14 DAY TRIAL // Lorne Lanning, the developer who created the Oddworld universe, believes that Nintendo, despite its current troubles, will have a long-term place in the gaming industry unlike companies like Microsoft or Zynga.
The game maker tells VentureBeat that “When I look at the history of Nintendo, I say, ‘Nintendo is gonna be here in 100 years.’ I have no doubt. I doubt Microsoft will be here in 100 years. I know Zynga won’t be here in 100 years. I’ve been here longer than Zynga.”
Much of his confidence in Nintendo is linked to its Chief Executive Officer, Satoru Iwata, and his policy of keeping game developers working in order to create solid game experiences that can turn around the fortunes of the Wii U home console.
Lanning adds, “When he said that, in my opinion, he was immortalized in the creative community. I would work with him in a second.”
Since the new Nintendo console was launched, sales have been under internal projections and the company still believes that it can sell more than 9 million devices during its current fiscal year.
The team is working on some high-profile titles, including a new Super Smash Bros. and several Mario and Zelda experiences, that are expected to increase sales in late 2013 and early next year.
At the same time, Microsoft is getting ready to launch its own next-gen console, the Xbox One, which is currently set to be on shelves in November, alongside its rival PlayStation 4 from Sony.
The device will deliver increased hardware power, a lot of support for the cloud and more integration for entertainment experiences.
Zynga is facing some tough times at the moment, but Don Mattrick, a former leader of the Xbox One team, believes that the company can prosper again by focusing on its core social game segment and by restructuring.