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[GDGF]

I just wanted to say booyaa to the bitches who doubted the soothsayer That's all.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

only 4 million units worldwide could be a problem

 

[sohka88]

just wanted to say booyaa to the bitches who doubted the soothsayer That's all

What are you talking about? This does not mean they will automaticaly sell.

 

[Bluemercury]

What are you talking about? This does not mean they will automaticaly sell.

Yes, PSP is better we know.....

 

[AniHawk]

only 4 million units worldwide could be a problem

Hooray for shortages!

I think this was the original gameplan:

End of 2004:

NA: 1 million
Japan: 1 million

End of FY:

NA: 1.5 million
EU: 1 million
Japan: 1.5 million

Woops.

 

[sohka88]

Yes, PSP is better we know.....

And what are you talking about?

 

[Bluemercury]

you should know......go see your past posts regarding Ds.....

 

[TheGreenGiant]

this is cool bananas. How much longer before launch? Its sometime in November no? I'm getting one for mario and feel the magic. Problem is finding the time to play these. I guess the xmas holiday is that's what its for.

 

[DCharlie]

wow - so that would suggest that all the preordered stock for the 300,000 launch units have gone in Japan right?

so how comes i can preorder the machine pretty much anywhere still and be guaranteed a unit at launch???

There were 7 people in the queue for first day preorders in BIC Shibuya , and 4 of them were GAFers.

 

[Mejilan]

Yeah, even if this is retail preorders, with only a million hitting the US and Japan this year, it'll sell fast and it'll sell out, I believe.

 

[Bebpo]

wow - so that would suggest that all the preordered stock for the 300,000 launch units have gone in Japan right?

so how comes i can preorder the machine pretty much anywhere still and be guaranteed a unit at launch???

There were 7 people in the queue for first day preorders in BIC Shibuya , and 4 of them were GAFers.

Yeah, I don't see much DS interest at the game stores here either. Something odd going on. Maybe retailers just assume it will sell like the GBA and are going to stock a ton just in case?

 

[DCharlie]

well, you'd think retailers would still not order new batches of machines until their initial batch is accounted for?

I dunno - perhaps it's just out and out crap?

 

[krypt0nian]

well, you'd think retailers would still not order new batches of machines until their initial batch is accounted for?

I dunno - perhaps it's just out and out crap?

Yes out and out crap from Japan's Wall Street Journal!

 

[Brofist]

wow - so that would suggest that all the preordered stock for the 300,000 launch units have gone in Japan right?

so how comes i can preorder the machine pretty much anywhere still and be guaranteed a unit at launch???

There were 7 people in the queue for first day preorders in BIC Shibuya , and 4 of them were GAFers.

What's even more strange is what's the likelihood that Japanese retailers take 1.7 million orders over the initial launch amount. That's...well not Japanese like hehe usually they are very careful. I mean if they are gonna take DS preorders with such reckless abandonment, why wont they take PSP orders yet in fear of taking more too many orders (the reason I get everytime I tried to preorder)?

I can believe the DS will be that popular though, I think I'm gonna preorder one today. If for nothing else than to have another GBA.

 

[soundwave05]

I smell a Nintendo PR stunt with the number of availible units. I wouldn't be surprised if they "mysteriously" found a way to ship more than the 4 million they're saying. The same exact thing happened with the N64 (they swore up and down that they could only ship 500,000 to North America but ended up with more than triple that amount).

I have a weird feeling the touch screen and the social aspects of that (being able to message friends in class for instance or on the train with your own writing/doodles) is going to go over very well with Japanese kids/teenagers.

It just something I can see them going crazy over.

Besides, DS is the only place people will be able to play the next Pokemon games, so that's gotta be 3-4 million sales right there.

 

[Moegames]

Not sure about you guys but psp is gonna own this danky handheld...Nintendo is getting out gunned this time around by sony with its kick ass psp.

