Latest Gaming News

Nintendo No Pushover As Rivals Step Up Challenge

13th June 2003, 7:51pm
I found this article quite an interesting read. Its from Reuters and discusses some interesting points about Nintendo. Anyway here is the article:

TOKYO (Reuters) - Slumping sales of its flagship video game console have left Japan's Nintendo vulnerable to challenges from portable game devices, but toppling the maker of the "Pokemon" and "Mario" franchises won't be easy, analysts say.

Sony Corp said in May that it would open a new front against Nintendo Corp next year by launching its own portable game device, the PSP, to go head-to-head with Nintendo's dominant Game Boy line.

The announcement sparked fears that Sony's victory in the console market would be repeated in Nintendo's bread-and-butter handheld market.

But analysts say don't count out Nintendo just yet.

"Nintendo has an edge over its rivals because its own franchises, notably Pokemon, strongly appeal to elementary schoolchildren, the core user group for handheld game machines," said Takashi Oya, senior analyst at Deutsche Securities.

That would likely keep Sony from quickly snapping up market share this time around, Oya said.

Nintendo virtually monopolizes the handheld market with more than a 90 percent share and protecting its dominance is crucial as the sector generated more than half of its sales and around 60-70 percent of operating profit in 2002/03.

A number of factors are playing in Nintendo's favor, analysts say.

Because Sony's PSP will not play existing PlayStation games and with Nintendo having sold over 150 million Game Boy units worldwide, independent game makers will be discouraged from developing PSP titles.

"The two systems are aimed at a different demographic market," said Hirokazu Hamamura, president of game magazine publisher Enterbrain.

"Like the toy-like GameCube and the movie-playable PlayStation (PS) 2, Game Boy will remain the leading handheld game machine while PSP will become more like a network-capable electronic gadget."

Sony has not set a price for the PSP, a multi-media unit that also plays movies and music, but analysts expect it to sell for 19,000-30,000 yen ($161-$255), well above the 12,500 yen price tag for Game Boy Advance SP, Nintendo's smaller version of its hot-selling device launched in February.

For the article in full Click Here.
by Damien