Iwata: Sony Defeated; Bring on Apple

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Originally Posted by Chris Pereira @ Joystiq

For the first time since 2004, Nintendo saw a drop in their profits for fiscal year 2009, but they still managed to turn quite a profit -- 228.6 billion yen ($2.43 billion USD) is nothing to sneeze at. Despite the drop, and an early forecast of another drop in fiscal year 2010, it's not necessarily a decline in profits that led sources to tell the Times Online about "a mood of concern [at Nintendo] as the hardware and software divisions race to restore the capacity to 'surprise.'"

According to the Times Online (via Kotaku), Nintendo is "preparing to unleash the full force of its development and marketing artillery against Apple." But what about Sony and its plans to release the PlayStation Move later this year? That's apparently not much of a concern at Nintendo, as Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has reportedly told senior executives that the battle with Sony has been won and that Apple should be treated as the "enemy of the future."

Regardless of whether or not the battle with Sony has already been won -- something that analysts don't believe is the case, at least not yet -- Apple certainly is become more and more of a direct competitor with the iPhone and iPad. The report notes that the same demographics that Nintendo previously claimed to have converted into gamers -- high school girls and males ages 30-40 -- are apparently more interested in having an iPhone with them than a DS. That's not particularly surprising, given the additional functionality you get with an iPhone. But if that's the market Nintendo is seeking, they're going to have an uphill battle unless they're willing to integrate a phone into their next handheld, which is something that they've previously said they have no interest in.

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I miss Yamauchi. Iwata has taken the industry backwards and/or the wrong way and is now downright delusional.

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Originally Posted by Yoshi

I miss Yamauchi. Iwata has taken the industry backwards and/or the wrong way and is now downright delusional.

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But he made money and brought value to shareholders. That's what matters, right?

I'm not a shareholder, so I couldn't care less.

I also completed butchered the title. Yikes.

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Originally Posted by Yoshi

I'm not a shareholder, so I couldn't care less.

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Okay, comrade.

hi AGES supergrafxengine jr

had my pointless news machine posters mixed up

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Originally Posted by Yoshi

I also completed butchered the title. Yikes.

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The title isn't the only thing you completed butchered.

Wow. One of those mornings I guess.

Cool, two of my least favorite companies ever battling for 'owner of shittiest gaming platform'! I hope Philip Morris comes out with a console too. The fans will decide the winner of this. Hopefully by fighting to the death.

I still kind of want an iPad

Either Apple gets a d-pad, 4 face buttons, and two shoulder buttons, or I hope Nintendo kicks their ass.

Buttons on phones are for douchebags. I mean it.

Confirmed.

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Originally Posted by Josh

Buttons on phones are for douchebags. I mean it.

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That's why he asked for them.

http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/p...&pictureid=966

You know, the "Enemy of the Future" statement sort of sounds epic. Like Nintendo is gearing up to battle the huge final boss that is Apple, hovering over our solar system above the Oort Cloud. Hundreds of thousands of men and women in a secret underground base gearing up to launch the final weapon against such a menace; a giant Gundam/Mario hybrid machine.

Actualy that sounds cooler than what they are probably going to do. Going to put stickers on a Wii and call it a new console.

You know, I don't think Nintendo is wrong in saying Apple is a threat. There was a slide Jobs showed at the OS4 event that showed iPhone OS with something like a factor of 6 times as many games than the DS and PSP. I own all three platforms, and I've spent $580 on iPhone apps (the majority of those being games) in the last year, and $0.00 on the other two platforms. Partly because it's so goddamn easy to buy them right on the device, but also because fuck carrying more than one unit around with me. I run the vast majority of my professional and social life from my iPhone, so why the fuck not all my gaming as well?

This is going to get real interesting once Apple's Game Centre drops.

