Did The DS Save Nintendo? No More Nintendo Without It?

Nintendo was crashing and burning in the mid 90's and forward. Their consoles were just starting to take a hit for the first time in history and that crash was slowly moving over to the handheld way of things.

Their previous handheld wasn't doing a bad job but it had a label to it. Good or bad it was impossible to get rid of that label and more importantly the label was also shared by the consoles as well. No matter what was released they were stuck in that rut.

Nintendo's handheld market was well defined and there was only a specific core market they could sell to. It was stagnant and was never able to make a foothold anywhere else.

It seemed that Nintendo's handheld strength was going to slowly fade away because they were unable to reach new markets. Even when their handhelds changed they still had the same exact demographic.

In comes the DS and knocks down every single stigma going and shatters every wall in the marketplace. No longer is the handheld for a certain range of users but it's now for everyone.

Not only that but the limits put on gamers previously when it comes to handhelds were quickly torn down. Now people who thought they had reached their limit with the "same old same old" and had abandoned handheld gaming were coming back to the handheld as a main piece of entertainment.

DS sales soar and gives a steady stream of income to Nintendo which helps them stay a strong contender in the entertainment business while their console division starts taking lumps. Instead of having to curtail costs in this "dry" period Nintendo was able to dedicate itself to software.

The DS broke so many walls in the marketplace that it's original design was quickly replaced with a more mainstream design meant to attract everyone. The first DS still had hints of "generic gaming device" in it's design that were taken away completely with it's new "Lite" design.

Now we're closing in on 70 million DS's worldwide and the software releases for it are getting the same kind of coverage as their console counterparts. No longer is a Nintendo handheld only directed to the after school crowd of 3-8pm but it's now a 24 hour gaming device with coverage from Good Morning America to the Tonight Show and everywhere in between

Because of this success it's allowed Nintendo to push it's limits on trying to make something for everyone and has even adopted this format for all it's gaming endeavors. There is no longer just one section of the market asking for games, now there are many sections that want it's gaming needs to be addressed.

Nintendo has answered the call for software and has even exceeded expectations. Nintendo has been able to supply numerous quality titles in all genres and has even made new genres as well. The DS has allowed them to produce high quality software for everyone in their spectrum so no one piece of the market feels lacking. They've even been able to make the DS a home for other developers to flex their programmable muscles and make terrific entertainment experiences as well.

Does anyone else think that without the DS Nintendo could have failed so badly they could have closed up shop or at the very least closed down one division of hardware?

Nintendo was crashing and burning in the mid 90's and forward. Their consoles were just starting to take a hit for the first time in history and that crash was slowly moving over to the handheld way of things.

Their previous handheld wasn't doing a bad job but it had a label to it. Good or bad it was impossible to get rid of that label and more importantly the label was also shared by the consoles as well. No matter what was released they were stuck in that rut.

Nintendo's handheld market was well defined and there was only a specific core market they could sell to. It was stagnant and was never able to make a foothold anywhere else.

It seemed that Nintendo's handheld strength was going to slowly fade away because they were unable to reach new markets. Even when their handhelds changed they still had the same exact demographic.

In comes the DS and knocks down every single stigma going and shatters every wall in the marketplace. No longer is the handheld for a certain range of users but it's now for everyone.

Not only that but the limits put on gamers previously when it comes to handhelds were quickly torn down. Now people who thought they had reached their limit with the "same old same old" and had abandoned handheld gaming were coming back to the handheld as a main piece of entertainment.

DS sales soar and gives a steady stream of income to Nintendo which helps them stay a strong contender in the entertainment business while their console division starts taking lumps. Instead of having to curtail costs in this "dry" period Nintendo was able to dedicate itself to software.

The DS broke so many walls in the marketplace that it's original design was quickly replaced with a more mainstream design meant to attract everyone. The first DS still had hints of "generic gaming device" in it's design that were taken away completely with it's new "Lite" design.

Now we're closing in on 70 million DS's worldwide and the software releases for it are getting the same kind of coverage as their console counterparts. No longer is a Nintendo handheld only directed to the after school crowd of 3-8pm but it's now a 24 hour gaming device with coverage from Good Morning America to the Tonight Show and everywhere in between

Because of this success it's allowed Nintendo to push it's limits on trying to make something for everyone and has even adopted this format for all it's gaming endeavors. There is no longer just one section of the market asking for games, now there are many sections that want it's gaming needs to be addressed.

