Edery: Nintendo Had Better Watch Out For Apple, Google

Author: by Staff

Though the company has been adamant about refusing to compete on price with the App Store, consultant David Edery identifies a potential comparison in the world of business that should alarm the Kyoto giant. "In the very near future, it's very possible that Nintendo could wake up and find that Apple has eaten their lunch -- or Google through Android has done it," said Edery, as part of Gamasutra's latest feature -- which looks at how free-to-play games and microtransactions are affecting the market. "If the console makers don't start the transition process immediately, well, history is littered with companies that waited too long to embrace a revolution that was threatening their core business," he said. Nintendo, for its part, has been adamant about its desires to continue to chart the same course. "Content has value, and we really want to maintain the high value of that content," 3DS project lead Hideki Konno told Gamasutra recently. "So now in terms of one dollar games, or free games, or whatever that is out there in the market, I mean, really, we're not going to be competing with that." However, Edery suggests the company may not have a choice. "I mean, Kodak is the classic example. Digital photography was trying to take off and Kodak had this incredibly lucrative film business -- so they hemmed and hawed about whether it was worth tackling. The next thing you know it, Kodak is a shadow of its former self. That's exactly what can happen to console makers, there's just no question about it," he said. The full feature, which delves into the topic, contains more from Edery as well as pioneer of free-to-play at EA, Ben Cousins, and Infinity Blade and Shadow Complex developer Donald Mustard.