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Apple Is Nintendo's "Enemy of the Future"
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?'"
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.
Sent from your iPad.
Seven words: "Adapt your games to your competitors' platforms". Unified devices are so hot right now.
how much would it really take to add a phone to a 3DS? Surely it has more than enough processing power, the displays are crisp, it has touch screen already... only issue I could see would be adding an antenna.
the preceding post was not spell checked... suck it.
The *_WORST_* downturn since July of 2009! Who seriously believes this stuff really matters, aside from newspapers and TV news that need this for sensationalism?
I realize that it's a translation, but it reads like "enemy of the future" as in apple doesn't like and will fight the future. Not a "future enemy" like you are poking the sleeping bear with a stick...
Sheldon
Two companies that unconscionably lock down their platforms and have amazingly obnoxious fanboy supporters. Is there a way they can both lose?
The time just before the last month saw the news about successor of Nintendo DS (which is itself long in the tooth, although considering that - doing rather fine)
One that hath name thou can not otter
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.
Not just a bigger screen but a bigger screen experience. sigh
It seems like there are all kinds of things competing for the attention of gamers nowadays. I can't really see 'bejeweled' or whatever the hell the kids are playing on their iPads competing with WoW or whatever. But what about huge timesinks like facebook, twitter, youtube, and even internet news/chat/etc?
I can't say... I just hit 35 and I've damn near lost my ability to sit still in front of a video game. It just feels like a giant sucking waste of time - then again I'm posting on /., so what does that say about me?
Even when I did game, I'd put down $40 for half-life and get... 4-5 years out of it. So I guess I'm not a typical gamer.
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Last time I checked, July 2010 hasn't happened yet. So how can we have a greater year-over-year decline in less than a year? Did the definition of year get changed?
Maybe they could make a wiiPhone?
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Gee a few months ago, they were not taking Apple seriously... Apple "...is not having an impact on Nintendo... I’ve seen data that suggests that while consumers are constantly downloading apps, they play with them for a few times and then they are moving on to the next thing,” Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America’s president, told Kotaku. “Clearly it doesn’t look like their platform is a viable profit platform for game development because so many of the games are free versus paid downloads.” "iPhone and iPad not viable gaming platforms", "Apple games are not even a mouthful" A year ago, Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo was argued that iPhones and Nintendo products were not competitors because they appealed to different people.
Oh dear lord - a busload / metro train full of people waving their arms around like airport flagmen having grand-mal seizures.
And you thought loud cell-phone conversations were annoying.
*THWACK!* *Biff* *Poink*!
It'd be like an episode of the 300 Stooges. Can't wait.
I stick Apple and Sony together since they love making up their own proprietary stuff. I see Nintendo as living more hand in hand with Googles approach.. and MS is just... MS.
I would buy a Nintendo phone. In a heartbeat.
If you're a parent with 2+ kids, which would you rather do?
Buy a DS, along with a copy of a game cart for each kid (or a download for each DS, not just now but in the future also), or purchase an iPod Touch + 1 copy of the game to sync with all of them?
Add in Nintendos HUGE lack of ability to replace hardware (go search for people needing to replace Wiis and DSs and trying to keep their purchased DLC ... here's a hint at the conclusion "Good Luck!").
Seems like Nintendo SHOULD be concerned. Heck, SquareSoft is even releasing titles on the AppStore. If Apple added a button or two, it would be that much easier, but they still have dual stick shooters (that are personally "okay", but not great), and a HUGE potential for game developers.
If a few major developers jump on board and accept it as a First Class gaming platform (which they MIGHT since they don't have to worry about used carts being resold and the install base is huge), then Nintendo could be in for a huge awakening.
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Gee, with shorter games, dumbed-down games, yearly franchise releases over-saturating brands, less focus on bug-free releases, a dramatic rise in nickel-and-diming DLC, exploding budgets, and a general fear of innovation or creativity, I wonder why the video game industry is starting to slump?
The only game on the horizon I'm really looking forward to is Guild Wars 2.
Caffeine is my anti-drug!
Duranin - A NWN2 Roleplaying Persistent World
No one will buy two portable gaming devices when one will do, that defeats the point of portable gaming. The only way they can compete is to make a comparable product. That or just focus on making games for the iPhione/iPad/whateverelsethereisoutthere.
Not until they start putting real controls on their products. Being able to play games for longer than a couple hours would help too. I don't see either happening any time soon.
