Hrm. Looks like Nintendo's plan RE: the video game market might be to gradually exit it. They've shifted gears before. . .

So under Iwatacare, is Pokerus covered as a pre-existing condition? I seriously need to know this.

oh god no

i swear if this actually goes through i will go all wolf of wallstreet to buy up all the nintendo stock i can get my hands on just so i can fire iwata myself

I see this as Nintendo wanting to expand beyond gaming. Microsoft and Sony already do (obviously they already did before entering gaming), so I see no reason why to dislike this. It might not be what we're interested as full-time gamers, but if it helps Nintendo earn extra money to support itself, then what's the problem? A lot of Japanese companies have things to diversify their portfolio, so it makes sense for Nintendo to do so. We'll see if it works or not.


I'm seeing people getting disgusted by this on other sites, and well, gamers continue to embarrass me.

rebirth of the vitality sensor?

in what form does it emerge from it's cocoon this time.

Nintendo never truly cancels anything. Except Pennant Chase Baseball.

Wii Sports/Fit/Play Brain/Focus Training with Vitality Sensor/Activity Meter/Fit Board

It's always the right idea at the wrong time.... except in the case of Pennant Chase Baseball.

@Phil


I think the disappointing thing is we are all interested in Nintendo the gaming company.  Nothing Iwata said can be determined to be even remotely interesting on the video game side of things even though they are struggling badly there.  Then they announce this?  It's ackward, doesn't fit, and doesn't give me much hope that the games division will go in the right direction. 


The right time for this announcement would be either in the fall or spring or maybe when they have something to discuss about this project.  It feels like an attempt to misdirect from Nintendo's poor sales and it's not a very good misdirect at that because there was no information released on this. 

Looks like I wasn't too far off:

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k302/shyguy70/073c3082-77db-4e1e-ac02-d2906813e244_zps17e6943b.jpg


Now what the heck is a non-wearable??? I swear, if Iwata tries to implant a chip in my brain so the NSA can track me, I AM GOING FULL PC ONLY

What the hell does this even mean!?

NOBODY KNOWS WHAT IT MEANS!

But it's provocative.

Yeah, I haven't slightest clue what this even means so sure, announce it then don't tell anyone anything.

Brb, gonna rant to Nintendo's board of directors for 21 hours and read a bit of dr suess while I'm at it.

Sounds cool but a non wearable seems like a pretty way to misread the market when they have the non wearable platform in Wii Fit.

the non wearble should service the wearable.

I think it's encouraging. If this works out, Nintendo isn't going to suddenly abandon gaming. It will have more money to create more games and take more risks.


This wasn't meant to be like E3 or anything like that. It was a reassurance to investors who wanted to see their investment start paying off.


If one reads the English translation that was posted on NeoGAF, it does a better job of not giving its readers misconceptions like quick tweets do. It should alleviate some confusion.


http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=760139

He's obviously talking about making more educational and fitness software like Brain Age and Wii Fit. Those all had 'video game' aspects and they were educational and entertaining. Nintendo is trying something new (as they always do), this doesn't mean they are giving up on video games.

If you guys actually read the whole presentation (on Twitter and GoNintendo), you'd realize that Iwata sees a huge potential market with fitness games. They want to capitalize on the success of Wii Fit and make it even bigger and more ambitious.

Hahaha why was the first thing I thought of this

http://static.fjcdn.com/gifs/Wii_aa6161_182845.gif

We can read it on Nintendo's own site you know, it's linked in the forums and already in English.

I kinda wish tj spyke was still around just so I could watch him grill tendoboy for mentioning Go Nintendo

I think about this article on yahoo.com (joke article/ I think).  Where this lady was asking for something like $200 to not watch your kids.  It was one of those kids need to get outside and have interaction articles.  So you pay this lady and she takes your kids to a part and plays on the internet at a coffee house across the street. 


Another alternative (admittedly bad) is it's a game of surveys.  So it tells you to go outside and run/play catch/anything for 30 minutes and come back and fill out a survey of how you feel or do some activities to show how hard you works.  Lame I know, I just can't think of how unwearable works.

I liked Wii Fit U and some of the exercise games for the Wii.  But I just don't see how those types of games will endear me to Nintendo.  I bought the Wii U for NSMB, Mario Kart, Zelda, Metroid.  Nintendo is becoming less and less of the company that I fell in love with.  If they are successful in fitness niche, I doubt it will convince me that I need the next console or that I couldn't live without Nintendo in my life. 


