Competition
Nintendo dominates US game sales… again
The DS and Wii outsold the competition in that order yet again for the month of April; the DS selling a whopping 417K units with the Wii selling 360K units. GBA even managed to outsell the PS3 by 4,000 units at 84k. From a competitve console standpoint, the 360 sold an unimpressive 176K units considering the seven year old PS2 outsold it yet again. Oh, and Nintendo games made up the top four selli...
The myth of the hardcore gamer
Ok, OK. There are certainly hardcore gamers out there, but there’s a point to made in here somewhere. The point is that for Nintendo, the phrase “hardcore gamer” is about as relevant to their bottom line as tube socks. Microsoft themed tube socks. It’s irrelevant to Nintendo because I seriously doubt Reggie or Miyamoto or Iwata sit around big stuffy conference rooms sweatin...
Nintendo will win the console war, say Gamepro and IDC
Through a terrifyingly complex algorithm, Gamepro has reached the conclusion that the consoles that sell more units ultimately will have sold more units than others. Huh! This conclusion was reached via hard data and line graphs, so think twice before you question their logic. To me, predicting the Wii’s success this late in the game is like calling a horse race after one of the competitors ...
The Blue Ocean is deep
I worry this morning that the table has been set for a repeat of the early 1990’s. The industry is healthy, with two of the three console makers selling their wares briskly, and the slow trickle of software that was the first six months of the “next generation” is set to increase as we head into and out of the summer doldrums. Well, it’s set to increase in the Nintendo corn...
Kutaragi stepping down as PlayStation chief this June
The father of the PlayStation Ken Kutaragi will “retire” on June 15 in light of a dismal PS3 launch. Kaz Hirai will take the helm effective this summer. The AP reports: “Although Kutaragi will remain an adviser, some U.S. gaming experts said the retirement may have been a face-saving firing and an effort by Stringer to recover from the botched PS3 launch.” Video games owe a...
Analyst: "Gaming has been a disastrous endeavor for Microsoft"
“Particularly from an investment perspective,” says Wall Streeter Roger Ehrenberg. Note, this doesn’t mean the Xbox has been a disaster for gamers — far from it (cough, cough Halo) — but Ehrenberg makes a strong case that the Xbox has failed investors by hemorrhaging Microsoft’s Home & Electronics profits. He also believes that when a console fails in Japan,...