Pachter: "Wii U won't save Nintendo, phones took 35% of the market"

[Squilliam]

RolStoppable said:

Squilliam said:

RolStoppable said:

Indeed, it's no big deal.

Home console manufacturers aren't worried about PC software revenue, so why should handheld manufacturers be worried about pocket PCs (which is what smartphones are)? Especially when the pocket PC is almost exclusively used for low end gaming so far while an actual PC isn't a threat to home consoles depite being used for low end as well as high end gaming.

Where were you when Iwata said that they compete against all forms of gaming and every major form of entertainment from TV to Facebook?

Right, he said that. Does that mean you will be using box office numbers to show how Nintendo's business is in danger? Probably not, because you realize that they are in a different category of entertainment. The same goes for smartphones. When PCs couldn't make home consoles obsolete despite more horsepower and being multipurpose devices, then it's highly unlikely that pocket PCs will make handhelds obsolete or diminish their importance.

Try to come up with a convincing reason for why the relationship between pocket PCs and handhelds is drastically different than the one between PCs and home consoles.

1. Location of use:

Anywhere you would want to/can use a handheld gaming device you can use a portable tablet, smartphone or media player.

2. Competition for space:

You have limited pocket space, purse space available to carry devices around with you. If you have one device which can do both jobs adequately then why carry both? Do you wear a watch when you can tell the time on your phone? Also why carry two chargers when the one charger fits for both tasks?

3. Cost of games:

If you want to play something like Soduku to pass the time, do you want to buy it on your DS for $10-20 or iPhone for $1? There are plenty of old portable mainstays like Tetris which sold millions of Gameboys for instance which you can get for a few bucks each. Just because they are old or simple doesn't make them less relevant, see the time spent playing Solitaire to this day for instance.

4. Level of attention:

The average person with a smartphone already devotes significant attention to it. The phone itself can be just as likely to already be in your hand or close at hand.

5. Cost of the machines:

You can pay S179 + $20 for an iTouch and get between 10-20 decent games for it. The average person cannot walk out of the shop paying as little for a 3DS and get similar gameplay time.

6. Theres an App for that:

The utility of the other features are much higher, you have a better browser, media player and a variety of other functional utilities which you cannot get for handheld consoles.

If you're an avid game player then you probably won't care. However you ought to consider the original market for the Gameboy and the basic games which Nintendo sold to good effect on the DS as well. The core won't be catered for but the wider market can and will be. You can get an iTouch for your son or yourself instead of a 3DS and consider it to be a substitute. You wouldn't buy a laptop computer for $799 and say that it is somehow equivalent to a $299 Xbox 360 with Kinect for instance, even excluding price.