Comments on: Sony and Nintendo should be very afraid

By: terrywhite

terrywhite — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 13:21:56 +0000

You’re right! I hadn’t even considered Camera Phones taking away the low end point & shoot market.
I hardly every pull out my Canon P&S camera anymore. I either have my DSLR or I shoot it with my iPhone for something quick and easy and instantly sharable. Sounds like another post in the making
Thanks!

By: halvi

halvi — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 12:27:55 +0000

Terry, great observation. Your description of the iPhone marketplace parallels the cameraphone marketplace. Know one expects a cameraphone to replace a DSLR, but the cameraphone did replace the entire low-end digital camera market, and continues to eat away at the bottom end of digital point & shoot cameras. This low end (aka entry level) segment represents a significant part of a camera maker’s mix of product offering and losing it to cameraphones is a challenge. In this context, I agree the iPhone is a serious threat to the portable gaming makers. As Scott Kelby mentions above, convenience is a dominant force in consumer behavior, and the iPhone (like a camerphone) is always with you.

By: mbaDad

mbaDad — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 22:17:47 +0000

Actually this exists for consoles as well. Our kids received a bright shiny PS2 LAST year for Christmas. We could afford a better console, but the price of games for higher end consoles means our kids would only get 1-2 games a year. Some seem bewildered why the platform has (until very recently) performed so well against much more capable competition.

Consumers are getting smarter.

@Dave, I have not owned an inkjet in years. The only way to fight crazy pricing schemes is to choose not to play their games. While we were looking for a nice laser, we discovered free printing to PDF’s, and paying pennies to get images printed at real labs made home printing almost obsolete.

By: Owin Thomas

Owin Thomas — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:32:16 +0000

“Dave
4 hrs, 26 mins ago
Now if we could just get the printer companies (Hp, Epson, Cannon…) to use this business model!!!! ”

I have to agree with you on that Dave.

By: hmurchison

hmurchison — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:03:54 +0000

As a parent who “chose not” to replace my son’s lost Nintendo DS and my girlfriend who also made the choice not to replace her daughters broken DS I think Terry’s article is spot on. He never stated that the iPod Touch would become the defacto standard for gaming. What I read was that Sony and Nintendo should be worried about the Touch/iPhone eating up marketshare for people that don’t necessarily need the upper echelon mobile gaming. In that context I think he’s spot on because I’m reading about a lot of people that are replacing their kids Nintendos and PSP with Touch. As a parent you have more control over the games that go in the unit and your child never loses or trades a game you paid 25 bucks for.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:54:09 +0000

Now if we could just get the printer companies (Hp, Epson, Cannon…) to use this business model!!!!

By: Brian M

Brian M — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:58:58 +0000

I have several games that I play frequently in the $4.99 to $9.99 range… I’ve put in many hours (weeks worth by this point) into Civilization Revolution for the iPhone which I managed to snag for $5.99 on a sale (I believe their standard price now is around this price)

In some ways it is better than Civ 4 for Mac OS X/Windows, the controls are fairly well suited to the touch interface, and would likely be harder to do some things as quickly with a control pad.

By: Scott Kelby

Scott Kelby — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:28:50 +0000

Hey Terry:
My son has the Nintendo DS1, and it used to go everywhere with him. Since he has his iPhone, I can’t remember the last time he took it out. I just asked me wife when the last time she remembered him playing his DS1, and she said; “I can’t remember—he’s always playing games on his iPhone.” Now, my son is a gamer, and he and I play together XBox live most every night, and he has a Wii. He still plays both of those daily, but if he’s going outside the house, his DS1 stays home thanks to his iPhone.

He loves the iPhone games (and the Madden NFL game for iPhone is great), and he got iTunes Gift Certificates for Christmas, and instead of buying maybe one game, he can buy about a dozen. If I made a handheld game unit, I’d be looking for a “Plan B.”

By: terrywhite

terrywhite — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:14:47 +0000

Think “handheld gaming platform” not console gaming.
I’m not expecting any handheld device to replace my PS3 in HD. Just like watching video on my iPhone hasn’t replaced my HDTV.

By: Terry Reinert

Terry Reinert — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:12:29 +0000

I personally find it hard to believe that the iPod and iPhone are becoming known as a gaming device. I have an iPod Touch and have some games on it but they are for killing 5 minutes here and there. Basically a time waster. I have a Wii and a PC that I use for my “real” gaming. That being said, I cannot ignore the numbers that are being published and I also know that the younger generations are not like me… a iPod Touch or iPhone is perfect for them in regards to gaming. It is a strange world Dr. Jones!!

By: Brockthedog

Brockthedog — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:08:16 +0000

Terry is right on. The hard core gamers just aren’t in the abundance they once were. The new generation doesn’t have time for that kind of commitment. Casual gaming is fun, inexpensive and easy to move on to the next one. And it can be done anywhere and easily shared with your friends especially with so many people owning touches or iphones.

Plus us oldtimers aren’t intimidated by these casual games. No big deal for me to grab a quick download and have a little fun in a spare moment.

By: pat

pat — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:27:39 +0000

@jrl2k
I think Terry has it right. I just got done with a 900 mile car trip with my two teenage sons. With a ton of free time to waste. We travel with the Wii connected to the car video system both boys have a DS and we have a gen 1 iphone. In previous years the Wii got the most use with a number of hours on the DS. This year the Iphone took over the lead. The controls on the touch/iphone definitely limit some genres, but other ones shine. Your example of Call of Duty is ironic since the top grossing app is Call of Duty World at War Zombies a FPS which obviously suffers from lack of buttons and number 2 is also an FPS N.O.V.A. So obviously some folks can get past the controls. As far as RPG you might try Inotia
http://toucharcade.com/2009/12/07/inotia-a-wanderer-of-luone-a-pretty-fun-action-rpg/

By: terrywhite

terrywhite — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:15:12 +0000

jrl2k,

I don’t disagree that hardcore gamers will continue to want and pay for the best most intensive titles. The question is is that enough of a market for the traditional handheld gaming market of Sony/Nintendo to survive on? Time will tell!

As far as my “more capable” comment goes, I’m not speaking of more capable in terms of gaming hardware, I’m saying more capable as an over all device with many more functions/possibilities than just gaming.

Lastly don’t take my word for it:
http://www.macworld.co.uk/ipod-itunes/news/index.cfm?newsid=26774
http://theappleblog.com/2009/08/12/ipod-touch-cutting-into-handheld-game-market-top-analyst-says/

By: Yvonne

Yvonne — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:06:12 +0000

As someone who works in a major retail store I noticed that the PSP didnt seem to sell that well. The dsi’s are gone as of the last time I noticed but they lasted a little while but it was the itouch that was the most interesting. The store would get some in every truck but the touch would sell quick. After playing with mine for a week I can see why they sell fast.

By: Lwazi

Lwazi — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:29:29 +0000

Great interesting perspective on game pricing Terry, certainly food for thought. Thanks!