Namco Bandai: Nintendo Markets Have Collapsed

[HappyBB]

It's easier to blame on piracy whenever game companies hit roadblocks in sales for their products. I am surprised that Wii can last this long as majority of quality games for the system is mainly only from Nintendo itself. Others are shovelwares and mindless clone of party games.

Nintendo should really consider stopping producing any more hardware and concentrate on releasing their quality software for other platforms. That way, we can save some money on hardware and spend a bit more on software. It can also save a lot of natural resources as well.

 

[belawrence]

[citation][nom]Gin Fushicho[/nom]I miss Namco and Bandai games, they were the best for N64. Someone needs to remake "Mystical ninja starring Goemon" that was a fun game.[/citation]
"Mystical ninja starring Goemon" is a Konami title.

 

[duffymoon]

[citation][nom]milkman172[/nom]Regurgitated nostalgia eventually wears off. I could care less about mario these days as I did in the past, and parents just don't want to shell out $40-$50 anymore on the same game over and over.[/citation]

mm, I think that's called 'growing up'. Babies are born and get older and they are now playing the younger games you have moved on from. My kids never lived through the early Mario games, but that has not stopped them getting hooked now.

 

[dark_lord69]

DS and Wii both have heavy piracy due to them both being hacked.

Hardcore gamers have a Wii and likely a 360 or PS3 as well. But the vast majority of people that purchased a nintendo Wii were NOT hardcore gamers, many of them aren't gamers at all so they are a lot MORE likely to just rarely play it/for get they have it for a few years.

Personally, I'm a gamer and I will be buying Super Mario Galaxy 2, the new Metroid and the new zelda when they are released. But on the other hand there is a lot of competition. Soon I'll be playing StarCraft II and the whole God of War series.

 

[redgarl]

LOL... it`s acutally the first time I am seeing someone complain about bad sales because of too much bad games... really... awesome...

Here an advice in that case... create a great game and get good sales... ask for Nintendo to pub-publish it and bingo...

 

[st430]

people, pirating games in U.S. is different than in Asia.
In U.S. you usually do it yourself and have to install the chip yourself and can only get games through download.
In Asia, where government control is more relax, you can actually go to a nearby illegal game stores and have your machin moded by the pro and then buy games from them directly at much lower price. it has been like that since the early days of computer games. No one ever buy or sees a original games cause the difference is like $50 USD and $2 USD for privated games from a illegal store. Government keep closing them and they keep coming back. If there is no mod chip or external mod machine, people won't even by the main nintindo machines...

 

[Conner Macleod]

According to Nintendo's sales data:

"Nintendo sold more than three million Wii consoles in the U.S. in December 2009, setting a regional record for the month and ending 9 months of declining sales, as a result of the price cut and software releases such as New Super Mario Bros. Wii.[82][83] As of the end of that month, the Wii is the best selling home video game console produced by Nintendo with sales of over 67 million units, surpassing that of the original Nintendo Entertainment System.[38]. As of March 31, according to Nintendo, the Wii has sold 70.93 units worldwide.[1], selling 20.53 million units within 2009-2010 fiscal year."

Source: http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2010/100506e.pdf#page=23

So apparently the Namco Bandai rep is smoking crack because Nintendo has outsold all the competitors combined with just the Wii, let alone their DS sales. Granted there's a current lull in sales but that's for any platform, especially one that's been out as long as Nintendo's, that and a lack of a "killer" game, and a market that's over-saturated by less than stellar titles, it's not rocket science to see why Nintendo's sales have been sluggish as of late.

No need to fear though or to claim that Nintendo's markets have collapsed. As for the Apple (& oranges) comparison, I seriously doubt that the iPad will outsell the Wii. Right now it's at 2 million, so it has another 68 million+ to go before it surpasses the Wii, then there's the DS:

"Units sold worldwide: 128.89 million, including DS Lite, DSi and DSi XL units (as of March 31, 2010"

Hmmm, yeah somehow I just don't see Apple coming anywhere CLOSE to that level.

To be perfectly honest, all things considered, Apple appeals to a relatively limited, target demographic with its iPad. They start out at around $600, so you're looking at mostly adults, particularly business oriented people, and perhaps some older adolescents, college students, but you won't see the average person with an iPad because it's cost prohibitive, and you're pretty much guaranteed never to see millions of kids running around with them because parents wouldn't trust their kids with such an expensive toy, let alone buying something so expensive for them in the first place. iPads will never be as ubiquitous as Wiis and DSes because they're somewhat cost-prohibitive. About the only way they would ever see the type of Nintendo sales figures is if they drastically reduce the price at some point to the $200 range, but even then they'd be hard pressed to rival the sales records set by Nintendo.

Different markets with different demographics, people that buy iPads generally don't do it for the games, it's for the Internet and e-mail functionalities, they view it primarily as a smaller, more convenient laptop without all the unnecessary overhead plagued by your average laptop, such as bloatware, anti-virus/anti-spyware programs, etc.

In other words, the Namco rep is full of it.

 

[Conner Macleod]

Unfortunately there's no edit button, but I'll make this post to clear up one minor mistake, I meant to say that the Wii has almost outsold the PS3 and Xbox 360 combined, right now it's about 5 million short, but regardless, the numbers are still extremely impressive and it is the dominant console without a doubt.

 

[brendano257]

[citation][nom]theroguex[/nom]For real? Who in their right mind plays real games on an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad? It's just stupid. These things won't take over the game market, except for maybe the casual market. Let the cheapy-crappy games go to Apple; I'll keep playing my real games on my real game platforms.[/citation]

That's the thing, is the iPod/iPhone is enticing because its a 'PDA' type device, BUT it doubles for a LOT of casual gaming. It's not a gaming device per say, but it's drawing people away from getting a dedicated gaming handheld, when they can get a fully funtional Wifi device, with thousands(millions?) of apps, AND still be able to game casually when they want to.

 

[phr0ze]

Umm Ipod Touch is $199. That is striking distance to the DS. Iphone is $99, but obviously has additional ongoing costs.

For me, my iphone killed the DS. My DS is dusty. Games I miss I figure will eventually make it to the Iphone. Until then, I play the other games I love, such as CIV Revolution.

Nintendo should cut their losses and publish for the apple platform. They could at least do some older titles to remind people to try the latest on the Wii.