Well I was reading how N-Space is barely surviving having just had to lay off a majority of their staff and in the article I saw an interesting quote.

"Anything in the 'middle' is struggling. The Wii and DS markets have nearly collapsed and 3DS is a brave new world the publishers are excited about but also very cautious to enter. Even for an extremely successful Wii/DS developer like n-Space, with a long history of delivering quality titles on time and on budget, this creates a very challenging business environment."

N-Space is a loyal Nintendo development studio that has even made products published by Nintendo. I am very suprised to hear they say that the DS and Wii markets are collapsing. So why are the markets collapsing? N-Space blames Apples I products and app store as well as the recession.

"The economy has robbed customers of disposable income, reducing the number of titles that purchased per year. Huge budget titles have to sell massive numbers to return a profit and the App Store has disrupted our industry in the same way iTunes changed consumer expectations for music.""People that used to buy many games every year now buy a few AAA titles, supplementing their need with games that are free or cost less than a pack of gum,"

So is the Wii and DS market in as bad shape as he's talking? I know third party software on the Wii is selling poorly but I thought the DS market was still pretty good. Any other Nintendo developers recently talked about the demise of the Wii and DS market places?

Yes. The Wii was, is and always will be a failure.

The PS3 has been 10 times more successful than the Wii.

Nintendo actually copied the Playstation Move when they brought out the Wii.

OMG the Wii is doomeded :(

They don't seem to bas bad as he's saying ,DS still sells well as you can see, and Nintendo made lots of profits.  Some people just exaggerate

n-Space wii games

• Tron: Evolution - Battle Grids (2010)
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (2009)
• Carnival King (WiiWare) (2009)
• Target Toss Pro: Bags (WiiWare) (2008)
• Winter (Unable to find publisher)

n-Space DS games

• Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010)
• GoldenEye 007 (2010)
• James Bond 007: Blood Stone (2010)
• Tron: Evolution (2010)
• Toy Story 3: The Video Game (2010)
• Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron (2009)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized (2009)[citation needed]
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (2009)
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (2008)
• Call of Duty: World at War (2008)
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007)

with all those quality titles it's sad.. :(

Well he isn't really mocking Nintendo as I think some posters in this thread think. He is more or less saying that the market for third party software on the DS and Wii are drying up, or as he puts it on the verge of collapse.

Nintendo is generating millions in sales of hardware but even Iwata recently hinted at trouble on the Wii. N-Space's titles include Cod4:DS and similiar big titles if their games aren't selling well then their could be a problem. I don't think he's exagerating as N-Space is for the most part an exclusive Nintendo developer.

I wonder if he's right and the markets are actually on the verge of collapse? Or maybe N-Space's catalog of games just aren't the interest of the DS and Wii markets. Maybe they should develop a party or casual game. But then again N-Space has developed some pretty big games their IP's are world famous they should be selling like hot cakes.

It makes sense. If you think about it smartphones will rule the casual gaming as everyone needs mobile and soon there will be models with Android/Bada selling for 1$ in cheapest plans.

When you can get zylions of small games for a platform you have at dirt cheap prices it kinda makes portable dedicated gaming devide rather pointless.

What is left to portables is a market of dedicated gamers who want more than 5 minute long distraction on the bus so all the people who wanted stuff like Mario Kart, Twewy, Valkyria Chronicles, Persona, God of War etc.

Cell phones have been around for years. Most of them played videogames and the handheld market never collapsed, it expanded massively with the DS.

Smartphones also play music. did the iPod market collaps? And did you read the Iwata Q&A that was posted on this site? Iwata made clear people who play free games are more likely to buy DS games. It has been predicted since the dawn of computers that computers would in some way let console or handheld markets collaps. It never happened. The same goes for Smartphone games.

As long as Nintendo and Sony are able to deliver an experience that is only available on their platforms people will buy them. The reason everyone goes crazy over smartphone games currently is because Apple is trying to get more developers for iOS devices and claims "it is outselling Sony and Nintendo combined" Of course people don't buy their iPhone or iPod to play games but to listen to music but you can always spin things the way you want.

I doubt handhelds will be in trouble in the future. If so it'll be because of Nintendo's and Sony's faults not because of smartphones.

And "the casuals" are very well able to play "real" games and know what a good game is. Most gamers are casual car driver, TV buyers, movie watchers, etc. Does that mean we are too stupid to know what a good car / TV / movie / etc. is?

Get the life-support equipment! Quickly!