It's up year over year and the company just returned to profitability. Just now referring to Nintendo as the Titanic is strange. 3DS down YoY is bad, sure, but did people expect it to be up? I didn't. Things looked worse at various points in the past than they do now.
I mean their console business. It's not so bad that Wii U is going to miss Gamecube's numbers by 10 million or more now. We're talking catastrophic console side failure. Even Iwata said if they don't hit GCN numbers in the past they consider it a failure.
They are returning to profitability now and judging them as a business, they are not "doomed." But, crucially, they cannot inch forward like this in perpetuity. Eventually, they're going to require a successful console and successful handheld again. Or something in place of that to find a new path for revenue.
3DS downward trajectory and the complete implosion of Vita suggest a very real erosion in the gaming dedicated handheld market that should seriously concern a company like Nintendo who for so long has made handhelds a central pillar in their gaming business strategy. If I was them, I would have no clue where to go next with their handheld to make it mass market friendly. I have no idea. I hope they have great ideas, they tend to on average. But it's nerve wrecking if you don't know how the future will be for the things you love most about Nintendo. Even if it's the far future when I'm much older, I still want Nintendo to be thriving. So better to find solutions now before we get anywhere truly bad.
So their console performance has been obliterated, Dreamcast competition at this rate. And the trajectory for gaming dedicated handhelds look especially bleak if one has been observing the numbers closely. It's clear what is going on in the market, real erosion.
They have Amiibos which will prop up their bottom line for a good while now, and they have their next shots at handheld/console/hybrid whatever they're doing. And they're doing those "wearables" or "Non-wearable" whatever quality of life tool or some shit, nobody really knows. We're all dying to know
But regardless, it is perfectly understandable to be pessimistic if you're a fan of Nintendo like I am. Not because I think "they're dooooomed", but because the long term implications might impact the things I love about Nintendo.