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Analyst: Global demand for DS hardware has peaked
According to Kotaku, KBC Securities Japan's Hiroshi Kamide believes that demand for DS hardware has reached its saturation point and is now on the way down, just as the company predicted two months ago. "A downturn in software demand is likely to follow, as casual gamers are 'happy with their lot' and do not need to consume more," Kamide said. We're not sure that the drop in DS hardware sales in Japan is indicative of any trend other than Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G finally selling some PSPs. If you really want to predict a downturn in software sales, how about the PSP market post-Monster Hunter? The DS has several Dragon Quest games, Professor Layton, and Inazuma Eleven on the way. And in the U.S., there's the Guitar Hero bundle, and a million games.
Nintendo stock rating downgraded because of demand worries
Nintendo stockholders have been profiting from their investments over the past year, but that might change in the near future. At least, that's what KBC Securities Japan thinks, and the company has thus downgraded Nintendo's stock investment rating from "buy" to "hold."One reason for the downgrade is the fear that Nintendo's sales will stall. Now that the Wii and DS have been around for a while, KBC is worried that demand for Nintendo's products will lessen in the coming months. The weakening dollar will also make overseas sales drop in value.Since economics is like alien speak to us, we're not sure how much weight KBC's rationale holds. It's true that Nintendo will have a hard time showing up the numbers of Wii Sports, Wii Play, and Wii Fit, especially in Japan -- the casual market is a key area when it comes to Nintendo's more explosive sales. Also, the DS is no longer the dominating force in Japan like it used to be, while the PSP has increased in popularity. Yet, even so, demand for Nintendo consoles and games is still high worldwide, so KBC might be jumping the gun. [Via Joystiq]
SCEA admits PSP needs a few killer apps to motor sales
In the tell-us-something-we-don't-already-know department, SCEA's chief financial officer Robert Wiesenthal admitted software potential has been lackluster, and is considered to be slowing PSP hardware sales. "Clearly on the software side, any real killer title will galvanize the sales," he said. This mirrors similar thoughts from Hiroshi Kamide, director of the research department at KBC Securities Japan, who believes the PSP hardware is stellar while the compelling reason to own one is not. "Most of the software is knock-offs of PlayStation 2 titles and that won't do Sony any favours," he says. We tend to agree, which could explain why some of us are so smitten with the refreshing game play in one of the PSP's newest releases, Crush.Compelling reasons to own a PSP are definitely coming. For those that haven't yet seen our coverage of the recent Sony Gamers Day (SGD '07), we implore you to take a peek behind the curtain of planned content. This summer should prove even more rewarding for RPG fanatics with the Final Fantasy I and II remakes, Dungeons & Dragons: Tactics, Jeanne d'Arc and much more. It would seem developers have been already working on a solution to a problem Sony is, just now, admitting to. Better late than never, we suppose. So lets get that ball of content rolling!
