I asked around yesterday in a speculative report for G4. Here’s what my quotables had to say:

A lot of people wonder what the new console might mean for not only console gaming, but for Nintendo in general. Can the company win the “console war” for a second consecutive cycle in the wake of Wii, like it did post-NES with the Super Nintendo?

Ormond says no. “I think Nintendo is too prideful to see the real competition, and it isn’t named Microsoft or Sony,” he says, predicting that an updated and aggressively-priced Apple TV could obviate the modern console as we know it.

Pachter says yes, at least for a little while. “Of course they’ll lead. Microsoft and Sony won’t release new consoles until a couple of years after, so Nintendo will have a free pass.”  (more…)

Interpret, a leading entertainment, media and technology market research firm, today released its Interpretations report, The Phone Gaming Revolution: Do the DS and PSP Stand a Chance?, which found the number of consumers playing games on their phones increased dramatically, while gamers appear to be abandoning their DS and PSP devices.

Interpret’s New Media Measureâ„¢ data shows 43.8% of the phone/DS/PSP gaming market plays games on phones—a significant 53.2% increase over the past year—while the proportion of those who play on the DS or PSP has fallen by 13%.  Gamers appear to be defecting from their handheld gaming devices to phones to get their gaming kicks: a full 27.2% of consumers who indicate that they play games on their phones only (and not on the DS/PSP) actually own a DS or PSP, but do not actively use the device(s).

“The proliferation of highly multifunctional smartphones and messaging phones is a very real threat to the dominance by the DS and PSP of the handheld gaming market,” said Courtney Johnson, Manager of Research and Analysis at Interpret.  “Devices which satisfy a variety of entertainment and utility are fast outstripping single-function devices as consumer favorites.”

Gaming Age Forum-goer Entrement started an interesting discussion yesterday, in regards to Nintendo Wii becoming cold product. “This is not a qualitative analysis, or whether you like the Wii or Nintendo games,” he writes. “But the future doesn’t look too bright,” he says, for the following reasons:

The 3DS: Nintendo is not a big company. They have small, dedicated internal teams. With the 3DS push, could one say that many of the key Nintendo teams–the Zelda Team, after finishing SS and EAD Tokyo, who can be working on anything, with Miyamoto hinting on 3D Mario on the 3DS, could Nintendo’s dev teams already moving onto the 3DS.

The Wi___ line: The Wii____ line has been gangbusters for Nintendo. With the exception of WiiMusic, they sold millions worldwide, however, the most recent–Wii Party didn’t even chart on NPD. I hear it did respectably in Japan and I’m not aware of Europe’s reception. But such a big drop off in a such a tent-pole line seems troubling for Nintendo. (more…)