The Truth about Nintendo
Donnerstag, 1. Dezember 2005, 16:32
Interessant, interessant.
"From the looks of Nintendo sites over the past few years, you would think Nintendo is about to pull another Sega.
“Frankly, I'm coming to the conclusion that Nintendo will never be "king" again, simply because they're a 1st party that acts like a third party (that cares only about its own games).” said long-time Nintendo writer Michael Cole in a recent special at PlanetGameCube.com.
Even some of our past editorial writers, such as Phillip Levin, have talked about Nintendo’s market dominance as long gone. “Nintendo can be number one again. But is Nintendo willing to do it? We’ll have to wait and see.” (Nintendo Analysis 4.)
There’s no way around it: what you’re about to read will surprise you. Some of you may want to print this article off and read it in a quiet, secluded place. Others will want to chew in short bites, taking large breaths and gulps of water during breaks. Undoubtedly, this article will challenge many of your preconceived notions about the Big N, and possibly change the way you see the video games systems war forever.
Though you wouldn’t know it from the pages of your normal Sony Fan magazine, or even the gullible, droning editorials of many Nintendo sites, Nintendo actually won the hardware race in 2004. In fact, Nintendo sold so many systems in 2004 that, in most cases, Nintendo outsold Sony and Microsoft’s systems combined.
This is no joke -- and that’s not the only battle Nintendo won. As I’ll reveal and analyze over the next three weeks, Nintendo has also made more money, sold more games and made better games than its competition’s video game sectors.
The numbers aren’t hard to dig up. Weekly, Media Create releases sales numbers in Japan for both hardware and software, and NPD Group in America reports hardware and software sales numbers by the month. Call it laziness or just plain dishonesty, but the mainstream press in America has successfully twisted the facts about the hardware sales race, and we as Nintendo gamers have bought into the myth that Nintendo is #3 behind Microsoft and Sony.
But no more. Call this editorial a call to arms. Call it a reawakening. Whatever you call it, know this: these are no Nintendo talking points, and this is not a fanboy “gotcha!” treatise looking at how the GameCube outsold the Xbox by ten systems in April 2004. And this is no console bash party trying to put down Sony and Microsoft. No: in my usual, freethinking style, I’ve simply done the research and have come out with results that, if you’ve been reading the mainstream press lately, will surprise you.
BATTLEFRONT JAPAN
Japan has traditionally been a tough nut to crack for American companies. In fact, looking at the 2004 hardware sales numbers, an impossible one: Microsoft sold an entire 37,982 Xbox systems in 2004. In contrast, during the last week of 2004 alone, the Game Boy Advance SP (even with the new DS out) sold 116,801 systems.
Thus, it will probably not come to your surprise that Xbox was the #7 video games system in Japan in 2004. The #1 system? The PlayStation 2, with 2,898,774 sales. Everything in between, save the PSP, is Nintendo territory. At a very close second was Game Boy Advance SP with 2,647,762 sales. In third was the Nintendo DS with 1,495,596 sales, and in fourth was the GameCube with 726,640 sales. In fifth was the Sony’s PSP with 482,252 sales, and in sixth was the Game Boy Advance with 200,678 sales. Behind the Xbox, and in eighth, was the PSOne with 14,163 sales.
Now, let’s take a step back and look at the big picture.
In the three-way race between Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, Nintendo is very far from third place in Japan. In fact, as you can see, it is in first place. Of the 8,503,847 systems sold between the three companies in 2004, Nintendo sold 60% of the video game systems in Japan. Yes, you read that right. Nintendo held a 60% market share in Japan in 2004, outselling Microsoft and Sony combined. (Source: Media Create.)
BATTLEFRONT AMERICA
America in 2004 was no different, save for the fact that the PSP had not yet released. Unfortunately, NPD is not as diligent in releasing hardware and software sales numbers, but there are still plenty of charts available. The last time the cumulative installed base numbers were released (in other words, the total number of systems sold to date) was in July 2004. Below, you can see the total number of systems sold in North America through July 2004.
As you can see once again, for lifetime sales through July 2004, Nintendo took the top spot. (Note, Nintendo sold 22,579,000 Game Boy Advance systems and 7,672,000 GameCube systems.)
However, it gets even more interesting when you go on with 2004. In September 2004, Nintendo sold 641,922 systems (GBA: 527,133, GCN: 114,789), while Sony sold 253,295 systems and Microsoft sold 265,067 systems. In September 2004 and on through the end of the year, Nintendo sold more systems than its two competitors combined. Also for the rest of the year, the Game Boy Advance would outsell the PlayStation 2, meaning Nintendo had the #1 individual system in America for these months as well as the largest market share.
