Michael Pachter, who is the analyst watching the video game industry for Wedbush Morgan, believes that the new Nintendo 3DS handheld has managed to get on the right track and now has a bright future ahead of it, especially for 2012.
Speaking to Eurogamer the analyst stated, “With the strong rebound in 3DS sales, I think Nintendo is clear of the woods for now.”
Pachter admitted that he was overly optimistic when it came to the original price of 249 dollars or Euro for the device, saying that only after the price drop did the handheld reach the sales numbers that he initially estimated.
Pachter added, “Going forward, however, we will closely be paying attention to software attach rates. Selling hardware is great, but it is only the first step. The health of any hardware is directly correlated to the amount of software consumers buy.”
The analyst also said that the 3DS, despite its good performance, might never reach the same install base as the DS line, mainly because a lot of gamers now use smartphones in order to get their gaming on the go experiences.
Nintendo has attributed the recent success of the 3DS to the launch of titles like
Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 and to the price cut that took place in the middle of 2011.
More than 4 million devices have been sold on the Japanese market and in the United States the Nintendo handheld has moved more units during its first nine months than the Wii home console.
The problem for the near future might be that there are no more high profile games planned to launch during the first few months of the current year and Nintendo might need to shift significant resources, especially development teams, in order to support the upcoming launch of the Wii U home console.
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