Simple answer: Scale.
There are maybe 1000 people like you. About 80 million potential customers at the 9.99 price point.
There are maybe 1000 people like you. About 80 million potential customers at the 9.99 price point.
I think if they want to remain a giant, they'd continue with what they do and strive for a next breakthrough. Whether they will succeed is another question.
If they give up the exclusivity of their own titles and move on to software-only like Sega (or maybe a combination of their own hardware platform + publishing to other platforms), they might still be great in the industry, but there'd be many alongside them.
And last but not least, they'd loose media coverage and brand power. There are only three big console brand, they get free media coverage when they sneeze while Sega happened to be talk about from time to time, when someone remember they still exists.
Sega had no choice, it reconverting or die. Nintendo don't have to (yet) and I hope they won't. IMHO, it's just typical handwaiving of greedy short-sighted investor that want a higher ROI, now, regardless of what's better for the company. Yeah the mobile game pie is larger then the console one but would the marketshare achievable by Nintendo's game be bigger than on an exclusive console ?
Nintendo is leaving money on the table because of NIH (not invented here) syndrome and their shareholders have a right to be disappointed.
Nintendo is all about their franchises, and millions buy their consoles just to play Zelda or Mario. They'd dilute their brand and cannibalize their console sales if they began producing for iOS.