• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Nintendo Q3: Lowers 3DS by 2M Hard/12M Software, Lowers Forecast, Expects $837M Loss

Kazerei

Banned
Compared to Sony and the rest of the traditinal game market, yes. It did great. But if we are counting iOS as a competing platform (which it was being refered to as in the post I was quoting) then it's a completely different story. Even if you just compare it to iPad 2 alone.

This is like comparing PC sales to videogame console sales.
 

Cheebo

Banned
This is like comparing PC sales to videogame console sales.

And I am sure there are a lot of people who buy PC games and PC's for gaming who would otherwise be buying console games if games were not made for PC's anymore. It's just unlike the PC market the handheld iOS market is new, it came about after the traditional handheld market. The PC game market has always been here thus making it impossible to judget what it's actual impact is on the console game market.

But your comparison is dead on. iOS gaming is the PC gaming of handheld games.
 
3DS software to hardware ratio is 2.49. That's pretty good, right? The old forecast of 50M software on 16M hardware seems very aggressive. The new forecast is alot more reasonable.
Let's see... using the big Nintendo list that gives numbers for the end of each FY, through March 2005 DS shipments were 2.0:1, and through March 2006 4.4:1.
 
Not seeing why the 3DS is failing, it took two years for the DS to get it's holiday sales above 8 million, the 3DS did it in it's first holiday.
 

jonno394

Member
Not seeing why the 3DS is failing, it took two years for the DS to get it's holiday sales above 8 million, the 3DS did it in it's first holiday.

The 3DS isn't failing, Nintendo just over anticipated demand, so in a sense, it's failing to reach their expectations, but in another sense it's out performing the DS, PSP, Vita etc and it is a success in that sense.
 

Kazerei

Banned
And I am sure there are a lot of people who buy PC games and PC's for gaming who would otherwise be buying console games if games were not made for PC's anymore. It's just unlike the PC market the handheld iOS market is new, it came about after the traditional handheld market. The PC game market has always been here thus making it impossible to judget what it's actual impact is on the console game market.

But your comparison is dead on. iOS gaming is the PC gaming of handheld games.

Okay... but what you're comparing are iOS hardware sales to 3DS hardware sales, which makes no sense. In 2011 in North America, 7.3 million units of Xbox 360 were sold. Meanwhile a hundred million PCs were sold. Does that mean Xbox 360 was not successful?

Let's see... using the big Nintendo list that gives numbers for the end of each FY, through March 2005 DS shipments were 2.0:1, and through March 2006 4.4:1.

Ooh, so 3DS is ahead of the DS for now, but then the DS really exploded in year 2. This is gonna be interesting...
 

GC|Simon

Member
After such a huge price drop on the hardware, they have to move mountains of software...which just doesn't seem to be happening.

Who are these people buying a system and only buying one or two games?
AJQjv.jpg

Seriously, who ARE these people?

People buying a flashcard right after the 3DS purchase?
 
Ooh, so 3DS is ahead of the DS for now, but then the DS really exploded in year 2. This is gonna be interesting...
Well, there's no perfect comparison. If we scrounged up the data from the end of September 2005 that would be closest to 3DS's current age, but it would still be an uneven comparison in the sense that right now over half of the total 3DS's shipped are from the last quarter. An influx of new hardware owners who haven't had much time to get games pulls the average down.

Might as well check that September 2005 info since it's easily accessible. 10.49M software / 5.27M hardware = 2.0. Hmm. Yeah, 3DS does look better compared to that.

Really ought to database this old software shipment info like I do with the hardware shipment info to make checking such things easier.

EDIT: Totally bonesed up that check of September 2005--seems I just ended up looking at March again. September 2005 was really 23.80M software / 8.83M hardware = 2.70:1.
 
So here is an interesting thing I noticed when looking at the shipment data for ooold systems.

GB+GBC software shipped: 501.11 million
GBA software shipped: 377.42 million
Total Game Boy line software shipped: 878.53 million

Original DS just passed that in the most recent quarter, reaching 890.69 million software shipped.

Nothing so dramatic for Wii, though at 805 million and growing it will pass up NES + SNES (500M + 379M) before all is said and done.
 
Not seeing why the 3DS is failing, it took two years for the DS to get it's holiday sales above 8 million, the 3DS did it in it's first holiday.

Raw system sales numbers aren't the whole story. Nintendo posted a loss which means the 3DS isn't pulling its weight, as they were counting on it.
 

DCharlie

And even i am moderately surprised
Not seeing why the 3DS is failing, it took two years for the DS to get it's holiday sales above 8 million, the 3DS did it in it's first holiday.

It's "failing" in that the profit plans laid out by nintendo based on the original price point and the expected sales have had to be revised downward.

