任天堂为何要进军手游市场？

    自苹果2007年发布iPhone以来，任天堂的股价下跌了近80%。

    凭借3DS系列手持游戏机，这家日本游戏厂商仍然在便携式游戏机市场占据统治地位。但无可否认，这一巨大利好正在逐渐缩水。市场研究人员预计，任天堂今年将从该市场获得41亿美元的软件收入和31亿美元的硬件收入。

    显然，利润正在流向其他手持设备——智能手机和平板电脑。网络调研公司eMarketer预计，到2015年底，智能手机用户将达到19.1亿，平板电脑用户也将达到10亿。

    任天堂希望凭借公司独创的游戏人物，比如马里奥（Mario）、林克（Link）、大金刚（Donkey Kong）、星际火狐（Star Fox）和星之卡比（Kirby），进入这个蓬勃发展的市场。通过与日本移动游戏厂商DeNA合作，该公司将为智能设备专门开发拥有任天堂游戏人物的原创作品。

    凭借这一举动，任天堂不仅能够开发面向智能设备的游戏产品，还可以继续为该公司自身的游戏机提供拥有这些人物的独家游戏。IDC公司的游戏分析师刘易斯•沃德预计，由于这些游戏人物的吸引力很强，任天堂的移动游戏有望跻身全球游戏前十强。

    任天堂发言人对《财富》表示：“我们有机会接触到数亿用户。当这些顾客喜爱上任天堂独一无二的游戏玩法时，他们就会发现，只有在任天堂专有的电子游戏平台上才有机会享受更优质的游戏体验。”

    这位发言人还表示，即便公司开发的是同一款游戏，在任天堂游戏机和智能设备上的游戏体验也有所不同。他补充道，任天堂相信，他们和DeNA如果在智能设备上提供类似任天堂游戏的内容，就能拓宽业务范围，也不会损害公司知识产权的价值。

    电子游戏研究公司Newzoo的分析师彼得•沃尔曼表示：“任天堂花了很长时间，终于意识到2015年规模300亿美元的移动游戏市场太大了，不容忽视。他们甚至还意识到，未来的游戏不会受到设备的限制，其专有游戏将会通过云，传递到每一块电子屏幕上。”

    沃尔曼表示，顶级的移动游戏专营权可以获得10亿美元以上的收入。任天堂的系列游戏影响力强大，在移动游戏市场价值会超过20亿美元。市场研究公司Digi-Capital的董事总经理蒂姆•麦洛表示，任天堂在主机游戏上的年增长率仅有个位数，对他们来说，移动游戏领域整体22%的年增长率，既是需要把握的机遇，也是将要应对的挑战。

    在与索尼PlayStation 4和微软Xbox One的竞争中，任天堂的Wii U游戏机败下阵来，这也许是促使该公司转变思路的重要因素。与此同时，DeNA最近还与《漫威奇迹英雄》系列游戏的开发商漫威公司，以及《最终幻想：记忆水晶》的开发商的Square Enix展开合作。

    沃德表示：“这是两大弱势方的一次合作，应该会获得双赢。DeNA的本土游戏表现不佳，所以他们开始与那些知名厂商合作，而过去两年的糟糕业绩让任天堂也有理由接受对方伸出的橄榄枝。”

    作为新合作的一部分，任天堂和DeNA通过资本联盟，各为对方投资了1.81亿美元。双方还将在今年秋天开发和推出一项新的网络会员制服务，该服务横跨智能设备、个人电脑和任天堂3DS、Wii U等任天堂产品。

    任天堂公司总裁岩田聪还宣布，公司将开发一款代号为NX的新主机。他并未进一步公布详细情况，但表示任天堂将一如既往地开展硬件业务。

    沃德指出，凭借《星之卡比：彩虹诅咒》、《马里奥派对10》和《塞尔达传说》等独家游戏，Wii U在2015年的表现将空前强劲。这些人物和游戏将与那些花费更多时间在平板电脑和智能手机上娱乐的主流玩家，进行前所未有的亲密接触。（财富中文网）

    译者：严匡正

    审校：任文科

    Since Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, Nintendo stock has dropped nearly 80 percent.

    The Japanese game maker still dominates the portable video game market, thanks to its 3DS family of handheld devices. But it’s an admittedly huge piece of an otherwise shrinking pie that market researchers estimate will generate $4.1 billion in software revenue and $3.1 billion in hardware revenue this year.

    The money is moving to those other handheld devices, of course—smartphones and tablets. By the end of 2015, eMarketer estimates there will be 1.91 billion smartphone users and 1 billion tablet users.

    Nintendo wants to tap into this growing market with its original game characters such as Mario, Link, Donkey Kong, Star Fox, and Kirby. Through a new partnership with Japanese mobile game publisher DeNA, it will design original games featuring Nintendo characters exclusively for smart devices.

    The move allows Nintendo to continue to deliver exclusive games featuring these characters for its own devices, while offering separate adventures designed for smart devices. Lewis Ward, video game analyst at IDC, predicts Nintendo mobile games could grow into Top 10 hits on the global games charts because the appeal of these characters is so strong.

    A Nintendo spokesman told Fortune: “We have the opportunity to reach hundreds of millions of people. As these consumers enjoy the unique kind of gameplay found only with Nintendo, they will have the opportunity to explore even more premium experiences on Nintendo’s dedicated video game platforms.”

    The Nintendo spokesman also said that even when the company uses the same intellectual property, the gaming experience will be different on Nintendo hardware and on smart devices. He added that if Nintendo and DeNA can provide Nintendo-like content on smart devices, Nintendo believes that it will be able to expand its business while keeping the value of its intellectual property intact.

    “It took them a long time, but Nintendo finally realized that the $30 billion mobile gaming market in 2015 is too big to ignore,” said Peter Warman, analyst at video game research firm Newzoo. “Nintendo might even realize that the future is device-agnostic, and franchises will eventually be delivered to every screen through the cloud.”

    Warman said top mobile game franchises can generate over $1 billion. Nintendo’s strong franchises could be worth more than $2 billion in the mobile games market. With revenue growth rates for console games in single digits, the 22 percent compound annual growth rate seen in the mobile segment is an opportunity and a threat that Nintendo needed to address, added Tim Merel, managing director at Digi-Capital.

    The failure of the Wii U to compete with Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One may have played a significant role in Nintendo’s shift in thinking. At the same time, DeNA has focused recently on partnerships with companies such as Marvel for Marvel Mighty Heroes and Square Enix for Final Fantasy: Record Keeper.

    “This is a partnership between two weakened parties, and this could prove to be beneficial for both,” Ward said. “DeNA’s home-grown games haven’t performed well so they’re now working with established brands through partnerships, and that poor performance over the last two years like gave Nintendo favorable terms for this relationship.”

    As part of the new collaboration, Nintendo and DeNA invested $181 million in each other through a capital alliance. The companies will also develop and launch a new online membership service this fall that will be accessible from smart devices, PC and Nintendo systems like the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U.

    Nintendo president Satoru Iwata also announced that the company is working on a new console, codenamed NX. He revealed no further details, but said that Nintendo is committed to continuing its hardware business.

    Ward noted that Wii U will have its strongest year yet in 2015 because of the strong lineup of exclusive franchise games like Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, Mario Party 10 and The Legend of Zelda. It’s those characters and franchises that could connect with the more mainstream audiences that are spending more time playing games on tablets and smartphones than ever before.