 

[krypt0nian]

Not sure about you guys but psp is gonna own this danky handheld...Nintendo is getting out gunned this time around by sony with its kick ass psp.

zzzzzzzzzz

 

[soundwave05]

If it's all about graphics though, you PSP early adopters better hope that GB Next doesn't have graphics beyond the PSP even.

 

[Bebpo]

If it's all about graphics though, you PSP early adopters better hope that GB Next doesn't have graphics beyond the PSP even.

I'm hoping they take the side route with GB Next. I mean if they want to keep the gameboy brand affordable for kids, the system probably wouldn't be more powerful than the PSP even if it came out 2 years after it. Rather I think they should say screw 3d and have a system that does high-res extremely colorful games like say Paper Mario 2 quality if you took out the 3d elements. It would be a very visually appealing system, it would keep 2d alive, and it should be reasonably affordable.

Just my $.02

 

[Brofist]

If it's all about graphics though, you PSP early adopters better hope that GB Next doesn't have graphics beyond the PSP even.

And at that time people will probably jump all over that too (which is gonna be a minimum 2 years away). Let's not kid ourselves, graphics drive the market more than anything else. The games for SNES and GBA are plently fun (I'm especially rediscovering with the new GBA Zelda which kicks ass btw), but people buy new tech for better graphics more often than not.

I think the DS can fit in without being a graphics beast because of the compromise of the unique things it brings and moderately decent graphics.

I'm hoping they take the side route with GB Next. I mean if they want to keep the gameboy brand affordable for kids, the system probably wouldn't be more powerful than the PSP even if it came out 2 years after it. Rather I think they should say screw 3d and have a system that does high-res extremely colorful games like say Paper Mario 2 quality if you took out the 3d elements. It would be a very visually appealing system, it would keep 2d alive, and it should be reasonably affordable.

I can see that.

 

[Fusebox]

Oh yeah, and dont the Japanese have great taste when it comes to..... just about anything.

 

[krypt0nian]

More info:
Bloomberg Japan

Nintendo Says DS Player Demand Beating Expectations (Update2)

Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Nintendo Co., the world's biggest maker of hand-held game consoles, said advance demand for its newest player is outstripping the company's expectations.

Nintendo, based in Kyoto, Japan, has received 2 million advance orders at home for its DS portable game machine, double the company's target of 1 million domestic orders, spokesman Ken Toyoda said today in response to a Nikkei English News report.

The shares of Nintendo rose 410 yen, or 3.4 percent, to 12,500 yen as of 9:15 a.m. in Osaka. The shares are poised to post their biggest one-day gain since Sept. 30.

Sales of portable hardware and software accounted for 62 percent of Nintendo's revenue in the business year ended March 31. The maker of the Game Boy and Game Boy Advance players holds 95 percent of the market worldwide for hand-held video-game consoles.

Nintendo also makes the GameCube home console, which competes with Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox and Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 2.

The DS goes on sale in the U.S. on Nov. 22 for $149.99 and in Japan on Dec. 2 for about 15,000 yen ($140).

Marketing Push

To meet demand for the DS, which features two screens and voice recognition capabilities, Nintendo will extend production to a third site in China, Toyoda said.

Nintendo's marketing efforts for the DS include television commercials featuring best-selling female pop singer Utada Hikaru, as well as a five-city tour this month to show off the device and some of its functions such as the touch-sensitive screen.

In the U.S., Nintendo's biggest market, the company has started television teasers aimed at teenagers and gamers in their twenties with the caption ``Touching is Good.''

``Gamers in that demographic are generally the most tech savvy and the most willing to try out new products,'' said Beth Llewelyn, a spokeswoman at Redmond, Washington-based Nintendo of America Inc.

The marketing blitz is designed by Nintendo to hold on to customers ahead of the debut of Sony's PSP PlayStation Portable, which will sell for 19,800 yen in Japan.

The PSP, which will also play music and videos, reaches stores in Japan on Dec. 12 and in the U.S. before March 31, Sony has said.