Source: Metaverse Sound (ID: metavoo)
Microsoft announced in January its acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, preparing it for future competition in the metaverse gaming space.
Some people think that this move may shake the market position of Nintendo, the world's oldest video game maker, but Nintendo, founded in 1889, is the forerunner of the metaverse.
In today's era when everyone talks about the meta-universe, Nintendo, one of the world's three major OEMs, faces the layout of various competitors, but puts on a "let you wind and rain, I stand still" attitude.
Nintendo recently held a third quarter (October-December 2021) earnings online briefing, and when asked what the company thinks about the "meta-universe" and "NFT non-homogeneous tokens", President Shuntaro Furukawa responded that they have some concerns about the concept of "meta-universe", but have no intention of entering this field at present.
So low-key, is that really the case?
01
Developed VR devices 30 years ago
In fact, the seemingly low-key Nintendo has dabbled in the concept of metaverse as early as 30 years ago.
In the 1990s, under the leadership of Gunpei Yoki, then president of Nintendo, the company devoted itself to developing virtual reality (VR) devices: virtual Boys.
This step was so advanced that the level of technology at that time could not keep up at all.
This game machine that can display stereoscopic 3D graphics, due to insufficient battery life, insufficient internal space of hardware configuration, and substandard screen rendering, unfortunately ended in a fiasco.
Still, many of Nintendo's products today are very close to the metaverse concept.
In the Mario Kart series of games, Nintendo equipped players with a special somatosensory peripheral steering wheel;
In the game "Fitness Ring Adventure", peripheral somatosensory fitness rings and leggings have become the standard in the game.
In terms of the content of the game, many of Nintendo's works are inseparable from the shadow of the metaverse.
For example, the popular "Animal Forest Friends Association", players can build houses, buy and sell, socialize and start a business exactly according to their own ideas.
Even during the 2020 pandemic, the top artificial intelligence (AI) academic conference, which held a seminar in the Animal Forest Friends Association, was held by speakers from all over the world, playing presentations and speaking in this game.
02
Switch sold 100 million units worldwide
Although Nintendo has never followed the trend on the surface, it has not stopped secretly exerting its strength, adhering to the "original spirit" adhered to since its founding, and achieving self-transcendence step by step.
Founded in 1889 by Yamaujiro Yamauchi, formerly a flower and playing card factory called "Nintendo Domino" in Kyoto's Higashiyama District, Nintendo was originally established to produce dominoes and also provided a taxi service.
It wasn't until the 1981 Donkey Kong game hit and the success of the red and white consoles that Nintendo gradually found its way forward.
In December 2021, the total global sales of the Switch exceeded 100 million units, and Shuntaro Furukawa, the current president of Nintendo, said that due to the shortage of semiconductors and logistics chaos, the supply of Switch in 2022 may be "difficult to find".
Shuntaro Furukawa, who has been a fan of red and white machines since childhood, became the new helmsman of Nintendo in 2018 with his love of games and his ability to act cautiously.
Shuntaro Furukawa joined Nintendo in 1994 and became a director in 2016.
He participated in the development of the sales plan for game consoles and software, and contributed to the big sale of the Nintendo Switch, a game console released in March 2017.
In the past, Nintendo's performance fluctuated like a roller coaster, but it gradually stabilized after a series of reforms. The person who played an important role in this was Shuntaro Furukawa.
Although he was always expressionless and carefully worded, he established a collective leadership system and gave full play to the strength of talented people in the company, and the "Furukawa-style management" was on the right track.
Nintendo's current president, Shuntaro Furukawa
"With its original game, the world can smile", Furukawa Shuntaro repeatedly emphasized, can be described as the "original" word of Nintendo's soul, from the time of the founder Hiroshi Yamauchi, it is the root of the management philosophy.
As Nintendo game designer Nobu Takahashi put it, "The idea that guides us is, what can brands do to make players happy?" We're not consciously innovating; we're trying to find ways to make people happy. And the result is that we've done things that no one else has done."
03
Strengthen IP branding and exposure
Shuntaro Furukawa has said that in order to conform to the tide of the times, Nintendo's business, in addition to selling games and game consoles, also needs to increase the exposure and popularity of intellectual property (IP).
For example, in 2021, at Universal Studios Osaka, a Mario theme park will be set up, and the animated movie "Super Mario Bros." will be released.
Universal Studios × Mario
He realized that the good situation at hand was not eternal, and he could not be careless for a moment.
"If you can't provide new users with a fresh and surprising experience, one day Nintendo will be wiped out in the long river of history, which is also the sense of crisis that the company always feels." 」
Therefore, while constantly summarizing and reflecting, Shuntaro Furukawa is also actively thinking about Nintendo's future development path.
As for the metacosm, although Toshitaro Furukawa said that he has no intention of entering this field at present, he also said that the metacosm has great potential.
Nintendo, the originator of the metaverse, may bring us different surprises.
Reprinted from Metaverse Voice (public ID: metavoo): a research think tank focusing on metaverses and Web3.0.