iOS and Android Grab 58% of U.S. Portable Gaming Revenue

[webpoet73]

I would rather Nintendo shutdown its handheld division than port games to iOS or Android. The games on DS/3DS are far different from games on iOS.

I guess when the iPhone gets a real D-pay, a pair of analog sticks, and physical face buttons, then Nintendo should have to worry.

I get tired of these threads. The causal gamers who are buying iOS games mostly like never owned a GameBoy or other handheld, or else they'd know the difference.

The DS shop on the 3DS does have smaller less expensive downloadable games as well as full blown games like Zelda and Mario, etc.

I want a 3DS but my financial situation prevents it. The Vita looks pretty cool as well. Both of these systems offer different types of gaming from each other.

 

[layte]

Weekly Japanese sales.

1. Mario 3DS 343,000
2. Uncharted 3 125,000
3. BF3 PS3 123,000
4. FF type-0 122,000
5. Kirby 55,000
6. WE2012 PSP 45,000
7. Slime Mori Mori 3 39,000
8. BF3 360 28,000
9. Just Dance 26,000
10. Go Vacation 17,000

By the way that is the best ever opening sales figure for a 3D Mario title.

doomed etc..

 

[O and A]

not sure if this was said already but the percentage here can be extremely misleading.

The pie is actually significantly larger now becuase of iOS and android. Therefore its conceibable that for at least sony their sales are up despite the percentage drop.

Its a harder argument to make for Nintendo but i'm sure the drop off if any is signfiicantly smaller for them.

You also have to take into account many people who are gaming on android and iOS devices might have never purchsed a PSP or a DS to begin with.

 

[bacaramac]

Sounds about right, my 6 year old has had an iPod Touch for 3 years now and I have upgraded it every year. The games are cheaper ($1-5 vs. $20-30). Nintendo just needs to give in because Mario Bros on iPod would be awesome along with Mario Kart and other great titles.

not sure if this was said already but the percentage here can be extremely misleading.

The pie is actually significantly larger now becuase of iOS and android. Therefore its conceibable that for at least sony their sales are up despite the percentage drop.

Its a harder argument to make for Nintendo but i'm sure the drop off if any is signfiicantly smaller for them.

You also have to take into account many people who are gaming on android and iOS devices might have never purchsed a PSP or a DS to begin with.

Very true, would like to see how much gaming industry on portable devices has increased.

 

[NAG]

And RIM is uh . . . "in-between" platforms as well . . . LOL

Whichever euphemism makes you feel better.

How much longer is Nintendo going to be "in-between" before consumers no longer care?

What revolutionary game-changer do they have planned to turn things around?

They're going to introduce a revolutionary new input device that is a touch tablet to let you do exciting things like manage your inventory in he new Zelda game. It is going to work just as insanely well as how they slapped a 3D display and camera on a DS. It is a decent system but for one reason or another people cannot justify purchasing it.

Sarcasm aside, I liked the Wii (until it became apparent that all those cool games they promised around launch were never getting released and it was going to be one tech demo party game after another or the equivalent of the Wii Vitality Sensor). And the WiiU just doesn't have my attention. I'm more likely to replace my iPad 2 with an iPad 3 than buy the WiiU (which really looks like a Wii plus a cheap iPad ripoff).

I think it would be a mistake for Nintendo to publish their games for iOS but also a huge mistake to slap an iPad on a higher powered Wii and not expect a repeat of the 3DS.

 

[webpoet73]

Sounds about right, my 6 year old has had an iPod Touch for 3 years now and I have upgraded it every year. The games are cheaper ($1-5 vs. $20-30). Nintendo just needs to give in because Mario Bros on iPod would be awesome along with Mario Kart and other great titles.

Mario on iPod would suck. If Apple really wants to be serious about "gaming" then it needs to make a peripheral that has physical buttons and controllers. Try Madden on iPod or even iPad, it is HORRID. That game needs physical buttons.

Angry Birds or Cut the Rope... perfect for iPod because it doesn't need buttons or a controller. Just touch.

 

[trip1ex]

And RIM is uh . . . "in-between" platforms as well . . . LOL

Whichever euphemism makes you feel better.

How much longer is Nintendo going to be "in-between" before consumers no longer care?

What revolutionary game-changer do they have planned to turn things around?

lol.

 

[*LTD*]

They're going to introduce a revolutionary new input device that is a touch tablet to let you do exciting things like manage your inventory in he new Zelda game. It is going to work just as insanely well as how they slapped a 3D display and camera on a DS.

Sarcasm aside, I liked the Wii (until it became apparent that all those cool games they promised around launch were never getting released and it was going to be one tech demo party game after another or the equivalent of the Wii Vitality Sensor). And the WiiU just doesn't have my attention. I'm more likely to replace my iPad 2 with an iPad 3 than buy the WiiU (which really looks like a Wii plus a cheap iPad ripoff).

