The Threat from Cupertino

Casey wrote a piece for Kombo.com regarding Apple’s increasing movement into the portable gaming space, and how it affects Nintendo.  Highlights below, full article available here.

The reality is that Apple’s mobile platforms all better meet the demands of mainstream gamers than Nintendo’s DS models. Apple’s devices are miles ahead of Nintendo’s when it comes to multifunctionality. It’s just not a fair fight to compare a DSi to an iPod Touch when it comes to web browsing, listening to music or accomplishing other, non-gaming tasks. The majority of the DSi’s new features were meant to answer these deficiencies, and they did so poorly. 

Nintendo must view Apple as a legitimate threat to its long-term primacy in the portable market, or face certain peril. As it stands, iPhone is a technically superior platform with a compelling user interface and an unbeaten software distribution system. It’s also vastly more capable for non-gaming tasks. The 3DS needs to not just be as compelling, but much more compelling than the forthcoming iPhone update in order to defend the crown.

This is the danger Nintendo accepted when choosing the “mainstream” road in this generation. While incredibly lucrative, the mainstream is also liable to jump off one bandwagon and onto another quickly. Apple currently holds all of the trump cards that Nintendo played just a few years back with their positioning of the DS and the Wii. To write off Apple in this market is just as deadly as it was to write them off in the music, phone and now eBook markets. Apple understands content, and has created devices that make exploring it a joyful experience. 

Whether Mr. Fils-Aime wants to admit it or not, every minute spent playing a game on an iPhone is one less minute with a Nintendo product. And by all accounts, time is running short.

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