Email: The DS just outsold the 3DS but that doesn’t matter

Dear Master Malstrom,

The eight-generation implosion has officially begun. It’s crazy looking at the comments and seeing just how distant some of these guys are. Usually you see the n64/’cube crowd down there, who tend to be a bit nicer and maybe a bit more rational, but I guess they have a licence to be hardcore now that they have an HD console. If you’re brave enough to venture down there, you’ll see that

 

A) Everyone who bought a DS made a mistake and are fools who have been conned

 

B) Nintendo should have stopped producing Nintendo DS units to eliminate any choice in the matter. Clearly, choosing not to game at all is an option no one ever utilizes. 

 

C) The Gamecube and XBox steamrolled the PS2 much like the 3DS is going to do to the DS once the crazy Black Friday deals that have affected the masses ability to choose the right handheld disappear. 

 

And perhaps the best:

 

D) People who just grabbed the DS will only have access to Mario games, and are missing out on the wide variety of new and innovative 3DS games.

 

The DS just outsold the 3DS, but that’s ok. It’s not like sales are indicative of quality or anything like that. If that where the case, the 3DS would have outsold all that came before it!

The issue isn’t the DS outselling the 3DS. The issue is that the DS is outselling the 3DS despite sacrificing profitability. Profitability will be the magical word in the Eighth Generation. If you’re not making money, you’re losing the power to do things in the future. Microsoft could put out a Xbox because of its profitability with Windows software. Sony could put out a blu-ray playing game console in 2006 because of its prior profitability of the PS2. Now, Sony doesn’t have that power. And Microsoft is losing that power as well. The DS and Wii didn’t happen because of magical ‘innovation’, it happened because the GBA and Gamecube were profitable. If the 3DS and Wii U continue to stagnate in profitability, Nintendo will be very limited in future options.

There is no point in making sales if you’re not making profit off them. The 3DS being outsold by the DS despite Nintendo’s price cutting shows just how bad the 3DS is performing.