From Pokemon Go to retro console release, Nintendo mines past for a lucrative future
The video gaming stalwart has revived its old tech and franchises with some success – most notably the incredible global phenomenon that is augmented-reality smartphone game Pokemon Go
The video gaming industry is surging into the future with cutting-edge hardware and photorealistic displays. Sony is on the cusp of releasing a virtual reality headset for its world-beating PlayStation 4. Microsoft says it is working on the most powerful living-room game console of all time. Smartphones have made gamers out of hundreds of millions of people.
Meanwhile, Nintendo, a pioneer of video gaming, said it would release a console it first started selling in 1983: the Nintendo Entertainment System.
That’s usual practice for the Japanese company, which has long charted its own course. In the past few years, Nintendo’s approach has been to double down on the nostalgia fans feel for beloved franchises such as Super Mario and Zelda rather than break new ground.
Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, says the company has sharpened its focus on the young audience drawn to its cartoonlike franchises, as well as on “Nintendads” who grew up when the company’s hardware was dominant in gaming and now have kids of their own.
In the past couple of weeks, the bet on the old standards has paid off handsomely.