12 Nov, 2011
With the spectacular growth of social and mobile games in the last few years, some fear that it may affect the quality of games being produced. Will publishers be seduced by the siren call of making more money, or will they maintain their product quality? Others believe that the growth of such mobile and social platforms is the cause for the decline in traditional games.
Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime doesn’t think this is the case. In fact, he feels that social and mobile gaming will help push along console and handheld sales.
“The fact is, disruption happens,” said Fils-Aime at a conference Thursday. “But often, it’s not clear. The fact is that it’s a lot more complex, a lot more complicated, than conventional wisdom would have you believe.”
Fils-Aime pointed out some interesting numbers, citing a recent survey done by the ESA. Households that had game players jumped five percent in the U.S. in the last year, from 67% to 72%. It could be explained with all the iPhone and Android apps out there, along with games on Facebook, but the numbers showed that homes that had consoles have also ballooned over the last few years. Between 2007 and 2011, homes with consoles rose from 32.6% to 50.5%.
“What becomes clear is that gamers aren’t necessarily cannibalizing time from other forms of gaming so much as they’re taking it from other forms of entertainment,” explained Fils-Aime. “New forms of games are growing, but not necessarily at the expense of other forms of gaming.”
Amidst reports of Nintendo’s major revenue losses during the first half of the current fiscal year, Fils-Aime couldn’t resist adding that Nintendo is responding well to the “disruptions,” saying that the company will “both respond and continue to contribute to those disruptions.”
Via Gamasutra.
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