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DS Sells 20 million, 17 Million More by March 2007
Wowzer writes "Nintendo announced today that sales of its hand-held, dual-screened video game player, the Nintendo DS, have topped 20 million worldwide (guesstimates say 21,270,000). Nintendo expects DS (Lite) sales to be 17 million between April 2006 and March 2007. From today's financial report: 'The company raised its full-year sales forecast of the DS handheld game players to 17 million units for the year ending March 2007, up from 16 million unit sales projection made in May. Sales of DS game titles are projected to rise to 75 million units, from 70 million.' The report refers to PSP owners as just combat-game fans, while the DS is said to target a wider audience with more diverse games such as the 6 million seller Nintendogs." I will say, I was very skeptical when I first heard about the DS and the split screen — but having played a number of different games, I've found I like it. But I have not played Nintendogs, unlike some other people I know.
That actually depends on how you define superior product. In my view that means the product that more people are willing to pay the price for. Combined with actualy making a profit that would be a superioe product.
Of course you can also argue tha is someone has one customer that makes him a profit bigger than the 20 M. seperate products that that is a superior product...
Like I said agree with you, but it does depend on definitions.
The DS is the first game system I bought since my sega genesis system back when.. oh before time itself. I love this thing! It is a hell of a lot more advanced than the Sega, costs about the same, and is like 1/10 the size. I spent the first few days just shaking my head at the power, capability, and size of the thing. And the games are actually entertaining, not frustrating or something you have to give up your life in order to play properly. So, Im one of those 'casual' gamers who spent the $120- I used to be more involved in gaming but I just seem to have other things to do with my time now, with the ds I can play between the other things I do..
but what are the latest worldwide shipped figures for the PSP?
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I don't have the worldwide numbers but it is interesting to note that June (because of the DSlite release) is the only month since last November that the DS outsold the PSP in the US
sorces
The ironic thing is those trolls tend to be Sony or Microsoft fanboys. Which built their userbase on general/casual gamers. Sad that they harp on the whole casual gamer vs hardcore gamer. Nobody cares about the hardcore gamer, the profit they make from hardcore gamers is laughable. If Sony say (this upcoming PS3 era) lost its casual userbase...sure Sony might survive (Nintendo did) but they'd find themselves in Nintendo's shoes during its N64-GCN era.
"I thought what I'd do was I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes" ~ Laughing Man - GITS:SAC
Zelda Four Sword and FF:CC are two of the very best games for the gamecube. My wife and I played both. We're almost done with Zelda and kinda left FF:CC for it (we like Zelda better). Another game the GBA connectivity shines in is Pacman: VS, which we play anytime people are over, especially if these people are non-gamers.
I was very highly sceptical about GBA-GC connectivity at first and saw it as a ploy to suck more money out of people, but its really one of the best features of any current-generation consoles. Just awesome.
You can mod your friends, you can mod your nose, but you can't mod your friend's nose.
Almost two years ago if someone pointed to this dual screened mutant and said,
-It would lead a gaming renaissance in Japan, making the Japanese game market larger than America so far in the year 2006.
-It would outsell the PSP in all markets.
-It would be very popular among girls too.
-And popular among older people with a game called 'Brain Age'. This demographic the industry thought was impossible to reach.
-Animal Crossing Wild World would outsell Final Fantasy 12 in Japan (could Final Fantasy 3 outsell FF12?)
-A game called Nintendogs will outsell Halo and is set to outsell Halo 2.
-Companies like Electronic Arts will struggle on the system as they do not know how to deal with disruption technology. But smaller companies like Atlus shall rise.
-Let's not forget a new 2D Mario (after fifteen years) turning the markets on fire everywhere.
You would think the person had gone mad. And many people thought Nintendo had gone mad in late 2004 (just as many thought they had gone mad with the Wii)
Where is the PSP? Well, the software for the PSP is abysmal in Japan. The DS sales lead over the PSP in Japan is so gigantic that if you begin to combine PSP markets, the PSP still doesn't outsell the DS.
So what is different? Nintendo sees the DS's true competition of those who aren't interested in games at all. The company mission is taking affect: "Make as many gamers as possible."
Two years ago...
-Japan had been in a slow decline and analysts were wondering if it worth the effort to 'win' Japan anymore.
-Everyone predicted the PSP would do to the DS what Playstation did to the Nintendo consoles.
-America's game market was extremely healthy with blockbusters like GTA: SA and Halo 2.
-Nintendo was about to go third party.
Now...
-Japan's game market is now bigger than America's and is rapidly expanding.
-Everyone's lofty PSP predictions now have egg on their face.
-America's game market has been in free-fall since 2004. People are ignoring this issue and calling it a 'transition period' without mentioning that the next-gen systems out such as the PSP and Xbox 360 are not growing the market in any way.
-Nintendo swims in profits.
Anyone who believes the seventh generation of consoles will match the PS2 era is deluding themselves. Let the Seventh Generation of Consoles be known as the Fragmentation Era as the games market is dividing into seperate realms.
Welcome to the new world.