Harware & Software

Examples of hardware, the physical components of computer, sold by Nintendo are:

• Consoles
  Game Cube, Wii


• Handhelds
  Game Boy, Nintendo DS


• Arcade
  Nintendo Classic


• Peripherals
  Famicom Four-way Adapter


• Technology
  Nintendo optical discs • MultiAV

Nintendo is maintained by a distributed network of engineers and software developers such as Shigeki Yamashiro, Yukimi Shimura or Katsuhiko Kanno who are part of the NST. Nintendo Software Technology Corporation (NST), was created to specifically create gaming software for Nintendo of America. It is responsible for game development for Wii console, Gameboy, Nintendo DS etc. NST has 2-3 development teams who brings different perspective into the gaming industry. Nintendo also have Tech Support Forums on its domain www. nintendo.com. It is a place where you can ask and answer technical questions about any Nintendo product.

Nintendo uses ES open-source operating system developed originally by Nintendo and since 2008 by Google. Open-source operating system uses source code that is publicly available and free of charge. It allows users to modify software to suit their needs and take control over their device.

Even though Linux is not officially used with Nintendo, Nintendo products, such as Nintendo DS, makes a great platform product for running open source software such as Linux. It can turn Nintendo DS into rather useful all around computing device.

Nintendo uses vertical market application software, which is unique for this particular gaming industry. It has variety of application software including gaming software which was especially developed by Nintendo for its products.

Links

http://www.n-sider.com/hardware.php

www.linux.com/feature/118061

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=16503

Technology

Some files Nintendo uses:

• Customer File, where data about Nintendo’s customers are collected. These data are used to customize service for Nintendo's customers. Customer file collects data such as customer number, name, phone or address.



• Employee File, where data about Nintendo’s employees such as ID and name are stored.



• Order File, is used to track customer order, contains order number, order date, customer number or delivery address.



• Sales File, collects data about sales quantity, price, date and invoice number.
  


• Product File, is used to distinguish software and hardware. It contains product number, product UPC and product description.
  

Nintendo use relational database. Relation database stores information in a series of two-dimensional tables (files) in logical structure. All files are related providing easy access and are easily extendable. Nintendo uses these files of related information to effectively process orders and manage customer relationship.

Unfortunately we weren’t able to find out what brand of database software Nintendo uses, but we believe that Nintendo would not support its competitor Microsoft and its SQL Server. It than let us believe, that Nintendo uses Oracle relational database management system, widely regarded as one of the most popular full-featured database system on the market today. Other database providers on the market are IBM DB2, Sybase, and Informix.

SIRAS
A specific example of databes Nintendo uses is Product Sales Information Database. This database is operated by SIRAS, the first point-of-sale serial number registration program, which is a subsidiary of Nintendo of America. SIRAS Informational Sales Database records where and when a product was purchased and whether it is still under a manufacturer’s warranty or a store’s extended warranty.

SIRAS employs the combination of a product’s UPC number and serial number to establish a product’s unique fingerprint. Nintendo uses Electronic Registration to gain control of escalating returns costs, reclaim lost revenues, and streamline the returns process.

Database Administrator
Database Administrator (DBA) is responsible for the database and its environmental aspects such as: designing database, creating and testing back-ups, verifying integrity, implementing access controls to the data, ensuring database maximum performance and helping programmers and engineers to efficiently utilize the database.

Manager's Reports
Manager reports contain data that has been collected over a certain period of time. These summarized data can be accompanied with charts and graphs to support manager’s decision making. Managers get reports from relation database management system through report generators. Report generators help quickly define formats of reports and what information is desirable. Examples of types of reports are: Sales Report, Order Report, Customer Report, Revenue Report, Employee Performance Report etc. Oracle DBMS features built-in and customizable reports to address the need for reliable reporting. Oracle includes pre-built reports, and captures before-and-after changes to sensitive data to help organization save time and costs related to reporting.

OLAP, Data Mining, Data Warehouse, Data Marts

Nintendo uses OLAP (Online Analytical Processing), which provide Nintendo with easy and fast access to large volume of summarized information to support decision making. It allows Nintendo to work and analyze such data and simply provides answers to Nintendo’s employees.

• Nintendo is a company with a strong consumer focus. It is important for Nintendo to use data mining in order to determine relationship among “internal” factors such as price, product positioning and external factors such as economic indicators, competition and customer demographics. Data mining enables Nintendo to determine the impact on sales, customer satisfaction and corporate profits and allows Nintendo to provide more customer oriented service. Nintendo as a global, multinational company uses data mining also to communicate with its suppliers, retailers and distributors.
  


• Through Data-mining tools (such as query reporting tools, intelligent agents, statistical tools etc.) Nintendo’s data are transformed from many different operational databases to data warehouse, a logical collection of information, where it is sorted into small data marts. In data marts only a focused portion of data warehouse information is kept such as Nintendo’s sales, distribution or production.
  


• Unfortunately, we weren’t able to find which business intelligence software Nintendo uses, but among the most used ones are: Business Objects, Actuate or Cognos.

