DS blows PSP out of the water in Japan [Finally]

[Great Rumbler]

No. Title Publisher
1 NEW World Soccer Winning Eleven 8 Liveware Evolution PS2 - 238,293 Konami
2 NEW Wild Arms: The 4th Detonator PS2 - 131,380 SCE
3 NEW Touch! Kirby DS - 75,365 Nintendo
4 NEW Shining Force Neo PS2 - 62,775 Sega
5 NEW BLEACH ~Heat The Soul~ PSP - 36,678 SCE
6 NEW Egg Monster Hero DS - 31,219 Square Enix
7 V Shin Sangoku Musou 4 PS2 - 25,832 (824,804) Koei
8 V Phantom Kingdom PS2 - 17,431 (90,325) Nippon Ichi Software
9 V Harvest Moon: Corobockle Station DS - 16,925 (45,237) Marvelous Interactive
10 V Donkey Konga 3 GameCube - 15,681 (53,666) Nintendo

No. Console Week Sales Last Week Sales Year Sales
1 Nintendo DS 55,825 22,446 485,370
2 PlayStation Portable 43,043 43,644 623,163
3 PlayStation 2 40,398 40,270 642,714
4 Game Boy Advance SP 14,904 11,013 212,760
5 GameCube 4,568 3,357 74,584
6 Game Boy Advance 653 477 6,906
7 Xbox 406 345 5,012

Apparently the Japanese like handhelds that come in multiple colors.

Cube-Europe

[Geno]

Whoo!

[A Black Falcon]

Because Kirby DS came out, I guess...

[Great Rumbler]

That can't be the only reason though.

[A Black Falcon]

It'd help though, for sure.

[Weltall]

It will only be temporary, that's the problem. Nintendo can spike their way to the top of the charts from time to time, but they lack the consistency to stay there.

[EdenMaster]

Pessimist!

(unfortunately, also a realist)

[A Black Falcon]

Maybe... but the DS can compete. :) It's not a completely hopeless cause.

[Weltall]

Maybe not, but even though Nintendo totally dominated the handheld market for the last twenty years, it's already obvious that they're already rapidly giving ground and before long, Miyamoto and Iwara will be telling us that they aren't trying to compete with the PSP for some obscure reason. It's early, but the handwriting's on the wall, and it's following the same pattern Nintendo's console domain traveled.

[Geno]

It's too early to determine, but it's certainly advantageous for Nintendo to gain an early headstart. How advantageous, I'm not sure, but the tide could turn at any time.

[Weltall]

Again, I have my doubts. DS had a terribly slow start, the game library is small and shallow, and the PSP pretty much has already matched it in two weeks. Until developers really start to do something with the touch-screen concept, DS is going to lag behind, and Sony is never in the habit of allowing anyone to play catch-up. If the DS is going to win this competition, they need to attack now while they're still on mostly-even ground. Once the PSP starts boasting sales that are double and triple what DS has, it's too late.

[EdenMaster]

It's all about the brand-name that's popular. Before, it was Nintendo, now it's Sony. The PSP is a beautiful machine but not without it's flaws. First and foremost is it's ridiculous $300 price tag, and that's without a game. Second, battery life is pathetically low (at least compared to the DS). There's also that well-publicized square button thing. That having been said, it's still the popular system, and lots of casual and hardcore gamers will jump on it because it's the in-thing.

Nintendo may have dominated the the handheld market since there WAS a handheld market, but then they haven't had much in the way of serious competion (there have been some, but they're all dead now), and they also never had a competing handheld from the current <i>console</i> leader, because up until two gens ago, that was them.

My love for Nintendo is strong and I hope the DS does well...but the big N has a big mountain ahead of them to climb.

[N_A]

The DS is screwed, Nintendo should have released the GBA 2 first damn it...

Online gaming on the DS still seems so far away. And I still haven't bought a single game for my DS... they all seem so shallow...

[OB1]

That's not exactly "blowing it out of the water", since in many weeks PSP sales actually doubled DS and GBA combined sales. But it's good news, and I'm sure it's largely because of Kirby DS which everyone is calling the "first DS killer app".

[A Black Falcon]

Again, I have my doubts. DS had a terribly slow start, the game library is small and shallow, and the PSP pretty much has already matched it in two weeks. Until developers really start to do something with the touch-screen concept, DS is going to lag behind, and Sony is never in the habit of allowing anyone to play catch-up. If the DS is going to win this competition, they need to attack now while they're still on mostly-even ground. Once the PSP starts boasting sales that are double and triple what DS has, it's too late.

