14 DAY TRIAL // The Nintendo Wii is not the same successful videogaming console that it was during 2008. Sales of the platform have slowed down a lot this year, falling by no less than 34% in Japan, the home territory of the company. The reasons are complex, ranging from market saturation to the impact of the economic downturn on gamers, but the manufacturer needs to move fast to make sure that when sales pick up again, the Wii is ahead of its traditional rivals, the Xbox 360 from Microsoft and the PlayStation 3 from Sony.
Satoru Iwata, who is both the Chief Executive Officer and president of Nintendo, has said during a Question & Answer session with investors that “The Wii has stalled. Games of high demand could not be continuously released and the good mood has chilled.”
He was also quoted as saying that Nintendo has learned from its mistakes and is better prepared to rekindle interest in the Wii in the future, “The mood of the market got colder than expected, and there was a difference in expectations. Now, we are preparing for next year and thinking about what to do the year after next.”
Iwata has not been very clear on what measures Nintendo is set to take but most analysts are suspecting that an announcement related to bringing Netflix to the Wii could come before the end of the year, immediately after the streaming service is introduced on the PlayStation 3. There are also rumors that the maker is preparing to release an all-new version of the Wii, with High Definition graphics included and more storage space, at some point in late 2010 or in early 2011.
Nintendo is expected to report less profit at the end of 2009 than expected, with just 230 million Yen on the table at the moment. Considering that, in 2008, the company had a profit of more than 279 million Yen, it would be the first time since the release of the Wii that the Japanese gaming company has seen a slowdown.