Nintendo Starts To Cool Down
近年来，任天堂(Nintendo Co.)在视频游戏领域大获成功，但现在它的地位开始受到威胁。今年3月，任天堂的Wii游戏机16个月来首次让出了日本市场销量冠军的宝座。与此同时，长期高居日本销量榜首的任天堂游戏软件，最近几个月也落后于定位游戏狂的新游戏。Associated Press《生化危机5》之类针对核心玩家的重量级游戏在其他平台上推出，暴露出了Wii在技术上的劣势。对近年来利润和销量飙升的任天堂公司来说，这一变化是个令人担忧的新趋势。任天堂的成功主要归功于2006年推出的Wii。这款游戏机拥有感应手柄，引入了保龄球和网球等一系列游戏，将游戏市场扩展到了休闲玩家。但分析师们表示，有迹象显示支撑Wii增长的日本视频游戏玩家的热情正开始消退。休闲玩家不会大量购买各种游戏软件，至少购买速度比不上狂热玩家，因为他们通常满足于一遍又一遍地玩同一款游戏。任天堂总裁岩田聪(Satoru Iwata)在一次采访时表示，目前日本市场整体势头不是很强劲。因此，我们需要采取一些措施再次激发市场热情。他在今年年初说，《Wii Music》和《动物之森》(Animal Crossing)等新开发的休闲游戏未能重振Wii的日本市场，没有达到公司期望。《动物之森》是一款针对休闲玩家的社交模拟游戏。对任天堂及其竞争对手索尼(Sony)和微软(Microsoft)来说，日本市场至关重要。日本是全球仅次于美国的第二大游戏市场，根据研究公司和杂志出版商Enterbrain的数据，截至3月29日的12个月，日本游戏市场销售额为55亿美元左右。而且，日本一向是全球消费趋势的风向标。日本消费者曾经站在游戏界向休闲游戏转变的前沿。任天堂便携游戏机DS的诸多划时代游戏，例如《Brain Age》和《任天狗》(Nintendogs)都是先在日本大获成功；日本市场仍被视为新创意的先期试验田。东京KBC Securities分析师Hiroshi Kamide说，通常的观点是你现在看到日本流行什么，两到三年后就会在海外看到。尽管任天堂的Wii销量远超竞争对手，仍然是日本以外的销量冠军；但索尼的PlayStation 3上个月将Wii赶下了日本销量榜首的宝座。按照Enterbrain的数据，索尼PS3上个月卖出了146,948台，超过了Wii的99,335台，微软的Xbox 360销量为43,172台。总的来说，日本游戏市场一直在下滑，截至3月份的财年销售额下降了18%。由于国内需求走软，任天堂在今年1月下调了对当年财年Wii游戏机和软件的销量预期。任天堂还下调了DS游戏的销量预计，但上调了游戏机的预期，主要受新机型DSi的推出提振。更为轻薄的DSi拥有更大的屏幕和内置摄像头，于去年11月在日本推出，本月在美国和欧洲开卖。尽管在游戏机销量方面占据领先，但任天堂在吸引Wii用户购买大量游戏软件方面一直不如竞争对手。截至去年12月底，任天堂平均每台Wii大约卖出了6.9份游戏，而索尼的PlayStation 3这一销量是7.3份。如果排除Wii随机附送的《Wii Sports》以及与第二个手柄捆绑销售的《Wii Play》，任天堂的这一数据可能还会更低。微软3月份表示，平均每台Xbox 360已经售出了8.2份游戏软件，不过该公司没有指明具体的时间段。不过，这些数据只是美国市场的，而且得益于Xbox 360比PS3和Wii提前一年上市，这款游戏软件销售的时间也更长。由于海外市场销量持续增长，本土市场表现疲软，日本市场目前只占据任天堂总销量的13%，较两年前的32%明显下滑。与此同时，由于更多收入来自于欧元和美元，任天堂的利润已经更多地受到日圆走强的负面影响。由于日圆走强，日本公司的海外收益兑换为日圆时会减少。Daisuke Wakabayashi / Yukari Iwatani Kane相关阅读任天堂在美国推出DSi游戏机 2009-03-26任天堂新音乐游戏上市 2009-01-02 本文涉及股票或公司document.write (truthmeter('2009年04月09日08:35', 'SNE'));索尼公司（又名:新力公司）英文名称：Sony Co. (ADS)总部地点：日本上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：SNEdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年04月09日08:35', 'MSFT'));Microsoft Co.总部地点：美国上市地点：纳斯达克股票代码：MSFTdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年04月09日08:35', '7974.OK'));Nintendo Co.总部地点：日本上市地点：日本大阪交易所股票代码：7974document.write (truthmeter('2009年04月09日08:35', 'NTDOY'));Nintendo Co. (ads)总部地点：日本上市地点：美国场外交易粉单市场(Pink Sheet)股票代码：NTDOYdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年04月09日08:35', '6758.TO'));Sony Co.总部地点：日本上市地点：东京证交所股票代码：6758
After years of videogaming success, Nintendo Co. is beginning to look vulnerable.Sales of its Wii console were eclipsed by a rival game system in the key Japanese market in March for the first time in 16 months. Meanwhile, sales of Nintendo games, which have long been top sellers in Japan, have fallen behind new titles targeted at hard-core gamers in recent months.The shifts mark a new, worrisome trend for Nintendo, whose profit and sales have surged in recent years. Its success has been largely driven by the 2006 release of the Wii, which expanded the game market to casual players with a motion-sensing controller that ushered in a selection of games such as bowling and tennis.But analysts say there are signs that the enthusiasm of casual Japanese videogame players who underpinned Wii's growth is starting to wane. Casual players aren't stocking up on extra games, at least not at the pace that hard-core gamers do, because casual players often are content to play the same titles over and over.'The Japanese market is not very strong right now overall. So we need to do something to re-energize it,' Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said in an interview. Earlier this year, he said recent casual games such as Wii Music and Animal Crossing, a social simulation game