Nintendo has answered the call for software and has even exceeded expectations. Nintendo has been able to supply numerous quality titles in all genres and has even made new genres as well. The DS has allowed them to produce high quality software for everyone in their spectrum so no one piece of the market feels lacking. They've even been able to make the DS a home for other developers to flex their programmable muscles and make terrific entertainment experiences as well.

Does anyone else think that without the DS Nintendo could have failed so badly they could have closed up shop or at the very least closed down one division of hardware?

Jaysonguy

Ummmm, no... between the Wii and DS they saved their own butts

Ummmm, no... between the Wii and DS they saved their own butts

Phazon-King

Ok

1. I think you missed the point of the thread

2. this isn't at all about the Wii.

Nintendo was never dying. They may have slowed down while the DS was in production, but they knew that as soon as it came out sales would shoot back up. The DS did not save Nintendo, because Nintendo was never in any trouble.ta11on

No, actually it was.

It's console sales were dropping like a stone, it's third party support was leaving in droves, and it gained a stereotype for only one kind of user.

Nintendo HOPED that the DS would improve sales but they never knew it would for sure. It turned out to be a very lucrative experiment that helped change the direction of the entire company and in turn the entire entertainment industry.

[QUOTE="ta11on"]Nintendo was never dying. They may have slowed down while the DS was in production, but they knew that as soon as it came out sales would shoot back up. The DS did not save Nintendo, because Nintendo was never in any trouble.Jaysonguy

No, actually it was.

It's console sales were dropping like a stone, it's third party support was leaving in droves, and it gained a stereotype for only one kind of user.

Nintendo HOPED that the DS would improve sales but they never knew it would for sure. It turned out to be a very lucrative experiment that helped change the direction of the entire company and in turn the entire entertainment industry.

Ok Ok, I wont argue because I honestly do not know too much about Nintendos dying days, but if that is the case, then the Nintendo DS definitley saved Nintendo.

I don't seem to remember Nintendo ever being threatened on the handheld front to the point where it couldn't be a handheld only company...

[QUOTE="ta11on"]Nintendo was never dying. They may have slowed down while the DS was in production, but they knew that as soon as it came out sales would shoot back up. The DS did not save Nintendo, because Nintendo was never in any trouble.Jaysonguy

I completely disagree, the Gamecube was second in the console war, and the Gameboy's have always sold well. Nintendo was never in any financial trouble, sure they may not have made as much profit as they wanted to, but they were far from collapsing as a company. Even if the DS had failed they would have been right back on top with their next project, which we know now is the Wii, but even if they didn't make the Wii they would have made something else.

[QUOTE="Jaysonguy"] [QUOTE="ta11on"]Nintendo was never dying. They may have slowed down while the DS was in production, but they knew that as soon as it came out sales would shoot back up. The DS did not save Nintendo, because Nintendo was never in any trouble.Trindris

I completely disagree, the Gamecube was second in the console war, and the Gameboy's have always sold well. Nintendo was never in any financial trouble, sure they may not have made as much profit as they wanted to, but they were far from collapsing as a company. Even if the DS had failed they would have been right back on top with their next project, which we know now is the Wii, but even if they didn't make the Wii they would have made something else.

I agree.

Did the gameboy save Nintendo?

Did the gba save Nintendo?

Did the NES and SNES save Nintendo?

Did every console that Nintendo has ever manufactured save Nintendo?

Really what kind of question is that? psht...

I mean what, do you think this is SEGA or something?

I think that the DS just carried on the success of the Game Boy models and revolutionized it with touch screen controls.

Nintendo always seemed strong to me. Being confident like they are helps.

Bad label? All Nintendo consoles are great!

The original poster should take a look at Nintendo's yearly financial reports before posting a topic like this. Nintendo was never in any financial trouble. In the mid-90's (in fact, 1995-1999), Nintendo made more money than it did in any previous point in it's 100 year history. Even if the Gamecube went the way of the Dreamcast within the first year, there was the GBA. If the GBA failed, there was their franchises. If all gamers hated Nintendo franchises all of a sudden, there would still be the billions of dollars coming in from Pokemon merchandise.

