Despite Facebook gaming being the industry’s latest craze, Nintendo has “absolutely no interest” in being a part of it.
Industry Gamers asked Nintendo of America’s president Reggie Fils-Aime how the company planned to take advantage of Facebook’s popularity, given that franchises like Pokemon and Animal Crossing seemed tailor-made for social networking. Fils-Aime offered the somewhat surprising reply that Nintendo couldn’t care less about Facebook, at least not yet:
The social gaming space is very interesting, and the elements within that space of truly bite-sized, morsel-sized entertainment and micro-transactions is very interesting. But the concept of our franchises being leveraged in that way is, at least right now, something that we have absolutely no interest in. We want the next great Zelda experience to be on one of our own platforms. We want the next great Pokemon experience to be on one of our platforms. For us, that’s what motivates the consumer to buy software, buy hardware and to create this environment for us and others to participate in. Now, that’s not to say that we’re not looking at the social gaming phenomenon, looking at micro-transactions – I mean, we have to in order to continue being leaders in this industry. But it’s not a place in the near-term that you’ll see our franchises.
Though it’s true that making popular games available via Facebook would make purchasing peripherals and increasingly expensive consoles unnecessary, I still can’t help but think that Nintendo might stand to gain more than they would lose by leveraging the power of Facebook. Imagine Facebook-exclusive Pokemon, or Animal Crossing fishing tournaments, where you can implore friends to participate through Wall posts. Now, imagine if these Facebook-exclusive Pokemon also had a small price-tag attached to them. If people are willing to shell out $70 for an Unwither Ring in Farmville, imagine what they’d be willing to spend on their beloved Pokemon.
Source: Industry Gamers
