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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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DesireCampbell.com
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.
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.
Abaddon: An Xbox 360 Indie game
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)
Dear Troll,
Can't make games without money!
Love,
Rydia
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.