| kowenicki said: Clearly for the WiiU it is too early to tell.... it isn't even out yet. But I think it is pretty obvious how the handheld market is going. The DS managed to get just under 70% of the market when all said and done. I expect the 3DS will dominate further with approx 75% to 80% of the market, with Vita a poor second. This isn't based of wishes, hopes and desires... just hard facts, precedent and common sense. |
Maybe 75% of what's left after Apple takes its percentage of the "casual" market to include Nintendo's mainstay market in children.
While the 3DS could still be perceived as a cheaper alternative to an iPod Touch, assuming one doesn't already own an iPhone or iPad, a lot of the budget filler titles that made up a significant portion of the DS catalog simply won't sell this time around at $30 or even $20 per game card given that there are plenty of apps within the iOS ecosphere alone that offer the same type of entertainment value for $.99 or even free.
The 3DS does have its Nintendo e-Shop titles, but as a 3DS owner after one year, I have to say that the only titles that hold any appeal to me are the full priced retail games. If I want my cheap sub-$5 game thrills, I'll get them on my iPhone or iPad. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one in this boat either.
Once again, people are trying to make this a Sony Vs. Nintendo contest in the mobile market, when the reality is Apple is better positioned to be the real market leader.
Nintendo will always have its in house IPs that will sell any hardware platform they publish on, but the Nintendo specific consumer is a smaller niche within the overall mobile market, and anyone expecting to see an exact repeat of the success they had with the DS will probably be disappointed.