October 2004 is largely the same story as September, so I’ll spare you the graph, but Nintendo sold 574,000 systems (GBA: 464,000 systems, GCN: 110,000), Sony sold 289,000 systems, and Microsoft sold 217,000 systems.
November 2004, however, is where the numbers really get interesting. Nintendo sold a whopping 1,929,000 systems – that’s nearly 2 million. The Game Boy Advance alone sold 1,100,000 units, despite the release of the Nintendo DS; the Nintendo DS sold 479,000, and the GameCube sold 350,000. Sony sold 694,000 systems (PS2), while Microsoft sold 708,000 systems (Xbox).
The numbers are absolutely mind boggling. Remember how Nintendo sold 60% of the systems in 2004 in Japan? There, Microsoft was a no show. In November 2004, Nintendo sold 58% of the systems. Granted, the Nintendo DS was out and the PSP wasn’t (unlike in Japan), but even in September 2004, Nintendo sold 55% of the systems. (Source: NPD.)
WHAT THESE NUMBERS MEAN
Well, they mean one thing for sure: Nintendo isn’t going third-party any time soon. Nintendo held a clear market dominance in 2004, both in hardware sales and, as we’ll analyze next week, profit. It is absolute folly to think that Nintendo is somehow suffocating at the hands of Sony and Microsoft.
Let’s be clear: the GameCube isn’t in 1st place – that award goes to the PlayStation 2, with the Game Boy Advance in 2nd. It is likely that the GameCube is behind the Xbox in worldwide sales, though the race is really too close to call. Going by the companies’ own numbers in financial statements (note that all the previous numbers I’ve given you thus far are from Media Create and NPD, not from the companies), the Xbox sold 13.7 million worldwide through the end of 2003, according to Microsoft, while the GameCube sold 13.94 million worldwide through the end of 2003, according to Nintendo. This is a very slim margin, but Microsoft most likely gained more ground during 2004, with the Xbox picking up increased sales in North America and Europe and the GameCube picking up increased sales in Japan.
But the Xbox and GameCube race aside, Nintendo has done remarkably well in the race for total market share.
AND WHAT THE PSP REALLY MEANS TO NINTENDO
However, the release of Sony’s PSP means that, in 2005, Sony could quite possibly takeover Nintendo in total marketshare, which will come as a surprise to you who thought Sony overtook Nintendo for good a decade ago. While much of the press has made the DS vs. PSP race to be a win or die situation for Nintendo (meaning, if the PSP wins, Nintendo could slip out of the video games hardware race), it’s quite clear that Nintendo is nowhere close to dying. Instead, the emergence of the PSP simply means that Nintendo could lose its market dominance.
Thus far, the Nintendo DS is doing quite well against the PSP in Japan (the below graph shows lifetime sales through April 10th.)
However, and here’s the key thing: thus far, Nintendo has maintained its lead by the Game Boy Advance SP nearly matching the PlayStation 2 in sales, and with the GameCube putting Nintendo over the top. Now, for Nintendo to maintain its lead, the Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance and GameCube must match the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. Even if the Nintendo DS beats the PlayStation Portable in sales, which is very likely, the PlayStation Portable will still add even more sales to Sony’s column, meaning more for Nintendo to make up. Thus far in Japan 2005, the scenario of Nintendo losing its 2004 market dominance is becoming reality.
And that’s the real reason why the release of the PSP is such a big thing for Nintendo, and why Nintendo has chosen to go the three pillar route.
WAKE-UP CALL
I’ve written this article, researched the facts and drawn up these graphs not out of some foolish fanboy spite for Microsoft and Sony (if it was, I wouldn’t have included the above section), but to show to you, the reader, the real present state of Nintendo. Whether it’s the multiplatform magazines or even Nintendo fansites, there has been a peculiar laziness among gaming journalists in researching the market race, leading gamers everywhere to make broad statements such as: “Nintendo will go the way of Sega,” “Nintendo will never be #1 again,” or “Nintendo is #3 behind Sony and Microsoft.”
In fact, even if Nintendo were to get killed in market share, Nintendo would still be alive and well, as long as it continued making profit. Market share is only one piece of the puzzle. But anyway you spin it, Nintendo is doing quite well for itself as a company.
It’s time to start the discussion. It’s time to challenge the mainstream press, which has been able to dominate the public’s perception of Nintendo for far too long. It’s time to challenge the conventional ways of thinking and begin intelligent gaming discourse.
Let’s start the discussion. 4/16/05"
Text und Bilder von http://nintendoinsider.com/site/EEEFylpkElFffmiBlr.php.
