Nintendo's Secret Weapon: The DS

The Nintendo DS is three years old. By the standards of video game consoles, that is a life time. But, according to The New York Times in the US "the hand-held DS outsold the Wii in November 1.53 million units to 981,000, according to sales figures compiled by NPD Group."

That means that the DS is outselling not only the Wii but also the Sony (SNE) PS3 and Microsoft MSFT) Xbox 360. Those game consoles cost about three times what the DS does, but they are also much harder to use.

The lesson of the DS may be that the core "gamer" universe is not getting much bigger. It is populated by 20-somethings and teenagers which can make their way through a thick instruction manuals, if they need one at all. They have friends who are up at all hours to play on the internet. They understand the complex video games that have come to market in the last five years For them, the $500 investment in an Xbox 360 or PS3 is worth it.

That leaves million of people who like to play more simple games, games that can be enjoyed by younger children and older adults. This is a huge market, and its wants a video game unit of its own, one that is easy to use and easy to carry.

The dynamics of video gaming are changing, and an old console from Nintendo is sitting right in the sweet spot.

Douglas A. McIntyre