To be fair in terms of vagueness, this was a meeting for investors to let them know what the company is planning in the future. They really don't give a crap about the details of 'how', they just want to hear things that should translate in to money for them.
I've been thinking over this QOL thing for the past few days and I think I may have at least some idea of what they're going for, and honestly if they're planning on using it in the way that I think they are then this could be a good thing. Everyone is thinking this QOL hardware is going to be a 'game console' but I don't think this is correct, at least no in the conventional sense.
If you look back on the past generation, Nintendo was able to make a LOT of money by tapping in to the interactive fitness and education market. Wii fit, Wii Sports, Brain Age, etc. There is a definite market for these types of things and frankly there always will be. What's more, Nintendo is essentially one of the only software developers who have been able to truly tap in to these markets. The only other that I can think of is DDR but even that wasn't market specifically for fitness. This worked with the Wii and DS. They were able to put out these kinds of software and people bought them, but now they're not. Why is that and what is the problem? I started to think about it and I realized that it's not the software that's the problem, nor is it that the market is gone. The problem was the platforms.
At their core, all of the Nintendo's hardware have been designed for games first and foremost, they're also priced and marketed as game consoles. This is the problem. People looking for something in terms of fitness for example aren't going to buy a $300 dollar system for Wii Fit U, especially if they're not gamers. After all, for that kind of price they can purchase some pretty decent work out equipment. What I think Nintendo is working on is some sort of inexpensive device/service that will specialize in these QOL types of software and be marketed accordingly. What I could imagine is that these devices could come pre-installed with certain software and then people could purchase and download additional new software if they wanted more.
This also ties in with Nintendo's talk about working with smart devices yet saying they're not going to be using them for games. They don't want to cannibalize their own gaming hardware, but integrating this QOL software/service would make perfect sense. I could easily see people using their smart devices for software such as brain age and language dictionaries, while also using app integrated in to the QOL software to track their physical, health, or educational progress. This is a market where I do think Nintendo could really dominate since they have brand recognition and there's really no one else out there trying to do something such as this.
So what does this mean for gamers? Well first off just realize that this isn't for gamers so don't start freaking out. If anything I think this could be good for Nintendo fans for a few different reasons. For starters, it would be another market for Nintendo to make money in. More money for Nintendo means more money they could invest in to gaming. This QOL software wouldn't take a large amount of man power nor capital to actually create, at least not compared to full fledged games. QOL software for the most part would be more akin to apps if anything.
More money also means that Nintendo will have less of these 'apocalypses' (because you know, anytime a company takes a loss always means they're one step away from dying off completely. Amirite Sony?). Sarcasm aside, the fact is launching gaming hardware is a long term investment and it doesn't necessarily guarantee profits every year. Hell Microsoft has never seen a net gain from their gaming division and the PS3 was a financial wreck for Sony. Right now the Wii U is costing Nintendo the most it ever will but it will decrease incrementally every year. Unfortunately ignorant investors don't give a crap about that or are too stupid to understand it, so this QOL part of the company would be something to tide them over. I see a lot of talk of how Nintendo needs to 'compete' with Sony and MS (gee, I wonder what the hell they've been doing), well if they're going to 'compete' with them then they're going to need more capital. The demographic the QOL stuff targets could be the source of that capital.
Finally, assuming Nintendo properly expands their business and hires the right amount of personnel, this could potentially free up resources for their gaming platforms and allow Nintendo's gaming division to focus completely on more core software for their gaming fans. No longer will they be trying to use their hardware and software line ups to leverage non-gaming demographics which is something people have been complaining about for a long time.
Anyways, that what I think this QOL thing could be. I could be right, I could be wrong.