Nintendo was never ever close to going under. That is a fact.

Unless you're from Japan or an economist, there is no way for the average American to answer. Not to say everybody reading this is American, but I am. The American gaming market has a lot less bearing on Nintendo than the average American gamer thinks. You can say the American market and the XBox put SEGA out of buisness, but you can easly say Nintendo/Sony had just as big if not bigger parts in SEGA's down fall.

I do think the DS greatly revived Nintendo as a house hold name, but the gamecube and Game Boy Advance were no slouches in keeping the company strong. I don't think Nintendo needed saving.

I think the DS definately helped save Nintendo. Of course, the success of the Wii is really what's responsible. But the DS is what helped renew interest in the company and establish their policy of innovation.

Those of you who think Nintendo was never in any trouble don't really know much about the entire lifespan of the Gamecube, do you? It went well for the first year or so, but by 2003 there was almost nothing but Nintendo games and all the major franchises (Zelda, Mario, SSB) had already had a game, so there was maybe one or two must haves every season. If Nintendo hadn't revolutionized itself with the Wii, it would have been eaten alive by Microsoft and Sony last year.

[QUOTE="ta11on"]Nintendo was never dying. They may have slowed down while the DS was in production, but they knew that as soon as it came out sales would shoot back up. The DS did not save Nintendo, because Nintendo was never in any trouble.Jaysonguy

No, actually it was.

It's console sales were dropping like a stone, it's third party support was leaving in droves, and it gained a stereotype for only one kind of user.

It was still turning a profit on every single console it sold, which is a really smart business move for them, as it means that they don't need ridiculous software sales to make up a deficit there. I also remember reading something that said that they have a large enough cash reserve that they could quite literally not make a single dollar from this point onwards and it would still take them something like ten years to go broke.

Was Nintendo in a bit of a slump? Yes. But to call Nintendo "dying" is a bit of a stretch, I think. The DS (and later the Wii) helped put Nintendo back on the top of the heap, not save it from oblivion. Nintendo's not going anywhere anytime soon.

Was Nintendo in a bit of a slump? Yes. But to call Nintendo "dying" is a bit of a stretch, I think. The DS (and later the Wii) helped put Nintendo back on the top of the heap, not save it from oblivion. Nintendo's not going anywhere anytime soon.GabuEx

I think what the DS did for Nintendo is that the handheld attracted people who are less likely to play video games, such as females and elderly adults. It brought a new market and a new source of revenue for Nintendo.

I believe that Nintendo's smart business model saved it, not the DS.

Yeah, your facts are a bit off... Nintendo was at it's peak during the mid-90s... 1994 gave us Donkey Kong Country, Super Metroid, and Final Fantasy VI... All of which were amazing, unforgettable games.

I think the only time that Nintendo lost some steam was towards the end of the N64 and during the Game Cube period. In fact, as a long-time fan of Nintendo, I never even bothered to get a Gamecube.

are you talking about in the handheld department or nintendo all together?

either way i dont think it saved nintendo because even if they didnt come out with the whole touch screen thing they would still be around. But it certainly put them back to where they belong...at the top :)

[QUOTE="Phazon-King"]

Ummmm, no... between the Wii and DS they saved their own butts

Jaysonguy

Ok

lol, soo true :P

1. I think you missed the point of the thread

2. this isn't at all about the Wii.

"Does anyone else think that without the DS Nintendo could have failed so badly they could have closed up shop or at the very least closed down one division of hardware?"

umm... no! they weren't even failing. well, they weren't as good as they were back in the day. but they as a company wasnn't going anywhere soon, or in any financial trouble. why would their handheld strength fade from not reaching to new markets? did sony's ps2 reach for a new market? no, but that still suceeded didn't it. infact, the ds and wii are the only things that are reaching to new markets. is it a sucess? hell yes, but did nintendo need it? probably not.

Nintendo was crashing and burning in the mid 90's and forward. Their consoles were just starting to take a hit for the first time in history and that crash was slowly moving over to the handheld way of things.

Their previous handheld wasn't doing a bad job but it had a label to it. Good or bad it was impossible to get rid of that label and more importantly the label was also shared by the consoles as well. No matter what was released they were stuck in that rut.

