Advertisement: Refurbished 32GB iPod touch. Apple certified, good as new. Only $279 at the Apple Online Store.
“The company blamed the shortfall on a lack of new games for the twin-screen platform: both Nintendo and third-party developers released about 168 games this spring where 278 were new on shelves a year ago. About 23 percent fewer copies, 22.4 million, were sold,” iPodNN reports. “The poor results may stem partly from the lack of changes to the DS. Last year, Nintendo had the advantage of the just-released DSi to buoy its results, but the DSi XL isn’t considered a replacement. The existing platform itself is old and is still using most of the same basic components that were used in the original DS in 2004.”
iPodNN reports, “Nintendo’s performance is nonetheless believed to be affected directly by iPod touch, iPhone and now iPad gaming. Although the Japanese firm has publicly insisted that it isn’t in competition, the growth of iOS as a game platform is known to be taking revenue away. It’s unknown how many Apple device buyers are choosing one over a Nintendo system, but Nintendo game revenue has lost share to Apple even though iOS games are often just a fraction of the price of DS titles.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s iPad and iPhone aren’t helping Nintendo, either.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
No surprise there.
Lots of little – but expensive- plastic modules versus a 99c download business model
Yeah but…here comes the 3D gameboy.
Nintendo likes to rise to the challenge. Just ask Sony and XBox. I expect good things from them down the line.
apart from half decent hardware
I’m sure the iPhone played some part, the real issue is that the platform is just stale and people have lost interest.
Apple was smart enough to have new stuff in the pipeline when the iPod headed down this path. Nintendo had better get going, and from what I understand the new 3d system is headed that way.
They need to make the DS look better. It’s too ugly to even get noticed.
$32 DS games!!! I can buy alot of really good accelerometer games for my iPod touch for the cost of one DS game. And soon, there will be gyroscope games and a video camera…with Facetime, the iPod Touch is soon going to be very hard to beat.
My wife and I will buy the next generation 3g iPad and iPod Touch with wifi and will use Facetime. We’ve never had a cellphone and just need an emergency mobile device and to talk to each other.
Nintendo: 168 games a year, of which about 40 will be available (maybe) at your local electronics retailer.
Apple: >3,500 games, among >150,000 total Apps and counting, all of which are available anywhere there’s wifi and instantly useable, and are constantly updated and easily upgraded.
Oh, and the thing you use to play these apps? It’s also connected to your favorite music/video/movies/book store and can make calls among countless other functions as well.
How on earth is nintendo going to compete with that in the portable market?!?!?! Their new DS 3D was dead before it even got out of the cradle.
We save over $1000.00 a year by never paying a subscription for a cell phone, which has bought our iMac and Macbook, etc…
I’d take An iPod touch over a DS anyday
Also; one of the most popular games in the App store is Angry Birds.
It’s gotten me through around 26 hours of flying, a week’s worth of coach journeys, and I’m still totally addicted to it.
Guess what Nintendo? It costs 99cents, and I don’t have to physically eject it and find a pocket to put it in if I want to watch a movie or TV show.
Your platform is dead. In fact the only reason it was ever alive was because no-one had any better ideas yet. Get with the new paradigm.
Our family’s two DS’s are sitting in a drawer and they were replaced by two iPads. Bye bye Nintendo in our family!
Collateral damage.
You guys are wrong on this one. DS sales are hardly effected by the iPod Touch or iPhone on a large scale. That is comparing apples and oranges. People buy iPod Touches for the iPod same with the iPhone. iPod plus phone. The DS is a dedicated machine and is consistently the top selling game console. Last months NPDs are:
Nintendo DS – 510,700
Xbox 360 – 451,700
Wii – 422,500
PlayStation 3 – 304,800
PSP – 121,000
Not to mention that the DS is the best selling dedicated game system ever with over 128 million units all the while the system was released in 2004 and no architecture boosting (the same processors despite smaller or larger systems). This is just fanboy fodder. How many iPods have their been since 2004 with hardware revisions, well more than the DS and again it is apples and oranges until Nintendo has a carrier and is trying to place phone calls, or has a dedicated music and video store. The people who want a DS pretty much have one or they are willing to wait for the 3DS which is slated to come out later this year or early next year. This topic belongs on 1up.com not this site.
What about the two DS in our house? I iPads were bought 75% for games, 25% internet. You did not even put the iPad into the equation.
Lets say of the 2 million plus iPad’s 500,000 for gaming???
You guys are wrong on this one. DS sales are hardly effected by the iPod Touch or …
Listen up Einstein, It was Nintendo that posted the loss, Now explain to me how the HELL the company that said all those things and gave a reason why they had the loss is wrong ?