I think it would be a mistake for Nintendo to publish their games for iOS but also a huge mistake to slap an iPad on a higher powered Wii and not expect a repeat of the 3DS.

The problem they're having, same as with few others of the old guard (some of whom have had to do massive restructuring, have been sold off, are looking for a buyer, or are about to become buyout bait) is that they were significantly late to change (if they're going to change at all.) Late to re-adjusting to new industry and market realities. It can be a real killer. If you're too late to the party (the one you're no longer directing) no matter what you do it'll be a brutal uphill battle unless you can manage to change the game substantially.

Nintendo is still stuck in yesteryear. Consumers stop caring, the money moves elsewhere . . . and so does development.

 

[rockrigo]

if you have run an emulator on your mobile device, you will know how terrible some of these games would port over to a touch only device

 

[marksman]

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The mobile gaming market, spearheaded by Apple and iOS is absolutely disruptive. Anyone not seeing that through these figures is just in plain denial.

I don't deny that they're potentially disruptive but I think these charts may be overstating it. It is, after all, stated in percentages and Nintendo and Sony are both in a lull at the moment. Nintendo is at the end of a long hardware cycle with the DS (where no compelling titles are coming out) and at the beginning of the 3DS where adoption has been slow. I'm not saying that's all irrelevant, but this chart puts iOS and Android up against the gaming devices at a low point so I'm not sure how "absolutely disruptive" mobile gaming really is.

Sony is in a lull but Nintendo is at a high point. They have a new system out and it is being crushed. It did not just come out today.

As the purchasing dollars continue to shift so will the development dollars

 

[NAG]

Mario on iPod would suck. If Apple really wants to be serious about "gaming" then it needs to make a peripheral that has physical buttons and controllers. Try Madden on iPod or even iPad, it is HORRID. That game needs physical buttons.

Angry Birds or Cut the Rope... perfect for iPod because it doesn't need buttons or a controller. Just touch.

Games that require more mouse like interaction (minus shooters) work pretty good on iOS devices. I agree that games like Mario pretty much require a real D-pad and frankly am surprised the iPhone d-pad cases haven't taken off. It doesn't really seem that hard to effectively add physical controls to an iOS device.

 

[marksman]

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These numbers are pretty much worthless. Like I said, people who are not into gaming just happen to download Android games and iOS games cause their phone can.

Nintendo is safe and so is Sony. In my opinion, their future is actually looking brighter as they continue to come out with new hardware.

Fact is, they got the games and games is KING.

Lol no people paying money to buy games is king and sony and Nintendo are bleeding at an amazing rate.

They might be on their final mobile game device cycles now.

 

[milo]

Business as usual on this site I'm afraid.
They've been here before. In the mid 90's "Nintendo are going to die!", in the early 2000's "Nintendo are going the way of Sega!".
From 2008-2011 "Mobile gaming will destroy Nintendo!" all whilst they were selling 50 million £30 games (just the Pokemon series, you're welcome to tally up the Zelda, Mario and Wii Sports sales too).
2011 they post their first loss in 20 years, before the influx of their AAA games are released.
It's like freakin groundhog day man.

Like you said, they just posted their first loss in 20 years. Isn't that a significant difference between previous doomsaying based on pure speculation and a current situation where things are actually not looking so good?

What does Nintendo have other than a patent portfolio that would be of value to Apple?

A game library and portfolio of hit franchises/characters? Not to mention any game designers and developer talent who'd stick around after a sale. Not that they'd be worth buying for the price, but they have a lot more than just patents. If Apple could I'd say licensing one or more exclusive (or nintendo's hardware plus iOS) titles would be better than a sale, although that's probably not likely.

... but is Nintendo's revenue down?

Did you miss the earlier posts pointing out their nine hundred million dollar loss over six months?

 

[NAG]

The problem they're having, same as with few others of the old guard (some of whom have had to do massive restructuring, have been sold off, are looking for a buyer, or are about to become buyout bait) is that they were significantly late to change (if they're going to change at all.) Late to re-adjusting new industry and market realities. It can be a real killer. If you're to late to the party (the one you're no longer directing) no matter what you do it'll be a brutal uphill battle unless you can manage to change the game substantially.

Nintendo is still stuck in yesteryear. Consumers stop caring, the money moves elsewhere . . . and so does development.

I'm not really sure Nintendo's problem is 100% they weren't paying attention. The DS was in the right direction. The Wii was in the right direction.

Then the Wii became one a trick pony (e.g. what happened to that game shown at launch that was a ghost thriller game that allowed interactions using waggle control or something). Let's play Mario Party 20 and Raving Rabids 100 while we wait for the next Zelda game and hoping the Vitality Sensor never is mentioned again.

