Can the iPhone kill sales, Nintendo seem to think so
Nintendo has warned that their profits may decline due to “current economic conditions”, but has also stated that it is partly due to the increased competition of the Apple iPhone and Apple iPod Touch as a gaming platform reports an article on electronista.
Apparently the newly launched Nintendo DSi is partially seen as a response to Apple’s new gaming model and includes an on device digital App Store rather than the more conventional cartridge physical media.
SO with Nintendo sort of feeling the pinch as the iPhone 3GS becomes a more used gaming platform does this mean the iPhone will eventually kill off the more traditional gaming consoles
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One thought on “Can the iPhone kill sales, Nintendo seem to think so”
Yes I can foresee Nintendo’s DS and DSi losing some market share and profit due to Apple’s iPhone & iPod Touch but there will always be some portable gamers wanting physical on-board controls uninterested in the on screen visual controls on iPhone & iPod Touch touch screen devices who will continue to rely on DS or DSi or even a device like Sony PSP which is behind Nintendo DS in market share but as Sony is prepping the PSP Go who knows what type of market share PSP Go will generate.
Then there are other cellular phone based platforms like the Palm Pre which is coming out with its own app store that might have some games as well. Games have been developed for Palm devices in the past and Windows Mobile phones as well for years. Microsoft is actually pursuing an official App Store now for Windows Mobile devices of its own and some carriers are making carrier specific App Stores. Verizon is working on a VCast App Store and phone maker Research In Motion has developed a new App Store for Blackberry devices.
I have games on my Motorola RAZR phone on Verizon Wireless I have had for 1 and a half year already (got the phone before Apple released their App Store) including Tetris, Sonic The Hedgehog (port of original Genesis game which I also have on my Wii, 5th gen video iPod (with click wheel), and 2nd gen iPod Touch with iPhone OS 3.0; Monopoly Here & Now World Edition on 5th gen iPod Video (click wheel), 2nd gen iPod Touch and my Motorola RAZR phone; Bejeweled for my Apple devices mentioned above and my Motorola RAZR Verizon phone. I also have SimCity Metropolis for my phone and SimCity for iPhone on my iPod Touch.
I do have a Nintendo DS Lite with Super Mario 64 DS, New Super Mario Bros. and SimCity DS which I bought used. Most of my gaming on the go is done via 5th gen video iPod, iPod Touch or my RAZR phone on Verizon network. I can listen to music on my phone and/or iPod devices mentioned with internet radio apps also available to me via iTouch. Nintendo DSi can play music but has no streaming internet radio capability I have heard of just plays your own tunes. Sure it as a camera also currently unavailable on the iPod Touch (not included in mine but likely to be included in a new generation of iPod Touches) and is already in iPhone but lacks internet radio and doesn’t work with my iTunes Library so I find iPods and even my Verizon phone which can download music directly more compelling.
Maybe Nintendo should also build a phone to compete with iPhone. They should have a product to compete both with iPod Touch as well as a product to compete with iPhones.