[Economist] 跳跃开始（三）

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跳跃开始

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The firm has belatedly realised that its hesitation in embracing smartphones has already lost it a whole generation of potential gamers, says Mr Toto—and lots of revenue to boot. Nintendo owns only a third of The Pokémon Company, which licenses the Pokémon franchise, and of Niantic, but it could earn ¥7 billion-14 billion a year from “Pokémon Go”, says Haruka Mori of J.P. Morgan, an investment bank. It is already played in 100 countries.

任天堂公司后知后觉的发现在拥抱智能手机玩家上的迟疑已经使得他们失去了一整代的潜在玩家，以及大量的利润，Toto 先生如是说道。任天堂对 Niantic 公司，对于拥有 Pokémon 商标的的 Pokémon 公司只持有三分之一的股份，但这家公司却可以每年从“Pokémon Go”游戏中获利 70 亿到 140 亿日元。游戏已经在 100 多个国家发行。

Underlining the potential of Nintendo’s intellectual property (IP) on platforms other than its own, it was only when Niantic overlaid Pikachus, Jigglypuffs and Digletts onto a niche augmented-reality game called “Ingress” that it took off. In two months “Pokémon Go” racked up a staggering 500m downloads. Jefferies, an investment bank, calls Nintendo’s IP an “unmatched treasure”. That it is now putting its most precious character on mobiles and tablets suggests that other creations will soon follow suit.

直到 Niantic 公司将皮卡丘、胖丁和地鼠这些角色通过称为“Ingress”的增强现实游戏的方式推广出来，任天堂才开始真正重视起自家游戏 IP 在其他平台上发展的潜力。在两个月内，“Pokémon Go”游戏的下载量就达到了惊人的 500 万。投资银行 Jefferies 将任天堂的 IP 称为“无可比拟的宝藏”。现今任天堂将自身最宝贵的游戏角色进入手机和平板市场使得其他角色也会接连而上。

But Nintendo is not jettisoning its conservative approach. The message at headquarters in Kyoto, says a local investor, is not to get “carried away” by the success of “Pokémon Go” or by Mario’s leap onto the iPhone. Its mindset is in some respects still that of an old hand in an oldish tech sector. Only last year Mr Iwata clarified that its mobile foray in no way suggested that it had lost any of its passion for consoles.

但是任天堂不仅仅是在抛弃他的陈旧观念。一个当地的投资者说，位于京都的任天堂总部传达出来的信心可以看出其并没有被“Pokémon Go”的成功或者马里奥进入 iPhone 而冲昏头脑。任天堂的观念模式任然被其内部老技术开发部门的老人把持。岩田聪先生刚刚在去年表示对于手机市场的尝试并不会意味着任天堂对主机市场失去任何激情。