Tag Archives: nintendo

Handheld Gaming: Forget Apple, What About Nintendo vs. Sony?

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As the iPhone has stolen the media spotlight and been touted as the sole competitor for Nintendo’s dominance of the mobile gaming market, Sony has been somewhat left in the shadows.

That’s understandable, to a point. The company’s first handheld gaming system – the PSP (PlayStation Portable) – never quite lived up to its promise as a true rival to Nintendo’s dominance of the market. And despite the company’s efforts to refresh the PSP brand over the past six years, it never hit the cultural zeitgeist that many expected.

Read more at CNBC.com

Reports: Nintendo to unveil new HD game console

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The Wii has never been the workhorse console of this generation.

To keep it affordable and attractive to a mass market audience, Nintendo eschewed high definition graphics and, for the most part, online play when it was introduced. Five years later, though, it’s showing its age. And if online reports are to be believed, the company is ready to pull the curtain back on its next console system.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

Analysis: Should Nintendo Launch The Next Generation Now?

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With rumors circulating that Nintendo is planning to announce its next generation console at E3 this year, Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris discusses whether the company should make its boldest move to date.

The rumors have been gaining steam for a couple of weeks now. Nintendo, they say, is planning to announce its next generation console at E3 this year.

While the company, not surprisingly, isn’t commenting on the chatter, it’s hardly going out of its way to downplay it either. And the second quarter lineup for the system (along with growing whispers about a looming $50 price cut in May) didn’t do anything to quiet speculation.

Read more at Gamasutra

Nintendo 3DS sells well, but outshined by older model

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The launch of the 3DS was a certifiable hit — but not a grand slam.

According to data released by sales tracking group NPD, the first-week sales of Nintendo’s new handheld system beat out the first-week sales of its predecessor, the DS, thanks to a price tag that was $100 higher. Unfortunately, that price tag also might have kept some from buying it: just under 400,000 3DS units were sold in its first week, about 100,000 units short of the original DS when it launched in November of 2004.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

Video Game Sales Drop, but Nintendo 3DS Performs Well

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While Nintendo had a lot to brag about in March, the overall video game industry wasn’t so fortunate.

Initial sales of the 3DS handheld gaming device beat those of its predecessor, and the powerful Pokemon franchise set new sales records for the company. Despite these achievements, overall retail software sales fell 16 percent last month and revenues on the whole were down 4 percent, according to The NPD Group, which gathers sales data for the industry.

Read more at CNBC.com

3DS shines, software sales plunge in March

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The good news is Nintendo has a hit with the 3DS. The bad news is … well, pretty much everything else.

Despite a strong launch for the handheld device, retail software sales were off 16 percent in March, according to The NPD Group, which gathers sales data for the industry. That’s a lot more than analysts were expecting to see. (The general consensus on Wall Street was a decline of between 8-10 percent.)

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

Video Games Set to Fall Again … Blame Easter?

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Despite the release of several high profile games, including a new entry from one of the largest franchises in the industry, video game retail sales for March are expected to tumble once again.

The NPD Group will release March brick and mortar sales figures Thursday after the market closes. Analysts expect software sales to fall between 8 and 10 percent. One of the major factors they’re citing is the shift of this year’s Easter holiday into April.

Read more at CNBC.com

Up next for Nintendo: 3D Zelda, Wii Play sequel

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Nintendo is pulling out a couple of big guns in the second quarter to boost its bottom line.

After months of hedging, the company has at last firmed up a launch date for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D. The eagerly anticipated 3DS remake of the classic title — still considered among the best of all time — will hit store shelves on June 19.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

Interview: Sifteo Founders Pursue Wii-Like Enchantment

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Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris talks to Sifteo co-founders David Merrill and Jeevan Kalanithi about their new gaming system that plays games via small electronic blocks communicating wirelessly with a PC.

Long before people take a side in the Sony vs. Nintendo vs. Microsoft vs. Apple snipefests that so often dominate forum and comment chatter, they start with much simpler gaming interests.

Blocks… Sticks… Rocks… In many cases, board game pieces… Love of gaming often begins with some sort of tactile sensation. That physical connection sometimes fades once players get exposed to video games, but David Merrill and Jeevan Kalanithi are hoping to bring it back, by fusing the best parts of traditional and video gaming.

Read more at Gamasutra

Potshots over portables

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For the past four years, Nintendo and Apple have been grappling for control of the mobile gaming market — but last month, the stakes got higher.

The 3DS, a handheld system that presents games in stereoscopic 3D without glasses, hit shelves March 27, representing one of Nintendo’s biggest bets in years. And early indications are it was a winning one.

Read more at Daily Variety