Let's start the discussion, indeed.
- Mac
"From the looks of Nintendo sites over the past few years, you would think Nintendo is about to pull another Sega.
“Frankly, I'm coming to the conclusion that Nintendo will never be "king" again, simply because they're a 1st party that acts like a third party (that cares only about its own games).” said long-time Nintendo writer Michael Cole in a recent special at PlanetGameCube.com.
Even some of our past editorial writers, such as Phillip Levin, have talked about Nintendo’s market dominance as long gone. “Nintendo can be number one again. But is Nintendo willing to do it? We’ll have to wait and see.” (Nintendo Analysis 4.)
There’s no way around it: what you’re about to read will surprise you. Some of you may want to print this article off and read it in a quiet, secluded place. Others will want to chew in short bites, taking large breaths and gulps of water during breaks. Undoubtedly, this article will challenge many of your preconceived notions about the Big N, and possibly change the way you see the video games systems war forever.
Though you wouldn’t know it from the pages of your normal Sony Fan magazine, or even the gullible, droning editorials of many Nintendo sites, Nintendo actually won the hardware race in 2004. In fact, Nintendo sold so many systems in 2004 that, in most cases, Nintendo outsold Sony and Microsoft’s systems combined.
This is no joke -- and that’s not the only battle Nintendo won. As I’ll reveal and analyze over the next three weeks, Nintendo has also made more money, sold more games and made better games than its competition’s video game sectors.
The numbers aren’t hard to dig up. Weekly, Media Create releases sales numbers in Japan for both hardware and software, and NPD Group in America reports hardware and software sales numbers by the month. Call it laziness or just plain dishonesty, but the mainstream press in America has successfully twisted the facts about the hardware sales race, and we as Nintendo gamers have bought into the myth that Nintendo is #3 behind Microsoft and Sony.
But no more. Call this editorial a call to arms. Call it a reawakening. Whatever you call it, know this: these are no Nintendo talking points, and this is not a fanboy “gotcha!” treatise looking at how the GameCube outsold the Xbox by ten systems in April 2004. And this is no console bash party trying to put down Sony and Microsoft. No: in my usual, freethinking style, I’ve simply done the research and have come out with results that, if you’ve been reading the mainstream press lately, will surprise you.
BATTLEFRONT JAPAN
Japan has traditionally been a tough nut to crack for American companies. In fact, looking at the 2004 hardware sales numbers, an impossible one: Microsoft sold an entire 37,982 Xbox systems in 2004. In contrast, during the last week of 2004 alone, the Game Boy Advance SP (even with the new DS out) sold 116,801 systems.
Thus, it will probably not come to your surprise that Xbox was the #7 video games system in Japan in 2004. The #1 system? The PlayStation 2, with 2,898,774 sales. Everything in between, save the PSP, is Nintendo territory. At a very close second was Game Boy Advance SP with 2,647,762 sales. In third was the Nintendo DS with 1,495,596 sales, and in fourth was the GameCube with 726,640 sales. In fifth was the Sony’s PSP with 482,252 sales, and in sixth was the Game Boy Advance with 200,678 sales. Behind the Xbox, and in eighth, was the PSOne with 14,163 sales.
Now, let’s take a step back and look at the big picture.
In the three-way race between Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, Nintendo is very far from third place in Japan. In fact, as you can see, it is in first place. Of the 8,503,847 systems sold between the three companies in 2004, Nintendo sold 60% of the video game systems in Japan. Yes, you read that right. Nintendo held a 60% market share in Japan in 2004, outselling Microsoft and Sony combined. (Source: Media Create.)
BATTLEFRONT AMERICA
America in 2004 was no different, save for the fact that the PSP had not yet released. Unfortunately, NPD is not as diligent in releasing hardware and software sales numbers, but there are still plenty of charts available. The last time the cumulative installed base numbers were released (in other words, the total number of systems sold to date) was in July 2004. Below, you can see the total number of systems sold in North America through July 2004.
As you can see once again, for lifetime sales through July 2004, Nintendo took the top spot. (Note, Nintendo sold 22,579,000 Game Boy Advance systems and 7,672,000 GameCube systems.)
However, it gets even more interesting when you go on with 2004. In September 2004, Nintendo sold 641,922 systems (GBA: 527,133, GCN: 114,789), while Sony sold 253,295 systems and Microsoft sold 265,067 systems. In September 2004 and on through the end of the year, Nintendo sold more systems than its two competitors combined. Also for the rest of the year, the Game Boy Advance would outsell the PlayStation 2, meaning Nintendo had the #1 individual system in America for these months as well as the largest market share.