It's sold on the back of having 3 killer games and an exceptionally attractive price point (at least here in japan)
 

Road

Member
Here are more recent ones:

10Q4 - 149.8m
11Q1 - 151m
11Q2 - 152.4m
11Q3 - 153.6m

So for years I have been saying "There are more Wiis available than any near-launch home console ever.", though "near-launch" has become increasingly stretched. While this is still true, it's been apparent for a while that it would eventually fall behind PS2. However, now it looks like Wii has slowed down enough that it won't get the chance to be "Fastest to 100 million.", barring some price cut boost in the next few quarters. However, this is comparing to Sony's old shipment reporting methods, so there's a bit of gray area.
Wii_WW
I think the graph below illustrates well the Wii dying, moving away from the record pace of the DS and approaching the PS2 line, behind which it will probably fall too.

PS2_WWold


To elaborate more on your 100 million point, the PS2 crossed it on its 25th quarter. On its 21st quarter, the Wii is 5.03m away. In 2011, from Jan to Sep, the Wii shipped only 4.72m, so it seems unlikely it'll have crossed 100m by its 24th quarter in Sep, 2012. So, it's looking like it'll either match the PS2 with 25 quarters, or be slower one quarter. (Of course both were handily beaten by the DS, which needed only 18 quarters, as you can see above.)

Sill on the "death of the Wii". From quarters 18-21, each system shipped (in parenthesis LTD):

DS - 28.9m (125.1m)
PS1 - 21.1m (71.8m)
PS2 - 16.2m (87.5m)
360 - 12.1m (51.8m)
PSP - 10.6m (60.2m)
Wii - 10.3m (95.0m)
GBA - 8.3m (75.3m)


Lastly, you can start the "there are more 3DS consoles available near launch then any dedicated gaming system ever"
PS2_WWold


Not sure it'll last past this quarter, though. =P



PS.: Battle for 2011

3DS - 15.03m
360 - 14.9m
PS3 - ???
 

RurouniZel

Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
The 3DS isn't failing, Nintendo just over anticipated demand, so in a sense, it's failing to reach their expectations, but in another sense it's out performing the DS, PSP, Vita etc and it is a success in that sense.

True, but they had to dramatically cut the price and accept a hardware loss to do so, and also if I'm understanding it correctly, they haven't shipped/sold a lot of software like the DS did. :/
 
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2012/120127e.pdf

No new release dates as far as I can tell (Pandora's Tower for Europe?), although Tomodachi Collection is TBA while the rest of the 3DS first party titles are 2012.

Probably means the investors meetings stuff is coming soon-ish.

Some Worldwides:

3d Land: 5.03M
MK7: 4.54M
SS: 3.43M
OoT3D: 2.49M
Kirby's Return to Dreamland: 1.21
Wii Play: Motion: 1.12
Kirby Mass Attack: 1.01M
 

JJConrad

Sucks at viral marketing
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2012/120127e.pdf

No new release dates as far as I can tell (Pandora's Tower for Europe?), although Tomodachi Collection is TBA while the rest of the 3DS first party titles are 2012.

Probably means the investors meetings stuff is coming soon-ish.

Some Worldwides:

3d Land: 5.03M
MK7: 4.54M
SS: 3.43M
OoT3D: 2.49M
Kirby's Return to Dreamland: 1.21
Wii Play: Motion: 1.12
Kirby Mass Attack: 1.01M
Mario Galaxy passes 10 million. Last we saw it, it was at 8 million.
 
Wow. Missing their targets and losing almost 1 billion in the process? Yikes. Nintendo is in bad shape. They must be scrambling to find a division(s) to cut. Will be interesting to see how much fat they cutt off. The WiiU is in danger.
 

Road

Member
I don't think that's right, we had to have seen it over 9 million since it's done 1.09 million this FY.

We saw it at 9.31m on the Annual Report.

But on those earnings release supplementary information, it stopped appearing with some 8 million because Nintendo only shows titles that shipped over 1m copies.
 

StevieP

Banned
Wow. Missing their targets and losing almost 1 billion in the process? Yikes. Nintendo is in bad shape. They must be scrambling to find a division(s) to cut. Will be interesting to see how much fat they cutt off. The WiiU is in danger.

Did I miss the sarcasm parade?
 

Kazerei

Banned
Well, there's no perfect comparison. If we scrounged up the data from the end of September 2005 that would be closest to 3DS's current age, but it would still be an uneven comparison in the sense that right now over half of the total 3DS's shipped are from the last quarter. An influx of new hardware owners who haven't had much time to get games pulls the average down.

Might as well check that September 2005 info since it's easily accessible. 10.49M software / 5.27M hardware = 2.0. Hmm. Yeah, 3DS does look better compared to that.

Really ought to database this old software shipment info like I do with the hardware shipment info to make checking such things easier.

EDIT: Totally bonesed up that check of September 2005--seems I just ended up looking at March again. September 2005 was really 23.80M software / 8.83M hardware = 2.70:1.

Hmm. I was so intrigued I decided to look up the hardware/software sales each quarter. I love that Nintendo keeps the numbers easy to find.

