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Second Coming of the DS Lite

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the i-look-forward-to-my-new-handheld dept.

DS News writes "Gamespot has posted news that the release of the Enamel Navy and Ice Blue has been just as much a sell-out success as the White DS Lite event a week ago. From the article: 'Following last week's launch of the Crystal While DS Lite, Nintendo Co, Ltd. shipped its Ice Blue and Enamel Navy models today in Japan. Considering that the handheld has already made one debut, the industry wasn't expecting the same high turnout for these new models. But contrary to conventional wisdom, the machine's second launch drew even more demand than the first.'" As with the White launch, Kotaku has a man on the ground with impressions from the Japanese launch day.

5 of 59 comments (clear)

  1. Size? by /ASCII · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My interpretation of the huge interest in the DS Lite is that the claims about how the size of the Xbox and Xbox 360 are a major factor in the horrible sales of those systems in Japan are true. If people really go this crazy over a smaller version of an old system - twice - then size really must be critical over there. I guess it might not be a question of xenophobia after all...

    --
    Try out fish, the friendly interactive shell.
    1. Re:Size? by edwdig · · Score: 5, Informative

      The DS Lite selling out twice really isn't that surprising. The DS has been consistantly selling well in Japan. The DS redesign rumors started because the original DS has been completely sold out in Japan for months. People assumed - correctly - that the reason for the shortage was Nintendo revamping the production lines for a new model. Now that the new model is out, Nintendo can't even ship the quantities they were originally intending. If Nintendo announces the date of the next shipment, I wouldn't be surprised to see it sell out quickly as well.

  2. visit IGN instead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    IGN has a much better write up, with better photos: http://ds.ign.com/articles/695/695157p1.html

  3. OK, but what about America? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The DS has consistently been a runaway hit for a really long time in Japan-- it's been the best-selling video game system there for many months. It is no surprise at all the DS Lite has done well, and only a tiny surprise it has done this well.

    The question is, how will the DS Lite do when it is released in America? The DS is popular here, but not that popular, there are fewer DS games here than in Japan and the games have been less successful. Will Nintendo find a way to make the DS Lite catch on in some kind of special way with the American public, or will it just sell extra briskly for two weeks after which point retailers will go back to forgetting the DS exists so they can try to push more overpriced UMD movies?

  4. Re:Potential reason? by Hitto · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I agree with much of what you have said - you speak wisely.

    But I think the DSLite sells like hotcakes because the normal DS was already completely sold out. It's such a *huge* success all over there. The brain training and other "touch generations" series have won them a whole lotta new gamers. Maybe not as much in the western world, where we are somehow fond of sDoRnMy. So when it will be released in a coupla months in the USA and, in three years in Europe (grr!), it will sell as much as the original one.

    But here's an interesting thing; if you look up recent sales charts, you can see this kind of thing :
    GBA: 105 (1,584)
    source : http://www.gamesarefun.com/news.php?newsid=6085

    Somehow, I think Ninty will keep selling original DS'es, because there may still be some people who prefer the larger console? In a nutshell, what you said was right - But I think it's wanted, and there's a hint it might work.

    So, my theory is that the sexy new look is rather to try to win some of us over. I know people who bought GBM's and PSP's before seeing what games were on both consoles, there's a lot of trust when the machine looks cool. I am not into marketing techniques, either, so if any people working in advertisement could give a shout? Something like : "Hey! Look at me! I'm sexy! I'm smaller than the copmetition, and I carry *two miniature suns* AND I play Nintendogs and $MARIO_GAME! Buy the fuck outta me!"

    Disclaimer : I consider myself a customer, not a fanboi. But... I *want* a DSLite, it'll just be the occasion for me to lend the older console to friends of mine, or give it to a relative :)