14 DAY TRIAL // A new report from research firm Interpret shows that interest in three-dimensional powered gaming is still high among those who own a PlayStation 3 or a Xbox 360 home gaming console, but also that gamers are no longer interested in picking up the new Nintendo 3DS handheld.
The 3D Entertainment study says that the purchase intent for the 3DS device has gone down by 27 percent between the official announcement from Nintendo, which came in 2010, and the official launch date, which was set for February of this year in Japan and March in North America and in Europe.
Michael Cai, who is an analyst with Interpret, has said that the decline is linked to Nintendo's inability to announce video games that take advantage of the unique abilities of the Nintendo 3DS hardware.
The handheld was a best seller when it was originally put on sale, breaking records set by the initial versions of the DS, but has since performed more poorly, prompting Nintendo to unveil a number of new video games for it at the E3 trade show.
Cai has said declining sales intent for the 3DS “does not reflect the overall interest in 3D gaming” and the study points to owners of the Sony and Microsoft home consoles, who are “much more likely” to spend money on a three-dimensional enabled television set in the next twelve months.
Interpret has based its study on surveys conducted in late March and early April period of both 2010 and 2011.
The 3DS has recently received a remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which has managed to push sales up, and a new Super Mario game will also be launched for the handheld before the end of the year.
If the declining sales of the Nintendo 3DS continue the company might also announce and implement a price cut for the device.