The true next gen handheld competition

[Rainbird]

RolStoppable said:

Rainbird said:

Yeah, marketshare was basically the measure I was using. And even if Nintendo make a killing from the 3DS, I doubt they'll be happy to lose marketshare, and especially to strategies revolving around smartphones, since it may mean that Nintendo's own strategy is becoming obsolete.

And I agree about the games, but I think there will be sort of a duality to it. Despite the rampant piracy, the PSP still manages to have some high selling games, so I don't think the big games are going anywhere, there's just going to be a more clear distinction of what makes a $50 game and a $5 game. Some games that fit in the big price range earlier probably won't anymore because they're too reminiscent of the small games. But you'll still have the big sellers that do well.

I don't think Nintendo would be worried too much, if gaming on other devices grows while their own business remains healthy as well. A good and recent example would be Nintendo losing about 30 % of the handheld gaming marketshare from the GBA generation to the DS generation, but absolutely everyone (including Nintendo) would say that the DS was still a bigger success than the GBA.

Basically, growth of other sectors is only worrisome, if it comes at the expense of Nintendo.

I do have hard time seeing the 3DS reach the same success as the DS, though whether that is due to the competition or simply faults with the 3DS is hard to pinpoint right now. But I do think it's likely that Nintendo will see reduced results this generation due to the competition.