Nintendo Press release.

I usually don't post news items that every other site is posting, but this seems like a pretty momentous occasion. 100 million shipped worldwide. Dang.

Remember back when the DS announced? It certainly wasn't welcomed with open arms from day one. Many gamers thought the dual screens and touch screen were a bit out there, and wacky ol' Nintendo had gone too far this time. Even Nintendo themselves went out of their way to position the DS as a "3rd tier" platform, presumably giving themselves an easy way to slip back into more traditional territory (GBA 2?) if it never took off. Yet take off it did, and we haven't heard a lick of that 3rd tier nonsense in awhile now. The DS became the true successor to the GBA, and Nintendo has never looked back. At this rate, it is on pace to become the best selling video game platform ever.

I admit that, even being a huge Nintendo fan myself, I was hesitant about the DS at first. The launch was a bit lukewarm, and it took awhile for the games to really pick up. It wasn't until the one two punch of Kirby Canvas Curse and Meteos that I started thinking hmm... Nintendo may have something here. Even so, it took me until a year after launch to finally pick one up. My, how things have changed. I now own more DS games than I have for any other gaming platform, and it doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. From Platformers to FPS to Racers to Music to Strategy games and everything in between, 2D or 3D, touch or traditional controls, the DS has it all. And not content with sticking to the predictable, we have seen some very unique genre-bending ideas from developers, such as Trauma Center: Under the Knife, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Elite Beat Agents and the recent game within the games within the game (confused yet?) Retro Game Challenge. This DS truly has a software lineup unlike any other.

Perhaps more important than simply creating a profitable platform, however, has been Nintendo's overwhelming success in vastly expanding the video gaming market beyond the usual teenage male gamer demographic. Love it or hate it, the game market is shifting, and Nintendo is the key force behind it. The DS started this trend with games such as Nintendogs, Brain Age, and Animal Crossing which appeal to a wider variety of gamers, including the previously difficult to sell to (or nearly non-existent) female, adult and elderly gaming demographics. Though there is still a portion of self-proclaimed "core" gamers who are violently fighting this shift, most agree that it is only a good thing for the industry, in the long run.

So my heartfelt congratulations goes out to Nintendo on a well deserved success. Now keep the games coming. I'm looking at you NOA... where is my Professor Layton 2? GET ON IT.

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Good post, agreed on all counts. The DS really is something special.

I wish the same would happen to the Wii, game library wise. It was happening, but there's been a halt of late. I feel it's about to start again, but we need some first-party Nintendo goodness to help out.

Congrats to Nintendo, yeah.

Posted by

Griptor

on: 03/14/09, 09:25

Agreed as well. Every time I look back on the DS launch and remember how lukewarm I myself was to it, I cringe a little. I bought into the hype that the PSP was going to blow it clean out of the water (though that was a short-lived thought).

A year later, I bought Animal Crossing WW. And never looked back.

And I am sick to my stomach and constantly sad when I look at my DS, in its "broken" state (it still works, but I have to use a thumbtack to turn it on/off -_-). I REALLY appreciate that damn system.

The variety of games on it... wow. And the JRPGs and SRPGs avaialbel on the thing now is freaking ASTOUNDING. Literally makes me say "wow" every time I walk into a store.

100 million. Congrats, fer sure.

Posted by

roknin

on: 03/15/09, 00:36

It is a shame that the Wii hasn't caught on in the same way, but I think it has a bit of a tougher sell to 3rd parties. Whereas on handhelds 3rd parties look at the DS versus the PSP and the DS is by far the larger market and making by far more game sales, on home consoles it has pretty much turned into Wii versus PS360 multiconsole games, where the Wii market is about the same as the PS360 market, yet 3rd party games still seem to sell best on PS360 versus Wii alone. Hell a lot of 3rd party games sell better on 360 alone versus Wii alone. But the support does seem to be picking up a tad bit, and I think it will only get better from this point on.

Posted by

Zero

on: 03/16/09, 06:23

YEAH, that's a lot of DS sales.
i wonder how the DSi will sell. only the future will tell..

Posted by

Oni Link

on: 03/18/09, 07:17

DSi is going to be huge. The only thing holding it back is they are pricing it ABOVE what the DS Lite has been sitting at for awhile. But if Nintendo sees DSi not quite selling as well as it should, they can just drop it in price quick anyway.

A part of me thinks it's not really worth the upgrade, but then another part sees that Wario Ware DSi downloadable game and thinks... I NEED IT.

Posted by

Zero

on: 03/18/09, 20:23

yeah, I'm unsure as to whether i should purchase a DSi. I would if they were a little cheaper. Downloading games sounds good.

Posted by

Oni Link

on: 03/19/09, 08:37

It comes with 1000 DSi Points for downloadable software at launch. Pretty sweet.

Posted by

Anand

on: 03/22/09, 01:25

There's a couple DSWare games that have me very intrigued, but overall I'm just gonna' get my DS Lite fixed (finally got the replacement power switch in the mail today) and stick with that. Just no money to spare, and my next system purchase will be a $150 360 Pro.

- nin

Posted by

roknin

on: 03/27/09, 07:29

The DS is about the closest thing to matching the enjoyment I had from the SNES era. So indeed the DS rocks.

Posted by

Junkie_XL

on: 03/27/09, 20:49