Nintendo Co’s president predicts a “rocket start” to US sales of the 3DS handheld video-game player, boosted by the device’s high-definition graphics and titles that showcase its features.
“There will be not only our own software, but also third-party titles, which have the photo-realism that will satisfy Western gamers,” Satoru Iwata said in a recent interview. “We expect the 3DS to get off to a rocket start, like the Wii’s debut.”
The 3DS will sell for US$250 and make its US debut on March 27, Kyoto, Japan-based Nintendo said on Wednesday in a statement. Sales in Europe were scheduled to begin on March 25, said Eileen Tanner, a spokeswoman. Japanese sales would begin on Feb. 26.
Photo: Bloomberg
Nintendo, the market leader in consoles with the Wii and in portable players since the Gameboy in 1989, sold its first touch-screen DS in 2004. Nintendo says the 3DS provides glasses-free, 3D video, and that it enlisted developers including Electronic Arts Inc to make titles.
“The 3DS launch should be a major catalyst for the game industry,” Tony Wible, an analyst with Janney Montgomery Scott LLC in Philadelphia, said this week in a research note. “Polls have shown more pent-up demand for the product than any other consumer electronics device in the market.”
Nintendo’s dominance in portable gaming will be tested by Sony Corp’s new PSP, as well as by Apple Inc’s iPhone and smartphones using Google Inc’s Android software, which have attracted gamers with third-party applications. Consumers have also flocked to online sites such as Facebook Inc to play casual games, a category Nintendo popularized with its handhelds and the Wii console, and with games such as Mario Brothers.
Nintendo said in September it planned to ship 4 million 3DS units in its first month to prevent shortages.
To date, Nintendo has sold 47.4 million DS players in the US, according to NPD. Sales have slumped since May last year, NPD data show.
Sony, based in Tokyo, will introduce a new version of its competing PlayStation Portable handheld next Thursday and follow that with a game-playing smartphone from Sony Ericsson, two people with knowledge of the plans said on Wednesday. They asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public.
The 3DS uses three cameras and a motion sensor to create the 3D effect, which is adjustable by the user. More than 30 games will be available by early June, many of them in 3D, Nintendo said.
Nintendo has been predicting its lowest annual profit in six years for the period ending in March, following sales declines for the DS and the Wii.
Nintendo sold 75.9 million Wiis through September, according to company figures.
The 3DS is likely to lift Nintendo’s operating profit by ￥150 billion (US$1.8 billion) or more a year, if the player can capture as many casual users as its predecessor and also appeal to core gamers, Yuki Nakayasu, an analyst at UBS Securities in Japan, said this week in a research note. Nakayasu, who recommends buying Nintendo, estimates profit of ￥190 billion this year.
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