The DS trend makes sense, but wtf at the 3DS trend. Them crazy early adopters. Not only paying $250 for the system, but buying 3.2 games as well. And this was back when 3DS had no games.

Code:
Worldwide lifetime to date sales, units in ten thousands

Nintendo DS
Ending  Hard  Soft  Ratio
 4Q04    527  1049  1.99
 1Q05    665  1582  2.38
 2Q05    883  2380  2.70
 3Q05   1443  4640  3.22
 4Q05   1673  6044  3.61

Nintendo 3DS
Ending  Hard  Soft  Ratio
 4Q10    361   943  2.61
 1Q11    432  1396  3.23
 2Q11    668  1756  2.63
 3Q11   1503  3746  2.49
 
Remember that shipped isn't the same as sold. Usually that doesn't make a VAST difference, but it would for a near-launch system that's underperforming. So it's hard to tell from that alone how many games the actual average system owner had.
 

Kazerei

Banned
Good point. Still, I wonder what happened there. I also wonder how other titles fared, besides Super Mario and Mario Kart. Not well, I guess.
 

DCharlie

And even i am moderately surprised
Them crazy early adopters. Not only paying $250 for the system, but buying 3.2 games as well. And this was back when 3DS had no games.

lol - i bought all the available JP games, yes including the Dinosaur game.

But only so i could justify some hardcore trolling of the 3DS , apparently.
 

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
Nintendo bombing is the best thing ever.

And I say that as a lifelong fanboy. Scrappy Nintendo is best Nintendo.
 
Nintendo bombing is the best thing ever.

And I say that as a lifelong fanboy. Scrappy Nintendo is best Nintendo.

This is somewhat true. They get punchy when they get down. This is hopefully their wake-up call.

Also, as an aside, Kotaku commenters are the worst. Nothing but then cheering happily and hoping Nintendo goes third party so MS or Sony can buy them. It's like we're in 2004 again.
 
The Nintendo faithful seems to think that Sales=Successful Company

Don't worry, I'm sure they'll understand how the business world works someday...

Do you understand how it works? By what metric are they unsuccessful? --

or do you want someone to post a comparison of the last 25 years of profit for each of the three vg hardware divisions?

Troll harder
 
The Nintendo faithful seems to think that Sales=Successful Company

Don't worry, I'm sure they'll understand how the business world works someday...

Oh... so this is why you were looking for this thread.

Should have known with the circle jerk comment.

I don't think anyone thinks this is a legitimately good thing for a gaming only company, but the market forced them to play in the loss-leading pool. Otherwise they risked their handheld market dominance completely. Only time will tell if it was a worthy loss or not.

Now I just treated you like an adult. I'd appreciate it if you'd show me the same courtesy.
 

guek

Banned
A lot of the Nintendo faithful seems to think that Sales=Successful Company

Don't worry, I'm sure they'll understand how the business world works someday...

What in the world are you talking about?

Do you realize that this line of rhetoric is more in line with the loss leader strategy employed primarily by sony and MS and not nintendo? Are you stupid or just ignorant?
 

Glix

Member
Hmm. I was so intrigued I decided to look up the hardware/software sales each quarter. I love that Nintendo keeps the numbers easy to find.

The DS trend makes sense, but wtf at the 3DS trend. Them crazy early adopters. Not only paying $250 for the system, but buying 3.2 games as well. And this was back when 3DS had no games.

Code:
Worldwide lifetime to date sales, units in ten thousands

Nintendo DS
Ending  Hard  Soft  Ratio
 4Q04    527  1049  1.99
 1Q05    665  1582  2.38
 2Q05    883  2380  2.70
 3Q05   1443  4640  3.22
 4Q05   1673  6044  3.61

Nintendo 3DS
Ending  Hard  Soft  Ratio
 4Q10    361   943  2.61
 1Q11    432  1396  3.23
 2Q11    668  1756  2.63
 3Q11   1503  3746  2.49

I doubt that they count games that are part of an in-box bundle, and they had at least three different bundles here in the USA this holiday. That could be part of the reason the number has gone down
 
I doubt that they count games that are part of an in-box bundle, and they had at least three different bundles here in the USA this holiday. That could be part of the reason the number has gone down

They count bundled software for their sales. They don't include it in forecasts though.
 
So I started getting software info databased. At least for now I'm just treating them as if they're other hardware, so the same hardware line tools and whatnot can be used.

I said something before about there seeming to be a shift away from DS's dominance in Europe. This is much more obvious when looking at software rather than hardware.
DS_EU

DS_EU_SW


Also makes the difference between portable and home tie ratios much more obvious. Right now DS is Nintendo's biggest software seller ever, but Wii has a chance to catch up.
Wii_WW

Wii_WW_SW


Early DS against early 3DS
3DS_WW

3DS_WW_SW
 
Top Bottom