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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?'"
Two companies that unconscionably lock down their platforms and have amazingly obnoxious fanboy supporters. Is there a way they can both lose?
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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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.
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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Couldn't tell you that. 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 unless someone has better statistics than a loose correlation between a product release and a sharper decline in an already declining industry.
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.
Seems to me all it's killed is what shreds of reason Apple fans had left.
That's simple, Nintendo would produce a pair of systems like Apple did (iPhone/iTouch) one with a phone and one without, with the latter targets at the kids (or at least kids who's parents won't pony up for a phone for them)
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
I would totally consider a Nintendo phone.
Considering their pricing scheme, they are totally capable of undercutting the phone market. $400 for a smartphone? Fuckoff, if I can get a Nintendo DSiPhone for ~$150? After the BS phone carrier rebate like $50 for a nintendo phone would be a no-brainer.
But then, I like cheap stuff.
-- "Oh. This guy again."
Don't be an ass, Halo is a perfectly acceptable FPS. Dissing on the Halo series is a good clue that you're more concerned with being cool than gaming.
That said, none of those FPS are particularly great or memorable. Just decent games that are rehashes of decent games from ten years ago. There's no compelling reason to pick one over the other.
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.