Nintendo is a japanese video game and console producer founded all the way back in 1889. They got their start producing playing cards, but evolved with the times into the gaming juggernaut they are today.
Curran and Seaton’s theory states that companies hope to minimise risk and maximise rewards, and that the larger a company is the less likely it is to take risks in its media output. With Nintendo, we can see this first point in full effect, as one of the most unique factors of their business model in the modern era is that you can only play Nintendo games on a Nintendo system. Nintendo consoles are famously lacking in all of their technical aspects, being considerably far behind other contemporary consoles, but they sell extremely well because people love the games that are exclusive to the system. By only releasing games on your consoles, you maximise your reward by reaping all the profits, as not only do you sell the game and keep that money yourself but you’re also selling whole new systems just so people can play these elusive games. This also minimises risk, as despite the limits of the technology people will buy it regardless because they like the software, and so you never have to focus on the technical aspects being a selling point, however Nintendo are notable for always trying to have a unique feature with each console release.
On a more controversial note, Nintendo could be seen as minimising risk by infamously hunting and striking down any fan-made content based on their IP. Countless fan games and other works have been purged by Nintendo, and it’s become expected and somewhat of a running joke in the community at this because of the sheer lengths they will go to suppress fan content, even though in the modern age user-generated media is one of the key aspects of an audience’s relationship to a product. Nintendo were recently looked at quite unfavourably when they stepped in and pulled the plug on a well known and respected Smash Brothers Melee tournament in the community, as they were using emulated copies of the game and this is very much against Nintendo’s ethos. While from a business standpoint they are minimising risk by having Nintendo content only available from Nintendo themselves, they could also get themselves into controversy with their fans who feel neglected and shut out by the company.
As for Curran and Seaton’s second point, we can see that obviously Nintendo is a huge company, but does this necessarily mean that their output is not adventurous?
Nintendo are extremely focused on franchises, and while they do debut the odd new game every now and again their focus seems to always be on continuing their decade-spanning game series with more and more continuations, sequels and spin-offs. While hardcore fans can tell you all the ways they are different, flagship Nintendo series like Pokemon or Mario are pretty much the same game every time, and it’s simply because it works and people will keep buying them. Furthermore, Nintendo know their audience are primarily young people, and so they would never publish a mature, gory, or otherwise dark game with their logo on it because they don’t wish to compromise their brand image and core ethos, and so Nintendo games will always have that colourful, childlike aesthetic, simply because they know who they are targeting and what sort of aesthetic/tone works for them, and has worked for them for years.
(This will be mario graphics in 2013)