While some predicted the downfall of Nintendo after it posted its first loss in seven years, Nintendo of America President Reginald Fils-Aime is more optimistic. Speaking at the Digital Entertainment conference, Fils-Aime said that yes sales are slowing, but no console maker should be upset about that.
Though year-over-year video game sales have dropped, he points out that PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360 have sold 45 percent more systems than the previous generation of consoles, the Xbox, PS2, and GameCube. Game sales, he said, are also up 26 percent when compared to the same holiday in the last console generation.
U.S. video game system sales to date (Kotaku):
- DS: 43.1 million
- PSP: 17.7 million
- Wii: 30.4 million
- Xbox 360: 21.9 million
- PS3: 13.5 million
“Some observers might think that 5 years ago in the glory days of the PS2, Game Boy Advance, that those days could never be matched,” said Fils-Aime. “We’re facing challenges today that never existed before. As good as the good old days were, things could and did get much better. Systems designed exclusively for the primary purpose of playing games are doing just fine.”
Still, Nintendo’s console is declining in sales faster than its competition whether everyone is doing better or not. Would Apple be happy if the iPhone 4 stopped selling? I mean, it’s already doing better than the 3GS. Nintenod has announced no plans to end flatlining Wii sales. Let’s hope a plan is in place.
