Since its release into the wild in 2006, the DS Lite has retained its launch price point in all regions. On the face of it, there's been little reason for Nintendo to tweak the cost of owning the world's greatest handheld. Sales have been consistently sky-high, with demand outstripping supply to an almost embarrassing degree in the early days. But with the holiday season already on the horizon, and the Lite now widely available in stores, should Nintendo consider slashing the price of its handheld phenomenon before the end of this year?
Click onwards to see two bloggers slug it out over this issue, possibly until one meets a bloody, horrible demise, and then cast your vote!
Nintendo has to be a short step away from building an evil fortress in a volcano, because now they have super villain money. Like, the kind of money Dr. Doom could use to take over the entire world. Good thing Nintendo isn't evil and just wants us to play games.
During Q1 of this year, Nintendo earned nearly 1 billion dollars (107.2 billion yen). We can only imagine how many Deathstars that could build. Hardware sales showed the DS at 6.94 million units (which was down from 6.98 million year-over-year), bringing lifetime DS sales to 77.54 million units. As for DS software, sales were up, increasing by 2.33 million units to 36.59 million. With this slight dip in DS hardware sales, some analysts are showing concern.
Hiroshi Kamide, an analyst at KBC Securities Japan, commented to the AFP in Tokyo that "for the first time, we've actually seen DS hardware sales fall year-on-year. The DS has hit a bit of a high-water mark." If the opinions of gaming bloggers count for anything, we're going to go on the record and state that we aren't worried in the least. With a Grand Theft Auto game coming to the DS, along with the DS just being awesome overall, we think the handheld still has a fighting chance.
Michael Pachter is of the mind that Nintendo made a whole ton of money during the second quarter. Nintendo is supposed to release figures on the 30th, but that hasn't stopped Pachter and Wedbush Morgan from coming up with some figures of their own. Pachter says the company will report earnings of ¥421 billion ($3.91 billion) and raise their yearly estimate to ¥1,907 billion ($17.7 billion).
"Nintendo's recent financial performance has been spectacular and we expect this to continue in FY:09," Pachter commented, going on further to state that "Nintendo's Wii and DS appear to be selling even better in FY:09 than in FY:08, and we believe the momentum will last through the end of FY:09." This is likely due to some smart advertising campaigns, which had female celebs showing off how awesome the handheld is. Plus, you know, the handheld has tons of amazing games.
June was the month of Sony, Sony, Sony ... and DS. With the PlayStation brand achieving positive results across the board (MGS4 undoubtedly being the reason for doubling May's PS3 figures), Microsoft picked up a small increase in sales for the Xbox 360. The DS performed spectacularly as always, and gained a massive jump in sales thanks to Guitar Hero: On Tour.
The only console on a downslide for the month was the Wii, yet it still trounced all non-Nintendo competition. It's like those guys at school who barely even tried and still got top marks, while everyone else studied their butts off to scrape by. Ah, the mysteries of life.
DS: 783K 368.2K (+ 88.7%)
Wii: 666.7K 47.5K (- 6.6%)
PS3: 405.5K 218.4K (+ 116.7%)
PSP: 337.4K 144.7K (+ 75%)
X360: 219.8K 31.8K (+ 16.9%)
PS2: 188.8K 64.4K (+ 51.7%)
Software sales are waiting for you after the break! YA RLY!
Nintendo is constantly being praised for its marketing of the DS (and Wii) to non-gaming demographics, yet not all of the techniques used by the company are breathtakingly modern or anything. Case in point: these DS-themed parties, which NBC reckons are modeled on Tupperware parties, a decades old concept that first appeared just after the Second World War.
The idea is straightforward enough: gather a selection of "hot, hip alpha females," sling them a free DS (!) and a crate of Lambrini, and let them spend their Friday evening playing Mario Kart DS, Brain Training, and Nintendogs with their tipsy friends. Nintendo hopes that the women involved will go away and chat non-stop to their other alpha friends about the wonders of the DS. It appears to be working, as well. "What's better than hanging out with my girl friends to drink wine and play games?" gushes one participant.
Looks like Activision struck gold yet again with its Guitar Hero franchise, as word hits that the DS title Guitar Hero: On Tour has sold more than 300,000 units in its first week in North America. It set all kind of company precedents, telling us that it probably won't be the only Guitar Hero game to release on the DS.
So, what about those precedents? Well, for one, it's the single most successful game launch on the DS for the company. Not only that, but Guitar Hero: On Tour is also "one of Activision's top five best-selling launches of any title on any platform in the company's history." Now that's impressive.
Despite the success, don't bet on more DS Lite models being released anytime soon. "There are now seven different DS colours available, so we have no plans to release more colours at this time," said a Nintendo spokesperson. The new download centers, however, will be rolling out in a "steady and consistent manner," so expect new demos on a regular basis.
Oh, Yazz. Not only did your wise words get us through tough times during our early teenage years, but they're also oddly relevant when it comes to the current value of Nintendo stock. If you've been keeping up, Nintendo shares haven't looked that hotrecently, but now it appears things are improving for the Kyoto firm.
The Daily Telegraph reports that Nintendo stock has hit a five-month high, and that this rise is mainly thanks to U.S. consumers spending their hard-earned on lots of lovely Nintendo produce. If you're one such person, go you!
Much like a war that rages on for centuries, the struggle between Tomonobu Itagaki and his almost-former (July 1) employer, Tecmo, continues. The latest volley in this exchange between parties shows Tecmo bashing the lawsuit, claiming the details are "inaccurate."
Within the statement, Tecmo is quick to point out that all of Team Ninja's employees aren't following their leader and quitting. Tecmo also says that all 300 employees aren't filing lawsuits against the company.
