Nintendo executives are almost certainly upset that the Sony (SNE) PlayStation outsold the company’s Wii gaming system in Japan last month. The Wii has held a large margin in unit sales for several quarters.
Nintendo does not intend to take the news lying down. It will launch the latest version of the “Wii Sports” in June.
According to Reuters, “Wii Sports Resort, which will hit overseas markets in July, lets users throw a frisbee to a virtual dog or duel one another with swords with the controller, which looks like a TV remote and enables gamers to direct on-screen play by swinging it like a racket or baseball bat.”
Nintendo has built a huge worldwide following for its consumer electronics devices because they are less expensive than the rival Sony PS3 and Microsoft (MSFT) Xbox 360 platforms and also are, by most accounts, much easier to use. This gives Nintendo a much larger market which includes casual game players.
It is not clear why Microsoft and Sony have not taken a page from Nintendo by offering less expensive and less complex versions of their consoles, but they have not bothered. Nintendo may hold the low-end of the market, but that is where all of the unit sales are.
Douglas A. McIntyre
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks