Would you be so kind as to explain this to the less educated, and how it applies in this context.

Also, would it be similar to how Nintendo dealt with the Playstation 1 and Genesis treats at their times? (The mindset, not the circumstance or actual threat)

They have an app store. It's called the Wii Shop channel and e-Shop on the 3DS. It will definitely be upgraded on the WiiU, there is 0 doubt of it, the only question is what strategy will they adopt in pricing, features, and development of said games.

Questions like, will there be size limitations, what studios might Nintendo employ to make those games, will they use ideas like the one mentioned by happysquirrel, and so on and so forth ;)

As much as the userbase of newer apple products is growing more rapidly, this is probably driven by the growth in the number of Apple fans from previous successful device releases; and Apple's success of (somehow) convincing people that expensive electronics are disposable. Beyond that, the question I would have is how much over-lap is there between iPod, iPhone and iPad sales and how many of these sales are replacements. If someone buys two iPods, two iPhones and two iPads between the launch of a console and the launch of the follow up console the userbase of ios may look larger while actually being smaller than the game console.

I know, I was just defending the iPhone sales numbers I had brought up. Instead, let's just go worst case scenario (assuming 100% overlap) and simply use the iPad numbers. They serve my purpose since they are gargantuan anyways.

Source

They are huge, but so are PC sales numbers; and similar to PC sales numbers there is a lot of people who own multiple-computers, replace them far more regularly than people buy videogame consoles, and the vast majority of PCs are sold for uses other than playing games. There is an order of magnitude more PCs on the market than videogame consoles, and yet there are several times as many complicated games sold for consoles; and we (probably) have a very similar situation between tablets and smartphones and portable gaming systems.

@bold. The issue keyword with that argument is complicated. We're talking about extremely cheap and easy to pick up games such as Farmville and Angrybirds.

So, the situation is very different since the appeal of very cheap PC games has only increased as of late. Flash games have been around since around 2000, before that it was all shareware, which mostly PC enthusiasts were aware of and touched, but they prefered their complicated counterparts.

The truth is, the landscape of small affordable and entertaining games and their use on PC's, smartphones and tablets has radically changed in the last 4 years, mostly due to Facebook and Apple.

The threat exists.

Ultimately if the trend continues, gamers may conclude "I have all I need on my smartphone/tablet/facebook", hence the need to anticipate.

Of course happyS I don't advocate that Nintendo's current strategy is without value. I am psyched about the WiiU and fervently believe in it. But for applications such as Nintendogs and Brain Age, which were explosively bread and butter for Nintendo gen 7, may find a very real threat...

If I were them I would mitigate.

EBWOP: Oh, and another thing to keep in mind is 3rd parties' interest in making games for those platforms at the expense of attention given to Nintendo's consoles. Since these companies may see a better business opportunity in the mobile/tablet/FB space, Nintendo is either in a bad position on that front (they can't do anything about it without radically affecting their current strategy), or they need to be very creative in order to keep 3rd parties on board.

(This also answers you, Rol, but I know what you think about this so take it for what it's worth).

1) You're talking about a specific metric: playing time. Also, what population was used, what area, what class, what country, what state? How reliable is this study?

Simply said, I don't buy it. Here are some play stats from facebook. (Just to make it easier for you to get my drift)

That's just on Facebook, posted Sept 2010. (source) To explain: due to overlap, time played here is time not played elsewhere.

2) Of course that's true, not only is the threat real, but 3rd parties see promising business opportunity in that marketspace. What do you tell them? "Shut up?" I don't think that would work. Not only is the threat real, but they can find greener pastures elsewhere. Nintendo needs to have a solid business proposal to show that business on their platform is still more viable. It goes well beyond quelling the fear.

3) When kids ask their parents for an iPhone, it's to play games on it. As for iPad eating into laptop sales, well, it hits to birds with one stone. Awesome business move, Apple. I applaud them.

This proves absolutely nothing against what I said. I wasn't saying Nintendo was being biased. I was saying the data, as honest as Nintendo may have been in using it, is bull.

It can also easily be used at home (as it is, by very many people). 50% are played by women. We know many stay at home moms are webaholics.

This disproves nothing due to the immense # of players ultimately. If a few play at work, many many many play at school/home/holiday, what-have-you.

You're confusing threat with business opportunity. 3rd parties are not threatened. They may simply see better ROI on those platforms. You're going into rabbittrails.

Of course. When they borrow their phones from their parents to see what it's about, it's to call their contacts. I buy that.

No, they want an iPhone, presumably and on the surface for that extra maturity image, but ultimately it's for its multimedia appeal.

Wrong, those people are barely serious hobbyists.  I have a smart phone and I still carry my DSand Or PSP with me. You know why?? Because those phone/tablet/FB games suck, or at the very least dont even offer the types of games that the dedicated portables or home consoles do. I looking at the sales of 3DS and PSV to a lesser extent. reckon their are millions of people that think like me. As long as we dont "conclude" that we have all we NEED on those other devices. Ninty will be just fine.  Im not saying that those smartphone games have not had an effect, but people are losing it. Its not that serious

I think Ninty knows that their Brain Age type of games will be affected. Which is why they probably  went the "core" route with the 3DS, IMHO.  How can they mitigate??? By making an online store that MIGHT be as good as the App store. If Sony and MS couldnt make a dent in Apple, what makes you think Ninty can do it. ANd keep in mind, those two companies actual know what the hell they are doing when it comes to online. They are smart, they are playing their roles, Ninty needs to do the same.  The only way they can mitigate is to make an actual phone to go against the iphone, that would be suicide. Or make an actual tablet and no the WIii U controller is not an actual tablet it has less functionality than the crappy tablets out there, you cant even take it with you