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DS Design = Nintendo Profits
There's nothing but good news in Nintendo's world right now, as the success of the DS leads to a more profitable financial year than they'd initially expected. From the article: "The company has re-estimated a net profit of 95 billion yen ($807 million) for the year ended March 31, compared with its previous forecast of $637 million. Last year the firm took £739 million." To get an idea of why the DS is so successful, Gamespot has a breakdown of an interview with the DS Engineers.
These are hard for me to compare.
I used to bulls-eye womp-rats in my pants
If Nintendo's making that much on the new DS, think about the Japanese vendors - DS-lites are so rare in Japan they're selling DS-lites at three to four times MSRP. They're even importing DS's from Europe and America to sell in Japan (at even higher costs).
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Does anyone else think that there are too many different currency units in the summary? While you were at it, why didn't you throw in Euros for good measure?
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Nintendo's 3rd quarter earnings report has more details.
Not bad for a company many people figured would be out of the games buisness after the gamecube & GBA.
Once Sony announced the PSP all I ever say was "Nintendo is doomed!" "Sony's going to pwn their asses!" and so on and so forth, yet every article about the PSP & DS the DS is ALWAYS beating the PSP, simple reason to Nintendo has always made the system for cheap but not TO cheap.
no console has sold for more then $199.99 (I might be mistaken on the ones that came with a game, but back in the 80's with the NES my parents got my sister and me the NES with Mario, Duck Hunt & Track & Field (or whatever it was called) with the light gun and power pad for $199.99, same with the SNES when it was released with 2 controllers & Super Mario World) even their handheld systems sell for cheap (The DS is the only one to start off at $149.99 and is basically their most expensive system).
in the end Nintendo is usually posting profits for the year (their quarter profits are hit and miss though) while Microsoft and Sony (who are big on overloading a system with a lot of extra features that usually don't need to be there in the end) post losses almost every single time (though their end of year profits are usually up).
not bad for a company a good chuck of people thought would be gone after the gamecube.
This just goes to prove who is really "Winning" the supposed console race.
I just bought Metroid Prime Hunters last week, the gameplay is amazing. It feels so much like a PC fps. My main problem is after about 20 minutes of playing, my left hand gets tired from supporting the DS on it's own, and my right hand cramps up from holding the little stylus. It's exciting to hear that Nintendo is adjusting the weight and size of the DS. I can't wait to try one out. I might sell my DS and buy a DS lite if it addresses the issues I'm having.
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I live outside of Osaka and I got my DS Lite a few weeks after launch (by stumbiling across a late shipment at Tsutaya). I got mine on a Friday night at 10 p.m. or so and there was a shelf full of Lites and old DSes. By the next afternoon there was 1 old-model, silver left.
The machine is a marvel. It's sexy like an Apple machine (it matches my iBook and iPod) but far more durable. It's like Apple aesthetics combined with Nintendo's "make-sure-it-takes-a-beating" engineering (indeed, their machines have been amazingly resilient and the DS Lite is no exception.
The prices of Lites are coming down (you can get a used one for the same price as a new one these days) but they are still somewhat hard to find, especially in places like Akihabara (I was there on vacation a few weeks ago and every store said they were sold out) and Den-Den Town in Osaka. I live out in the boonies (compared to Osaka proper, anyway), so I was able to snag one.
The games are great - some great Japan only titles like Dragon Quest Slime 2 and Jump and stuff like Animal Crossing. People here love this machine. I am hoping the Revolution will have the same kind of success.
"There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter," Jeeves, (Jeeves and the Impending Doom)
I just got a DS as a requested birthday present.
It's not bad, but I still like the form factor of the GBA SP better (even relative to the lite version)
I think the dual screens aren't utilized very well. Assuming DS isn't the way of the future, more of a sidestory, then I'd love to see a device with the touch screen included, 4 buttons, and an analog nub instead of a crosspad, but the dual screen dropped...
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
Obviously, uh... Nintendo is... dying?
Analysts predicted the death of Nintendo at the release of the Genesis, PSone, Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox, PSP and Xbox 360. It seems like I read about Nintendo making record profits every other day. I wonder if this news will effect the predictions in any way?
Guess we have to wait on the PS3's eventual release to find out.
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Dear Troll,
Can't make games without money!
Love,
Rydia
For info on the number of DSes sold in Japan, check this out.
Having just bought a DS a month ago, I can see just why Nintendo is making profits like this. The games are quite fun, and cheap. An advantage of coming into it 18 months after release, I have been able to buy a bunch of last year's games cheaply (about $10). If you haven't played it before, it's still new to you.
Nintendo provides reasonably priced fun over megaflipipolygons per nanosecond statistical jerk-offs. That's worth my money.
It is likely that they underestimated their profit so that they can release a statement like this, making them look good
Do you honestly believe that Nintendo (or anyone) anticipated Nintendogs to sell more than 6 Million units world-wide, Mario Kart DS and Animal Crossing to each sell more than 4 Million units world wide, and for Brain Training to sell more than 2 Million units in Japan Alone? When you have 4 games that sell more than twice as many units as the most optimistic estimate would have their sales at you're goint to have to re-adjust your profit forcasts.
