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Yet the firm has clearly shifted direction. For Nintendo to approve a partnership with a tiny foreign company like Niantic is an about-turn, as is its decision to put its mustachioed mascot on hardware made by Apple. Even two years ago, says Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at ACE Research Institute in Tokyo, Nintendo would not have agreed to Mario’s appearance at the closing ceremony of this summer’s Olympic games in Brazil. To the glee of many, Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, took up the baton for Tokyo 2020 dressed in Mario’s signature dungarees and red cap. In 2014 Nintendo launched wildly popular“Amiibo” figurines of its video characters that connect with its games.

然而任天堂显而易见地在转变方向。正如做出为那个八字胡的吉祥物在苹果硬件上开发游戏一样，对任天堂而言，达成与外国一家小公司 Niantic 的合作就是一种彻底的转变。甚至在两年前，按照一家位于东京的 ACE 研究机构的分析师 Hideki Yasuda 的说法，任天堂就不会同意在巴西夏季奥林匹克运动会的闭幕式上使用马里奥的形象。让许多人庆幸的是，日本首相安倍晋三身着马里奥标志性的工装和红帽为 2020 年东京奥运会接过了接力棒。在 2014 年任天堂为其游戏角色发布了十分流行的 “Amiibo” 来连接游戏。

Continued success will of course depend on more than just endless recycling of IP. Nintendo will have to create new, compelling characters and stay on top of consumer hardware, which still accounts for a lot of its revenues. And the move into mobile carries risk. One is the clout that Apple and Google have in smartphone gaming. Nintendo will have to hand over to Apple 30% of the revenues that “Super Mario Run” earns via its app store, for example. Its partnerships with DeNA and Niantic mean that it is relinquishing at least some control over game development, too, which could dilute quality. And it is unclear that casual gamers paying small amounts on their phones will fork out the money for a pricey Nintendo device.

持续的成功当然不能仅仅依靠 IP 的重复利用。任天堂仍然需要创造崭新而又收人欢迎的角色来稳固自身在消费硬件市场上的地位，因为这仍然是是其收益的重要组成部分。进入移动市场同时会带来风险。其中之一就是苹果和 Google 在移动游戏市场上的地位。比如，任天堂需要将在 app store 上架的 “Super Mario Run” 获得的收入中的 30% 交给苹果公司。和 DeNA 以及 Niantic 的合作表示其不情愿的交出了一部分对于游戏开发的控制权，而这可能意味着游戏质量的降低。同样不确定的是手机上的休闲玩家可以为手机游戏付费一些钱，然而并不能确定是否会愿意支付昂贵的任天堂游戏设备。

That said, Nintendo certainly has the skills on the software side: the firm is simply a fantastically good maker of games. Of the world’s 25 all-time, best-selling video games, it owns 17. It also has impressive staying-power in the business of fun. The firm began in 1889 with the production of handmade hanafuda playing cards decorated with flowers, and was one of the first to move into arcade games in the 1970s. It also likes to remind people that it invented the whole business of hand-held games played on the go. Seen that way, Mario is just returning to his roots.

一般认为任天堂在软件制作方面非常出色，公司就是一家梦幻般的游戏制作公司。在全世界最畅销的 25 个游戏中，它占了 17 个。同时公司在维持这些有趣的生意方面也同样令人印象深刻。这家公司成立于 1889 年以手工制作鲜花图案的卡片起家，同时也是在 1970 年代最早进入街机游戏的公司。同样需要提醒各位的是他们也是整个掌上游戏机产业链的创造者。从这个角度而言，马里奥只是回归本初。