While it seemed that all was
going well for the Big N, it looks like those jovial times are finally coming to a (temporary) end. In an earnings report filed today, the company posted a 66 percent fall in quarterly operating profit on "slowing demand for its Wii console and a stronger yen." It's not so much the profit slide that's surprising, but the sudden admission that Wii demand has finally (finally!) slowed from
a raging boil to simply piping hot definitely caught us off guard. Still, Nintendo maintained that it would sell 26 million Wii consoles before the year was out alongside 30 million DS handhelds, the latter of which has seen momentum slow due to "increased competition in the handheld business from Apple's iPhone." Now, we've known for some time that the suits in Cupertino have always
viewed the iPhone as a game console, but to hear it called out as such from an entity
not named Apple is another matter entirely. Maybe it should reconsider that whole "
if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" thing?
Nah.
[Image courtesy of
QuiteCurious]
posted Jul 30th 2009 4:39AM
...if the iphone had a zelda title i would buy it...
...otherwise...
...nay...
Jailbreak it and run a nes emulator
...or, play my nes for free?...
dont have to blow the iphone tho to get it to work....only steve jobs
...ha!...
Well, you payed for your nes and the cartridge sooooo....technically is NOT for free...
Check out Zenonia, a great action-rpg. I'd compare it more to Secret of Mana than Zelda, but it's certainly a console-quality game with 40+ hours of gameplay.
Without real controls a Zelda-clone is pointless. Using the on-screen D-pad and buttons are the most frustrating thing in the world.
I almost threw my iPhone at the wall playing Zenonia. Even after hours of play I still can't get used to the horrid controls.
Aside from that most iPhone games are shovelware and rip-offs. The short sweet $0.99-$1.99 is where iPhone gaming is at; such Eliss, Trism, Galcon, etc. But the fact they have to constantly discount already cheap games that cost a few dollars is telling of the quality.
We're all truly sorry you were offended by a joke, Quix.
Anyone here play "GALAXY ON FIRE" or " ISOTOPE" on iPhone?
iPhone/ipodT is 10 times better than a DS/DSi cause:
#1 you can surf the web on it.
#2 new games come out every week
#3 new games cost less than $20 and older games typically cost $3 for a full version (neither DS or PSP can touch that.
#4 your games will be playable on every ipod released down the road.
#5 unlike crappy DSI and PSP, you can store lots of music and videos without memory cards.
#6 ipod T costs $220 and offers a whole lot more than PSP or DSi
You can't lose with iPodT/iPhone.
if the next ipod touch includes a camera and a mic, then it will be a real dsi competitor because both will be handheld gadgets that can take pictures, access the web, play games, make recordings, listen to music, have app stores, and most importantly...do not require service contracts!
comparing the iphone to a dsi is like apples and oranges imo...
More like Apple to Nintendo, in my opinion
More like apples and neutrinos.
Oh, I fear that joke may not mean anything to most of the people here.
The big difference, of course, is that in this day and age, having a cell phone is almost mandatory, while having a gaming console is definitely not. Which means many iPhone users will choose not to buy another dedicated handheld gaming console because what they can get on the iPhone is "good enough" for them. And *that* is why Nintendo is worried about the iPhone.
The benefit that the DS line gives consumers is the ability to be entertained whilst away from their homes. Any other device which can provide entertainment can therefore be considered a competitor. This includes, of course, the iPhone, other mobile phones, and less obvious things like books.
I still don't see what it is about the Wii. Got one at launch, bought 2 games logged maybe 3 hours total on it? Meh
Oh and the way Apple is rejecting applications for the iPhone, they will only be competing with themselves for the time being :)
So you paid all that money for a Wii on release and to this day have only tried 2 games on it? Wow. Do you also set your money on fire?
theyve only rejected a small number of apps, did you forget there are over 50k apps and many are very useful. and there are at least 10-20 great games and at least 50-100 good games.
@SteveJ - Would spending cash-o-la on games I don't enjoy be a better way to use my money?
@johnny - Was being a little sarcastic on that one :) I know they have good games, was just poking fun at all this rejection talk lately with Google etc etc
Of course, now everyone and their momma has three of the things. I'm the only person I know who hasn't picked one up, they almost had me at the black wii, but thank god they decided against a US showing.
It's refreshing to hear such honesty - albeit it's a mid-quarter report on guidance of the company's earnings - from a game company, considering the hype and denials from Sony and Microsoft.
Now, if they would just lower their price to $199.
They've got not 1 but 2 new Mario titles announced and in the pipeline. That plus the new Metroid title. Big N knows how to make money. They're very good at it. The only reason the Wii's sales are dropping is because everyone already has one. Now they need to start selling addons. What am I saying? They've been selling addons since day 1, and at obscene levels. And all the little bits of expensive plastic crap you strap on to the thing really start to add up. Think about it -- to fully outfit a Wiimote, you'll need: Wiimote + Nunchuck + classic controller + MotionPlus. That's $40 + $20 + $20 + $20. $100 for a controller?!?!? Nintendo's doing just fine, believe me.