It just seems odd though, of all the major pubishers Nintendo is the only one that underestimated their sales; most other large publishers have been re-adjusting forcasts because sales have been down across the board. I guess the analysts were right, Nintendo IS doomed for releasing such a gimick as the DS which didn't have games with no widespread apeal; the PSP with it's UMD movies and Grand Theft Auto is going to dominate the handheld market.
Some of Nintendo's success must be because they have a corp of veteran game designers. Plus, pairing the veterans up with bright new designers sounds like a winning formula.
The stylus that comes with the DS just really is terrible. If you don't want to have to upgrade to a new DS just to fix this, what I think really every original-design DS owner should take a look at is the Hori extendable stylus. (I don't know if that site is a good or safe one to order from-- it just showed up on google. I got my extendable stylus from lik-sang, and a friend of mine said that EBGames was carrying them in stores, but I can't find it on either of those websites right now.) It fits perfeclty in the little stylus slot of the DS, but when you pull it out it extends to about twice the size, long enough for a real human being with real human hands to actually use...
In many articles I read the next gen is about PS3 vs Xbox 360. No one pays attention to the weaker guy. Seems like the Revolution doesn't have the hardware specs to be taken into consideration. But look at DS vs PSP. Gamers want change, not hardware upgrades.
There's a market out there (me!) if anyone wants to make and sell one...
After the nuclear haulocaust there will be two things left- cockroaches and Nintendo. It seems he may be right.
IMHO, I don't think these analysts are gamers. They may have degrees/certificates in Economics, Journalism, and other similar ones but that's not enough to "predict" the spending habits of the average impulse buyer (note the keyword impulse). These professionals are probably basing their facts on numbers which are relevant to the stockholders and other higher ups. As for game journalists, we all know they are the most biased people on Earth. On a side note, the DS vs PSP was based mainly on numbers. What analysts did not take into consideration is the fun factor. That is something that numbers cannot associate with. For example, the PSP can display X^20 polygons while the DS only X^2. Fun factor is something that each person rates differently. Wind Waker receives a 10/10 in one person's review but a 2/10 in another's. Personal story: I received a DS from my two younger brothers and a PSP from my girlfriend and frankly, the DS kicks ass despite my girlfriend nagging me to use the PSP more since she bought it. The games on the PSP just plain suck.
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Do you honestly believe that Nintendo (or anyone) anticipated Nintendogs to sell more than 6 Million units world-wide, Mario Kart DS and Animal Crossing to each sell more than 4 Million units world wide, and for Brain Training to sell more than 2 Million units in Japan Alone?
Yes, yes, yes and no, respectively. In fact, MKDS undersold expectations. Brain training was the only surprise in that set. The Nintendo forecast was low because they're done in ratios of market share, and Nintendo expected the PSP to be a more threatening rival than it has turned out to be.
Oh, or maybe you didn't know their future expectations were public knowledge? You can call them, and ask for something called an "investor's prospectus." They'll send it to you for free; it will be on the order of 25 pages, very nicely made, and jam-packed with data over which to salivate. That's how they get people to buy their stock. It's common for American and Asian corporations, and in certain parts of Europe (primarily the Germanic, English and Scandanavian nations.)
StoneCypher is Full of BS
One thing i can say for sure about Nintendo...they just "get it" when it comes to games. They may not be the most advanced, the fastest, hell even the best looking but when it comes down to it they understand what it takes to succeed with people.
Yes they do make purple consoles and their controllers have been known to come with a big green "A" button but that's what works for Nintendo.
I love the design of the DS. I thing it's great that they target girls and non-gamers. That's a market that sony has really failed to appeal to. Yea my fiance' liked hotshots golf for my psp when I had it (sold it after it sat for 3 months) but she really wants a ds with animal crossing...easy birthday gift since they now sell a ds/animal crossing bundle.
Nintendo knows how to move units. At the end of the day that's really all that matters.
(oh yea could someone confirm or deny that Nintendogs appeals to guys? My girl says she can't really see a guy/boy playing it...I know im not interested but there's bound to be a guy out there somewhere playing it.)
How long do I have to wait before a $199 system is esentially free at launch day?
Yes there have been many non-Nintendo consoles that retailed for quite a bit (the Pioneer LaserActive was $1200) but Nintendo's price point is usually around $200.
Oh and it's 3DO and not 3D0.
I've logged quite a bit of time on Nintendogs. My current apartment's policies on having dogs are rather expensive, so I convinced my wife to let me buy a DS and get Nintendogs to try to fill a void (I grew up having an Alaskan Malamute followed by a Siberian Husky. I fully qualify as a "dog person") of not having a dog. My "family dog" is 3.5 hours away by car at my parents' house and we don't get many opportunities to make the drive for a worthwhile visit with family. That being said, Nintendogs does a decent job of filling the "cute things puppies do" entertainment area, with none of the clean up of a real dog. I typically only get into the game once a day now, but that's because I work 9 hours a day and because I have other games I play (Mario Kart, Tetris and Metroid). But I do find it relaxing and entertaining to play with the virtual puppies and take them for walks. I have a husky and a dalmation on my game. I suppose my being a "dog person" weighs heavily in my attachment to the virtual pups, but hey, it works for me. My wife also enjoys "taking them out" for walks and to the park. I might be the exception instead of the rule for Nintendog players, but, then again, I'm also one of the compulsive Animal Crossing (gamecube) players who paid off the debt and got a gold statue by the train station.