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#1 2009-10-29 6:26 pm
- Bat
- Flawless Cowboy
- Royal Wombat
- From: Björk, Björk
- Registered: 2001-05-14
- Posts: 28541
Nintendo profits plummet
I sure didn't see this coming.
Wii sales down 43% from 2008
The video game console wars are booming right now thanks to price cuts across the board on the three major game consoles. The introduction of the much cheaper PS3 slim was a catalyst for the price cuts in the industry.
With the PS3 Slim selling for $299, Microsoft quickly dropped the price of its Xbox 360 Elite to the same $299 price point. To make its console more attractive Nintendo also announced a price cut. The price cut brought the Wii to a price of $199. At that price, the console still fell behind the new PS3 as gamers finally started to buy the console in significant numbers.
PC World reports that Nintendo has been forced to cut its full-year sales forecasts due to slowing sales of the Wii console. Nintendo reportedly sold 5.75 million Wii's between the April and September period. That number represents a 43% decline in sales compared to the same period in 2008. Nintendo was forced to cut sales forecasts for the period running April 2009 to March 2010 to 20 million consoles from its original prediction of 26 million.
Makes sense, but it's been a sales juggernaut for so long...
If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion - George Bernard Shaw
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#2 2009-10-29 11:23 pm
- NightCougar_37
- For Gallia!!
- From: The back of my Twilight Drake
- Registered: 2001-07-22
- Posts: 9140
Re: Nintendo profits plummet
I still can't find a reason to buy a Wii 
.
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#4 2009-11-10 7:58 pm
Re: Nintendo profits plummet
Wii is for a different philosophy of gaming. I personally love mine. I'll love it even more when Metroid goes PVP.
My biggest complaint for all three major platforms is how much a game costs. In order to pay a reasonable price, I have to wait for it to appear at used prices, and if the game is popular, that's still not much of a savings (Twilight Princess sells for $45 new, and is still around $40 used).
However, I'm sure that I'll feel the same way about my PS3 when I can finally no longer ignore it: NetFlix functionality + GT 5 + Kingdom Hearts Keyblade Wars + I need a good upscaling DVD player/Blu-Ray combo eventually anyways.
There's what you love to do, and then there's what you get paid to do. Those two things are often different.
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#5 2009-11-10 9:54 pm
- NightCougar_37
- For Gallia!!
- From: The back of my Twilight Drake
- Registered: 2001-07-22
- Posts: 9140
Re: Nintendo profits plummet
Yeah I got my PS3 netflix disc on order. Funny how 360 its a download but PS3 you have to order a disc from Netflix to play it. Guessing Sony doesn't want to split the bill on the bandwith and storage for it due to PSN being free while M$ is already charging ppl so they wouldn't care.
But yeah, game prices just insane. PSP titles are introing at $40 now. Just no way i'm going to pay that. Last titles I got new for it I only paid around $10 for on Amazon sale and they were older titles.
Makes me want to reconsider getting Gamefly back running again.
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#6 2009-11-10 10:29 pm
Re: Nintendo profits plummet
It was the tradeof in the consol wars. While Wii doesn't have any sort of video player, Microsoft had the good sense to ship with NetFlix built in. Sony Entertainment thought they could compete with an independant on-demand market, but then added the NetFlix disc as an afterthought. There's been discussion of an upgrade to the PS3's OS to incorporate NetFlix functionality, but that hasn't happened as of yet. There might be some sort of legal stipulation preventing them from doing so, as an agreement with their other on-demand vendor.
I'll feel free here to admit that Xbox 360's game library is more tempting than the PS3, but only having the money to buy one, only one console with "must buy" games for me, and the fact that PS3 over HDMI features Bravia sync (I have a Sony HDTV as well) makes it so that PS3 is the winner for me. NetFlix is just so much icing.
Microsoft got a sweet exclusive with NetFlix, BTW. They get more streaming HD content than even premium NetFlix members.
There's what you love to do, and then there's what you get paid to do. Those two things are often different.
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#7 2009-11-11 7:25 am
- mrreet2001
- Member
- From: NW Ohio
- Registered: 2005-05-25
- Posts: 4321
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Re: Nintendo profits plummet
IMHO: The wii doesn't offer enough good games and the motion controller got gimmicky real quick.
My Wii broke and I told my wife if she gets it fixed she can have it because I will have more fun dropping it from a 2nd story window than actually using it. The whole situation is really sad. I used to be a huge Nintendo fanboy. My very first game system was a SNES. I even got the Wii release day. I was #1 in line. Camped out and everything. Nintendo started losing it with the Gamecube, and just blew it with the Wii. The release games were garbage (excluding Zelda but I don't like zelda). It took for ever to get Mario and mario cart and neither were that good. Downloading the old games is cool but they are way to expensive. Oh and the fact that it can't play dvds is ludicrous to me. I wish they would drop the home systems and just focus on the portables.
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#8 2009-11-11 3:42 pm
- NightCougar_37
- For Gallia!!
- From: The back of my Twilight Drake
- Registered: 2001-07-22
- Posts: 9140
Re: Nintendo profits plummet
Netflix streaming still isn't that great. They got a shot in the arm with getting Stars streaming but overall, the number of titles are still poor outside of the TV show section. Likely is the fault of the studios restricting the content.
Course it will still be helpful to get it on the PS3. The 360 version will not operate unless you are Gold. May only be $50 a year but its still $$$.
Now if the PS3 only had better graphics. It just can't push the high rez without jaggies. Now I see why so many of its titles only go up to 720p.
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#9 2009-11-11 7:24 pm
Re: Nintendo profits plummet
I'm hoping Sony's patented Theater Sync resolves some of the graphics complaints I've heard. I know that after my old beloved 5-disc changing DVD player kicked the bucket (it still exists now as a 5.1 surround receiver), I hooked up my old PS2 slim and it was a pleasant surprise to see even better quality that rivals some upconverting players. If PS3 is even a slight improvement over that, I'll be happy.
There's what you love to do, and then there's what you get paid to do. Those two things are often different.
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#10 2009-11-13 9:25 pm
- MacZiMiZer
- Jack of All, King of None
- From: US of A
- Registered: 2001-10-25
- Posts: 1551
Re: Nintendo profits plummet
is the xbox netflix full HD?
8/7/04 Wiz, never forgotten
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#11 2009-11-14 6:36 am
- NightCougar_37
- For Gallia!!
- From: The back of my Twilight Drake
- Registered: 2001-07-22
- Posts: 9140
Re: Nintendo profits plummet
There is a lot of little video options in the PS3 for upscaling and all that. Its more than the 360. I haven't even checked them all. Most of them were things I wouldn't ever use or need. It was like Sony tossed in the kitchen sink to try and make the original $600 price viable.
Think some of Netflix's instant streams are in HD now but I remember a lot of the early ones weren't and video quality was just under DVD level.
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#12 2009-11-15 1:41 pm
- jerwin
- Sophist
- From: The Garden of Pure Ideology
- Registered: 2003-01-01
- Posts: 7022
Re: Nintendo profits plummet
MacZiMiZer wrote:
is the xbox netflix full HD?
As full as can be stuffed into a 6Mb/s stream.
Some subjects actually enjoy pain, and withhold information they might otherwise have divulged in order to be punished.
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