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?'"

Comments

can't see the forest for the trees...

[Em Emalb]

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.

Re:can't see the forest for the trees...

[Red Flayer]

So why would we see it happening more now, and not previously? These hard economic times did not begin recently; as one of the first to go, you'd think entertainment spending would have taken a bigger hit some time ago.

Re:can't see the forest for the trees...

[Red Flayer]

What I can tell you is "Apple did it" holds about as much water explaining the decline of the videogame industry as " did it" does for explaining physical phenomena

That's not what TFA or TFS are claiming. Did you read them? They note a disproportionate decrease in sales for portable gaming, and postulate Apple's offerings as being part of that. I think in your rush to post early, you might have missed the point behind the numbers given.

Surely you see that it's possible that the Apple products have cut into the traditional portable console game sales?

I mean, you did read the summary at least, right, where they specifically mention that a large portion of the drop in video games sales was in the portable segment?

And surely you can see that Nintendo could feel that Apple's products are a threat to their business?

If you believe all the increasingly speculative articles lately, the ipad has killed videogames, netbooks, paper books, adobe, countless child laborers, and who knows what else.

Let's not generalize this. Neither I nor TFA attack Apple, there's no need for you to show up on a white horse and defend them from an attack that doesn't exist.

You, me, and just about anyone out there with any knowledge of current tech understands that the Apple products that have come out recently will compete with Nintendo for portable gaming.

Re:can't see the forest for the trees...

[h4rr4r]

HL2 is indie? DOOM is indie? Monkey island was made by lucas arts, kiddo. These were the biggest games of their time.

Modern Warfare is the same shit over again, we all have already played CoD we don't need to see it again.

No no no no

[Monkeedude1212]

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.

Again?!

[RyanFenton]

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

Re:How old is the Average DS User?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Who the heck is going to have a kid with an expensive iPhone on an expensive data plan.

iPod Touch.