--- Do you believe in the day?
don't forget that Steam and some of its games are now Apple compatible... that will also probably steal some gamers away from other systems.
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
Last I checked the most popular titles on the DS system were targeted at kids. Who the heck is going to have a kid with an expensive iPhone on an expensive data plan. Maybe Apple can peel off some older casual gamers, but they aren't going to nab any of Nintendo's core DS customers.
I thought that was Skynet.
Skip one lousy meeting...
lol =) care to have a look at the growth of online flash games?
i can't be bothered to pull out some figures for you but to be honest this kind of story reflects the increasing distance between reality and the people that you find on slashdot.
maybe its that you don't want to face up to this uncomfortable fact and would rather crap on about the iphone some more.
Nintendo has a patent on a gameboy phone since before the iphone came out. They do have it before apple but most people would call it a copy and bash them .its not worth releasing a phone.
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.
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
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.
First it was netbooks and now it's nintendo? Yeah sure, this seems more like bullshit to me. Hipster talk about the "gaming future" and how apple is taking over every market (to their delight)... but what it is, is a desire to see trends as, instead of what they are, apples products crushing other markets.
I bet the next article will be "PC gaming decline! did steams jump to MAC kill PC gaming?" or something similar.
Eat sleep die
just release their DS games for the ipod/ipad/iphone/droid (or whatever is coming out next) and rake in the dough @ $10 a pop. Then they don't have to make a new handheld unless they want too. Dunno, maybe I am wrong.
How can it be the "worst year over year decline since June 2009" when this is only 11 months since then? Weird phrasing
I was expecting something much more exciting. Say, like Apple has plans to come out with a console. That would be much more interesting than this garbage.
My son and I have had every Nintendo DS since they were first released. Since that time eBook readers and 'Smart Phones' have not only come down in price but they have increased in capability. What we're finding is how burdensome the DS has become, compared to our phones. I have a DSi XL, and my wife and son each have a DSi.
The Wifi capabilities are generally good, but it's hit and miss if it will work when I'm at a coffee shop. Not so with our phones - the Wifi seems to work fine and there's the 3G connection as well.
The cameras on the DS? Poor in comparison to the phones we have. And all of our phones connect to a PC or Mac to copy photos over. The DS requires an SD Card.
Same thing with music. A cable versus an SD card, and the DS can only handle AAC; our phones can use AAC and MP3. Our phones can play music and let us pause it when we're on the web on taking a phone call. The DS is a one-shot device. Music or game, never both.
Playing a game on the DS is, generally speaking, better than on a phone. Two screens, a stylus, held in the hand or placed on the table - it is superior to a phone.
But it's also another piece of technology I have to carry.
For us the biggest threat isn't the iPhone or similar mobile Apple technology but the limitation of the DS. We don't have iPhones and the DS has rapidly lost its usefulness for us - a family with only mobile phones, an XBox 360 and Wii, and a DS for Mom, Dad and Junior.
The Luddites were ahead of their time.
No thanks. The last thing I need is the three-years contracts and absurd monthly fees from the Canadian cellphone companies.
Nintendo should check the sales of the iPhone + iPad 3G vs iPod touch + iPad Wi-Fi.
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.
No thanks! I don't need no MarioPhone! I'll stick with my iPhone 3GS
Is it that hard to see that Nintendo announced or leaked info about having a 3DS coming out in 6 months to a year and the next quarter the hand held sales are down? Who in their right mind would buy the current hardware knowing that the future hardware is about to come out and soon. Nintendo doesn't even need to beat out the Apple App store since they already have a decent store for the Wii it shouldn't be too hard to port over the functionality that they already have. As much as Apple might have some games for their cute little iPhone and iPad get real. I wasn't that impressed with the DS having a touch screen but at least it had buttons. I can just imagine breaking my Android in Game Over rage, and I don't think apple customers would be immune to that ether.
funniest thing I've read all week! Nintendo should have released a cellphone four years ago.
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
Has anyone mentioned yet that all the games that have come out in the past few years have basically giant packages of suck? I don't really think it has to do with console manufacturers, or apple or anything... Games just suck now. Developers spend all their money making them look pretty or developing ways to suck money out of you via microtransactions... but no-one is making decent games anymore.
How many versions of the DS? DS, DS lite, DSi?
Perhaps they should get off the behinds and produce something new again?
