14 DAY TRIAL // Nintendo is the obvious run away winner when it comes to this generation of consoles. Microsoft might be feeling good about the recent increase in sales of the Xbox 360, largely generated by a price cut, and Sony has reasons to also take pride in the sales of the PlayStation 3, but the Nintendo Wii is selling so well that even a bigger number of consoles produced does not guarantee that those looking to get one will find it in stores.
Reggie Fils-Aime, who is the president of Nintendo of America, has recently told the Los Angeles Times that the company is now producing 2.4 million consoles each month, which is more than a year ago. He also believes that this figure might rise in the future.
He added that he did not see an impact of the worldwide economic downturn on the company's operations. Fils-Aime stated that “We have not seen any negative impact. The sales data show both the Wii and the DS up in September over a year ago. The Wii continues to be largely sold out at retail. We know consumers see our form of entertainment as a strong value because the entire family can play and because each game has more than 50 hours of play time”.
The company man thinks that the success of the Wii and of the Nintendo made games is based on the fact that most of the products have value even when time passes by. The videogame industry is based on planned obsolescence, with titles being launched in quick succession and with the blockbusters of the first half of 2008, like GTA IV, now largely forgotten. Nintendo is still producing and selling the Super Mario games, which it launched way back in 2006, largely because the audience still sees value in them.