Nintendo: Everybody but not the Hardcore
Financial report more bullish than a street in Pamplona
It will come as no surprise that Nintendo's latest set of financial results - for the first quarter of 2008 (ending June 30th) - are positive. There is a chance, however, that the company itself might be becoming a little too bullish. Notes in its latest financial report indicate that family-friendly is not enough. The company wants to sell everybody its wares - everybody but the hardcore gamer.
Its latest financial report declares that, "Nintendo's hand-held device, Nintendo DS, and its console gaming system, Wii, have provided the customers with intuitive operation and have expanded the definition of video games".
It doesn't stop there. The company is now bored with just getting families to buy its kit. "Nintendo's strategy", says it quarterly report, "is to accelerate current sales momentum from 'must-have for every family' to 'must-have for everybody' by continuously introducing new and unique software and introducing new services..."
Ambitious, sure. But could the claims of arrogance once levelled at market-leading Sony now be pointed in the direction of Nintendo?
The DS might not be adding to this global domination strategy, however. Global sales of the handheld are actually down on this time last year. 9.64 million DSs were sold in the quarter, which is 0.04m down on the same period last year. Total global lifetime sales of the DS have reached 77.44 million units.
So, DS sales are slightly down for one quarter. The company is still selling software to DS owners, with 36.59 million units of software sold in quarter one - an year-on-year increase of 2.33 million carts.
The Wii - despite longtime criticism from 'the hardcore' that it is a frippery - has not followed the DS's year-on-year sales fall. According to Nintendo is has, "displayed increasing popularity in North America and Europe". This has enabled it to to sell 1.74 million more units than the same period in 2007, with 5.17 million shipped worldwide. This means that 29.62 million Wiis have been shipped in its lifetime.
In talking about the Wii software, however, Nintendo really is not tailoring its message to what Shigeru Miyamoto calls 'core' gamers. All the talk in the report regards sales of Mario Kart Wii, Wii Fit, Wii Sports and Wii Play. With no Metroid or Smash Bros. Brawl mentions, you might be inclined to believe that these 'core gamers' aren't buying.
Total sales of Wii software for the quarter are up a massive 24.42 million to 40.41 million year-on-year. Matchbook maths puts the software attach rate for the quarter at 7.81.
Right now, despite the possibility that Nintendo is getting a little ahead of itself, you can't argue with the figures.
Source: Nintendo
Its latest financial report declares that, "Nintendo's hand-held device, Nintendo DS, and its console gaming system, Wii, have provided the customers with intuitive operation and have expanded the definition of video games".
It doesn't stop there. The company is now bored with just getting families to buy its kit. "Nintendo's strategy", says it quarterly report, "is to accelerate current sales momentum from 'must-have for every family' to 'must-have for everybody' by continuously introducing new and unique software and introducing new services..."
Ambitious, sure. But could the claims of arrogance once levelled at market-leading Sony now be pointed in the direction of Nintendo?
The DS might not be adding to this global domination strategy, however. Global sales of the handheld are actually down on this time last year. 9.64 million DSs were sold in the quarter, which is 0.04m down on the same period last year. Total global lifetime sales of the DS have reached 77.44 million units.
So, DS sales are slightly down for one quarter. The company is still selling software to DS owners, with 36.59 million units of software sold in quarter one - an year-on-year increase of 2.33 million carts.
The Wii - despite longtime criticism from 'the hardcore' that it is a frippery - has not followed the DS's year-on-year sales fall. According to Nintendo is has, "displayed increasing popularity in North America and Europe". This has enabled it to to sell 1.74 million more units than the same period in 2007, with 5.17 million shipped worldwide. This means that 29.62 million Wiis have been shipped in its lifetime.
In talking about the Wii software, however, Nintendo really is not tailoring its message to what Shigeru Miyamoto calls 'core' gamers. All the talk in the report regards sales of Mario Kart Wii, Wii Fit, Wii Sports and Wii Play. With no Metroid or Smash Bros. Brawl mentions, you might be inclined to believe that these 'core gamers' aren't buying.
Total sales of Wii software for the quarter are up a massive 24.42 million to 40.41 million year-on-year. Matchbook maths puts the software attach rate for the quarter at 7.81.
Right now, despite the possibility that Nintendo is getting a little ahead of itself, you can't argue with the figures.
Source: Nintendo
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Nintendo
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Comments
schnide 30 Jul 2008 10:46
1/5
So Nintendo have successfully courted families. And let's say, as I long have, that families eventually get bored of the Wii as a gimmick and have nowhere else to take their products.
How well are they going to do coming back to the 'hardcore' with the Wiimote between their legs?
How well are they going to do coming back to the 'hardcore' with the Wiimote between their legs?
Wayne 30 Jul 2008 12:08
2/5
Why don't they try scrapping the double screen, making a one screen device out of it (with a processor boost) and make that a phone. I have not bought a DS because of the dual screen.
They could make a bigger multimedia tablet version, even of the Wii.
They could make a bigger multimedia tablet version, even of the Wii.