The DS is not off to a slow start. Worldwide, it has exceeded Nintendo's expectations... yes, the software isn't the greatest, but it seems to be selling based on concept more than current game quality. Which is interesting. But anyway, the DS isn't doing badly at all... quite the opposite...

Yes, the PSP is also doing well, but it's not like the DS is getting blown away. It's got a sizable overall units-sold lead and, even if the PSP does slowly wear it down, obviously it's not doing that every week... both consoles have advantages and disadvantages and the sales reflect that.

[Great Rumbler]

The DS has been selling quite well worldwide. Despite the fact that it's had rather slow '05 sales in Japan, I believe it sold nearly a million [or close to it] in Japan in '04. That's hardly slow. Also, it sold over 500k unit in its first week in Europe. I don't know about American, but it's probably around 1.5-2 million units. That's not slow at all. Also, that's without a lot of really big games. Maybe that will hurt them in the long run, but it doesn't seem to have hurt them much yet.

[A Black Falcon]

As I said, it seems to be selling on concept... because yes, the games lineup isn't fantastic yet.

What we really need is more third-party support... Nintendo can only do so much alone.

[OB1]

In Japan they have Another Code and Kirby Touched. Two awesome games.

[Weltall]

I don't really think it's so much the brand-name anymore. I think seriously that this time, the DS is going to play second-fiddle merely because right now, it has maybe one or two games that justify the $150 price tag for the machine. Granted, the PSP doesn't really have a killer-app at the moment either, but the DS has had far longer to get one. When the DS came out in November, my store had the hardest time keeping them in stock, but I think a big reason the DS has the numbers it does here is because they released the machine during the shopping season, and the PSP in March, not a big shopping season. However, since Christmas, our DSs sit untouched and unloved. My store has not sold a single machine in close to eight weeks. New DS games come out about once a month, and rarely is there anything worthwhile. The sales trend we're seeing for the DS now, and not the pre-Christmas rush (which is when a large majority of the DS's total sales were made) is what we can come to expect if Nintendo continues to simply not care how well their machines sell, and that's an attitude they've shown for years now. It makes me wonder why they even bother sometimes.

[Great Rumbler]

In Japan they have Another Code and Kirby Touched.

I know! So when are those games gonna get released over here?! It had better be soon or so help me Dog I'll make them pay for their crimes!

[Private Hudson]

.. what crimes?

[Great Rumbler]

Not releasing all the cool games over here. I say hang them by thier toes until they see the error of their ways!

[OB1]

Kirby is coming out here in June, and Another Code... well who knows.

[N_A]

Third party support has always been slim for Nintendo. I think its unfortunately going to get worst for the handheld system now that the monopoly is broken. 3rd parties are still pretty afraid of competing with Nintendo on their own platform. Hell, I can still finger count the 3rd party games I own all together since the NES days.

[A Black Falcon]

Nintendo knows third party support will be low when it makes non-standard consoles like the DS, but they think that it's the right thing to do so they don't care...

And Weltall, the DS isn't in second yet... it still has a big lead. Remember that.

[Weltall]

That lead will not be sustained. You and I both know it. As I said, my store's gone two months without selling a single DS. Maybe my store is an anomaly, certainly in that particular extreme, but consider this: Even our ancient, tiny PSX software selection draws more sales, numerically and profit-wise, than DS games do.

The DS has a lead now, yes. But it won't be more than maybe two months before that lead evaporates. If even that long. Sony actually seems to have an interest in making money from their handheld machine. Nintendo seems to be continuing their devil-may-care attitude that relegated the N64 and GameCube to second-class status. I know it won't be long before we're told something to this effect:

"Sony's PSP is a do-it-all machine, a jack of all trades. It does not make games the main priority. The DS only plays games, it is a real videogame machine whereas the PSP is not, and therefore, we are not directly competing with Sony."

Just you wait.

[A Black Falcon]

That lead will not be sustained. You and I both know it. As I said, my store's gone two months without selling a single DS. Maybe my store is an anomaly, certainly in that particular extreme, but consider this: Even our ancient, tiny PSX software selection draws more sales, numerically and profit-wise, than DS games do.

