Gaming Trends

1. Gaming Trends By Craig Dennett

2. The War Between Nintendo and Apple • Satoru Iwata, the Nintendo president, is understood to have told the media recently to ‘regard the battle with Sony as a victory already won and to treat Apple, and its iPhone and iPad devices, as the “enemy of the future”.’ This just proves that even the president of Nintendo considers it a ‘war’ with the other companies. • The iPhone has emerged as a formidable competitor for Nintendo in the handheld gaming arena once dominated by the DS console. Sentences like this explain how other online sources believe the companies are at WAR • These company’s recent strategy has centred on creating devices aimed not just at children, but at the whole family. Two years ago, the company claimed to have ‘permanently altered the demographics of video games by raising the average age and the gender mix of gamers.’ But even after this comment, the very people they claimed to have converted to gaming, have still said in surveys they would rather have an iPhone in their pocket than a DS. • But the most striking decline was in sales of the consoles. Although both the Wii and DS have outsold their Sony and Microsoft counterparts, the lower technology of the Nintendo machines is starting to show. With far less processing power than either the PlayStation3 or Xbox 360, the Wii is suffering. Its sales were 21 per cent down in the year to March 31. • Nintendo has also suffered from the financial crisis. Households around the world spent most of last year in full belt-tightening mode, and remain cautious about buying games with a relatively short playing-life. Sales of sports games have fallen in the last year, but online multiplayer games, such as first person shooters have been selling more, with a larger profit.