The Nintendo 3Ds is very young, but its life has so far been somewhat of a roller coaster, to say the least. The console has seen the highs of a record breaking opening day and then the lows of a potential public relations disaster with the "Black Screen of Death" issues that plagued early adopters. Now it seems the 3DS is at another low, as sales have slowed substantially since that record breaking launch day.
The news comes from Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian and is another blow to Nintendo. The company has had a pretty torrid 30 days or so, culminating in the embarrassing news that the PSP is already outselling the 3DS in Japan, not to mention other cases of potential embarrassment such as players complaining of headaches and the 3DS's price tag coming under scrutiny.
Colin Sebastian also mentioned that Nintendo is perhaps thinking of offering new bundles for the Nintendo Wii to bolster sales of the motion gaming console, which was first released in November 2006. Here's what Sebastian said in a note:
"Based on our recent checks, we believe that sales of the 3DS have slowed considerably since the initial launch window, although the Easter holiday could provide a near-term boost."
"Looking further ahead, we believe that Nintendo is likely to consider additional console price/bundle offerings in order to stimulate Wii sales into the summer months."
The news that Nintendo are likely to start giving out extra bundles comes as no surprise – the Nintendo Wii is well into its fifth year, and while other consoles have been around for roughly the same amount of time, the Nintendo Wii has always lacked the space for significant firmware updates, akin to those of the PS3.
Another reason Nintendo could be eager to sell the remaining stocks of the Wii is the possibility that a successor to the world's best selling console will be announced at E3 in June. The notion of being able to play Super Mario Galaxy in High-Definition is a tantalizing prospect, and something that is long overdue for the Wii – many fans expected and wanted an HDMI output for the Wii in an updated, HD version of the console.
Overall, Nintendo would be wise to have something up their sleeves for E3 – so far 2011 has not been a vintage year for the company.
Do you think that decreasing sales figures signal bad times ahead for Nintendo? Or is the blip a mixture of bad luck and poor judgement from the company? What would you want from a Nintendo Wii 2? Let us know in the comments.
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Source Business Insider