More money doesn't equal more risks.  Nintendo raked in money from the Wii/DS generation and most people would argue they took fewer risks and became cookie-cutter.  More profits just means bigger distributions to shareholders.  I don't hate them for that, but I'm not going to get excited about a bunch of investors getting rich. 

The more I think about it, the more I think this has to be more "unnoticeable" than unwearable. Maybe a pedometer the size of a credit card that fits in your wallet or socks that can detect pulse/possibly blood pressure. Instead of having screens these items would have a wireless chip to upload vital information to either a Nintendo console or the internet automatically.

I will admit I have not read the English translation of the meeting yet but, from what I gather Quality of Life is a division separate to games much like with Sony Movies and TVs are separate from Playstation but they still benefit from each other.  Considering some the patents that Nintendo has in Monitoring tech they hoped to use in games and the different partnerships they've made over the years this could be an interesting step.

Now think about this when it come to unwearable tech:

You are not feeling well so you walk into a clinic.  As you step up to sign in and give your insurance information where they have you stand and the unwearable Nintendo device takes your weight, height, temperature, Pulse, and a detailed thermal image of you.  This information takes out a step of the pre-screen and allows for the quicker prioritization of patients.

Their is potential there in a Business setting.

Be neat if Nintendo went all in and looked into doing something like the Tricorder X-Prize

The first time I read this my thoughts were "okay so this is the end, right?  Nintendo is leaving videogames to focus on Wii Fit style nonsense."  Maybe it isn't.  Maybe it's some side business but it ain't at all what I want to see.  I don't give a flying fuck about any Nintendo enterprise other than videogames and specifically videogames I want to play.  Bullshit like Brain Age and Wii Fit is pretty much the "jump the shark" moment where Nintendo transformed into their present form that I don't care much for.  This is the worst case scenario.  This Nintendo becoming MORE casual.

My assumption is that they'll slowly phase the Wii U out and stick with the 3DS until they feel they can't compete with phones and then this is their future, the lame ass exercise software company.  This "Quality of Life" bullshit IS THE WII U SUCCESSOR.  It is coming out at around the timeframe that a Wii U successor would come out if Nintendo were to quickly replace the Wii U.  If this is their future I want them to sell off their IP because Mario, Zelda and all the rest have no purpose for a health company.

What drives me nuts is that Nintendo CAN compete in videogames, they're just too stupid to do so.  Fuckin' Iwata is the poison that killed Nintendo.  My hope is the "Quality of Life" thing bombs and Iwata gets turfed but the whole thing is not quite bad enough to kill Nintendo outright and they'll go third party or stick to just handhelds or whatever the hell will keep them making videogames I actually give a shit about.

@Cleric - I think your idea is too grandiose.  It sounds expensive and it is replacing all things that a nurse can do in under 5 min. Clinics are typically prioritized by who gets there first. If waiting 20 min to see a doctor puts you in jeopardy, you should go to an ER not a clinic.

Nintendo has delved into cheap fitness tech (fit meter/Wii fit board).  They would need to invest billions in R&D to come up with D ME that is accurate enough to use in a healthcare setting. Notwithstanding, they would need to create service departments across the country to service the equipment when it breaks.

After reading more and sleeping on it, I think this Quality of Life stuff could be a side business, alternate revenue stream, something that can still be directly related to videogames, but doesn't have to be.

Remember Nintendo had those patents for an exercise bike and I think a Pilates ball like attachment that correlates to things happening on the screen. So, games like Wii Fit, Wii Relax (Vitality Sensor) & Brain Age should be part of the QoL platform.
If that is the case, and Nintendo has an all new department that focuses specifically on this, then I see no problem. That could also include specialized games & devices directed at rehabilitation.

@smallsharkbigbite  I don't think it is and here's why.  The new Kinect on the XBone can already do most of what I mentioned.  We have the Technology its just not at a consumer price point but it is also not super expensive either.  $3,000 to save a nurses time so they can be doing more Nurse specific things could easily pay for itself in days.
---

After reading through what he says that's an interesting brush for him to take with Entertainment.  Nintendo could justify making Smart Desks and less annoying faucets.

But is the new Kinect accurate enough for a healthcare setting.

The roadblock in a clinical setting is the physician's time. Most items have already been transferred to the nursing staff. A nurse would have to help the patient utilize the device, enter in patient chart info into the device, and make a determination of priority for the patient. I don't see how this would use any less nursing time and unless this is 100% accurate, vitals would often have to be checked by the nurse to ensure the machine wasnt giving faulty info.