MoneyWatch Tech

Worst. Timing. Ever. Nintendo Sends New DS Handheld Announcement Into Distracted Marketplace

By Damon Brown

Updated on: March 23, 2010 / 2:31 PM EDT / MoneyWatch

Today Nintendo Japan announced the 3DS, a new handheld gaming system that will have 3D graphic capabilities -- the big new mobile trend, as my BNet colleague Erik Sherman notes -- and tilt controls, among other things. The problem? It is releasing the 3DS predecessor, the DSi XL, this Sunday. Did anyone consider what the 3DS announcement would do to DSi XL sales this weekend? I doubt it, as the focus was clearly on one-upping (pun intended) the new gaming competitor, Apple, which has its own device coming out next week. Perhaps you've heard of it? It's called the iPad.

From VentureBeat:

Nintendo announced today in Japan that it will launch a new 3DS handheld game player in Japan during the fiscal year that ends March 31, 2011.

The move shows that Nintendo is serious about fending off challenges from Sony's PSPgo as well as Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch. Rumors of the new machine have floated for a bit, but Nintendo finally confirmed that the new platform will feature a 3-D display that does not require the use of 3-D glasses. It will hit the Japanese market first, and it will be compatible with the Nintendo DS and DSi software. The company will reveal more about the 3DS at the E3 game conference in Los Angeles in June.

In short, Nintendo could have waited a few months until the biggest video game conference of the year, well after iPad-mania would have died down as well as the launch of its own DS product, and actually captured more consumer attention. Instead, the 3DS announcement is weird, distracting and ineffectual, not to mention harmful to sales of the DSi XL.

According to Gizmodo, here's what's known about the upcoming 3DS:

With the announcement slated for E3 in June, Nintendo's shooting a bit early in their Japanese press release by saying it will go on sale sometime between April 2010 - March 2011.

- You won't need to wear 3D glasses to enjoy the 3D effects (somehow), according to their release. - Backwards compatibility will be incorporated for DS and DSi games support. - It may have an accelerometer for tilt-controls with motion-led gaming, just like the iPhone/iPod Touch. - The screen might be higher-res than anything we've seen from Nintendo before, probably just 720p though. - It'll have two screens just like previous portables, but they'll be used in conjunction as one giant screen, according to RPAD.tv, who convinced developers to talk to them at GDC. - Nintendo might put a 3G sim in, for over-the-air downloads. - Those over-the-air downloads might include ebooks, something already on the DSi XL.

There are impressive possibilities for the device, but right now it really doesn't matter. There is no way this 3DS announcement will accomplish much:

Discouraging people from buying the iPad? Not so much. Consumers can either buy an existing device next week or wait up to a year for something they haven't even seen yet. Furthermore, the big selling point with the DSi XL - less portability with a larger screen more appropriate for gaming and reading - puts it well into the iPad's line of fire, and the 3DS announcement just emphasizes its shortcomings.
Getting people excited about the 3DS? But didn't the hardcore Nintendo fan just plunk down $200 to reserve the DSi XL coming this weekend? It's hard to get excited when your device is declared obsolete before you even touch it.

According to a report this week from the mobile app analytics company Flurry, iPhone, iPod Touch and, soon to be, iPad games are a $500 million industry -- a small portion of the billion dollar video game industry, but not bad considering they just started supporting games a year and a half ago. It is certainly enough for Nintendo to stop worrying about long-time adversary Sony and to focus on this dark horse candidate -- based on today's announcement, Nintendo has gone completely on the defensive.

The bottom line is Nintendo realizes the DSi XL, expensive compared to previous DS systems, will be competing for consumer dollars with the iPad -- and it will be eclipsed. The issue here is timing, not necessarily the quality of the devices, and it's too late for Nintendo to do anything about that.

Will the ill press timing and Apple's new device cripple Nintendo? Hardly. The family-friendly company is still doing well despite a drop in Wii sales. Still, Nintendo's rash announcement -- which, considering it isn't showing hardware or giving a date, is more of an announcement of an announcement of a launch -- can only cause harm to the company brand and the already precarious sales of its DSi XL device.

Photo courtesy of stevendepolo / CC BY 2.0

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