Nintendo has never been without its problems. Despite the company name be synonymous with the term “video game” at one point in history, the Japanese corporation has struggled to either achieve or maintain dominance over the increasingly competitive videogame market.
Unless, of course, we’re talking about handhelds.
From the original Game Boy’s launch in 1989, Nintendo has remained the dominant competitor in the handheld videogame marketplace.
With the system releases of the Game Boy Advance in 2001 and the Nintendo DS in 2004, gamers have come to know Nintendo as the key handheld manufacturer, for both its affordable pricing and wide breadth of video games, both first and third parties.
Sure, there have been challengers to this throne, but as history has shown, their resistance has amounted to little more than futility.
Despite the fact that the majority of these handhelds contained a number of technological advantages and innovations, they simply could not match the universal appeal and sale figures of their Nintendo competitors.
With this in mind, to call the recently released sales figures of the latest Nintendo handheld, the Nintendo 3DS, disappointing is to participate in an exercise that goes beyond simple understatement – it’s ignoring the first warning signs of a dynasty’s death.
Since its Japanese release on February 26th, 2011, the 3DS has sold only 836,000 units in the country, leaving 664,000 unsold, according to Media Create. In contrast, the original Nintendo DS had moved nearly 3 million units after less than six weeks on market in 2004.
Things are bad enough that even Sony’s PSP is outselling the 3DS. And as you all know, that system “has no game.”
These sluggish sales have had an undeniable effect on Nintendo’s stock prices. The company’s U.S. ADR price has fallen 17 percent since late February, according to The Stock Masters. The price is only five cents away from the company’s lowest point in a year.
The poor sales of the 3DS can be attributed to a multitude of factors.
There have been numerous complaints of the system’s 3D implementation — which is its main selling point. Since launch, gaming websites have been filled with complaints of headaches, dizziness and neck pain, from playing the 3DS for extended periods of time. That may not always be an issue, however, with the system’s poor battery life: 2.5 to 4.5 hours, according to IGN.
Battery duration that short is unacceptable these days — especially with devices like the iPhone that have marathon-length battery life.
However, for most the gamers, it is the lackluster-launch lineup. Being comprised of primarily forgettable shovel-ware and haphazard utilization of 3D elements, with a few noteworthy exceptions the lineup was set to disappoint from the beginning. The powerhouse titles shown during the 3DS’s marketing, including “Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D” and the remakes of “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” and “Metal Gear Solid 3” are noticeably absent.
While it is definitely possible the Nintendo 3DS’s success will be a slow burn, this is something only time, and a better game library, will tell. Let’s just hope Nintendo doesn’t have another Virtual Boy on their hands.
Reach David at dsydiong@asu.edu
