alt Hacker News> Nintendo would have to fundamentally change it's business model and alter the design of their games
it's all C++, dude. Most of the time it's all based on engines that already run on Windows. So what are you telling me, programmers are unable to port minor amounts code over to a different, vastly more powerful architecture? This sounds like some sort of incompetence olympics.
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You don't seem to understand what I'm saying because obviously it's technically feasible for Nintendo to port their games. The fact that they own the hardware platform their games are run on though, fundamentally changes Nintendo's approach to designing games. And considering how successful the buissness is, clearly people like what Nintendo is making. It has nothing to do with incompetence and everything to do with the fact that they have found a niche in the gaming market, which means they can't and shouldn't try using the same business strategies as a normal game studio.
It's not that, it's that the experience wouldn't be the same or of the same quality so it would hurt Nintendo's image.
You can run a Wii game on not a Wii. But if you're not standing in your living room with a Wii remote, then you're not playing the game as it was intended. You might have a shitty experience and that reflects badly on Nintendo.
Same for something like a DS. Yes, you can emulate a DS on something that is not "dual screen". But the form factor, dual screen, and stylus is integral to the game's experience.
Nintendo isn't like Microsoft or Sony. Thier games really lean into the hardware and rely on it, and it does genuinely allow for a unique experience.