There are a lot of things that Apple's portables just can't do, but for casual gamers and the average consumer, those things are irrelevant.
I don't think Nintendo is in any danger of losing any ground when it comes to kids and the technologically retarded, but they are going to have to fight Apple for the rest of the casual market, and that's only going to get harder as smartphones become the standard.

Who would spend 580 dollars on frigging *iPhone* games? Other than Morphix

Yeah, that number seems nuts to me too. I really doubt I've hit $100 yet, and I have a lot of games for it.

edit: He said apps though, not games. I did spent ~$60 on a turn-by-turn GPS app. Nothing else has been over $10 though, and I think that GPS app is the only non-game I have paid for.

I downloaded about 20 games on the iPad, and most of them are casual/simplistic games (which explains why most of the are .99 to 2.99, I got them for free tho). Other than Espgaluda, I wouldn't pay $$ on any of these.

You get what you pay for (or less) with this crap, but those $1 and $2 games are going to spoil the market for higher quality games. Maybe the trend toward cheap phone gaming will force all of the substantial games back onto consoles.

Cell phone games are meant to be played for a minute or two here and there while you're waiting for something else to happen.

ie: train, bus, shitter, laundromat, waiting for your lunch at the bar/diner/whatever.

99 cents is a perfect price for this. It's not spoiling any market, except for the faggot "I play jrpgs on my DS while I'm sitting on my mothers couch" market.

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Originally Posted by kedawa

Maybe the trend toward cheap phone gaming will force all of the substantial games back onto consoles.

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That would be excellent, since $30-50 portable games are bullshit.

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Originally Posted by kedawa

There are a lot of things that Apple's portables just can't do

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Like what?

I've played a fighter, a bullet hell shooter, an RTS, an AW knock off, Tower Defense, platformer, etc.

What can't it do?

It can do those things, it just sucks dirty ass at it.

Play Pokemon and other Nintendo games. Which is why Nintendo handhelds will be forever relevant.

Maybe in 2012 and we're all wiped out, humanity (unexposed to Nintendo) will begin anew

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Originally Posted by Kbu Chan

It can do those things, it just sucks dirty ass at it.

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I'm not sure where that leaves the DS, since Espgaluda II on the iPhone is better than anything on it.

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Originally Posted by Joust Williams

Who would spend 580 dollars on frigging *iPhone* games? Other than Morphix

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He means Australian dollars, so he has actually spent like $6.

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Originally Posted by Yoshi

I'm not sure where that leaves the DS, since Espgaluda II on the iPhone is better than anything on it.

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I thought that game would control like shit, and I don't have much interest in touchscreen-only games, but I tried out the demo on my wife's iPod last night and was surprised at how well it worked.

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Originally Posted by Diff-chan

He means Australian dollars, so he has actually spent like $6.

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Ha!

Yeah, I buy a lot of apps for work, my kid and my wife as well. Probaby about $300 of that figure is games.

I don't buy that the iPhone is only for casual pick up and play games (though it does excel at them). Games like Warpgate, Hook Champ, Sword and Poker, Spider etc are all at least in the same league as XBLA / PSN titles.

In fact, I've probably spent close to that amount on XBLA games too, and they get a fraction of the playtime the games I mentioned above get.

I also don't have to pay for my iTunes purchases, LOLWORK

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Originally Posted by NeoZeedeater

I thought that game would control like shit, and I don't have much interest in touchscreen-only games, but I tried out the demo on my wife's iPod last night and was surprised at how well it worked.

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Yeah, the shooters are absolutely legit. I probably have at least a dozen of them installed right now. The virtual d-pad and buttons are very questionable, but combining finger control with auto-fire works.

Let's see, a real book has two pages to view and bends in the middle... How about the Nintendo Reader DS, a dual screen book reader to compete with the iPad? Turn it sideways and it's a giant DS with a massive stylus. Since it would need a high resolution screen for book reading, it could allow you to look at a dozen DS game screens at the same time (Nintendo/Konami style HD).

how about eliminate one of the shittiest problems with the DS and make it one screen?