Apple products have survived on their 'cool' factor, despite being highly expensive with far superior alternatives available at lower prices. Nintendo has been surviving on an approach that can be seen as similar but instead naming it 'innovation.' However with Apple now taking that crown, do you think Nintendo is feeling the pressure?

Apple have taken a stripped down OS made for music players then applied it to hardware that is the price of a high-end PC, Nintendo on the other hand have used their previous consoles general design, tweaked it and supplied a new controller with it for good measure, something that has been an instant hit.

The competition between Sony and MS has been intense since the start of the generation with each trying to top each other at every given opportunity. Theyve done this by investing billions into their systems, which in return has delivered quality experiences for its difficult to please hardcore demographic.

Will a similar arms-race start between Apple and Nintendo, or are their target demographic more worried about idea behind their purchase rather than its functionatility?

Heres what Nintendo had to say about the iPad.

Speaking with the Associated Press, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said, "there were no surprises for me" and AP noted "he made no pretense to hide he was totally unimpressed with the iPad."

"It was a bigger iPod Touch," he said, pulling out a common complaint levied against the recently announced device.

http://www.slidetoplay.com/story/nintendo-ipad-just-a-big-ipod-touch

Its an interesting theory when you look at it like it.

But i don't think Nintendo are wrong when they say theyre not competing with Apple. Nintendo make software and Apple don't.

Why is it that fans of the HD consoles who hate the Wii seem to also be such big Apple fans all of a sudden? Oh wait, that's obvious.

You can't beat Nintendo at their own game unless they screw up and make it easy for you, and that doesn't look to be happening anytime soon. And by the way, tell me where you can find another console like the Wii with precise motion controls and a variety of established, quality games to support it. That's right, you can't.

Yawn. The ipod is primarily a music device and the iPhone is primarily a phone/'apps' device. Its not going to 'topple' Nintendo or the DS just because it can also play games. That's like saying XBOX360 is going to become obsolete because Steam keeps seeing increased sales year after year and PC sales are on the rise.

If you haven't noticed, the 'Apple Revolution' has been going on for over 10 years.  Yet the DS is doing quite fine.

Nope. Apple really isnt in the same market. The Ipad is twice the price of a wii and is going to be just like the iphone. A reduced version of the same market that bought the iphone will buy the ipad.

The devices aren't in competion. yet.

iPad isn't cool. Actually it's sorta clowny looking. It seems bad. I like the iTouch/Phone and stuff. but this is just bizaard.

I agree with MontanaHatchet with his opinion of Wii bashers.

I dont know if you mean me, im a gamer, so my time is mostly spent on PC/360/PS3, which also means that i know what hardware offers hence why youll never find an Apple product in my house.

On the other hand, Nintendo has marketed itself through 'innovation,' which to its fan completely over-rides what the hardware can actually output. This is exactly what Apple have been doing, hence why followers of Apple and Nintendo are pretty two sides fo the same coin.

That's way too premature to say that. AppStore is doing great but if we choose to believe last Fade LLC report, it accounts for around $250M of gaming revenue on platform for it's first year (Jul 2008 - Jul 2009). AFAIK whole mobile gaming is worth $4.5B in year 2008, while handhelds software sales revenue topped at least $6B that year (80% of that is Nintendo).

AppStore definitely is going to growth very fast during it's first years, but it has natural barrier. iPhone business isn't doing so great in Asia, the biggest market for mobile gaming. On top of that mobile gaming business is very competitive and highly segmented. Very few distributors have any meaningful marketshare in terms of game sales, not to mention games isn't primary business for them for the time being.

But they could pursue traditional handheld gaming instead, making iTouch it's flagship model. Isn't that easily feasible task either. Peronsally I don't even understand why Apple and gamign became all of a sudden so closely connected in mass media? When Iwata said Apple isn't competitor he really means it, when he said that they need to differentiate themsevles from mobile phones - that's true as well. So we shouldn't talk about Apple threatening Nintendo, we should talk about whole mobile gaming threatening handheld business.

Sure They're feeling the heat of their own flaming success.

This is very questionable. People buy product for entertainment and games is only a part of it. Lots of people are overshot by DS in gaming aspect and them could end up buying iTouch/iPhone because of it's better entertaining value to them.

What's great for Nintendo though I think is that Apple products are not children-friendly and Nintendo ones do not have stigma of "being glamorous things for trendy ladies".