E-Commerce

Nintendo uses B2B e-commerce for direct materials as well as MRO (materials, repairs, and operations), but they most use MRO. Nintendo recently started using outside help to produce their gaming consoles. The high consumer demand for the wii caused Nintendo to outsource to match the demand of the wii. Nintendo relies on companies such as Sunplus Technology, Winstron Corp., Foxxcon, and Life-On Plans to produce components (power sources and control-chips) of the Wii console. So Nintendo uses B2B e-commerce to buy components to mass produce the Wii console. Nintendo will probably also use outside companies to mass produce the new portable handheld console, DSi. Nintendo is attempting to strike back at Apple for trying to enter the hand-held market by launching their newly upgraded DS portable hand-held console. The DSi has a slightly larger screen then the DS Lite and it’s also thinner weighing less than the DS Lite. The DSi has improved it’s audio, giving a more crisp sound. The new features of the DSi is SD memory card slot, built-in web browser (Opera), and a built-in .3 megapixel camera. These new features allow users to download games from the DSi shop and store them on the memory card. Users can also take pictures and view them on the wii. These new technological features allow Nintendo the opportunity to take advantage of B2C e-commerce by making it easier to conduct business via the internet. Digital delivery purchases is one way B2C e-commerce is used through the DSi shop. Shop Nintendo also uses another way to use B2C e-commerce through the shopping cart feature, which keeps track of the items the costumer plans on purchasing while they still brows through the online catalog for products to purchase, just by the click of a button.

http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/10/02/nintendo-dsi-ipod-tech-personal-cx_mji_1002nintendo.html

Marketing Mix

Nintendo's marketing mix includes: registering with search engines such as Google, You Tube and Yahoo, online ads and viral marketing. When launching the Wii, Nintendo focused on its target audience of age 25 and older. Nintendo uses TV advertising to reach and expand its gamer audience. Nintendo also made agreements with Cruise Lines, who help them introduce Wii to older audience. Nintendo of America's president and COO, Reggie Fils-Aime said about its marketing plan "It's going to be massive amounts of hands-on activity, as well as showcasing exactly how Wii games are different. We're going to create advocacy. We're going to make it so that everyone who tries the Wii experience talks to their friends and neighbours."

Payment System

Nintendo shop has a feature called a digital wallet that allows it’s customers to setup an account with them, which keeps track of their credit card information and all their transactions with Nintendo. All the customer has to do is just log in and their billing information is filled in the respective boxes to purchase their products.

Business Strategy

Nintendo is a major game development company, developing both video game consoles and game software. It uses global/differentiation and low cost business strategy. Nintendo's strategic business plan is to create a new low cost console with unique gameplay, instead of trying to develop new console with advanced graphics and superior processing power like its competitors. Nintendo is competing in global market dominated by Sony's Playstation and Microsoft's X-Box, however, Nintendo gained its competitive advantage with introduction of Wii and its innovative motion control stick. Nintendo greatly differentiate its product from its competitors by offering low cost strong value innovation, while it eliminates expensive features such as HD, DVD, Dolby 5.1. So while its competitors such as Sony or Microsoft compete against each other in established video gaming market, Nintendo created a new global market for itself.

Michael Porter's Five Forces Analysis

In the industry Nintendo operates, Porter's five forces have great influence on the way companies do business.

• The first force, buying power, may be one of the greatest forces. Nintendo creates and provide products that depend on consumers. How much of or when these products are bought by consumers is solely dependent on the want of the consumers. The gaming systems that Nintendo produces are non-necessity products.
• Until recent demand of Nintendo's most recent product, the Wii, became to great to produce in house, Nintendo began to outsource. Today, Nintendo relies on such suppliers to produce components of the Wii system that include Sunplus Technology, Winstron Corp., Foxxcon, and Life-On Plans. These suppliers, who produce components such as power sources and control-chips. As the outsourcing reduced operating costs, Nintendo relies on the operations of other companies. Because of the high success of the Wii system, and the constant demand, outsourcing production of certain products has created competition between companies such as PixArt, supplier of first generation control chips with new suppliers such as Sunplus and Winstron.
• In Nintendo's industry, there are three main companies- Nintendo, Sony (producer of Playstation products) and Microsoft (producer of XBox systems). All three of these companies produce gaming systems, that can be though of as substitutes for one another, but all there different. As Sony and Microsoft products are similar, Nintendo is the only company to use interactive gaming; meaning the player(s) use the controller as a tool of what they are playing. For example, if a baseball game is being played, the player will hold the controller, throw a pitch; or hold the controller as a batter with a bat and swing at the pitch. XBox and Playstation systems do not offer this, as they use button- orientated controllers. Nintendo is the cheapest of the console systems, with Playstation being the highest, but offers interactive gaming as well as child and family oriented games; as well as the rights to the gaming figure "Mario", the highest selling gaming character to have existed. These three companies have constant rivalries as who has the best system, highest revenues, and more importantly; who is advancing in the next great system for consumers.
• The threat of new entrants is low, because the gaming market is dominated by Sony and Microsoft who gained the first-mover advantage. Nintendo entered the market, because it differentiated itself from these two companies by introducing new technology. The entry barriers are high in already established gamers' market, making it difficult for new companies to enter.
• The switching cost to leave Nintendo would be the motion-censored controller which make the game play more interactive then it's competitors. The customer will also lose the game play of the famous Mario, Donkey Kong, and Zelda characters produced solely for Nintendo game play. Also with the new Wii console you can create mii characters and play Wii with these characters.
  
  Nintendo and its IT advantage
  
  Nintendo primarily focuses on business intelligence and E-collaboration. Nintendo understands the importance of knowing its customers, competitors, business partners and the environment in which it operates. Nintendo focuses on targeting large audience. It does not necessarily focus on established gamers' market, but tries to expand beyond it, with its simplified, family products. Nintendo utilizes these advantages to be more efficient and effective in its strategic business decisions.
• As the worldwide leader and innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo has several subsidiaries around the globe. Nintendo uses e-collaboration to help its employees communicate with other employees through collaborative software and be able to provide its clientele with the best games, licensed accessories and merchandise.
• Nintendo as a global differentiator focuses on the top line initiatives- increasing revenue. With its new products, it is trying expand gaming market and provide different customer experience for its consumers.