Either you’re a idiot or you are a Blind Nintendo fanboy that can’t see that your Beloved Nintendo is the One that said those things, This story is just a repost of the original and has nothing to do wit MDN other then Apple was mentioned in the original piece by Nintendo.
Go back to school and learn the difference of NEWS Distribution in relation to subject.
“”Nintendo on Thursday faced its first loss in two years as its own lineup and competition from Apple hurt its business,” “
“Comment from: whatever
You guys are wrong on this one. DS sales are hardly effected by the iPod Touch or iPhone on a large scale. That is comparing apples and oranges. People buy iPod T
Yea, Nintendo said all those things directly to reporters for the excuse of why the loss is so huge.” ……
But you go on a Rant telling us that Nintendo is making money and Blah Blah Blah.
You made yourself look like a Ass***
Read the Post again “whatever” and don’t be so blinded by your selfish defense of being a fanboy.
They stated the lost money due to Apple, Cant you read.
Who uses DS? Granted, I’m an old man, but I feel an adult with a DS might as well have an “L” tattooed on their forehead. DS is for kids. Ask any kid what they want for xmas and the answer will be iPod touch or iPhone.
I believe that the ds is better for gaming tha. My iPhone 4 but I just don’t care. I know that a stand alone gps would have better performance. I also beleive that a stand alone camera takes better pictures and a netbook surfs the net better, for that matter a traditional IPod would store more music but I don’t care about that either. The iPhone 4 comes close enough to all those things that I will enjoy the super thin device in my pocket rather than spending an extra 1000 and carry six devices. The gps market must have the same problem hat nintendo does, people don’t buy iPhones for gps but they certianly don’t buy a gps after they get one.
Pocket rather than spending 1000 m
If DS games are repriced between $6 and $10 Nintendo can keep the platform alive for a few more years. If not, it’s dead in two.
@dad905
As far as I understand you, you’re right (English is not my best language).
I have a DS, and yes, it’s better for gaming than my iPhone, and even better than my iPad. BUT: If I really want to play a game, I prefer the Wii. For casual gaming: iPad/iPhone. It’s just always there, I don’t have to carry around another device.
@anyone and everyone
Do your research losses are common in the gaming industry, but companies such as Nintendo and Sony have a huge purse similar to Apple, yes in Sony’s gaming division alone. An overall lose does not mean you are going out of business or you are up for sell. Check out Nintendo’s net value. The value of game systems are in their staying power at a low cost. The Wii uses outdated tech and has been selling strong for quite a while. Sony uses excellent tech and tries to maintain sells on the same architecture over a period of 9-10 years, not updating models every year or two like the iPhone and iPod Touch. This is why I say it is apples and oranges. The gaming industry is vastly different than mp3 players or computer tech. This topic is of little news or should be of little news to the Mac industry and more for gaming companies to evaluate. It is still unclear as to how much profit can be made in the App environment especially considering the cost of making a Metal Gear Solid 4 or Gears of War or Halo type of game. The major companies that play in Nintendo’s world (Square Enix, Konami, Capcom and others) have little incentive to spend a huge amount of many making a blockbuster title to sell it for $10-12 dollars or engage in price slashing wars when R&D cost a ton. I doubt their will be any true blockbuster must have title on the iOS platform. Games that make gamers say I have to get that system to play that game. That is what Metal Gear and Final Fantasy do. That is what Halo and Gears does. That is what Gran Turismo and Kingdom Hearts does. Now if you want to settle for also ran games on the iOS platform then fine for you. N.O.V.A. is not Halo, Real Racing is not Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Touch is not Metal Gear at all. Castlevania Puzzle is not Castlevania, Hero of Sparta 2 is not God of War and Chaos Rings is not Final Fantasy XIII. Bottom line. I love my iPhone but it’s not my DS or PSP, not even close as far as experience. However, there is some good gaming available for the iOS.
NIntendo needs to be shaken up a bit! They have been resting on their laurels for far too many years.
I stopped being a fan after all the Shovel Ware they started throwing out for the Wii including a bunch of OLD GameCube games cobbled together with half baked Wii controls and then re-released for full price as a NEW GAME!
It was obvious to me that all they cared about as the $$ and it didn’t bother them a bit if most Wii owners already played the GameCube versions of so many of the so-called Wii games they released last year!
I don’t buy Nintendo games anymore. Might pick up the new Zelda game, but only after it has come down in price.
These guys are the same braggart that said they have zero worries about Apple impacting their crappy POS stuff right?
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />