14 DAY TRIAL // Handheld gaming certainly accounts for one of the biggest markets out there, largely due to the fact that, nowadays, a lot of people prefer to play on the go, wherever possible, not only in the privacy of their own home.
One of the biggest companies currently active in the market is Nintendo, which has been on a high ascending trend with its DS portable console. Its latest iteration, the DS Lite, has seen a lot of commercial success but will now face its toughest opponent, coming not from Sony's PSP, but from Nintendo's new device, the DSi, which sports a variety of new features compared to its brother, like two embedded cameras, music playback capability or some newer and brighter screens.
The decision that the company has made, to market the two products side by side, has left a lot of analysts wondering what will be the fate of the DS Lite, as a lot of people will be interested in the newer version. But it seems that the Japanese company will leave the customers themselves to decide the fate of the older device, at least according to the UK general manager, David Yarnton, who talked with MCV about the phase-out of the DS Lite.
“We’ll let the market decide. We expect some people will upgrade, but we also anticipate that we’ll win over people who were still undecided on DS – the extra features will help convince them. There’s an extra incentive. With the DSi we see multiple consumer types for it. As with everything now, we look at our target market being five to 85, offering different things for different people. The functions of the device really open the platform up to more consumers – it gives the DS format unlimited potential.” he said.
This is a very healthy strategy, but it will surely lead to some extra units of either the DSi or the DS Lite gathering dust on the store shelves. Hopefully, things will be alright and customers will make the best choice.