"Maybe it should reconsider that whole "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" thing?"
Would be nice... but... Nintendo revenues are from HW more than SW... so publish Nintendo Games on appStore will be a total suicide... well if things goes really bad maybe will be like SEGA... but no so soon I presume
What planet are you from? Nintendo, like everyone else, makes their money off of software.
Sure, hardware brings in _some_ profit but not as much compared to their games.
You could even argue that they make money for licensing their hardware for others to work with... but those licensing fees don't exactly make them as big as they are now.
Kris... how many Nintendo games are running on a "non" Nintendo HW?
I'm waiting your list!
@mex
That question doesn't really mean anything in relation to what Kris said.
explain me why
Why does it matter to the question of whether they make more from hardware or software? It's a related question, sure, but they could still be easily making more money from SW than HW even without their games running on non-Nintendo hardware. Thus, asking for a list of Nintendo games that don't run on Nintendo hardware is pointless because it wouldn't prove anything either way.
@mex
All of them. It's called emulation. :P
I recently shelved my DS since I've been playing more games on my iPhone due to ease of carrying one device. I do miss a few games (and buttons) but not enough to carry it around anymore.
Take me for example. I've never owned a handheld gaming device because I only carried phone and iPod.
Now I have an iPhone, and I only need to carry one device with me.
And when you have games like Rolando and Real Racing, who needs a DS? I don't.
Unlike other consoles like the XBOX and Play Station, a hardware refresh is long overdue for the Wii. The next logical move is to make it HD. I don't have a Wii myself but seen it at friends' houses and it really looks ugly. The physical gameplay is fun but the graphics are nowhere near what any mediocre PC configuration out there can produce. Probably then I would buy one and revive those old sales numbers.
Must just be me, or my generation, but I don't really mind that the Wii's graphics aren't as realistic as others. High def wouldn't hurt anything (I've seen jaggies the size of my pinky finger on my 47" TV), but I don't see it as a necessity. Growing up with my 8-bit NES, I'm still impressed, graphics-wise with Super Mario Galaxy (just popped it in for another go last night). One of the most fun videogames I've ever played is Boom Blox, and that was not due to superior graphics.
I'm a casual gamer, and we are who the Wii was built for. If I wanted to play "better" games, I'd own a 360.
The iPhone actually has more graphical power and the touch controls + accelerometer (like the Wii's controller) so you can do a lot of interesting things. The 3GS (the one I have now) is even faster and has a better graphics chip. Some of the games coming out for the iPhone now are downright impressive and it definitely is my handheld of choice since it is my iPhone, my PDA, my iPod, and my portable gaming. Why bother carrying other bulkier devices + chargers with you?
I agree.
Interesting commentary on the touch & tilt controls. I've come to the conclusion that the best games are the one's built on the back of these. They feel natural and tactile on the platform, more so than the virtual button control games I think.
I must admit that when a game gives me the choice between accelerometer and on-screen controls, I go for the on-screen buttons slash joysticks. I don't mind it so much when you have to rotate along only one axis (like Toy Bot, or driving games which use tilt for steering but buttons for accelerate and brake). But trying to tilt left/right for steering AND back/forward for acceleration and braking I find to be too hard - I can't steer left without affecting acceleration, and so on (and same problem with flight sims etc which use two axes of accelerometer data). Maybe I just don't have good arm muscles, and cannot isolate the movements properly.
It's the cost of the freaking games that hasn't helped sales (both Wii & DS Series). Like so many others I've tired of the games I have & can't justify spending $30 to $40 for another game I may or may not like. Cut the cost of the games & I'd predict sales would rebound.
As much as I love the games for Nintendo's systems (particularly the Castlevania series), I'm going with the iPhone as a "do it all" device. I'm sure it won't be perfect but it will do the jobs I need it to sufficiently well such that I don't need additional devices and that is going to include a mobile gaming solution. The recent addition of Worms and Curse of Monkey Island have only reinforced this. The only problem at the moment is actually buying an iPhone 3GS as I am unable to find a 32GB White version in Belgium due to crappy stock management by Apple.
They've been available in abundance in europe, I think the 'shortage' in the us is artificial, for some reason.
Also they went from being €250 to €259 to being €200 to €225 lately, seems they are getting more desperate at nintendo?