And to make things worse they decided to release the 3DS with basically even fewer original games and suffering from a severe case of remake-itis.

It is more like they predicted the right direction before Microsoft and Sony and decided to sell their house and take a long vacation which led to Apple buying the house without even knowing what the heck they were doing.

 

[marksman]

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In most businesses revenue is king....

I guess by that it means that Tiffany & Co. is doing better than Nintendo...

A Gaming Co. (Nintendo) vs an Entertainment Co. (Sony) vs a Computer/Personal Electronics Co. (Apple) - hardly a comparison...

He is talking about game developers going where the revenue is.

 

[webpoet73]

Games that require more mouse like interaction (minus shooters) work pretty good on iOS devices. I agree that games like Mario pretty much require a real D-pad and frankly am surprised the iPhone d-pad cases haven't taken off. It doesn't really seem that hard to effectively add physical controls to an iOS device.

The people who really are into those types of games are buying the 3DS/DS and will buy the Vita. The people who just want to play a bit of Angry Birds won't.

Nintendo is losing money because of a severe lack of software on the Wii for the holiday season. There is only (I believe) only one major "AAA" game coming out and that is Zelda: Skyward Sword. That game will sell in the millions, guaranteed.

The Wii was technologically behind at launch and the major games out now like BF3 and Batman just won't work on the Wii.

The last thing is that so many casuals bought the Wii for "Wii Sports" and never bought another game. Console sold millions but attach rate of games is low.

The 3DS was overpriced at launch. Should have been 199.99. The 3DS didn't launch with any stellar "AAA" titles, either. Those games have come since launch and the price has dropped. Never mind that the US is still in bad economic times. Unemployment is still high, so many people just aren't buy luxury items like a 3DS, etc.

 

[Eidorian]

I'm not really sure Nintendo's problem is 100% they weren't paying attention. The DS was in the right direction. The Wii was in the right direction.

The remember Iwata referring to the Wii as part of their "blue water" strategy from ages ago at E3.

The 3DS was overpriced at launch. Should have been 199.99. The 3DS didn't launch with any stellar "AAA" titles, either. Those games have come since launch and the price has dropped. Never mind that the US is still in bad economic times. Unemployment is still high, so many people just aren't buy luxury items like a 3DS, etc.

Times are tough, unless you are on MacRumors. Wait...

Does filing for unemployment on an iPad count?

 

[0098386]

Actually, no, Nintendo's in major trouble. Their 3DS was a dog, and they had to drop the price big time to even start moving existing inventory.

See below (3DS outperforming DS)

Their value prop is in the toilet because no one wants to spend $150+ on a device that does only one thing, and then $40 on every mobile game when they can buy games on the phones they already own

So that's why Nintendo only sold 55 million copies of Pokemon in the DS' life, 22 million copies Mario Kart DS, 48 million Mario games (not including Kart), 24 million Nintendogs. All during the advent of mobile gaming.

And RIM is uh . . . "in-between" platforms as well . . . LOL

Whichever euphemism makes you feel better.

How much longer is Nintendo going to be "in-between" before consumers no longer care?

But they are inbetween platforms? I don't see why this needs explaining;

Ever since mainstream console gaming began sales go up and down depending on the titles released. At the end of a consoles life (such as the Wii and DS) their respected sales drop. New system is launched, sales go back up. Happens every console cycle, it's happening now to the PS3, the Xbox 360, the 3DS, the Wii...

The 3DS is performing better than the DS did this far into its life. It's just not performing as well as Nintendo originally thought it would (sounds to me like they were a bit cocky with their figures).

What revolutionary game-changer do they have planned to turn things around?

Nintendo were the company that after two failed consoles released the single most sold gaming platform of all time and introduced casual gaming into the home market. Who have dominated the (dedicated) handheld market since they invented it.
Who knows what they have up their sleeve indeed. Nintendo (and Sony) do great things when backed into a corner.

 

[Zmmyt]

I believe Mario on DS beats any game on iOS or Android. But since everyone carries a phone in their pocket it's more convinient to just buy a game of the app store. I wouldn't dream of buying a DS, but I must admit I bought a few games off the app store.

 

[marksman]

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I find it strange that many of the uninformed people hooting and hollering that Nintendo should sell up, or lower themselves to be yet another 3rd party software house, are the very same people that like to mock Michael Dell for stating that Apple should have sold up and given the money back to the shareholders.

Business as usual on this site I'm afraid.
They've been here before. In the mid 90's "Nintendo are going to die!", in the early 2000's "Nintendo are going the way of Sega!".
From 2008-2011 "Mobile gaming will destroy Nintendo!" all whilst they were selling 50 million £30 games (just the Pokemon series, you're welcome to tally up the Zelda, Mario and Wii Sports sales too).
2011 they post their first loss in 20 years, before the influx of their AAA games are released.
It's like freakin groundhog day man.