aimed at casual players, had failed to revive the Wii market in Japan and didn't live up to expectations.Japan is crucial for Nintendo and rivals Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. It is the world's second-largest game market after the U.S., accounting for about $5.5 billion in sales in the 12 months ended March 29, according to Enterbrain, a research firm and magazine publisher.What's more, Japan tends to be an early indicator for global consumer trends. Japanese consumers were at the forefront of the shift to casual games. Unconventional titles for Nintendo's handheld DS machine, such as Brain Age and Nintendogs, first became hits in Japan and the market is still seen as an early testing ground for new concepts.'The usual idea is that whatever you see happening in Japan, you tend to see overseas two to three years later,' said Hiroshi Kamide, an analyst at KBC Securities in Tokyo.While Nintendo's Wii has far outsold rivals and continues to be the top seller outside Japan, sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 surpassed those of the Wii in Japan last month. Sony sold 146,948 PS3 consoles for the month, while 99,335 Wii units were sold, according to Enterbrain. Microsoft sold 43,172 Xbox 360 consoles.Overall, the Japanese game market has been in a slump, with sales dropping 18% in the fiscal year ended in March. Soft domestic demand prompted Nintendo in January to lower its sales forecasts for Wii consoles and software for the fiscal year.Nintendo also cut its sales forecast for DS games, but raised its outlook for the device because of the introduction of a new model, the DSi. Thinner with a larger screen and a built-in camera, the DSi was released in November in Japan and came out this month in the U.S. and Europe.Despite its lead in game consoles, Nintendo has had less success than rivals getting Wii owners to buy a large catalog of games for their machines.Nintendo has sold roughly 6.9 games for every Wii console while Sony has sold 7.3 software titles per PlayStation 3 machine as of the end of December. Nintendo's figures would be even lower if not for the inclusion of Wii Sports, which comes free with the Wii console, and Wii Play, which is bundled with an additional controller.Microsoft said in March that it had sold 8.2 games per Xbox 360 machine though it didn't specify over what time period. However, those figures are only for the U.S. and are helped by a one-year head start on the PS3 and Wii, allowing it more time to sell games.Because of continued sales growth overseas and weakness at home, Japan now accounts for 13% of Nintendo's total sales compared with 32% two years ago.Meanwhile, with more of its revenue generated in euros and U.S. dollars, Nintendo's earnings have grown more exposed to the negative impact of a stronger yen, which decreases revenue made overseas when converted back into the Japanese currency.Daisuke Wakabayashi / Yukari Iwatani Kane
After years of videogaming success, Nintendo Co. is beginning to look vulnerable.Sales of its Wii console were eclipsed by a rival game system in the key Japanese market in March for the first time in 16 months. Meanwhile, sales of Nintendo games, which have long been top sellers in Japan, have fallen behind new titles targeted at hard-core gamers in recent months.The shifts mark a new, worrisome trend for Nintendo, whose profit and sales have surged in recent years. Its success has been largely driven by the 2006 release of the Wii, which expanded the game market to casual players with a motion-sensing controller that ushered in a selection