Investors say the darndest things
This week, Oasis Management founder Seth Fischer sent a letter to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata explaining why the company should dive right into mobile game development and microtransactions and all of the things we don’t want to happen.
Granted, we already knowIwata’s stance— the proliferation of mobile devices “doesn’t mean that we should put Mario on smartphones” — but I think you’ll get a kick out of this.
“The same people who spent hours playingSuper Mario,Donkey Kong, andLegend of Zeldaas children are now a demographic whose engagement on the smartphone is valued by the market at well over $100 billion,” Fischer wrote. Nintendo, he feels, is “well placed to make an immediate entry into mobile” with “arguably the largest library of casual games.”
Chasing quick money based on what’s popular right now. Hmm. That sounds like the opposite of the Nintendo we know and mostly love, but okay. I see where the guy is coming from, more or less. And then we get to the part where the letter straight-up sounds like satire:
“We believe Nintendo can create very profitable games based on in-game revenue models with the right development team. Just think of paying 99 cents just to get Mario to jump a little higher.”
Please join me in setting a moment aside to be thankful you aren’t the head of Nintendo.
Hedge Fund Wants Nintendo to Make Mobile Games[The Wall Street Journal]