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OptimusP 30 Jul 2008 18:33
3/5
schnide wrote:
So Nintendo have successfully courted families. And let's say, as I long have, that families eventually get bored of the Wii as a gimmick and have nowhere else to take their products.
How well are they going to do coming back to the 'hardcore' with the Wiimote between their legs?
How well are they going to do coming back to the 'hardcore' with the Wiimote between their legs?
Well, that has a very small chance of happening really. With Nintendo always finding new ways to add to the Wii-expercience, the getting boring factor is far off. Except offcourse when it slightly does seem to go that way, i can 100% predict that you will claim that the Wii is falling its pedestal or whatever...because that's one nice self-fullfilling prophecy you got going.
deleted 30 Jul 2008 21:13
4/5
The problem stands were all a little afraid sub-consciously at least,
Yes I agree Nintendo is far too big for their boots and its either going to go one of three ways!
1. Nintendo sell and sell and become a MS style company for gaming, the next gen of Wii will continue to sell to the Lemmings of the Casual industry with (hard)core titles becoming more and more of a casual thing, i.e. Zelda starts becoming Zelda fishing competition and Zelda Horse racing, With “Mario Jump Jump Man Challenge”, with casual`s lapping it up again and again until they own 400 peripherals and 5 games . In the end Nintendo will buy the world and we will all work in the Wii mines.
2. Nintendo sell and sell and become a MS style company for gaming, but.... the next gen of Wii will not sell, casuals are happy with their Wii and see no reason to get a new one, sure on launch it looks great and that’s because you, me and the rest of the sponginess readers buy one, and as mentioned Nintendo will have to come wagging a Wii-mote between their legs back to the Core which will be renamed back to hardcore gamers, and yes we will take them back on condition of Mario and Zelda returning to normal.
3. Nintendo sell and sell and become a MS style company for gaming, and this is the worst scenario. For years and years we have had Top tech Highly polished games and a console at launch higher than any current spec PC or Mac and for the price of a ¼ of a the Top spec PC, it’s a luxury we take for granted as we get it cheaper than it costs to make, now if Sony and MS see this and decide why should we lose money, when we can copy Nintendo`s policy of cheap console lower gen graphics = £ $ ¥ € and therefore away goes our real proper consoles, after all why should a console company care about the Core market when apparently the casual market is flecking huge in comparison?
Yes I agree Nintendo is far too big for their boots and its either going to go one of three ways!
1. Nintendo sell and sell and become a MS style company for gaming, the next gen of Wii will continue to sell to the Lemmings of the Casual industry with (hard)core titles becoming more and more of a casual thing, i.e. Zelda starts becoming Zelda fishing competition and Zelda Horse racing, With “Mario Jump Jump Man Challenge”, with casual`s lapping it up again and again until they own 400 peripherals and 5 games . In the end Nintendo will buy the world and we will all work in the Wii mines.
2. Nintendo sell and sell and become a MS style company for gaming, but.... the next gen of Wii will not sell, casuals are happy with their Wii and see no reason to get a new one, sure on launch it looks great and that’s because you, me and the rest of the sponginess readers buy one, and as mentioned Nintendo will have to come wagging a Wii-mote between their legs back to the Core which will be renamed back to hardcore gamers, and yes we will take them back on condition of Mario and Zelda returning to normal.
3. Nintendo sell and sell and become a MS style company for gaming, and this is the worst scenario. For years and years we have had Top tech Highly polished games and a console at launch higher than any current spec PC or Mac and for the price of a ¼ of a the Top spec PC, it’s a luxury we take for granted as we get it cheaper than it costs to make, now if Sony and MS see this and decide why should we lose money, when we can copy Nintendo`s policy of cheap console lower gen graphics = £ $ ¥ € and therefore away goes our real proper consoles, after all why should a console company care about the Core market when apparently the casual market is flecking huge in comparison?
schnide 30 Jul 2008 23:09
5/5
OptimusP wrote:
schnide wrote:
So Nintendo have successfully courted families. And let's say, as I long have, that families eventually get bored of the Wii as a gimmick and have nowhere else to take their products.
How well are they going to do coming back to the 'hardcore' with the Wiimote between their legs?
How well are they going to do coming back to the 'hardcore' with the Wiimote between their legs?
Well, that has a very small chance of happening really. With Nintendo always finding new ways to add to the Wii-expercience, the getting boring factor is far off. Except offcourse when it slightly does seem to go that way, i can 100% predict that you will claim that the Wii is falling its pedestal or whatever...because that's one nice self-fullfilling prophecy you got going.
Nintendo always finding new ways to add to the Wii experience.. you mean like the new add-on you have to get to have the sensitivity you should have had in the first place? Or maybe some other new peripheral, like a Wii surfboard to go with your Wii-fit board, and have all that s**t mounting up in your cupboard?
This time next year the Wii will not be selling like this. Nintendo's sales have been so huge because they've hit an untapped market - it won't stay like that for long. The Wii has had a good run as the must-have Christmas present and sustained it throughout the year.
There is only so much Wii Sports you can play before you realise that going outside is better, or that playing an FPS or anything that requires a harddrive is better served by real consoles that aren't just updates of the previously underpowered one with a motion sensor bolted on.