Nintendo's handheld market was well defined and there was only a specific core market they could sell to. It was stagnant and was never able to make a foothold anywhere else.

It seemed that Nintendo's handheld strength was going to slowly fade away because they were unable to reach new markets. Even when their handhelds changed they still had the same exact demographic.

In comes the DS and knocks down every single stigma going and shatters every wall in the marketplace. No longer is the handheld for a certain range of users but it's now for everyone.

Not only that but the limits put on gamers previously when it comes to handhelds were quickly torn down. Now people who thought they had reached their limit with the "same old same old" and had abandoned handheld gaming were coming back to the handheld as a main piece of entertainment.

DS sales soar and gives a steady stream of income to Nintendo which helps them stay a strong contender in the entertainment business while their console division starts taking lumps. Instead of having to curtail costs in this "dry" period Nintendo was able to dedicate itself to software.

The DS broke so many walls in the marketplace that it's original design was quickly replaced with a more mainstream design meant to attract everyone. The first DS still had hints of "generic gaming device" in it's design that were taken away completely with it's new "Lite" design.

Now we're closing in on 70 million DS's worldwide and the software releases for it are getting the same kind of coverage as their console counterparts. No longer is a Nintendo handheld only directed to the after school crowd of 3-8pm but it's now a 24 hour gaming device with coverage from Good Morning America to the Tonight Show and everywhere in between

Because of this success it's allowed Nintendo to push it's limits on trying to make something for everyone and has even adopted this format for all it's gaming endeavors. There is no longer just one section of the market asking for games, now there are many sections that want it's gaming needs to be addressed.

Nintendo has answered the call for software and has even exceeded expectations. Nintendo has been able to supply numerous quality titles in all genres and has even made new genres as well. The DS has allowed them to produce high quality software for everyone in their spectrum so no one piece of the market feels lacking. They've even been able to make the DS a home for other developers to flex their programmable muscles and make terrific entertainment experiences as well.

Does anyone else think that without the DS Nintendo could have failed so badly they could have closed up shop or at the very least closed down one division of hardware?

Jaysonguy

Nintendo wern't crashing at all, you have mis-understood.

Nintendo had extremly high expectations, and due to the gamecubes bad appearance compared to the PS2.

The PS2 dominated the era, despite the Xbox being powerfuller.

That made the Gamecube flop more than other Nintendo consoles, but it still did very well.

The DS did not save the day, as it was just another interesting Nintendo console, that like the Wii suited a much wider audience than most consoles (EVERYONE!)

The DS also wasn't very big at launch compared to the wii etc, it's only been mildly recently (a year ago.) that the ds has really kicked off and everyone is getting one.

I remember there only being 4 people in my ****with ds's, and we used to sneak them in and go on pictochat or the Metroid Prime Demo and nobody cared as they didn't have a clue what we were doing :P

I would have to say yes to a certain degree. The N64 was doing alright...it wasnt spectacular but it wasnt a dud either. Nintendo made an attempt at a 32 bit system with the Virtual Boy which flopped so hard, it faded far into obscurity and you never see or hear it being talked about. One day it was on sale for $150 at Toys'R'Us and the next...I saw it for sale at $24.99 (USD). Nintendo simply could not compete with Sony who had created a very solid gaming platform and then later down the road, the XBOX.

Nintendo's GameCube was underpowered compared to the PS2 and XBOX and its array of games was not up to the same calibur people had come to expect from Nintendo (those coming from the NES and SNES such as myself). They managed to give us some solid games, namely the Metroid Prime series but just no where near what Sony and Microsoft were producing on their respective platforms.

Nintendo was crashing and they knew it. They had to create something that would bring them back into contention and along came the NDS. Met with heavy speculation prior to its release...gamers and producers alike were quite suprised as to just how well the NDS did. Having a pretty solid launch title set...it took Japan by storm as well as the United States (sorry Europe...I havent looked at statistics regarding your region so I can not say how well the NDS was received). With exceptional totals coming in and more 3rd party companies jumping on board...the NDS became the front-runner of Nintendo's products.

