Nintendo 3DS: 3/27/11, $249.99

[Nature Boy]

Don't forget iPod touch handhelds too. The market is expanding and the great numbers Nintendo has done on handheld software (in traditional terms) pale in comparison to Angry Birds (50 million downloads) or Farmville (100 million active users).

I don't see the iPhodroids of the world directly competing with the dedicated gaming handhelds like the 3DS, so why would I give them much thought?

They're two entirely different markets, aren't they? For instance, I can say that my wife and I both spend a lot of time playing video games. For me it's Halo Reach online and Fallout New Vegas right now. For her it's pretty much Spider Solitaire on the PC and nothing else.

To me it's like movies and porn: they're both viewed with similar technology, but they're intended for two entirely different audiences and the success of one doesn't impact the success of the other in any way, shape, or form.

[Rob2600]

Don't forget iPod touch handhelds too. ...the great numbers Nintendo has done on handheld software (in traditional terms) pale in comparison to Angry Birds (50 million downloads) or Farmville (100 million active users).

I don't see the iPhodroids of the world directly competing with the dedicated gaming handhelds like the 3DS, so why would I give them much thought?

They're two entirely different markets

Also:

50 million x $0.99 = $49.5 million revenue (an iOS game)

2.5 million x $39.99 = $99.98 million revenue (a 3DS game)


So bottom line, Nintendo's numbers really *don't* pale in comparison.


And:


it's much easier for a game to be extremely popular when it only costs $1. Also, 50 million copies sold of a $0.99 iOS game = $49.5 million in sales (my guess is roughly $33 million in profit), but 4 million copies sold of a $40 3DS game = $160 million in sales (my guess is roughly $38 million in profit).

So yes, 50 million copies of Angry Birds sounds very impressive, but as you can see in my example above, Sony and Nintendo still do extremely well with the traditional business model. $35 DS games like New Super Mario Bros., Nintendogs, Brain Age, Pokemon, and Mario Kart have sold tens of millions of copies each and are more profitable than Angry Birds. Besides, how many other iOS games have sold more than 1 million copies? From what I can tell, fewer than 10.

Anyway, that doesn't matter. My point is that yes, shallow $1 games are very popular and a lot of fun, but there's still a huge market (and huge revenue stream) for deeper $40 games. Both types of games fill different needs in different situations and aren't really competing for the same market share.


I'm going in circles now. :)

[Rev. Link]

It might be true that the iPhone does Netflix, but I don't have one of those, nor do I have any desire to get one.

I would, however, like to get a 3DS, and this is just icing on the cake.

Yes, it is true that 3DS won't do Netflix at launch. It will be included in the May system update.