Nintendo: "Systems designed for the primary purpose of playing games are doing fine"

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has disputed concerns that consoles are in decline.

He argued to audiences at the BMOCapital Markets Digital Entertainment Conference yesterday that, although the rise of mobile gaming and the internet meant "we're facing challenges today that never existed before," dedicated gaming hardware was not in danger.

"Sales of current consoles this Christmas period are up 45 per cent compared to the same period for the last generation of consoles," he claimed.

Game sales were up 26 per cent, he reasoned. "Some observers might think that 5 years ago in the glory days of the PS2, Game Boy Advance, that those days could never be matched.

"As good as the good old days were, things could and did get much better. Systems designed exclusively for the primary purpose of playing games are doing just fine."

Fils-Aims also argued that, though there has been much negativity around the health of Nintendo's Wii business this year, its sales tend to leap around Christmas.

Around 50 per cent of the company's hardware sales last year were concentrated in November and December. "For everyone else that number was just over 40 percent."

For software, 44 per cent of Nintendo's annual sales happened in that period, against an average of 33 per cent for Microsoft and Sony.

"The holidays are more important to Nintendo than to other manufacturers. We have a distinct edge when it comes to gift-giving, and it's no doubt because of the familiarity and recognition of both our brand and key franchises."

He felt this year would be no different, thanks to high profile titles such as Epic Mickey and the latest Donkey Kong game, plus the new red version of the Wii.