Micro makes solid debut

The Micro attracted better-than-expected orders on its Japanese debut on Tuesday, though less than Game Boy Advance SP originally did. Retailers have been receiving pre-orders of about 70% of total inventory which is still very solid.

Nintendo is aiming to sell 4 million units of the Micro worldwide by next March. It should be interesting to see how the unit sells in the US next week. I remember asking this about the Nintendogs Japanese-to-US transition, so do you think the Micro has any chance of making a repeat? I don’t think so, but neither did a lot of people about the US Nintendogs launch, and it was a huge success.

[Source: Reuters]

11 Comments

  1. i think, IMHO, the micro will do just fine here in the US.
    a lot of people seem to be interested in it even those who already have a GBA SP and a DS.
    I’m very optimistic, but only time will tell.

  2. There seems to be a lack of advertising. Maybe a commercial or an ad here and there. Most people I spoke to don’t even know about it.
    So how is it supposed to sell well.

  3. I agree with you, but i think once it’s there it’s going to sell!
    with Nintendogs, commercials didn’t start to air until the game was released.
    and online, i’ve seen a lot of ads in different websites.

    I expect TV commercials to kick off by thursday or even friday.

  4. Wow, 4 million units. Initially I had thought the Micro was only produced to top off Nintendo’s handheld sales, kind of like a “side” console. But it it sells as well as the DS and SP, Sony will find themselves in a 3 on 1 for domination for the handhed market :).

  5. The GBA sold 180,000 units last week, opposed to the PSP’s 150,000, and the DS’s 161,000.
    There’s certainly a market for GBAs, and the micro is the nicest of the three models, soo.. i think it’ll do alright. mini advance wars ferchrisake!

  6. Critics are arguing that there isn’t a demand for this, and that no one who already has an SP or DS would pick it up. However, I haven’t seen anything from Nintendo suggesting that this is a “PSP killer.”

    This to me is a complementary system, meaning it can only help GameBoy sales and GB Advance games. They’re clearly betting (as was mentioned elsewhere on Infendo) that this will benefit from an iPod-like effect (with the nano coming out this month as well, this could be a solid play).

    Nintendo has basically flooded the market with handhelds, and the 3 v. 1 analogy was a good one. This thing screams portability and quick play, while the PSP looks clunky and slow with its load times and obviously un-pocket size.

    The more the merrier I say.

  7. Great that it sold that well….
    I think most people expected it to fail, so this is great news……
    I think about actually using it iPod style with the Play-Yan….

  8. I don’t get how anyone can’t see that this will be a huge success and why the hell everyone thinks that the market is so linear. Good games are not confined to new systems; in fact I’d argue that if executed properly every single generation of systems can co-exist because essentially they cater to a different generation.

    Nintendo completely pulled the rug from underneath Sony’s feet on this. While Sony helps Nintendo craft out a distinct DS market, the GB market will thrive on as the more affordable, more portable market. There are now officially three worthy video game markets: portable, portable console and console. I expect this to eventually turn into portable small, portable medium and portable large. Where does the revolution fit into this?

    Oh and the Micro will easily surpass the 4 million mark before fiscal end, in my opinion.

  9. I compare the Micro to the GB Pocket. Probably a useful comparison to make with sales numbers too.

  10. The console is Micro, the screen isn’t. The Micro’s screen is the same size as the old GBs and GB Pocket.

  11. I love the micro personally, I really want one but will wait for a price drop. I think it will sell in America, maybe not as hot as Nintendogs, but people will like this because like stated before, it’s like an ipod. I think it’s more ipod esque than the PSP, that’s for sure.

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