Apple Is Nintendo's "Enemy of the Future" 272
Pickens writes "The San Francisco Chronicle reports that video game industry revenue fell by 26 percent in April, adding more concerns about the health of the industry in the worst year-over-year decline since July 2009. But the big news is that the decline in portable sales makes up 61 percent of the overall monthly decline, suggesting that the Nintendo DS platform is losing steam but also reflecting the growing clout of the iPhone platform as the iPhone and iPod Touch continue to draw in more casual gamers, the iPad offers a bigger screen experience, and Apple announces the 'Game Center' — a social gaming hub with console-like online gaming features. Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata is understood to have told his senior executives recently to regard the battle with Sony as a victory already won and to treat Apple, and its iPhone and iPad devices, as the 'enemy of the future.' 'If Nintendo's future mobile platforms are to be any kind of success, the company will have to figure out how to take on the ease of use afforded by the App Store,' writes Nicholas Deleon. A large part of Nintendo's faith in reviving its efforts hinge on the 3DS, which may ship in the fall, the first truly major handheld introduction for Nintendo since the original DS in 2004. He adds, 'Maybe Nintendo should just release a phone?'"
can't see the forest for the trees... (Score:5, Insightful)
I disagree with the premise of the article.
I believe the lack of video game sales is due to the crappy economy overall, not because of things like the iPhone/iPod/iPad.
I could be wrong, but I feel their view is too shallow.
Re:can't see the forest for the trees... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:can't see the forest for the trees... (Score:3, Insightful)
No no no no (Score:5, Insightful)
Well maybe Nintendo could release a phone. I'm not against that. I guess. I don't know how I feel about that.
But what I'm really noing to is WHY the sales are dropping. Its not because of the iPhone.
It's because the DS is almost 6 years old. Nov 2004 was its release. Anyone who has wanted a DS, already has one. Nintendo foolishly tried to enhance the sales with the DS Lite and DSi. How shocked am I to find that nintendo fans who purchased a DS, don't feel the need to buy a DS lite, or a DSi. So how much money went into those two projects, and really what benefit did they expect to see? Did they expect a resurgence of sales? They merely expanded the market of the DS by small margins. And so only those who didn't wants a DS for various reasons would be so inclined to buy a DS lite or DSi, hoping those reasons would be resolved.
I'll stick my neck out and make this claim: If Nintendo decided to launch a new handheld - and it was different than the DS or Gameboy, it would sell well. Problem is that Nintendo has started to fall apart on their innovative ideas. The Wii has also been out for 4 years now, and the only innovation they've added to it has been the Wii Fit board 2 years ago, and the DS gets rehashes.
So, when Apple releases a new phone, and it sells, Nintendo isn't losing because its a threat in any sense, its more or less that Nintendo's sales have already plateau'd and started to have fallen, and Apple sales just happen to be on the rise.
Correlation != causation.
Re:can't see the forest for the trees... (Score:3, Insightful)
While I agree with you, I think it would still be stupid for Nintendo to ignore Apple.
No. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:can't see the forest for the trees... (Score:3, Insightful)
I think their scope is incredibly narrow. The DS has been out for 6 years, the 3GS (the most popular Iphone to date) was released 2 years ago. So, where Sales for the DS Exploded in its first 2 years, they've plateau'd and started to fall. And since the iPhone sales have exploded in their first two years, they THINK they are seeing a pattern. The pattern is that both devices have done well early on. But only so many people want a DS, and only so many people want an Iphone. The DS is almost dated now, its lack of sales should suggest that Nintendo release a NEW handheld, and not a rehash like the DSi or DS lite. Apple can get away with Rehashing the iPhone because each upgrade has more of an improvement than the last, their marketting team is amazing (hate to admit it), and people are always looking to update their phone now-a-days.
Again?! (Score:5, Insightful)
This story is eerily similar to the previous "Oh NO! Nintendo sales are down!" article about the Wii. Nintendo is the dominant player of the market, and sales are down, BECAUSE ALMOST EVERYONE POSSIBLE ALREADY HAS A DS.
Market saturation, mixed with the usual mid-year games lull, and the anticipated rollout of a new platform combine to lower sales numbers. Does that mean competitors are taking over the market? No, no it doesn't.
I'm not crazy about "does this mean that...?" style of journalism. Speculation is fine - but it isn't news. Yet, this style of "journalism" seems to be rising as other forms of journalism are going out of business. It's fine for arguments, but annoying when there's too much of it, too often.
Ryan Fenton
Re:can't see the forest for the trees... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:From laughed at to "Enemy of the future" in 1 y (Score:3, Insightful)
Well, Reggie Fils-Aime is right, they download a game ($3-5) and play it a few times until they get bored, and dl another game ($3-5) and play it.
Guess what, it is easier to justify $3-5 on a game, crappy or otherwise than it is to risk 10 times that on a game that may or may not suck, may be fun for many hours of pleasure, or just boring after one time through.
Ten sucky games are worth more than one that may or may not suck.
And I wish I was running a game company right now, as I have bitchin' idea how to make/market games.
Nonsense. (Score:3, Insightful)
Couldn't the decline in DS sales simply be due to the fact that the market is saturated? Anyone who wanted a DS has already purchased one. The same goes for all the consoles. We're at the mid-point for this generation of consoles, a point at which I would expect console sales to have stagnated somewhat. It's not surprising that Wii sales would have declined the most dramatically, given the nature of its relatively outdated hardware. The PS3 is probably the only console of the three with some growth potential given it was such a late starter.