Maybe we would save a lot of dupes and bandwidth by reporting what markets Apple isn't on the way to dominating according to some retarded at a random blog.
As far as the buttons, Apple is not trying to get existing gamers. Apple is targeting the younger people, who want to game, who want to use facebook, who want to watch movies, and will not make a choice. They have hot spots at school. These are kids who can take a DSi to school, and guarantee that it will be confiscated, or an iPhone or Touch with they can defend as having a semi-legitimate value. The main problem most marketers make is seldom looking at the emerging market. The market that has not been trained with buttons.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
Games are not that expensive and in fact an increase in such revenue was predicted because when money is tight you buy a new game rather then go on holiday.
But buy what game?
I still got a stack of old CD's just because and if I look at them, I see countless genre's that seem to have disappeared. Especially if you track mainstream game. Practically every title released by Microprose is gone. Flight sims? RPG's? Adventures?
And please if you point out Mass Effect, Dragon Age Origins and Fallout 3, then you hopefully also realize that this list is pretty complete. For a couple of years.
Turnbased games like Ufo: Enemy Unknown and Jagged Alliance sold well but never got a sequel... or rather never got a sequel that deserves the name.
I still buy games but have noticed that more and more I am just not intrested because new games are not of the type that I want to play. Fine that you go for the younger crowd, but they don't got the money do they?
I think it is the same as with the music industry. They release fewer titles especially in some genres and then wonder why sales decline. It would be like McDonals dropping all its food products and then wondering why they don't make as much from toilet visits.
And then there are even dumber companies like Rockstar who don't launch Red Dead Redemption on the PC but have a long history of releasing titles on the PC eventually. So I am not going to buy it at launch, because I prefer the PC. And if it really doesn't come out for the PC in two years? Oh well, to old by then anyway.
Sometimes you really got to wonder who the hell let these morons in charge of the sales department.
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You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
From the article: "April 2010 may have been a disappointing month for video game industry numbers, but new top 20 U.S. console retail game from the NPD Group reveals that 14 titles sold more than 100,000 units -- above analyst expectations, and more than the 9 that were sold in April of last year." http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/28566/NPD_Top_20_Reveals_Aprils_Hits_FFXIIIs_Chart_Miss.php
Apple's a non contender in the gaming area until they come up with a better input method. The touch screen will hold them back.
2 inputs at once it not enough for anything but simple trivial games. Now simple trivial games are exactly what the iStuff needs. But they'll never touch the more robust systems.
How can they? They're more powerful, look better, have better controls, cost less, and using them doesn't cause your hand to block half the screen.
I find being offended by me offensive.
Easter is attributed with the sale of 50 million games. This year, Easter came in March (a surprisingly good month), not April like it usually does (a surprisingly dismal month).
Perhaps this isn't the sole reason, but I'm sure it's part of it. There's really nothing to see here.
Fact: Everything I say is fiction.
I think Nintendo should make an online store where you can purchase and download old Nintendo games from the NES, SNES, N64, etc for their new consoles such as Wii and the 3DS. It will stengthen their company and will be a competitor to apple's apps store.
what Nintedo needs to do is develop games that go across platforms. That you can play different elements of the game on the go, from a browser or at home. The Home version would be the fully functional one, but you should have mobile elements to the game too.
If Nintendo can create a gaming ecosystem, they'll have no fears from apple. Ultimately gaming is also a media industry where content is king... and Nintendo is the king of gaming content.
Read what I mean, not what I wrote.
This coming from a company that emulates Apple's business model (and their look).
- -= Napalm means serious BBQ =-
As a parent of two, I can honestly say the the DS is the way to go.
I have a touch, and they both have a DS.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
So, you're saying you blame the drop in sales on Jesus?
For shame!
Apple wants to compete for as much non-PC market share as they possibly can. Handheld gaming is definitely in that ballpark.
