Nintendo losing the handheld market?

[DVFtaxman]

I was just thinking about this the other night, but does anyone else think that Nintendo are going to be in all sorts in the near future with the advent of decent games appearing on mobile phones and PDA's? There's a few reasons why I'm beginning to think this;
1.How can they compete with "free" games? The phone manufacturers are paying game developers to make games for their phones and then giving them away effectively for free! This is especially poiniant(sp?) when you consider the high prices that Nintendo charge for their GBA games.
2.The fact that mobile phones are so prevalent today! If you're going to carry a phone around with you anyway and if it plays decent games then why also carry a GB/GBA?
3.Phone technology is advancing so fast! So many manufacturers trying to make the best phone with such a quick turnover of technology and yet they all still make vast profits!
4.Java

Now before you say it, I know that the games on GBA are far in advance of most games available for your mobile.......but for how long? Phone manufacturers can release a new phone with better capabilities every 3months, but Nintendo are stuck with a stable architecture for years!

.....now, my point is that it worries me as I think the GB market is where all Nintendos cash is at. So if they take a dive here, and with there lack of ambition in the living room, I fear for them!

 

[PC-Engine]

Cellphone games are not free, at least not from the big publishers.

 

[a4164]

It is my understanding that gaming on cellphones is currently a gimmick so that different cell phone brands/services can distinguish themselves from one another.

Here in the US there is Sprint PCS Vision. Verizon Get It Now. AT&T mMode. Those are the ones I know about. Some games are free. Some are demos. Some come only with subscription plans and some have to be purchased out right. Thats in addition to the fee for monthly cell phone usage to you know, make calls and stuff.

Furthermore the prices of these phones vary. To get a Sprint's PCS Vision-enabled phone, thats $150-$400. To get the AT&T service you need a Motorola T720 ($299) and a AT&T service plan (starting at about $20 a month). For Verizon Get It Now-compatible phones are $50-$300 and Verizon service (starting at about $30 a month).

Also some games are exclusive to said services. So if you want those EA sports games, you need Verizon. If you want to play Monkey Ball, you need a Sprint or AT&T service plan. You want Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, you need AT&T. And thats on top of finding a compatible phone to work with said services.

See the problem with this. It isn't Cell Phone Gaming platform vs Nintendo. Its Cell Phone companies vs themselves to get people to buy newer phones in addition to paying for additional monthly gaming plans or possibly buying games all together. Then you gotta worry about what phones will play what games. What service has an exclusive to what games. What a pain in the arse. Don't even get me started on using cell phone buttons as controllers. And whats with the N-Cage and the tilted screen that is vertically longer than it is wider. How do you play side-scrollers on that?

How does that compete with GameBoy Advance ($70). With ~$30 per game with a clear and defined market.

 

[Blade]

The only established companies capable of beating Nintendo in this area are Sony and Microsoft.. and by "capable" I mean they can afford to and have 3rd-party support. Nintendo's exclusive games will probably bury theirs in the end, as always.

 

[RaolinDarksbane]

If you change cell phones or the services, then how would the game get changed over too? I doubt they will make that many version of the same game for different mobile. Gaming on cells IS a gimmick.

 

[Kolgar]

The latest EGM airs a rumor that Sony may be priming to jump into the handheld market... with something to show as soon as this next E3!

Kolgar

 

[Jabjabs]

Very ture, you have to rememb that in 2-3 years everyone may have a phone with N-gadge or other game playing capablities, it is real comatition for nintendo.

 

[DVFtaxman]

If you change cell phones or the services, then how would the game get changed over too? I doubt they will make that many version of the same game for different mobile. Gaming on cells IS a gimmick.

my phone takes mmc memory cards to store games on and although the games AREN'T up to GBA standards, tey have improved immeasurably over the last 6 months. I have an extremely good version of prince of persia and "rayman" golf on my phone(cost 50p to download via Java). Also I have already noticed game developers in europe developing phone games for multiple formats.

 

[zurich]

I think its a totally different market.

The GBA is a truly mass-market device, while "games" on cellphones are pretty niche. On top of that, the business model for phones has still to be worked out yet, while Nintendo's been doing it for 15 years.

In short: Not going to happen anytime soon, or ever.

The only company that could truly take on Nintendo in the portable arena would be Sony, and Sony themselves. IMO, MS lacks the hardware engineering expertise to make a >$125 USD gaming device that does NOT rely in any way on the PocketPC platform.

 

[Jabjabs]

The only company that could truly take on Nintendo in the portable arena would be Sony, and Sony themselves. IMO, MS lacks the hardware engineering expertise to make a >$125 USD gaming device that does NOT rely in any way on the PocketPC platform.

That it very very true, sure MS can get the companies together to produce some good hardware, it's just not great in terms of speed and cost. That is one area I think sony could easily master.

 

[Phil]

The only company that could truly take on Nintendo in the portable arena would be Sony, and Sony themselves. IMO, MS lacks the hardware engineering expertise to make a >$125 USD gaming device that does NOT rely in any way on the PocketPC platform.

That it very very true, sure MS can get the companies together to produce some good hardware, it's just not great in terms of speed and cost. That is one area I think sony could easily master.

Not only that, but Sony also has the market recognition and the user-base on consoles to potentially make a succesful handheld. If they do it clever, they could make the handheld communicate with PS2/PS3 someway like the PocketThingy did. With the right specs, price and the developer support, I think it would be hard to beat - even for an established leader like Nintendo.

 

[PC-Engine]

So why haven't they done it if it's such a good idea?

 

[Sonic]

What's to say MS couldn't use the PocketPC platform for introducing a hand held system to market. Maybe MS wouldn't be able to get all the hardware into a low costing machine, but I'm sure Dell could. But I don't neccessarily see MS jumping into the hand held market like that. It's going to be a more gradual progress probably, and even then it would be hard to compete with the de facto standard that is Nintendo.

Sony could jump right in and start competing with Nintendo. It wouldn't surprise me if they even used the PSX chip inside the PS2 or some derivative of it to put in a handheld. It surely could happen, and with enough work done to the machine I'm sure battery life could be decent also. Sony would have hordes of 3rd party support from the getgo also with the promise that the handheld would seamlessly connect to the PS2 or PS3 depending on when the portable system would come to market. Sony could be successful to and open up its doors to even more profit in the gaming business. But I would only expect a maximum of 25% market share for such a system within the first two years of its life.

Sonic

 

[Phil]

So why haven't they done it if it's such a good idea?

I'm no Sony employee, but perhaps you may be able to tell us or convince us otherwise?

 

[PC-Engine]

You can't play a handheld bottom side up

 

[Trawler]

I'm not a fan of current cell phone based games, that's what my GBA is for. However, I am susprirsed by how many people I see playing them on the way in and out of work on the tube.

Granted, I work in the main financial district of London, so these will be lads who have money to burn on silly things such as this. Still, the numbers are growing... I see at least four/five people per day messing around with them. Not much else to do on the tube I suppose!

 

[DVFtaxman]

......and I have yet to see ANYONE playing a GBA on the tube! - now this really surprises me as I would have thought that it was ideal.

 

[Tagrineth]

Mmm... I think one of the main problems with a handheld PSX is the CD-ROM.

 

[zurich]

So why haven't they done it if it's such a good idea?

SCE says LCD/display tech isnt mature enough, and in some ways (looking at the GBA, and others) I agree with them.

 

[BoddoZerg]

So why haven't they done it if it's such a good idea?

SCE says LCD/display tech isnt mature enough, and in some ways (looking at the GBA, and others) I agree with them.

Yeah, handheld displays are quite fugly.