Nintendo Decline Could Be Detrimental To Wider Gaming Industry Says Sony
In a recent interview, Sony UK boss Fergal Gara admitted that if Nintendo were to fail, then it could have seriously repercussions on the rest of the gaming market, and the industry as a whole. With Nintendo recently posing a $15 million loss for the last financial quarter, and projections for their next quarter and beyond not looking any brighter, there is serious concern that the Wii U format is dead before it even got going, especially now it’s years worth of sales were beaten by both Sony and Microsoft in just a few days after the launch of Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
If companies don’t engage with a younger audience in the same way Nintendo have done, then the departure of a console from Nintendo would leave a big void in the market that could have knock on effects to many parts of the industry, from lower retail sales to developers going out of work.
“[The decline of Nintendo] could be detrimental to the market, unless people like us raise our game and help tap into the younger consumer group that they serve rather well”
“That is the challenge to us. We need to bring maybe more family-friendly, more casual experiences into the market. I think there’s a big market segment there that we should take the challenge to engage and I see lots of potential to do that.”
“The DS family was the bestselling format last year, despite the stellar sales of the PS4 for the last four or five weeks, it was still the best-selling console or console family.”
With the Wii U falling behind the pace right now, Nintendo really need a break and if it wasn’t for the fact that their handheld console was beating everything else in the sector by a large margin, Nintendo may have already pulled out of the game. Sony contend pretty well with Nintendo, but they just can’t compete with titles such as Mario and Zelda, Nintendo’s trump card has always been that they own some of the most unique IP’s.
“I think Vita has maybe not a huge position in the marketplace, but a very unique position. First of all it’s the only device that offers the same level of control and interaction, it’s the only device to offer the same level of visual beauty, and now it’s the only console to offer that companionship with the leading home games console.”
The next few months will be interesting for the games industry, at least from a consumer’s perspective. Sony and Microsoft are no doubt going to try take more business from the sector that Nintendo have dominated, while price cuts from Microsoft and Nintendo will be battling it out the cash in our wallets throughout the year.
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