However, Apple will need to actually build a gaming handheld, because the iPhone sucks to play games on. Multitouch is good for many things, but it's incredibly annoying for gaming. I hate obscuring the screen with my fingers when I'm playing something. Reading my eye movements is horribly disorienting. Tilting and shaking is moderately useful, but nothing beats a simple directional pad or joystick for gaming. Multitouch alone doesn't cut it, and most people don't want to carry around and hook up controllers to their phones. Even if they're using bluetooth. A good gaming handheld also needs reasonably good battery life, which the DS does have. A gaming handheld doesn't have to look good, it has to be very ergonomic. It can look as ugly as you want as long as it doesn't kill your fingers or wrists to use. Being able to purchase and download games off a store is probably the best advantage iPhone has in regards to gaming, but Nintendo could probably work that out fairly easily too. I've seen DS modders do some pretty crazy things with their DS...it seems to be a capable platform for supporting that functionality with a few tweaks. But the hard part is Nintendo changing their business model to get away from distributing games on cards to vendors and to a direct web download market. It's going to probably piss off a few vendors.
Really, foundations of your post can't be much further from the truth. Massive DS uptake really started only after Nintendo discontinued the original version, replacing it with DS lite.
Original model sold maybe 20 million units. Recent numbers say about around 130 million units sold, of all versions. Vast majority (close to 90 million) of those are the DS lite. Only recently (last few months) have the sales slowed down.
One that hath name thou can not otter
Try 1$ games, people already get extremely cautious about 2$ games, only 1$ passes for an impulse buy.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
Okay. That only makes my point better. ;)
I don't own an iPhone, nor shop at iTMS, so unlike most geeks whining about Apple, I don't have to. I was just guessing at what might be a price range of games on iTMS.
I was only off by a factor of 3x to 5x :-P
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
I don't know the last time we turned on the Wii, no games have interested the family for many many months (years?). The kids do like their DS Pokemon, though I cannot for the life of me see why they keep wanting a new emerald, gold, platinum, etc etc. Guess they do gotta catch 'em all. The family craves a iPad, one kid has a iPod Touch already and is constantly gaming on it with the trial games, saves $$$ and meets his short attention span needs!
He adds, 'Maybe Nintendo should just release a phone?'"
Great...as if we don't have enough Super Mario ringtones...
IGN: I know you're probably sick of Apple questions, but here we go. The company is positioning its hardware more and more as gaming devices -- iPod Touch, iPhone, and now iPad, which became available for pre-order today.
Reggie Fils-Aime: What are you going to do with your iPad?
IGN: Honestly, I don't know yet, but I'm buying one.
[Reggie laughs]
IGN: In your recent Forbes interview, you said Apple's products hadn't resulted in any sales impact on DS yet. But it's just a matter of time before Touch drops to $149 or maybe even $99. Then you've got a real competitor in the handheld space. What're your thoughts on that?
Reggie Fils-Aime: All of our competitors need to be worried about what we're going to do. I don't worry about what they're going to do. We're going to continue to innovate. If things get to a point where their pricing comes down, my pricing probably has come down as well. Chances are I've innovated in a whole new way that they haven't thought of before because that's what we do at Nintendo. And so, the fact of the matter is, in the here and now they're having no impact on our business.
IGN: You're not seeing any impact on current sales then.
Reggie Fils-Aime We sold 600,000 DSs in the month of February. Best ever handheld month on record. I don't think they're having an impact.
And now are you going to enable parental controls so your 12 year old doesn't go browsing or downloading what they shouldn't?
The greater functionality of an iPod Touch cuts both ways.
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An iphone is for people who don't really play games. The DS can do any game the iPhone can do but better and many more the iPhone can't do.
Maybe Nintendo should just give the Wii an actual hardware upgrade instead of a motion sensor copout. :|
It's a bit amazing that it is being so successful. It really isn't that great of a gaming platform considering the battery life and that it is actually an issue if you run out of battery. I'd like to see Apple improve its battery a lot before I would be throwing in the towel with the DS.
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...adding more concerns about the health of the industry in the worst year-over-year decline since July 2009.
...adding more concerns about the health of the industry in the worst year-over-year decline in the last year.
What? Seriously? That's like complaining about the weather today by saying it's the hottest day since yesterday. When I started reading that sentence, I thought it was going to end with "since 1984." If it's the worst decline since the decline that just happened, how is this in any way news?
"I don't care about the Constitution!" --Bill O'Reilly, November 17, 2009
...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.
You actually should market that. I could see you making millions selling licensed made-up quotes to every newspaper on the planet, which they could use instead of hiring actual people to conduct interviews.
"I don't care about the Constitution!" --Bill O'Reilly, November 17, 2009
the iPad Mini?
Ten sucky games are worth more than one that may or may not suck.
So, I'm guessing you're an Atari 2600 fan, then?
... and then they built the supercollider.