The Wii definitely did a lot to further Nintendo's resurgence into the gaming industry firmly planting themselves as a heavy hitting contender however doing it in an unorthadox way with touch screen on NDS and Wiimote motion play on the WII. I think what really helped the Wii was the fact that it game with Wii Sports (primarily designed to allow people to gain an understanding and feel for how gameplay on the Wii would be like however it was a game bundled with the Wii non-the-less which we hadnt seen in a while).

The NDS placed Nintendo back on the gaming map and the Wii solidified their position. So my answer is Yes

• Hiroshi Yamauchi, "Hiroshi Yamauchi On Nintendo's Future"

Yes.

Because Miyamoto said himself that if it weren't for the DS's success, they'd never have gone with the Wii.

It makes sense because since the touch screen and Wii-mote are similar styles of gameplay.

Nintendo was never dying. They may have slowed down while the DS was in production, but they knew that as soon as it came out sales would shoot back up. The DS did not save Nintendo, because Nintendo was never in any trouble.ta11on

I Agree.. Sony may have been better with their sales during the past Era but Nintendo never ran out of patrons..

Nintendo was always present in all the Console Wars since the NES..

Nintendo lives to die another day..

[QUOTE="ta11on"]Nintendo was never dying. They may have slowed down while the DS was in production, but they knew that as soon as it came out sales would shoot back up. The DS did not save Nintendo, because Nintendo was never in any trouble.Jaysonguy

No, actually it was.

It's console sales were dropping like a stone, it's third party support was leaving in droves, and it gained a stereotype for only one kind of user.

Nintendo HOPED that the DS would improve sales but they never knew it would for sure. It turned out to be a very lucrative experiment that helped change the direction of the entire company and in turn the entire entertainment industry.

Ofcourse the Gamecube's sales was dropping like a stone..

It's because the next generation consoles were on their way during those times..

The PS2 and the XBOX's sales must be dropping like stones too during those days too..

The GameCube is Second on the console wars and the GBA monopolized the handheld gaming industry..

There is No Way that Nintendo would fall..

The NDS saved nothing.. It's just the continuation of another Console War ERA, only it had a stronger rival -- The PSP.. Which eventually lost in the battle anyway..

For those of you saying that Nintendo was never in trouble I'm going to strongly disagree.

Here's the quote from Forbes in 2000...

"Nintendo, which Yamauchi has run for more than half a century, isn't doing all that well. With its next-generation videogame console running way behind schedule, the Kyoto, Japan-based company saw revenue drop 7.4% in fiscal 2000 to $5 billion, while earnings fell 34.8% to $528.9 million. "OTHER NAME COMPANY" which has now beaten Nintendo to the punch with both the OTHER SYSTEM and the OTHER SYSTEM 2, has grabbed 65% of the market, reducing Nintendo's once dominant presence to 32% in the process. "

Right before Nintendo released the DS Yamauchi said both......

- If the DS succeeds, we will rise to heaven, but if it fails we will sink to hell
- The next two years will decide Nintendo's fate

And then just as I stated in my first post that the redesign was that final part of the puzzle......

"Bloomberg is reporting that Hiroshi Yamauchi, former chairman of Nintendo, has become the third richest man in Japan, now with a net worth of $4.8 billion (about 582 billion yen). With Nintendo DS and Wii performing pretty darn good in the hardware charts and Nintendo published software fairing mostly okay as well, the company's stock has tripled in value since the beginning of 2006. Ol' Yamauchi is smiling all the way to the bank with his billions, then cursing and spitting venom at the tellers, shattering marble tables with his cobra-headed walking cane. "

So at the start of 2006 Nintendo's stock was a certain number, then in March the DSLite launched and since then they've gone to triple that value.

It's pretty safe to say that yes, Nintedno was in trouble and and the DS was what turned the tide. Their earnings were down, their market share was down, and the head of the company say that the launch of the DS would decide the company's fate.

All in all I think it's a resounding YES that the DS saved Nintendo

Knowledge is power!

More power!

Even more power!

The first DS still had hints of "generic gaming device" in it's design that were taken away completely with it's new "Lite" design.

Jaysonguy

The only thing that I can think of as a hint of "generic gaming device" that the DS had was the regular control interface (d-pad, 4 face buttons, L and R triggers), but they didn't go anywhere.