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Forums - Sales Discussion - Will Forbes ever learn? or "Why Apple Could Kill The Nintendo DS"

ItsaMii on 05 June 2008

Found the link via Kotaku

http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/06/04/apple-nintendo-iphone-tech-wire-cx_bc_0605nintendo.html

 
Why Apple Could Kill The Nintendo DS
Brian Caulfield, 06.05.08, 6:00 AM ET

 
 
BURLINGAME, CALIF -  There's only one company on earth that has come back from behind to wrest a multibillion-dollar market away from Sony, beat back a grasping Microsoft and delight tens of millions of customers around the world in the process.

Sorry Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) fanboys, we're talking about Nintendo (other-otc: NTDOY.PK - news - people ). The Nintendo Wii has turned the gaming world on its head, with motion-sensitive controls and family-friendly games. The Nintendo DS has had a good run, too, dominating the market for handheld gaming gizmos despite determined assaults by Sony (nyse: SNE - news - people ) and Nokia (nyse: NOK - news - people ).

You tell us: The iPhone and the iPod Touch combine the touch-sensitive screen of a Nintendo DS with the motion sensitivity of the Nintendo Wii. Now add the ability to pour fresh games into the system at the touch of a button. Will this create a problem for Nintendo in handheld gaming? Let us know in the Reader Comments section below.

 

Monday, however, Nintendo will likely face a new and far more dangerous foe: Apple. Steve Jobs' computer and gizmo maker will likely launch a long-promised feature, dubbed the App Store, which will let outside developers pour software into the iPhone and iPod Touch. And while it's unlikely that, say, a mobile version of Oracle's (nasdaq: ORCL - news - people ) wonky database will make anyone stand up and cheer, we already know putting games on the iPhone is a pretty powerful combination.

To be sure, the Nintendo DS won't be an easy kill. First released in 2004, Nintendo freshened the design of the aging system in 2006, with the release of the thinner, lighter DS Lite. Yet developers continue to toil away on ever more sophisticated games for the aging DS, with an ambitious adaptation of "Guitar Hero" in the works and a slick adaptation of the PC strategy series "Age of Empire" already on sale, thanks to the console's sophisticated dual-screen interface. Moreover, Apple has struggled to master gaming on the Mac, with a far wider array of titles available for machines running Microsoft Windows.

Nevertheless, Apple is the first to master a pair of tricks that have made Nintendo's latest products so compelling--a touch-screen interface and the ability to pick up on motion. The key difference: Unlike Nintendo, which has created a gaming console with a motion-sensitive controller and a touch-sensitive handheld gaming system, Apple has crammed both capabilities into its iPhone and iPod Touch.

The ability to pour fresh software into the iPhone, wirelessly, at the touch of a button already has game developers interested. When Apple detailed its software developers kit for the iPhone and iPod Touch earlier this year, one of the most impressive demos was Sega's (other-otc: SEGNF.PK - news - people ) version of "Super Monkey Ball" for the iPhone. Players will be able to maneuver a monkey through a three-dimensional landscape by tilting the iPhone.

The worst sign: Sophisticated games such as Electronic Arts' (nasdaq: ERTS - news - people ) ambitious new god-game, "Spore," are already slated to be released for the iPhone at the same time it goes on sale for PCs, Macs and the Nintendo DS. Travis Boatman from EA showed off a project based on Spore that the videogame giant's developers cobbled together in two weeks that took advantage of iPhone's accelerometer and touch-screen interface to guide the evolution of a hungry microorganism.

Looks like the handheld gaming business, so long dominated by Nintendo, could be about to undergo a little evolution too.



I have to ask: could the DS learning software kill the english teacher career?

Satan said:

"You are for ever angry, all you care about is intelligence, but I repeat again that I would give away all this superstellar life, all the ranks and honours, simply to be transformed into the soul of a merchant's wife weighing eighteen stone and set candles at God's shrine."

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FishyJoe on 05 June 2008

I posted my response here:

http://vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?id=28715

ITSS 



Me on 05 June 2008

before you even get into how valuable the DS's back catalogue of games and backwards compatibility in new models is I dont think downloadable games is anywhere near mums going into shops and buying their kids a copy on Nintendogs on the spur of the moment or for presents etc just yet.

I remember being in Woolworths buying GTA4 on launch day and a woman in front of me had a pink DS and 3 copies of Nintendogs - Apple cant compete with that.

There's no point in thinking they both have touch screens they're the same market in my opinion.



 


FishyJoe on 05 June 2008

It's funny how they don't even mention the PSP. The iPhone also plays music and video, and those features are far more important to the iPhone than gaming. Those are the same features being used to promote the PSP.



MANUELF on 05 June 2008

But Apple can´t make games like Nintendo.



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Mummelmann on 05 June 2008

Has Apple ever had a smash hit that was not a rip-off of something else? I-pod and I-book ideas were already in use as far as I know. And just how well is Mac doing these days?



bdbdbd on 05 June 2008

As for the question in the topic: no, i don't think public analysts will never learn.

I saw two big mistakes there: It stated that Nintendos success with the DS and Wii was based in the touch screen and motion sensitivity, when the reason is the games.
Now, apparently the writer didn't know, that DS has a gyroscope peripheral (but, it's just a peripheral). And that the mobile phones have had downloadable games for ages, without killing the handheld consoles market. And then there were third point, which showed the writer not being familiar with gaming industry, not to talk about being an expert, the "Nintendo Wii", so i understand where he's coming from, since he sees Apple doing the i-Pod again.

He also missed the direct competition from N-Gage 2 and didn't take into account the failure of N-Gage.
The problem with "gaming phones" is, that there's this thing called "battery life". Playing games with your phone eats away the battery from the primary purpose, which is talking and sending/receiving SMS:s.



Ei Kiinasti.

Eikä Japanisti.

Vaan pannaan jalalla koreasti.

 

Nintendo games sell only on Nintendo system.

mike_intellivision on 05 June 2008

@Mummelmann

Apple is celebrating the fact is has 10 percent market share for computer hardware.
In gaming, that puts you out of business.

Mike from Morgantown



      


I am Mario.


I like to jump around, and would lead a fairly serene and aimless existence if it weren't for my friends always getting into trouble. I love to help out, even when it puts me at risk. I seem to make friends with people who just can't stay out of trouble.

Wii Friend Code: 1624 6601 1126 1492

NNID: Mike_INTV
CDiablo on 05 June 2008

Yes, seeing that all their stuff is at least $300-$500 Im sure it will take out DS.



Getting an XBOX One for me is like being in a bad relationship but staying together because we have kids. XBone we have 20000+ achievement points, 2+ years of XBL Gold and 20000+ MS points. I think its best we stay together if only for the MS points.

Nintendo Treehouse is what happens when a publisher is confident and proud of its games and doesn't need to show CGI lies for five minutes.

-Jim Sterling

naznatips on 05 June 2008

Er... the iPhone costs more than a PS3 and they think it's going to compete with the very cheap Nintendo DS?  It's not even going to compete with the PSP...