Topic: Industry Growing Thanks to Nintendo DS

[WindyMan]

It's appropriate Nintendo would announce this on Friday the 13th; the handheld is selling so fast it's scary.

Nintendo DS Leads Video Game Industry Growth    

Touch Generations Titles Are Expanding Audience to Female and Older Players    

REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- As both an entertainment and a   business, Nintendo DS™ today is the powerhouse of the U.S. video game   industry, driving nearly all industry revenue growth so far this year.   Without this portable system, the video game industry growth overall would   be nearly flat when compared with 2005, according to independent sales   figures from the NPD Group of Port Washington, N.Y.    

Through September's end, the U.S. industry overall shows revenue growth of   11 percent when compared with the same period in 2005.  Nearly all of the   growth comes from the portable DS -- without it, the industry would report a   mere 1.6 percent growth over the past nine months.  DS hardware and software   units posted a robust gain of 203 percent when compared to the same period   in 2005.  The news is the same globally: Nintendo recently announced   estimated full-year shipments for DS hardware will grow to 20 million units   from 17 million units worldwide, while estimated DS software shipments   increased to 82 million units from 75 million.    

"Numbers dramatically show the value of reaching out to the masses with   products that are compelling and comfortable," says Nintendo of America   President Reggie Fils-Aime.  "And this perfectly sets the stage for our   breakthrough Wii console, which appeals to both core players and current   non-players with an intuitive control system and a price everyone can   afford."    

The NPD numbers also indicate that during September, Nintendo DS lifetime   U.S. sales surpassed more than 6.2 million units.  That total includes more   than 1.4 million units of the new Nintendo DS Lite systems, which launched   just 16 weeks ago on June 11.  It's important to note these numbers   represent Nintendo DS systems actually purchased by customers, not ones   shipped only to stores.    

"During a home console generation upgrade, consumer interest in existing   consoles tends to drop as anticipation for new consoles increases.   Hand-held game hardware and software revenues have kept the industry   afloat," says Billy Pidgeon, Program Manager, Consumer Markets: Gaming at   IDC.  "Hand-held gaming has spurred real industry growth, and Nintendo's   longstanding leadership in this space continues to drive this market."    

This summer, Nintendo launched its Touch Generations brand to help newcomers   to video games identify which nontraditional and pick-up-and-play titles are   appropriate for them.  The response from consumers has been enthusiastic, as   four of the top 10 best-selling Nintendo DS games are Touch Generations   titles.  Touch Generations games include Brain Age™: Train Your Brain in   Minutes a Day and the three versions of Nintendogs™.  And at the same   time, avid players also are fueling growth: the New Super Mario Bros.®   title, exclusively for Nintendo DS, is the third best-seller among all video   games this year, including console games.    

Nintendo's internal statistics show the Touch Generations brand continues to   reach more women and older gamers.  Nintendo statistics show a significant   percentage of all Touch Generations software buyers are female and are age   25 or older, demonstrating the broad appeal of Nintendo titles like Brain   Age and Big Brain Academy™, which provide engaging and entertaining   content for baby boomers and seniors alike.    

For more information about Nintendo DS, visit www.nintendods.com.  For more   information about Nintendo's Touch Generations brand, visit   www.touchgenerations.com.

[Smash_Brother]

And the trend will continue with the Wii.

[WuTangTurtle]

I'm sure it will and if it doesn't we can always refer to "Negative Reinforcement"..........We're done here. lol.

[Mario323]

Don't be a fanboy.  It is true that everyone thought the DS was stupid and would fail with a TOUCH SCREEN OMG!  Even Craig on IGN.  But then it released and they realized it was awesome--especially with games like Nintendogs.  Nintendo has definitely discovered the locals of its balls and they are starting to pump testosterone now.  I think they knew last E3 (this years) that Sony and Microsoft thought Ninty's presentation would suck, so Microsoft and Sony took it easy.  They assumed Nintendo would be a kid in a wheel chair trying to run a mile, and Sony and MS were kids who could run it in 6 minutes.  But then Ninty (nintendo) showed em that they were faking their disability the whole time--they were just lazy.  Wii launch will easily beat the crap outta the PS3 launch simply because the PS3 launch only has 400,000.  Only 400,000 people to honestly say they liked or disliked Resistance or Call of Duty 3, the only games worth it on the launch.  

[KDR_11k]

What the hell are you talking about? Nintendo consistently manages to wow the most people with its E3 presentations so there's no way the other companies didn't expect this.