Despite taking Nintendo to task in the past, Sony isn’t even on the company’s mind anymore. Now, it’s all about Apple.
With the NES and the SNES, Nintendo was able to cement itself as a name synonymous with videogames. After those two consoles, Sony snuck in to the industry and changed what many people once simply called “Nintendo” to “PlayStation” with the PlayStation and the PlayStation 2. This has changed in the current generation, with the PlayStation 3 failing to catch on as well as previous consoles, while sales of the Nintendo Wii have far surpassed it and the Xbox 360. Nintendo doesn’t currently expect to be on the bottom of Sony’s boot ever again.
According to a Times Online report, Nintendo chief Satoru Iwata has told senior executives in the company that the battle with Sony is long over. Even with the upcoming PlayStation Move set to take on the Wii’s waggle, Nintendo isn’t concerned. Instead, Iwata has his sights set on Apple.
Iwata describes the iPad and iPhone as the “enemy of the future.” There is apparently a “mood of concern” at Nintendo as all divisions hope to “restore the capacity to ‘surprise'” consumers again. The leaked reveal of Nintendo’s 3DS was surprising, so it may have hidden cards up its sleeve.
The Wii is currently selling well, but sales are down. It’s still far ahead of competitors, and Nintendo also has the amazingly strong DS Lite, DSi, and DSi XL handhelds, with the 3DS rumored to be released in Japan possibly as early as this holiday season. Nintendo seems to feel that the hardcore videogame consoles aren’t its competition anymore, and more generalized smart technology devices that can also play games are. We’ll only know the truth once the casual market gets its hands on Sony’s Move and Microsoft’s Natal, if Nintendo doesn’t come up with something new by then as well.
Source: Times Online via Kotaku