An iPod touch lasts for ever, I have already seen hand me downs.
Well I don't know about that, my iPod classic is only about 3 years old and the battery lasts about 8 hours when it's not even playing music; this of course wouldn't be a problem if I could replace the battery.
I can't imagine something that has a much more advanced screen would fair any better than a simple music player.
I am almost your age and I have no time to play computer games like in the past. 0-2 hours per week for me. I still love gaming, but no time for them! I still have old games (e.g., Crysis, World in Conflict, C&C3:KW) to finish!
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Nintendo's problem isn't Apple. It's Nintendo. Apple is making tons of mistakes that could cost them their throne, if any other company could fill their place.
But of course, other companies are worse. Nintendo has a long history of ostracizing indy devs and ruthlessly protecting their IP. They have major issues like the license transfers to new hardware, and the areas where they specialize (simple/intuitive UIs) are also Apple's specialty.
Of course, Apple has no first-party fun games.
So if you want a phone that plays games, you go iPhone, and if you want a handheld that also phones, you go dsPhone? :P
Once the major issues are resolved(transfers, Nintendo's indy stance, etc.), there's nothing to stop Nintendo from becoming the #1 game company in the world - if they want that position.
As far as I can tell the author of the article has a very narrow definition of "the game industry". He seems to think that only the dinosaurs that cater to ultra hardcore gamers are part of the "game industry". What the article is really saying is that the iPad, and the new smart phones are taking sales away from the old dinosaurs like Nintendo, EA, and the others. What that means is that Apple, the cell phone manufactures, Google (of Android fame), and those thousands and thousands of small independent developers who are coding those hundreds of thousands of apps, including a huge number of games, are now a large and growing part of "the game industry".
The game industry is now a lot larger than just the dinosaurs that have been ignoring most of the population for the last 30 years.
I've been playing video games since the '70s. The number of games that I want to play has dropped every year since then. It has been at least 5 years since I saw a game that I was willing to pay even the used price for. People like me, boomers, have most of the money left in this crappy economy which means we can afford games, hardware, and broadband. We are nearing or have already retired so we have lots of time to play games. But, the dinosaurs only write games for people who want to play one more remake of the same tired old plot. Plots that were innovative 30 years ago and are now as boring as the 2000th rerun of a TOS episode.
I'm so glad to see the dinosaurs losing market share. I am so happy to see the huge number of actually fun games available for ubiquitous hardware at reasonable prices.
The current "game industry" is dying and they don't have a clue what they are doing to deserve it. They have been ignoring most of the market for 30 years. Maybe now they will get a clue, but I doubt it.
Stonewolf
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.
One that hath name thou can not otter
How many versions of the iPhone? 2G, 3G, 3GS? Was there much difference between 2G and 3G apart from something which should be there in the first place? 3G -> 3GS...just unlocking video recording basically?
Perhaps they should get off the behinds and produce something new again?
One that hath name thou can not otter
everyone's enemy of the future
I think Apple is probably telling its executives that the battle with Nintendo is a battle already won. How does Nintendo recover at this point? The time when people wanted a device that can only play games is well past.
1. Just because a gaming phone seems like a good idea doesn't mean people will buy it or support it.
2. Just because the mobile phone industry's heaviest-hitters make the hardware doesn't mean that it will be a success.
3. Just because game industry heavy-hitters make the software doesn't mean that it will be a success.
4. There is no item number four.
5. Any company putting out a gamer mobile phone will almost certainly face a barrage of patent and related lawsuits from Nokia and others in today's hostile environment.
6. Mobile phone carriers do not want their customers spending time doing things on the device that does not use their services, so expect server-side game lockin to rack up the minutes.
I deny that I have not avoided attaining the opposite of that which I do not want.
Actually normal people have something worthwhile to say, but I hate those standard market drone interviews, they always say the same, it is even pointless to interview them because you know the answers upfront.
As I said, send them the standard formula, have it signed by them from the marketing guys, and then you get the same result, but cheaper than sending over a reporter who actually has to run the pointless interview.
Once the major issues are resolved(transfers, Nintendo's indy stance, etc.), there's nothing to stop Nintendo from becoming the #1 game company in the world - if they want that position.
Nintendo already has that position, genius.
(-1, Raw and Uncut is the only way to read)
Nintendo already has that position, genius.
#1 game console company.
Just look at who they're going up against. It'll be interesting to see how they fare.