of games such as bowling and tennis.But analysts say there are signs that the enthusiasm of casual Japanese videogame players who underpinned Wii's growth is starting to wane. Casual players aren't stocking up on extra games, at least not at the pace that hard-core gamers do, because casual players often are content to play the same titles over and over.'The Japanese market is not very strong right now overall. So we need to do something to re-energize it,' Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said in an interview. Earlier this year, he said recent casual games such as Wii Music and Animal Crossing, a social simulation game aimed at casual players, had failed to revive the Wii market in Japan and didn't live up to expectations.Japan is crucial for Nintendo and rivals Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. It is the world's second-largest game market after the U.S., accounting for about $5.5 billion in sales in the 12 months ended March 29, according to Enterbrain, a research firm and magazine publisher.What's more, Japan tends to be an early indicator for global consumer trends. Japanese consumers were at the forefront of the shift to casual games. Unconventional titles for Nintendo's handheld DS machine, such as Brain Age and Nintendogs, first became hits in Japan and the market is still seen as an early testing ground for new concepts.'The usual idea is that whatever you see happening in Japan, you tend to see overseas two to three years later,' said Hiroshi Kamide, an analyst at KBC Securities in Tokyo.While Nintendo's Wii has far outsold rivals and continues to be the top seller outside Japan, sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 surpassed those of the Wii in Japan last month. Sony sold 146,948 PS3 consoles for the month, while 99,335 Wii units were sold, according to Enterbrain. Microsoft sold 43,172 Xbox 360 consoles.Overall, the Japanese game market has been in a slump, with sales dropping 18% in the fiscal year ended in March. Soft domestic demand prompted Nintendo in January to lower its sales forecasts for Wii consoles and software for the fiscal year.Nintendo also cut its sales forecast for DS games, but raised its outlook for the device because of the introduction of a new model, the DSi. Thinner with a larger screen and a built-in camera, the DSi was released in November in Japan and came out this month in the U.S. and Europe.Despite its lead in game consoles, Nintendo has had less success than rivals getting Wii owners to buy a large catalog of games for their machines.Nintendo has sold roughly 6.9 games for every Wii console while Sony has sold 7.3 software titles per PlayStation 3 machine as of the end of December. Nintendo's figures would be even lower if not for the inclusion of Wii Sports, which comes free with the Wii console, and Wii Play, which is bundled with an additional controller.Microsoft said in March that it had sold 8.2 games per Xbox 360 machine though it didn't specify over what time period. However, those figures are only for the U.S. and are helped by a one-year head start on the PS3 and Wii, allowing it more time to sell games.Because of continued sales growth overseas and weakness at home, Japan now accounts for 13% of Nintendo's total sales compared with 32% two years ago.Meanwhile, with more of its revenue generated in euros and U.S. dollars, Nintendo's earnings have grown more exposed to the negative impact of a stronger yen, which decreases revenue made overseas when converted back into the Japanese currency.Daisuke Wakabayashi / Yukari Iwatani Kane