you can't...at least you are the Wii... :p

 I should know better than to comment on this, in the Nintendo section, on a week when there has been some truely pathetic articles against the Wii but all the hate here is kind of stupid.  Since I don't care to adress it all I will only comment on this.  The economy sucks atm fishyjoe, but it doesn't suck that bad, atleast away from the east coast, out west it isn't to bad.  People, instead of going on vacation somewhere are deciding to spend their money on a video game console, mostly the Wii atm.  If the economy gets worse, then those casuals that Nintendo is trying to pick up won't want to waste any money on frivolous things like video games.  Thus causing the slow down that the article is talking about.  The core gamers will continue to buy systems and games because that is what they love and they will find a way.  Maybe some of them pick up a Wii, maybe some see value in the PS3/360.  Also, if the economy does get worse, that means the dollar is worth less against the yen and the money they make from America is worth as much, dropping their profits for the next year.  Try to lay off the caffein people, take a deep breath, this is posted on businessweek, not like it is a gaming website that "feels threatened" by the Wii or some other bull.  Just looking at the future money making opportunities for Nintendo.

Ok, I had to adress this also, it just bugged me to much.

@ cwbys21:
You make some excellent counterpoints, but I would submit that you're not completely correct yourself. Taking your bolded comments one at a time...

1) You are mostly correct that the exchange rate between the yen and the euro/dollar is starting to lead to decreased profits for Nintendo and other Japanese companies. However, the article itself points out that Nintendo is countering this by ramping up production to meet the as yet unfilled demand. If reports are to be believed, the increase will amount to 33%. I kind of doubt that the yen will appreciate anywhere near that much relative to the dollar and euro. I believe that is part of why many of the posters here are so dubious.

2) This point is highly theoretical, and as far as I know it has not yet seen a single shred of evidence to support it. It is true that "casuals" (hate that word so very much...) have historically not spent as much on videogames as their "hardcore" (hate that word even more...) counterparts. But that was before Nintendo started drawing more people into gaming, i.e. before they really gave video games a second thought. I would submit that those folks are now perfectly willing to spend their money on video games in lieu of other forms of entertainment, as the long lines and pre-orders for Wii Fit is showing. Granted, they may not be as devoted to the hobby as some of us are, but then it's not exactly like we don't spend money on other forms of entertainment ourselves. Furthermore, other methods of entertainment are equally as expensive: I can buy a new Wii game for $20-50, while it usually costs me $20 to buy a standard DVD and $30 to buy a High Definition one. And I will be entertained by my game for much longer than I will by the movie. My conclusion: wait and see if this comes true. I personally doubt it will have as big of an effect as some people think.

3) Two points here. First, it's true that last year's sales are, by definition, already sold. However, as Iwata himself argued in his investor's reports, the DS has been showing a highly unusual pattern in its decline.

 http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/080425/06.html , chart labelled "platformcycle for portable hardware. My apologies for not inserting it, but I still seem unable to embed images for whatever reason: they just vanish mysteriously. Much like my paycheck, come to think of it.

As you can see, DS sales haven't had the dramatic decline that previous consoles have: it's been far more gradual, and there's little to indicate that that won't continue. And software sales have actually continued to increase on the DS, rather than decline.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/080425/06.html , next chart down.

Add to that the fact that while the DS is declining in Japan, it is still doing very, very well for itself in the U.S. and Europe. Sure, the exchange rate may hurt Nintendo a bit, if it continues, but I think you're overestimating its effects if you feel that alone would explain the article's pessimism.

4) Alright. I got nothin'. I think we can just agree to call that an overreaction, as Nintendo fans have been having a rather ludicrous week thanks to the media, and hope that things settle down soon.

P.S. Some people have walked me through how to embed images, but it's still not working for me. Can anyone suggest somewhere that I can research what's wrong, so that I may spare us all in the future? Thanks in advance. 

Well, they've been 'raking it in' for 20 some years now, so I'll assume they'll keep on trucking, to some degree or another, for quite a while.

Some of what Nintendo loses at a weak U.S. Dollar, they gain at the Euro and the other currencies in Europe as we probobly already overpaid for our games and consoles compared to those who live in U.S before the fall of Dollar.

In Sweden a fullpriced game probably cost us almost as much as 2 U.S. fullpriced games, not counting that a part of the difference is VAT. Same, but not as bad goes for consoles. Probably similar situation around Europe.

And with ramped up production of Wii consoles, mega sellers such as Wii Play, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros Brawl, Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit plus whatever might come after summer, it will only get better and maybe third party situation gets better to.

It's over, Nintendo is finished.

Once again mainstream media has written a poorly researched and highly contradictory article.

I don't know if "could" is called "past tense", but what is certain, is that it is supposition. So the only reason it couldn't stand in the way last year is because it's been disproven already.How come a supposition is becoming a fact for you ? This is evidenced by the fact that you say "all those systems that Nintendo is going to ship isn't going to bring them the money they did last year". You just plain don't know that. Now, why did the OP analyst (who was proven wrong time and again, and always had bad things to say about Nintendo) cited negative possibilities, and no positive ? That doesn't look like a balanced professional article to me. Especially since the shipping to Europe will alleviate the weak dollar. The latest Nintendo charts showed 36 % of sales in NA, and 51 % in Others (Europe + Australia + others).

The problem is that all of this is based again on one single supposition : "if Nintendo is targetting casuals".

What's worse, is that it's written with the meaning of "if Nintendo onlyis targetting casual".

Of course, that's not the case at all, so the point is moot.

OK.

I don't understand that even when Nintendo is doing well, it still has to have a doom and gloom prediction. Why can't it be the assumed "always" success that Sony always creates even when they are suffering extreme loss. Yeah recession will have an effect but perhaps some of the reason for the lower projected figures is because of future endeavors such as research, new product production, etc. It's about time to throw another product out there in the next year or two anyway, but do people really see Nintendo starting to do badly? Where is the evidence?