For the rest from Tecmo's official statement, we suggest you head past the post break.
In one of the oddest gaming tie-ins we've heard of since the glorious days of Yo! Noid, Koei and Coca-Cola have announced a cross-promotion between Kunitori Zunou Battle Nobunaga no Yabou (Domination Battle of the Brains: Nobunaga's Ambition) and ... some kind of Coca-Cola-branded green tea.
We've not the foggiest how the two products are related (we find it difficult to imagine Sengoku period warlords indulging in some green tea-sipping action), but the deal did give us a chance to sample the game through the promotional site that's been set up (scroll down and click on the white box to get things rolling). It looks and plays very nicely, so give it a go!
Famitsu also mentions that 100 Japan-based players who try the demo will randomly be chosen to win a six-pack of Coca-Cola's green tea. Alas, it's not the most import-friendly of games, so even if we did reside in Japan, it looks like we'd be purchasing our green tea supplies like everyone else who doesn't have the knack for turn-based strategy.
[Update: Corrected minor details regarding brand of green tea and prize.]
Man, things are crazy at Tecmo. Itagaki leaves (and sues), then Tecmo responds (and stocks plummet), then just abouteveryone at Tecmo sues their employer. Now, Tecmo has dropped a suppression order on Tomonobu, which would prohibit him from making any other public statements about what's going down.
The thing was filed on June 10th and seeks to prohibit Itagaki from:
Talking about, destroying or leaking any Tecmo secrets concerning software, development or marketing
Making false or misleading statements regarding Tecmo's business practices or other games
Saying anything to defame Tecmo
Making public statements about Tecmo in any way, as well as accepting media invitations to discuss Tecmo while still employed (July 1st)
"Safe and steady" was the theme of May's NPD figures, with no console either enjoying a majestic surge or suffering a crushing collapse -- the DS simply registered a decent if unspectacular 9% rise in hardware sales. As it turns out, that bump was timely, because it meant the console reached 20 million units sold in North America, a landmark that has now been passed in allmajorregions.
Of course, we could snicker at how the PSP only clinched 29% of the handheld market, and so we will.
Over the last year, UK mom ("mum" is the word over there, we believe) Gaye Herford has been fighting to change the way games are tested before they are sent to retail. Her 10-year-old son, while playing Rayman Raving Rabbids, went into an epileptic fit. She had no idea that games could send players intophoto sensitive epileptic (PSE) seizures. We guess she hasn't seen the intro splash screen Nintendo has had around since the Pokémon incident.
But, after a long year, she has won her battle. Ubisoft has volunteered to do the testing itself and will try to ensure such a thing does not happen again. Herford also managed to secure a debate in Parliament, for a future date that is yet to be determined. "As a parent myself, I was shocked that a single game could possibly trigger a sudden first-time seizure, with its life-long implications," says Weston-super-Mare MP John Penrose, who helped Herford in her battle. "Right now, most electronic game publishers simply issue written warnings about PSE on or inside their products - and that's on a voluntary basis. But that's no good for the thousands of people with dormant PSE because they don't know the warnings - if they even read them - apply to them."
At the time of the article, no comment was made by Nintendo. Ubisoft did say, though, that testing of Rayman: Raving Rabbids on the DS "showed that no images posed a high risk for photosensitivity epilepsy. However, we made a corporate decision to pre-screen and pre-test all Ubisoft in-house developed games regardless of platform, prior to publication."
We have to tell you, whenever we see that king of the burgers, we immediately think about training pocket monsters. Or greasy food. We can't really recall at the moment.
But, someone at Nintendo and Burger King think the two are a hot ticket, as it's revealed that Burger King will be offering Pokémon-based prizes in their kid's meals. We can't say we're surprised, given Nintendo's recent enthusiasm with fast food outlets. Included in each kid's meal will be a Pokémon Trading Card Game card and accessory. There will be 12 different Pokémon TCG cards and accessories available through this promotion.
The promotion will start on July 7th and runs until August 3rd domestically, and throughout the late summer and fall internationally. The press release also lists a site here, but it's currently down.
For all of you in Taiwan who have relied on non-official distribution to satisfy your need for Nintendo, know that a new third-party distributor has made a deal with Nintendo to supply the region with video games from the Kyoto-based company. FarEasTone (FET) will be teaming up with Nintendo to provide the region with DS units and hopefully find as receptive a market as the handheld has in all other regions of the world it's available for sale.
Two specific models of DS Lite were mentioned, in the crimson black (or "senior") unit and a "New Super Mario DS Lite console." The handheld will be available from July 3rd on.
Michael Pachter is of the mind that Nintendo made a whole ton of money during the second quarter. Nintendo is supposed to release figures on the 30th, but that hasn't stopped Pachter and Wedbush Morgan from coming up with some figures of their own. Pachter says the company will report earnings of ¥421 billion ($3.91 billion) and raise their yearly estimate to ¥1,907 billion ($17.7 billion).
368.2K (+ 88.7%)
47.5K (- 6.6%)
Looks like Activision struck gold yet again with its Guitar Hero franchise, as word hits that the DS title 
Following word that the UK would be receiving 
Man, things are crazy at Tecmo. Itagaki 
Over the last year, UK mom ("mum" is the word over there, we believe) 
We have to tell you, whenever we see that king of the burgers, we immediately think about training pocket monsters. Or greasy food. We can't really recall at the moment.
For all of you in Taiwan who have relied on non-official distribution to satisfy your need for Nintendo, know that a new third-party distributor has made a deal with Nintendo to supply the region with video games from the Kyoto-based company. FarEasTone (FET) will be teaming up with Nintendo to provide the region with DS units and hopefully find as 
