IGN's Nintendo Team Editor Richard George has written an article about Nintendo and there recent financial loss. The article itself is quite insightful. Some points are a little obvious but his outlook on the future of Nintendo brings calm to the recent panic which the internet seems to be fixated with.

Money isn't everything in the video game industry, particularly with a company as fiscally responsible and clever as Nintendo. The company still has its reserves, and its fortunes have already turned around. Looking at everything around the balance sheet, the company is doing much better than it was a half a year ago. With that kind of performance, investors and fans have nothing to worry about in the long term.

Click here to read the full article.

So Nintendo is trying to kickstart its wi-fi service with Nintendo Network and analysts have been chatting about it. Will Nintendo Network succeed or is it too little too late. I've pasted some analyst views below.

Billy Pidgeon, M2 Research

Mr. Iwata's comments regarding Nintendo Network during Nintendo's recent Q3 briefing were guarded, as usual, but indicate that Nintendo now considers a strong online network component crucial to the company's success. Iwata's strategic commercial guidelines for Nintendo Network are expansive: adding value to game purchases with add-on paid or free content transactions rather than exploiting customer relationships with pay to play schemes while maintaining open business models for third party publishers. However, his remarks on timing and alienating consumers without Internet connections are not forward thinking. Iwata said Nintendo "will make a bold attempt when the time is ripe." Perhaps Nintendo isn't yet ready, but the time has been ripe for some five years now, and the company is late to the party.

Citing concerns about safeguarding children online, which are reasonable, and doubts that online software transactions had sufficient potential for substantial returns on investment, which are unfounded, the company has acted far too slowly to expand their consoles' and handhelds' online game networks and marketplaces. 3DS' connectivity features are somewhat promising, but the experience is not nearly as satisfying as connecting with friends and other gamers on Xbox Live and PSN, which is an easier and more open process.

Nintendo Network should not only compete with Xbox Live and PSN, but should also create a unique platform that adds another dimension to the dedicated gaming hardware experience. A successful online network will keep gamers active on Nintendo hardware more frequently, for longer sessions with real potential to increase software attach rates as well as paid downloads of standalone or add-on content. I'd like to see Nintendo move more quickly to build out online network features to better connect gamers on 3DS and give Nintendo Network a running start in advance of Wii U's launch.

"Nintendo may have to think outside of the box on how to message the value add that DLC can provide." - Jesse Divnich

Jesse Divnich, EEDAR

Nintendo faces many challenges with creating a value-added and robust online network. They certainly are far less down the experience curve than Microsoft or Sony, but I believe the network will be well received among gamers.

The question remains, however, can Nintendo transition the non-hobbyist Wii consumer into a digital atmosphere? I don't foresee any issues within the core gaming community, but the casual gamers may need a little push. We've seen with Kinect consumers--who are the Wii consumer--that DLC wasn't an appealing feature. If these "casual" consumers are unwilling to download DLC, even on what most consider the "best" online digital network, Nintendo may have to think outside of the box on how to message the value add that DLC can provide.

That being said, among core gamers, I don't see DLC or online activity being a problem for Nintendo.

David Cole, DFC Intelligence

Having watched Nintendo going online over many years I would say they have been very focused on a slow and steady pace to build an online presence and for them I think that makes sense.

Ten years ago when Microsoft was building Xbox Live DFC predicted that other manufacturers would eventually follow suit with wanting to have their own network that they controlled versus having an open network. The thing is that is easier said than done. Problems that we have seen pop-up on both PSN and Xbox Live show the challenges.

For Nintendo they had their own selling points for their products that made it less urgent to focus on an online network. The Wii and DS allowed for online game play and downloadable content, it just wasn't under a full-fledged "Nintendo Network." Also this is a way to make it sound like they are really just starting. So now they will hopefully take all the lessons they learned from various experiences and apply them to a fully featured network.

I would also note that Nintendo did not really have a great need to focus on an online network until now. I do not think the Wii and DS lifecycle would have been greatly impacted by Nintendo having more robust online offerings. But launching a new system in 2012 consumers expect a solid online experience and really it is Apple to blame, not Xbox Live or PSN.

Michael Pachter, Wedbush Securities

I absolutely think they are doing the right thing, and think they will eventually get it right. No, I don’t think they will be able to compete with XBL and PSN until they go through the same growing pains that the others went through. It took XBL at least 3 years to be great, and took PSN even longer. I think Nintendo will succeed, but not for at least two years after launch, and by then, the others will be bigger and will have created greater barriers to entry.

Nintendo of America has announced via a press release that the Pearl Pink Nintendo 3DS console will be available to purchase separately starting from February 10th. The Pearl Pink Nintendo 3DS will only previously available to purchase with Nintendogs + Cats. The console will be offered at the R.R.P of $169.99

I've never seen anything like this before but I suppose there's always a first. Today saw the launch of Capcom's latest Resi Evil title on 3DS and they actually released a box art with a spelling mistake in the title.



Have you ever seen anything like this before? I'm surprised that a major publisher would miss something as simple as this.

Online gaming publication CVG claims that an industry insider has suggested that Nintendo are considering changing that name of the Wii U. Nintendo are considering such a move due to the public confusion that has surrounded the Nintendo 3DS console since launch. We will find out if that is the case at this years E3 event in June, but what would you like the name to be? Or perhaps Nintendo should keep it the same?

Hey All

I've found an interesting article: http://gamasutra.com/view/news/39881/Op ... _grace.php

It's all about NFC or Near Field Communication, Nintendo have recently announced it's inclusion with the Wii U, but what does it actually mean? It is in fact the technology that involves the transfer of data between two sources that only have to be close to one another. Funny enough however this technology has been around for years but no one really has associated the name even though it is used in smartcards for example.

A closer to home example is the recently released Skylanders and its Portal Of Power, basically you place figurines on the portal and it downloads content to the game which the player can interact with. Now imagine the uses they could involve with the Wii U (Pokémon??) the article lists a few good ideas:

- Demo's (Perhaps even games?)
- Nintendo Points
- Extra Game Content

All Nintendo or any Third-Party developers would have to do is load these sort things onto NFC encoded models, cards etc and then you could simply take it home and scan it to your Wii U and wahey! The article even suggests a points fob or something you could keep on your keys or wallet you could top-up at your local game store, the possibilities are numerous...

I just thought I would share this cool little idea with you, hopefully you understand NFC better when you go to use it on your Wii U's

Japan Trust Technology has released a battery which gives you a whopping ten hours of battery life out of your Nintendo 3DS console. The downside to the device is the fact that it makes your Nintendo 3DS look exceptionally chunky, but it could be a good trade-off for 4.4 times the system’s standard battery life. Sounds good, hopefully similar paks will make their way to the UK and US, I mean I still play my DS Phat so a chunky DS isn't a problem for me