The DS has a lead now, yes. But it won't be more than maybe two months before that lead evaporates. If even that long. Sony actually seems to have an interest in making money from their handheld machine. Nintendo seems to be continuing their devil-may-care attitude that relegated the N64 and GameCube to second-class status. I know it won't be long before we're told something to this effect:

I doubt that they will have enough PSPs in the retail channel in the next few months to make up the gap... only 500,000 at launch, and they didn't sell anywhere near all of them (specialty stores sold well, big stores sold a lot fewer units)? Compared to several million DS'es? Yeah, the DS will keep its lead for some time.

Especially worldwide, considering how the DS has launched in Europe -- and sold great -- while the PSP isn't out and probably won't be until fall.

[Weltall]

Spikes, though. DS won't sustain those numbers like the PSP will. It doesn't matter that the DS has a lead now.

[A Black Falcon]

The point is the PSP won't be in first place anytime soon.

[N_A]

The problem is mainly Nintendo's strategy rather than the machine itself. I think the machine is great, but the thing is, if they trickle games like molasses, and won't be online until later this year, the timing is totally off, and allows the PSP too much catch up time. Once they make a foothold, its a bad thing enough. That being said, Nintendo's strategy seems to be one of staking its bets more on luck rather than making the sure kill - which for a company that claims to follow the Art of War, does not seem to be very adherent, at least from what we can observe.

Sure, Nintendo is still the most profitable gaming company, but every time it looses market share, the waters get a little more dangerous.

[A Black Falcon]

Well... Christmas is the big game time. If Nintendo has online out by then, it won't matter as much as if it misses the holidays... so much of the sales, and attention, comes in that period that not having online until then won't hurt them much. Of course, that's also when the biggest test of DS vs PSP will happen... it'll be interesting to see what happens then.

I really don't think Nintendo cares about winning, or being first. It's enough for them to be making money and not be doing what everyone else is. After all, the DS would probably do better -- and get more third-party support -- if it was a more conventional console, but Nintendo's not doing that... it shows how they care more about their 'gaming is in trouble, we must fix it' ideology than 'we must win'. Which is okay.

[Great Rumbler]

Nintendo's been losing market share since 1989 [when the Genesis came out] and been shut out of first place since around 1996 [when the N64 was released] and yet they're still making more money than anyone else. They're making more than Sony's entertaiment division and all of Electronic Arts. So...not sure how that relates to anything here, but anyway.

Unless the PSP starts to pick up steam soon, the DS won't be in any immediate danger of "losing". It's doing good so far, and for the moment it's got the top spot. For now we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

[OB1]

They had a MILLION at launch, ABF. Not 500,000. I've already told you this.

[A Black Falcon]

And sold 500,000.

[OB1]

That's an estimate.

[A Black Falcon]

And your point is?

[OB1]

[A Black Falcon]

Estimate yes, but it's a decent one...

[Great Rumbler]

It's a decent estimate because I want to believe it!

Well, it's probably pretty close to being true. But, first week sales aren't going to determine anything.

[A Black Falcon]

That the DS's first week sales were better than the PSP's. :D

... okay, okay, the DS came out at the height of christmas season and the PSP in March, but still...

[Weltall]

I wonder how software sales compare, though.

[OB1]

The DS did not to better in its first week, neither here nor in Japan. And sales have slowed since the beginning of this year (in both countries) since the system has LIKE TWO GAMES WORTH BUYING, and only this past week has the PSP not destroyed it in sales in Japan.

[Dark Jaguar]

Maybe Nintendo should ignore creativity at first and just focus on releasing solid games for the system to get people's attention. After that, THEN change the focus to innovative use of the screens.

[OB1]

Too late!

[A Black Falcon]

Too late? No it's not! Nintendo has this holiday season to show that the DS is a well-worth-owning system. That period matters far more than the rest of the year.

[OB1]

I mean that it's too late to make good, unoriginal games. Unless they quit trying a long time ago.

[A Black Falcon]

Ah. I'm not sure... and anyway, they haven't just released original games. Look at Mario 64 DS...

[OB1]

Not really a solid game though, not the kind DJ was thinking of. An ancient (albeit, enhanced) port with so-so controls... doesn't really cut it.

[Weltall]

ABF, are you being resolute with your opinion of the DS's chances, or merely hopeful?

[A Black Falcon]

Hopeful, mostly, but I really do think that it's got a pretty good chance... not sure which one will win overall, but I don't think the DS is going to be blown away.