As keen as they are to dismiss it, the fact that Sony and Nintendo spend so much time stressing the lack of impact mobile gaming is having on their respective handheld businesses suggest it's a sore point.
Last week, SCEA head Jack Tretton compared the Hollywood glitz and glamour of PS Vita to what he described as the 50c home movie feel of mobile games development.
Now, in a more stats-based attack, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has suggested users of social gaming platforms actually play more handheld games, rather than less.
On the up
Iwata detailed the numbers during a presentation to stockholders, claiming that users of popular social gaming networks in Japan such as GREE or DeNA's Mobage are more likely to use their DS than owners of the handheld that don't visit such platforms.
Mobile and social gamers in the country purchase an average of 1.5 DS games a year compared to 1.2 games purchased by standard DS owners.
In the US, Nintendo's figures state, Facebook game players tap into more DS games than the platform's average.
In all, Satoru stated, if there has been any impact on Nintendo DS's business, it's not been big enough to decipher.
Gamers love games
"If there is a causal correlation, those playing both Nintendo DS and social games will play with Nintendo DS less frequently or become less likely to purchase Nintendo DS software," said Iwata.
"The only explanation I can find is that these users love games. They are spending more time both on Mobage or GREE and Nintendo DS."
Of course, Nintendo DS was already an established platform with around 80 million units sold by the time gaming on smartphones and social platforms began to take hold from 2008 onwards.
Indeed, notably absent from Iwata's statistics was figures relating to 3DS, which is the format set to take on social mobile gaming in the coming years.
To date, estimates suggest only around 3 million 3DSs have been sold worldwide.
[source: Gamasutra]
News
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.
Related Articles
Feature
Apr 29th, 2024
Hot Five: Supercell’s Squad Busters levels up, retro Nintendo on iOS, and Genshin Impact’s worst month yet
Top Stories
News
2 hours, 53 minutes ago
Squad Busters has 20 million pre registrations with 30 million in its sights
News
3 hours, 15 minutes ago
Carry1st's African Cup to feature Call of Duty: Mobile tournament with $15,000 prize pool
News
4 hours, 15 minutes ago
Q1 2024 saw $2.4 billion in games industry investments, while M&As are up for the first time since 2022
News
6 hours, 36 minutes ago
Apple's AI plans trigger $110 billion stock buyback despite declining sales
Feature
1 hour, 29 minutes ago
Apple and Nintendo's Delta blues: A legal timebomb or just the new normal?
Feature
6 hours, 30 minutes ago
Mobile Mavens: The industry wades in on Squad Busters from its “transformative impact” to being “corporate box ticking”
Feature
8 hours, 13 minutes ago
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from the morality of AI to Dadish’s 3D journey
Events
GameDev Atlantic 2024 | May 4th | |
LA Games Conference 2024 | North America | May 6th |
Mobidictum Meetup Berlin May 2024 | Europe | May 7th |
Valencia Indie Summit 2024 | Europe | May 16th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Israel Mobile Summit 2024 | Middle East | Jun 6th |
WN Conference Istanbul 2024 | Jun 11th | |
DevGAMM Vilnius 2024 | Europe | Jun 14th |