October 2004 is largely the same story as September, so I’ll spare you the graph, but Nintendo sold 574,000 systems (GBA: 464,000 systems, GCN: 110,000), Sony sold 289,000 systems, and Microsoft sold 217,000 systems.
November 2004, however, is where the numbers really get interesting. Nintendo sold a whopping 1,929,000 systems – that’s nearly 2 million. The Game Boy Advance alone sold 1,100,000 units, despite the release of the Nintendo DS; the Nintendo DS sold 479,000, and the GameCube sold 350,000. Sony sold 694,000 systems (PS2), while Microsoft sold 708,000 systems (Xbox).
The numbers are absolutely mind boggling. Remember how Nintendo sold 60% of the systems in 2004 in Japan? There, Microsoft was a no show. In November 2004, Nintendo sold 58% of the systems. Granted, the Nintendo DS was out and the PSP wasn’t (unlike in Japan), but even in September 2004, Nintendo sold 55% of the systems. (Source: NPD.)
WHAT THESE NUMBERS MEAN
Well, they mean one thing for sure: Nintendo isn’t going third-party any time soon. Nintendo held a clear market dominance in 2004, both in hardware sales and, as we’ll analyze next week, profit. It is absolute folly to think that Nintendo is somehow suffocating at the hands of Sony and Microsoft.
Let’s be clear: the GameCube isn’t in 1st place – that award goes to the PlayStation 2, with the Game Boy Advance in 2nd. It is likely that the GameCube is behind the Xbox in worldwide sales, though the race is really too close to call. Going by the companies’ own numbers in financial statements (note that all the previous numbers I’ve given you thus far are from Media Create and NPD, not from the companies), the Xbox sold 13.7 million worldwide through the end of 2003, according to Microsoft, while the GameCube sold 13.94 million worldwide through the end of 2003, according to Nintendo. This is a very slim margin, but Microsoft most likely gained more ground during 2004, with the Xbox picking up increased sales in North America and Europe and the GameCube picking up increased sales in Japan.
But the Xbox and GameCube race aside, Nintendo has done remarkably well in the race for total market share.
AND WHAT THE PSP REALLY MEANS TO NINTENDO
However, the release of Sony’s PSP means that, in 2005, Sony could quite possibly takeover Nintendo in total marketshare, which will come as a surprise to you who thought Sony overtook Nintendo for good a decade ago. While much of the press has made the DS vs. PSP race to be a win or die situation for Nintendo (meaning, if the PSP wins, Nintendo could slip out of the video games hardware race), it’s quite clear that Nintendo is nowhere close to dying. Instead, the emergence of the PSP simply means that Nintendo could lose its market dominance.
Thus far, the Nintendo DS is doing quite well against the PSP in Japan (the below graph shows lifetime sales through April 10th.)
However, and here’s the key thing: thus far, Nintendo has maintained its lead by the Game Boy Advance SP nearly matching the PlayStation 2 in sales, and with the GameCube putting Nintendo over the top. Now, for Nintendo to maintain its lead, the Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance and GameCube must match the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. Even if the Nintendo DS beats the PlayStation Portable in sales, which is very likely, the PlayStation Portable will still add even more sales to Sony’s column, meaning more for Nintendo to make up. Thus far in Japan 2005, the scenario of Nintendo losing its 2004 market dominance is becoming reality.
And that’s the real reason why the release of the PSP is such a big thing for Nintendo, and why Nintendo has chosen to go the three pillar route.
WAKE-UP CALL
I’ve written this article, researched the facts and drawn up these graphs not out of some foolish fanboy spite for Microsoft and Sony (if it was, I wouldn’t have included the above section), but to show to you, the reader, the real present state of Nintendo. Whether it’s the multiplatform magazines or even Nintendo fansites, there has been a peculiar laziness among gaming journalists in researching the market race, leading gamers everywhere to make broad statements such as: “Nintendo will go the way of Sega,” “Nintendo will never be #1 again,” or “Nintendo is #3 behind Sony and Microsoft.”
In fact, even if Nintendo were to get killed in market share, Nintendo would still be alive and well, as long as it continued making profit. Market share is only one piece of the puzzle. But anyway you spin it, Nintendo is doing quite well for itself as a company.
It’s time to start the discussion. It’s time to challenge the mainstream press, which has been able to dominate the public’s perception of Nintendo for far too long. It’s time to challenge the conventional ways of thinking and begin intelligent gaming discourse.
Let’s start the discussion. 4/16/05"
Text und Bilder von http://nintendoinsider.com/site/EEEFylpkElFffmiBlr.php.
Let's start the discussion, indeed.
- Mac