Nintendo: We must 'differentiate' to survive against smartphones, tablets

[thekitchensink]

BasilZero said:
A potential way to beat/compete that would be to release similar games (the third party indie titles that get released on mobiles) for a cheaper/similar price and through their eShop.

Add that and the first party titles and the console/portable third party developers, and you see a pretty good collection of games that would go up against iOS/android.

Going a 'similar but cheaper' route against your competition is never a good business plan.  If you start beating them, all they have to do is drop their price and you are either immediately screwed or forced into a pricing war where you will be eventually screwed.  A lower price is great, but you need something that truly differentiates you.

But what Iwata is saying is a little strange to me.  After all, the DS sold admirably after iPhone became popular, and iPhone spanked the DS in terms of features.  It was the quality of the games that continued to sell the DS after this point, not the fact that it had a touchscreen.