- total hardware sales now stand at 149 million DS systems, 6.68 million 3DS systems and 89.36 million Wii systems
- hardware sales targets: 16 million for 3DS and 12 million for Wii, lowered DS sales expectations to 6 million
P.S. – Suggestion for a subtitle for your web page : ‘Occupying Burn’t-out Street : What Not To Do With a College Education By Sean Malstrom’
Is it just my imagination or are Eight Generation Nintendo fans acting like Seventh Generation Sony fans?
If 3DS sales are so good, then why are people so defensive about it? The DS never had this defensiveness. However, the PSP did.
When someone says, “3DS sales are good,” the follow-up question should be, “Why are they good?” It’s a valid question. Why are those sales good?
“Because….” spits a reader, “it has a correlation with DS sales half a decade ago.” What does that matter? It has a similar correlation with pretty much every console in the past. And no doubt, when sales go up during the holidays, people will declare this evidence of a ‘unique event’ like how some people think rising temperatures in the middle of year is evidence of a ‘unique event’. But down to earth people know summer when they see it. And down to earth people sense the 3DS is most definitely not a redux of the DS.
Is it good that the 3DS has cannibalized the very profitable DS hardware? Is it good that no one is buying software for it (and software is where the money is made)? Is it good that the 3DS is showing no social phenomenon despite having no competitor in the market? Is it good that the 3DS made it to mass production without a second control stick? Is it good that that the 3DS has to be rebranded and the 3d de-emphasized?
What no one points out is Nintendo’s cycle of software creation. Nintendo spends the first couple of years of a new console’s life to make software for it. Then, Nintendo switches to the handheld (or home console) console. In other words, Nintendo has about two years to put out software for the 3DS. Then, Nintendo will largely abandon it for third parties as Wii U software becomes the priority. Pilotwings Resort and Steel Diver just died at the market. The N64 ports aren’t exciting anyone. The First Party software announced to be released are successors to Gamecube games. I’m not sure how anyone could be encouraged by this.
I am quite amused how all of Nintendo’s problems are never due to the products. Currency fluctuations, earthquakes, time of year, price, marketing, iPhones- all of these and more are cited as the source of Nintendo’s problems. Somehow, though, currency fluctuations, earthquakes (OK, there wasn’t an earthquake then), time of year, price, marketing, and iPhones didn’t hurt Nintendo just a few years ago. Yet, today, everything is cited except Nintendo’s product.
