One DS sold every 5 seconds in 2007
Wednesday, December 12th, 2007 at 10:45am by Jack
When I started writing this sentence, a DS was sold to some lucky consumer. By the time I finished writing that sentence, another DS was sold. According to Nintendo’s internal numbers, this dynamic basically played itself out for all of 2007, as a DS was sold roughly every five seconds. That’s about 6 million DS units sold in 2007 so far.
It’s an incredible milestone for the system, but everyone out there today seems to think it’s due for a dip sometime soon. That’s the easy analysis thogh–what if it isn’t due for a slowdown? What are some things that could ustain this growth well into 2008?
Gizmodo opined this week that a redesigned DS, complete with bigger screens and a host of new features is due. The re-launch would renew interest in the handheld much like the DS Lite did in 2006 (some of those features listed by Gizmodo aren’t really all that new, but they would be for a Nintendo handheld). I think that as soon as we see any kind of stumble from the DS, Nintendo will reveal the redesign that basically everyone and their Nintendog knows it waiting in the wings.
Or Nintendo’s Japan strategy could take hold in the States, where households start buying multiple DS’s for each member of the family. This could be playing out already, especially as parents like mine start buying up vision training and brain training games en masse. Or grandparents, for that matter.
And even if there is a slowdown, the wall at my local GameStop tells me that there won’t be a similar dip in software sales (yes, for all you literalists out there, sometimes I talk to the wall). What was once relegated to the back of the store with only one wall unit is now front and center, with at least three wall sections. The upcoming list of DS software in 2008 leads me to believe these three sections will only get more cramped. Still, a modernized redesign (that would only inimally piss off existing DS Lite owners) would be welcome.
On a related note, be sure to check out David’s upcoming Top 10 Most Anticipated DS games of 2008, which is due out here on Infendo very soon.
December 12th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
First off, I don’t know where you grabbed that crummy mock-up image but it’s not even consistent with the on-going rumors of the new DS design. The redesign is rumored to no longer have a GBA cartridge slot at all, larger buttons, larger screens, and an overall slimmer and smaller profile/silhouette. The notion of an asymmetrical design (as pictured) is really lame and out of place in a “post-I-pod” world.
Secondly, I can’t say I’m pissed off about the idea of having to buy a new model…..my Lite is starting to give up the ghost. My top screen is burning out at a steady pace (don’t even ask how many hours of playtime it takes to accomplish this…..it’s a rather ungodly number, I can promise you that) and I can’t remember the last time I played a GBA game. I still have my retro NES-styled SP for a GBA anyway (I could never get rid of that thing…just too cool and nostalgic looking).
Anyway, I first read about the rumored redesign of the DS about a month ago (it was either Kotaku or Gamasutra). According to the rumor, the new DS should debut (debut only, not release) late spring or early summer next year.
Also, a mighty mighty congratulations to Nintendo for the DS’s real landmark achievement: sometime next month the Nintendo DS will have officially outsold the Sony Playstation 2 in overall lifetime sales.
December 12th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
I don’t think we’ll see a redesign of the hardware in 2008 - it’s too soon and the system is going too strong already. Why alienate your fans when you’re selling every 5 seconds? When the system starts selling every 10 seconds, then we’ll get a redesign.
In the meantime, they could fuel interest in the system by releasing some kind of Virtual Handheld cartridge/service for Gameboy and GBA games. Make a big deal of it with commercials and everything. When people loose interest in that, release a very nice first party PDA software. Again, do plenty of commercials and print ads. Make it skinnable with wifi Pictochat to appeal to the kids, but serious enough to appeal to adults.
This could carry them into 2009, when they could launch a redesign. By this time, everyone would be ready for another Mario or Zelda game, so fuel interest in the redesign by launching with one of these games. A big appeal of the redesign could be a new OS with the Virtual Handheld and web browser built in (no need for those on cartridges anymore). The PDA stuff might be built in, too. Maybe the new hardware can come with a SD card slot to view photos and stuff.
I like Gizmodo’s redesign, but some of the features (light sensor and motion sensor) are not needed and would only make the system more expensive. They would also drain processing power and battery power. The top screen being bigger is perfect, but there would have to be a toggle switch to shrink the screen size - because games like Nervous Brickdown would not work with the screens being different sizes.
December 12th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
I should note that I don’t keep up with all the news and rumors, so my previous post is just my own speculation/opinions.
December 12th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Good point, Kale — that image is from Kotaku from a while ago. Just one of the early ones that Google Images coughed up, so I used it. Gizmodo has a much better mock up, IMO.
December 12th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
So…the wall talks back to you or what?
December 12th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
I don’t think it’s too likely that the DS 2 will be out in 2008.
The GBA came out in 2001, SP in 2003, micro in 2005.
The DS came out in 2004, lite in 2006…
Following that pattern we’ll see the equivalent of the DS micro out mid 2008 with the DS2 being released either very late 2008 or early 2009. Though with the popularity of the DS, they could easily hold off on releasing the DS2 until late 2009/early 2010.
As for Gizmondo’s idea, I think it looks awesome, all of the features they mention are exactly what I’d want. Only problem is with that kind of screen size and with the battery it’d need it’d be pretty heavy…
December 12th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
“One DS sold every 5 seconds in 2007”
Jack, I think we need to put that in perspective: there are about 5 people born every second! So, Nintendo still has a loooong way to go before they cover their whole potential install base…
December 12th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Right as always, Invis. What we need to do is get brand new DS’s into maternity wards, so the doctors can sell them to these new people as they are born.
Brain Age 2 and a snip DS bundles… I can see them now!
December 13th, 2007 at 3:20 am
I hope they fix the dot pitch on the next version of the DS. I was actually pretty disappointed when I got my Lite, I had hoped it was much better than the phat. I LOVE the screen of my GBA Micro, is so clear and crisp. Please Nintendo, make a DS with the same quality screen as the Micro.
December 13th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
I love my micro also! But I thought the DS Lite had the same technology behind its screens…. you mean the screen resolution is lower on the Lite screens than on the micro, Probst? (I’m going to have to look that up!)
December 13th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
They (DS and Micro displays) might be the same technology, I just think the screen on the Micro produces a much smoother image. It might be that the physical size of the screen is what makes the difference. I can see the “screendoor effect” on the DS but not at all on the Micro no matter how closely I look.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy_Micro#Praise