14 DAY TRIAL // The technology world has been in love with the iPhone and the iPad ever since their existence was first rumored and a lot of industry watchers were saying that Apple was deliberately creating devices able to take a significant chunk out of the mobile gaming market, possibly at the expense of the PlayStation Portable from Sony and the Nintendo DS family of devices from Nintendo.
But one senior executive from the second Japanese game and hardware creator is saying that the impact of the Apple launches is minimal at the moment.
Reggie Fils-Aime, who is the president and Chief Executive Officer of Nintendo of America, told business-oriented channel CNBC that “We have not seen any impact on our DS business. In the first three months we've set two new sales records for the Nintendo DS. We think that through April we’ll have the best four-month time period to kick off a new calendar year that we’ve ever had with the device. So certainly we’re seeing momentum. I think two products can succeed at the same time.”
It's true that sales of the Nintendo DS line up seem to be holding up during the first months of 2010 but the impact of the iPhone appears to be on actual videogame sales for the Nintendo devices. The games that can be downloaded from Apple are often priced significantly lower, which gives them an advantage on the market.
Nintendo has already announced that, in early 2011, it will be launching the Nintendo 3DS, a new portable gaming device set to allow players to experience 3D games while they are on the move. The company has not offered any specific details on the new handheld but those interested should keep an eye on the presentation the Japanese giant will hold at the upcoming E3 trade show.