So far Apple is a non-competitor in the console arena, outside of perhaps the portable market and even there it's still a minor player. And Apple is always going to struggle as a gaming device given its significantly higher price point, being a more fragile device and, for the iPhone, requiring a pricey subscription with AT&T. We have to consider who's playing on these consoles. A significant number of them are quite young, not the sort of people who would normally be using an iPhone or iPad. For adults who might be interested in gaming, chances are they'd own both an iPhone AND a console, or two.
Is this more nonsense from "experts" gushing over how wonderful everything Apple is? Currently Apple poses no threat to the consoles. Any decline in game sales is almost certainly connected to the general state of the economy. However, anyone with common sense at Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo would certainly be eying Apply with caution and would be wise to prepare for the future.
I have a hard time seeing Apple entering the dedicated gaming market. They seem more interested in creating a ubiquitous general-purpose entertainment device. Gaming is one of it's many capabilities. I'd say it's more likely that the consoles will move in that direction; in fact, the PS3 and Xbox360 have already made some moves that way. Sony has even built in some connectivity between the PS3 and PSP. But I think such devices are still some time off.
Re:can't see the forest for the trees... (Score:3, Insightful)
Knowing your audience is half the battle in Marketting.
I suppose one of two things is happening:
1) Apple has their finger on the pulse of their fans, and know exactly what they want, how they want it, and when to release it to maximize profits. They know their supporters well enough that marketting to them is a breeze.
2) Apple has more control over who becomes their fans. They decide what they want an Apple fan to be like. They want others to desire to be an Apple fan, and it works. They don't market to everyone, they market to that select Niche that regular consumers WANT to be. Thus people who wouldn't regularly be fans become fans.
Either way - I'd be impressed.
Re:can't see the forest for the trees... (Score:3, Insightful)
Please support your assertion.
The economy has continued to worsen in the previous two years and unemployment continues to rise. It is not at all unreasonable to think more and more American consumers are finally awakening to the depth of the economic crisis and beginning to ignore the irrational exuberance network news tends to spew.
Re:From laughed at to "Enemy of the future" in 1 y (Score:3, Insightful)
You dont know corporate speak, one thing is you will never ever here from a corporate guy in public that they are concerned about someone else, this is like admitting a defeat.
Reggy after all is a salesman and for that he has to lie his way around. I do not understand why the press even interviews those guys anymore they could preprint their answers (we are not concerned bla bla, strong product lineup bla bla, we are the future bla bla) and have it signed by them, would not make a difference but would be way cheaper.
Re:can't see the forest for the trees... (Score:4, Insightful)
That's not what TFA or TFS are claiming. Did you read them? They note a disproportionate decrease in sales for portable gaming, and postulate Apple's offerings as being part of that. I think in your rush to post early, you might have missed the point behind the numbers given.
Surely you see that it's possible that the Apple products have cut into the traditional portable console game sales?
I mean, you did read the summary at least, right, where they specifically mention that a large portion of the drop in video games sales was in the portable segment?
And surely you can see that Nintendo could feel that Apple's products are a threat to their business?
Let's not generalize this. Neither I nor TFA attack Apple, there's no need for you to show up on a white horse and defend them from an attack that doesn't exist.
You, me, and just about anyone out there with any knowledge of current tech understands that the Apple products that have come out recently will compete with Nintendo for portable gaming.
Re:Again?! (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm not crazy about "does this mean that...?" style of journalism. Speculation is fine - but it isn't news.
People use predictions to try to make themselves look smarter. A few days ago somebody was posting here about how the future of Nintendo was gloomy because Sony is attempting to replicate the Wii's controller. This sort of broken logic works because of a general lack of understanding of what went into the success of the product. Journalists do this too, afterall, their relevance is dependent on the respect people have of their command of the topic. It works because nobody holds these guys to anything they say.
Re:can't see the forest for the trees... (Score:1, Insightful)
All "Army/military" games suck.
Halo 1-2-3 sucked.
Gears of War sucked.
If those are examples of what you consider to be good games, then you have extremely poor taste and/or very limited gaming experience. Since you are a drooling console mook, it isn't too surprising that you haven't seen much.
Next!
Re:How old is the Average DS User? (Score:4, Insightful)
Who the heck is going to have a kid with an expensive iPhone on an expensive data plan.
iPod Touch.
Re:can't see the forest for the trees... (Score:5, Insightful)
HL2 is indie? DOOM is indie? Monkey island was made by lucas arts, kiddo. These were the biggest games of their time.
Modern Warfare is the same shit over again, we all have already played CoD we don't need to see it again.
Sales dropped because Easter was in March in 2010 (Score:3, Insightful)
Perhaps this isn't the sole reason, but I'm sure it's part of it. There's really nothing to see here.
Re:can't see the forest for the trees... (Score:3, Insightful)
It means basic FPS with pretty graphics but no actual story-line or game-play that hasn't been seen before.
Re:From laughed at to "Enemy of the future" in 1 y (Score:3, Insightful)
They are still, "not taking Apple seriously" for all we (should) know. "Satoru Iwata is understood to have told his senior executives recently to regard the battle with Sony as a victory already won and to treat Apple, and its iPhone and iPad devices, as the 'enemy of the future.' + later some "journalist" speculation. So, they probably plan for the battle for some time now ("3DS" is probably basically ready, if you look at typical development time of new Nintendo hardware). They just they show their concern, that's what companies do.