Nintendo fanboy?

 

[exFictitiouZ]

And the real question is not market share here. We know people like cheap time wasting games (something the DS and PSP does not provide) I would rather see has PSP and DS revenue gone done or is iOS and Android going up faster.

If PSP and DS revenue is staying the same or going up that tells us that they are not really effected by this. It just shows people do like quick 5 min time wasting games.
I used to own a GBA and I still call that investment + the games I bought a great investment but it not like i would wipe out my GBA to play a game while I am waiting in line or killing 5 mins-10 mins before class started it. It generally was something I would throw in my bag when I knew I would have to kill a lot of time or just wanted to lay down on the couch and play for a while.

Very different market in terms of games.

I'd second you on this. Very well said.

 

[NAG]

The people who really are into those types of games are buying the 3DS/DS and will buy the Vita. The people who just want to play a bit of Angry Birds won't.

Nice of you to mandate my purchasing decisions by edict. What cereal should I buy since I own an iOS device?

Nintendo is losing money because of a severe lack of software on the Wii for the holiday season. There is only (I believe) only one major "AAA" game coming out and that is Zelda: Skyward Sword. That game will sell in the millions, guaranteed.

Maybe if a certain company didn't poopoo garage developers in public they wouldn't be deluged in junk games from big name publishers.

The Wii was technologically behind at launch and the major games out now like BF3 and Batman just won't work on the Wii.

If horsepower was the issue that would have killed the Wii at launch. If horsepower wasan issue the first gen iPod touch wouldn't have been a surprise hit in the game market. It is the same argument Sony and Microsoft made in the past just before the Wii became huge success.

The last thing is that so many casuals bought the Wii for "Wii Sports" and never bought another game. Console sold millions but attach rate of games is low.

And whose fault is it that they failed to first make and second showcase games in an easy and compelling way? Would it be the same company that is currently poopooing small developers?

The 3DS was overpriced at launch. Should have been 199.99. The 3DS didn't launch with any stellar "AAA" titles, either. Those games have come since launch and the price has dropped. Never mind that the US is still in bad economic times. Unemployment is still high, so many people just aren't buy luxury items like a 3DS, etc.

Yet they bought the luxury iOS line up.

These excuses will not solve Nintendo's problem. They're lines you feed your investors as damage control. The problems really look to be far more fundamental than bad graphics, bad economy, and gamers waiting for Zelda.

 

[marksman]

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... but is Nintendo's revenue down?

Their market share might be down, but has the market grown?

Yes and yes. The market has grown but their revenue is down close to 40%

 

[0098386]

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Nintendo fanboy?

Nope, I'm a gaming fanboy. Infact I work for one of their competitors, I just don't like FUD.

 

[trip1ex]

Like you said, they just posted their first loss in 20 years. Isn't that a significant difference between previous doomsaying based on pure speculation and a current situation where things are actually not looking so good?



A game library and portfolio of hit franchises/characters? Not to mention any game designers and developer talent who'd stick around after a sale. Not that they'd be worth buying for the price, but they have a lot more than just patents. If Apple could I'd say licensing one or more exclusive (or nintendo's hardware plus iOS) titles would be better than a sale, although that's probably not likely.



Did you miss the earlier posts pointing out their nine hundred million dollar loss over six months?

You're way too short sighted.

The Yen is at a post WW2 high vs the dollar.

Second they are in-between platforms in both their console and handheld businesses.

YOu gotta keep that in mind. Also premature to associate iOS rise with Nintendo downturn just because both are happening at similar time.

By 2010 the DS was 6 years old.

These platforms have always petered out after a number of years. And there is always a down cycle when switching to the next-gen platform. This was going to happen no matter what. Nintendo announcing the 3DS in 2010 also helped kill sales of DS.

And then the 3DS has had a slow start, but the DS had a slow start too. And most said it was going to bomb big time.

So the 3DS needs another 6 months to calculate how it will do in the long run. It needs some big original 1st party titles which it is getting starting next week and again in December along with a few other Nintendo 1st party games which are done and coming early next year.

Even beginning in January you should be able to better see how it will do in the long run. Right now without any big original 1st party titles yet and before the price drop runs through xmas you're being premature. Consumers buy these platforms for the games. The games haven't been there yet for the 3DS. That is changing and along with the price drop sales have picked up. And should do so much more when Super Mario 3d hits. Then MarioKart.

Also realize the smartphone market and the market that the 3DS is mostly aimed at are different markets. Too many here are assuming if one does well the other has to do bad. I don't think that is the case as much as some here think.

I think most here are looking at the 3DS like the 15-25 yr old guy that they are. And that according to Nintendo's data that they showed a few weeks ago is the weakest part of their market.