Nintendo is dying

I should preface my argument by admitting that I am not a hard-core Nintendo fan. I do have some experience with the company and the games, and I do find great enjoyment in them. Now, then, let us begin. I will post the links for all my sources. My opponent labels the debate as "Nintendo is dying. " I take issue primarily with the last word - dying. In order for Nintendo to be dying, the company, and not the quality of the games, must be suffering. My opponent's entire opening argument is based on his dislike of Nintendo "raping their franchises. " But just because Nintendo releases remakes, sequels, et cetera, does not mean that the company is dying. For the purposes of this debate, I will argue "dying" as the company entering a financial decline from which it is more likely to collapse than recover. Now it must be conceded that Nintendo was suffering heavy losses as of March of 2013. The Wii-U sales were not promising. In Nintendo's 2013 Annual Report, Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo, admitted that Nintendo sustained "an operating loss for the fiscal year" (Iwata 17) but fully planned to recover by March of 2014. And Nintendo appears to be making good on that promise. According to that same report, Nintendo has sold a total of "268.97 million units of hardware and 2,195.09 million units of software" (Iwata 18) regarding purely home consoles - these figures do not apply to handhelds. Both of these are enormous sums, and when one factors in the sales of handheld devices as well ("385.15 million units of hardware and 1,907.25 million units of software" (Iwata 19)), one can only conclude that Nintendo is doing very well indeed, at least in terms of profits. A company doing well financially cannot, by my definition, be dying. This becomes more apparent when looking at recent sales. According to TechieNews, a technologically based news organization in the United Kingdom, Nintendo's 2DS became "the top-selling gaming console" (Mandalia). This is simply the 2DS sales - it does not factor in those of Nintendo's other devices. Additionally the effects of Pok"mon X and Y on Nintendo's profits must be examined. According to the Imagine Games Network (IGN), Pok"mon X and Y sold over "4 million copies" (Karmali) within the first 48 hours of their release. That's up 70% from Pok"mon Black and White 2 and could even be argued to be the fastest selling 3DS title of all time. These sales, TechieNews reports, also boosted the Wii-U's sales by 685%. So Nintendo appears to be - if not soaring - then certainly not crashing and burning financially, and thus it cannot be claimed to be dying. My opponent may wish to argue that Nintendo's death then does not refer to the company itself but to the quality of their games - a spiritual death, if you will. If this is the case, my opponent's argument needs to be restructured and rephrased. This type of argument is less effective as it is driven by opinions rather than fact; however, I shall do my best to provide counterpoints. First of all, I would note that my opponent conceded that he has "nothing wrong" with Nintendo's Pok"mon and Mario games, and that he or she is "happy with" their Zelda reboots. My opponent therefore is satisfied with Nintendo's present releases. His argument, consequently, boils down to wanting "something fresh and new" - however, the examples he lists, Metroid, Earthbound, Kirby, and Starfox, all of which are not fresh and new. My opponent contradicts himself by listing these games, as even a remake, reboot, sequel, et cetera would not, strictly speaking, be "new. " It is common knowledge that Nintendo's big plans for future games align with my opponent's premise, as the two anticipated games are Mario: 3D Land, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. However, as opponent has previously stated that he has no problem with these - and is in fact happy with them - he can have no argument against them. Nintendo released Metroid: Other M in 2010, a little over 3 years ago, near the end of 2010. Nintendo also re-released Star Fox 64 in 2012. Both of these are relatively recent and thus counteract my opponent's claims. Additionally, Nintendo has released other games. For example. in June of 2013, IGN notes that Nintendo released Animal Crossing: New Leaf, which received generally favorable reviews. And according to Nintendo's official website, Nintendo has recently released many titles, including Batman: Arkham Origins, Assassin's Creed IV, and Sonic Lost World. Our argument was never limited to exclusively Nintendo games, so all of these serve as valid examples of Nintendo continuing to produce various styles of work and again, therefore, is highly unlikely to be dying. I believe I have clearly shown the Nintendo Company to be far from dying. In fact. I'd argue that I have shown it to be alive and thriving. Because of this. I urge you to vote Con. I would like to again thank my opponent for beginning a wonderful debate, and I look forward to his or her response. Source 1: Iwata, Sotoru. Nintendo Company Annual Report. Web. . http://www.nintendo.co.jp... Source 2: Mandalia, Ravi. "Nintendo 2DS topped sales chart in UK last week. " TechieNews. Web. . http://www.techienews.co.uk... Source 3: Karmali, Luke. "Pok"mon X and Y Sales Figures Revealed. " IGN. Web. . http://www.ign.com... Source 4: Mandalia, Ravi. "Nintendo 3DS tops US sales chart as Wii U registers increased adoption. " TechieNews. Web. . http://www.techienews.co.uk... Source 5: "Animal Crossing: New Leaf. " IGN. Web. . http://www.ign.com... Source 6: Game Releases. Nintendo. Web. . http://www.nintendo.com...