in. And in case you wanted more proof at how out-of-touch people can be, here are some recent claims made by various "writers".

Nintendo Should Focus All Its Efforts on Smartphone Games like Flappy Bird [NOTE: Smartphone games that do succeed are often just lucky. The App Store is 99.99% pure garbage.]

Logitech's New iPhone Controller Will Destroy Nintendo [NOTE: This 'Nintendo-Killing' controller only works on the iPhone 5 (not any previous or future models) and it only works with games that support it. Oh, and it's $100.]

Nintendo Should Stop Making the Wii U [Yeah, millions of people already own one, let's just pull the plug because some disenfranchised fart-face says so.]

In short, don't listen to anyone but me. The end.

-benjamines

*low-ball estimate