Give me a black Wii and maybe I will bump the numbers up....
i recently bought a DS and holy crap does it have some fun games, iphone? nahhhhhhhhh
This was the stupidest decision on Nintendo's part. Never call the iPhone a competitor, it will give the iPhonees the illusion they have a handheld gaming console. The iPhone games do not compare in any way to DS games. If you put the two side by side, the iPhone games look like colorful crap from the 80s that are entertaining for all of 5 minutes.
your a moron, go to youtube and lookup real racing for iphone, rolando 2, tiger woods, need for speed. etc... these look like games from 80's and crap?? they are 10x better looking than anything ds offers. if apple added buttons to the system ds and psp would be in serious trouble but as it stands i still prefer my iphone offer the ds games
If you prefer iPhone games over DS games, then I'm sorry, you are also a moron. How much range do you have in those games, meaning how much can you do besides tilt the phone back and forth to drive while holding down on an area of the screen to accelerate? When you try playing any other game, does the phone often time think you are pressing different areas because the screen is too small to be a full touch screen video game system with no buttons? How long does your battery last, I mean my iPhone lasts like a day as it is without playing games, do you get like half an hour while playing?
Apple will never add buttons to the iPhone. Think about that one.
I love how most of the iPhone racing games have to option to auto-accelerate and that is often the best control method because the lack of buttons completely kills the playability. It's also great how you have to tilt the screen you're trying to watch to steer. So much fun.
@Vidikron
Real Racing automatically tilts the display in the *opposite* direction that you are tilting the device, so that the horizon always appears level. It works really well, so consider that problem fixed.
Lack of buttons are an issue, but now that OS 3.0 is out, we should see some controller docks shortly. Then there will be no downsides to iPhone gaming.
@Scott: Do you know how stupid that is? Controller docks? "Oh hey guys look at this little app I've got, oh wait let me whip out my little pocket controller dock". C'mon on, if people are that blindly and faithfully wanting to believe the iPhone is a real portable gaming machine that they would actually buy controller docks and carry them around, all I can say is wow.
I would agree with the Big-N. iPod Touch is a competitor to DS. I have replaced DS in my family. Both kids have one, cheaper then $30 games for each device. I buy one title and download it to 2 iPod Touches and 2 iPhones (wife and I).
My god, the apple family, bit scary tbh.
The DS and PSP have their place. These machines are build for gaming, I can't imagine gaming for 10 hrs on an international flight on an iPhone. Bring Final Fantasy to a mobile platform and the fanboys will flock.
Apple to buy Nintendo in 5 years.
You Mean Nintendo to Buy Apple in 5 years
Haha.. The Games industry is small potatoes. Apple could buy all these guys.
So you're saying Apple could buy Sony and Microsoft? I think that would certainly be news to them.
I have a DS and the iPhone and only recently have I picked up my DS again. For me having real buttons makes me want the DS more. However, the iPhone works great for those "I gotta crap" moments when you sit down till you get that red ring around your @$$ while playing Flight Control.
In conclusion the iPhone battery dies in like 5 minutes if you play any game. This is why you cant depend on it completely. Still love my 32gb 3GS even if I have to have a phone clip AND a charger holster too!
Nintendo is doing fine! there is a lot more caming..
I think the fact that most games range from free to $1.99 and are, in many cases, as good as DS games is what's competing with the DS.
I never played a game on an Iphone so this question is totally earnest:
Can you do your voice call via Bluetooth while continuing to play a game? Coz I can do that and often do that with my crappy MetroPCS flip and DSLite.
The only reason it's slowing is because nothing is coming out for it. I really didn't see anything that great announced at E3. Except maybe Metroid. That and well, people are starting to realize it was a novelty system that loses it's fun after awhile. Kinda like GTA games. Or Tony Hawk.
Nintendo should probably join the android crowd and release a dsi-android capable handheld...
I've played plenty of games on the iphone and on the DS.
There is no way it's a real competitor.
Ya, you can get 10 iphone games for the price of one DS game (if you are actually paying for either one), but the games on the iphone are complete novelty games. Good in a waiting room or airport to kill time, but other than that, they are worthless.
You truly have to have real buttons and D pad to enjoy most games.
Totally wrong "The i"
The iphone 3G will cost you $99
The 2 year agreement will cost you a minumum of 69.99 (Thats if you dont get any text messages!)
Multiply that by 24months and add in the $99 you paid for the phone and your total is $1,779.76 (Dont forget to add in taxes!!! YAY!)
Ds cost, only $129.99 pr $170 for that new DSI I believe.
You cannot reply to people with special characters (like ") in their username, sadly - yet another quirk of the commenting system here. Any attempt to reply to a special-character-including username will make the reply a new comment.
The iphone's progressing really quickly in the games department, but it would need better battery life and games that could compete with the high quality handheld games already out. More than that, nintendo has the casual younger crowd locked up because very few parent are going to get their young child an iphone/ipod touch, but many are willing to pay the lower overall price for dsi.