Currently, the gaming industry is at a point where rumours and speculations are made about the next generation gaming console hardware. Nintendo is the first to release its newest flagship product, the Wii U.

Nintendo’s new console: Wii U

Creating a new console is like deciding the company’s fate for the next several years – especially important to Nintendo, which has its market share decreased due to Sony and Microsoft. The development of a console requires extensive research, and crucial decisions are made. As I obtain more knowledge about businesses, I realized how sophisticated it is in developing a new console – not just physically developing it.

Just imagine how difficult it is to speculate the future and predict the trend of the gaming industry, as well as the competitors’ strategy. Then, there are cost issues. What pricing will consumers accept? At that price, what hardware should be sacrificed to reduce the costs? In the future, will the cost of this component decrease significantly? How long will it take before we can see promising profits? Is it even worth developing this console right now? Next, there are issues with marketing. The company needs to identify the points of difference with its console. But when should the console be released? Will this time period be overshadowed by other events or will it clash with the release of another product? Lastly, will we be able to meet our customer’s demands? What if the hardware is very sophisticated and one part of it can only be produced in a specific factory in Europe? How do we get the individual parts together in time from so many different manufacturers?