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Nintendo DSi not starting out so well in North America? But how?
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07/08/09 3:40 pm |  |
So the DSi isn't selling that great in North America eh? I sure hope Nintendo isn't TOO surprised.
Here's my take on the whole thing:
1. Not available in white in North America. White was likely the most popular colour of DS Lite. Why did we only get the DSi in black and pastel blue? The white DSi exists in Europe and Japan so why not here? A lot of adults may want a white DSi, including myself, but they can't get one unless they import. Maybe NOA didn't want confusion between the white DS Lite and the white DSi? Whatever the reason this was a lame decision.
2. NOA continued to promote the DS Lite. There were actually several very prominent bundles advertised AFTER the DSi launch that included a DS Lite. A smart company would have metered down stock of the DS Lite and then completely replaced it with the DSi at launch to prevent buyer confusion and quickly build a user-base so developers will have reason to support the new features. The only reason those bundles didn't include a DSi is because Nintendo knew they'd have a hard time moving the DS Lite after DSi launch.
3. DSi is TOO EXPENSIVE. This one is a given, seventy bucks extra for a machine that has very few significant updates? Maybe only if you wanna maintain the same price point on the DS Lite. The DS Lite should have been almost gone by the time DSi launched, and the DSi should have been priced high enough to indicate that it is SUPERIOR, without being so expensive as to make a buyer consider a new or used DS Lite instead.
4. Advertise to your user-base. Instead of marketing to the difficult people that don't already own a DS, show the millions of DS Lite owners what they'll get if they update. Get those great DSi GAMES from Japan over here QUICKER and give it up with the educational/application style software until you realize who is buying these things.
As anyone knows, I'm a huge DS fan. I was slow to adopt at first but now I have a pile of purchased games (much more than 30 at last count) but I still don't have a DSi. If Nintendo can't sell one to ME what hope do they have with anyone else? *
(* Disclaimer: I do really want one, it's just the DSi is a little expensive, isn't available in white, and I'm worried we won't get some of the cool DSWare games Japan is going to see... So I wait, but this is only partly because I choose to.)
Here's my take on the whole thing:
1. Not available in white in North America. White was likely the most popular colour of DS Lite. Why did we only get the DSi in black and pastel blue? The white DSi exists in Europe and Japan so why not here? A lot of adults may want a white DSi, including myself, but they can't get one unless they import. Maybe NOA didn't want confusion between the white DS Lite and the white DSi? Whatever the reason this was a lame decision.
2. NOA continued to promote the DS Lite. There were actually several very prominent bundles advertised AFTER the DSi launch that included a DS Lite. A smart company would have metered down stock of the DS Lite and then completely replaced it with the DSi at launch to prevent buyer confusion and quickly build a user-base so developers will have reason to support the new features. The only reason those bundles didn't include a DSi is because Nintendo knew they'd have a hard time moving the DS Lite after DSi launch.
3. DSi is TOO EXPENSIVE. This one is a given, seventy bucks extra for a machine that has very few significant updates? Maybe only if you wanna maintain the same price point on the DS Lite. The DS Lite should have been almost gone by the time DSi launched, and the DSi should have been priced high enough to indicate that it is SUPERIOR, without being so expensive as to make a buyer consider a new or used DS Lite instead.
4. Advertise to your user-base. Instead of marketing to the difficult people that don't already own a DS, show the millions of DS Lite owners what they'll get if they update. Get those great DSi GAMES from Japan over here QUICKER and give it up with the educational/application style software until you realize who is buying these things.
As anyone knows, I'm a huge DS fan. I was slow to adopt at first but now I have a pile of purchased games (much more than 30 at last count) but I still don't have a DSi. If Nintendo can't sell one to ME what hope do they have with anyone else? *
(* Disclaimer: I do really want one, it's just the DSi is a little expensive, isn't available in white, and I'm worried we won't get some of the cool DSWare games Japan is going to see... So I wait, but this is only partly because I choose to.)
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07/08/09 4:43 pm | |
Here's my take:
DS + DS Flash Cart > DSi
It's also cheaper! Do people really want to see themselves in the game? Not likely. What they DO want, is to save money on buying crappy games, and not have to carry around carts.
I also wonder how well the Nintendo Online Store will work once the shovelware starts to fill it up. Oh wait, they'll probably never get to that point at this rate...
DS + DS Flash Cart > DSi
It's also cheaper! Do people really want to see themselves in the game? Not likely. What they DO want, is to save money on buying crappy games, and not have to carry around carts.
I also wonder how well the Nintendo Online Store will work once the shovelware starts to fill it up. Oh wait, they'll probably never get to that point at this rate...
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07/08/09 5:08 pm | |
The DSWare store is already so clunky, slow and hard to navigate. If it were full... well I'm not sure what would happen...
But yeah, if Nintendo cracked down on crappy software (although a Publisher controlling content based on quality is a terrible, terrible idea) maybe players would decide to check out a store when they want a new game instead of grabbing a dozen titles off of a torrent site.
But yeah, if Nintendo cracked down on crappy software (although a Publisher controlling content based on quality is a terrible, terrible idea) maybe players would decide to check out a store when they want a new game instead of grabbing a dozen titles off of a torrent site.
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07/08/09 5:56 pm | |
About the advertising bit; they did advertise the system to no particular user base. In fact, for a while, I saw the ad's constantly on every channel I watched. Just, the ONLY feature they advertised, literally, was the camera. They didn't even show any games using the camera or any games period for that matter... If they want to sell it they should be advertising the feature that people will actually want to use, the DSiWare and SD card slot, not the useless camera that is on every other portable device in existence now. Maybe even show off the updated OS. And if they are going to advertise the camera show an actual game using it. If there even are any that do...
And yeah, the colour choices are terrible. Pastel blue and black. Black you can get in a DS Lite, so that's not new, and the blue they picked was terrible... So they might as well have just gone with the black and white again. Or... you know... release all the colours that Japan has... 'cuz maybe someone might like to actually have more than 2 choices without waiting 2 years or importing.
And yeah, the colour choices are terrible. Pastel blue and black. Black you can get in a DS Lite, so that's not new, and the blue they picked was terrible... So they might as well have just gone with the black and white again. Or... you know... release all the colours that Japan has... 'cuz maybe someone might like to actually have more than 2 choices without waiting 2 years or importing.
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08/25/09 10:16 am | |
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09/05/09 6:35 pm | |
White (and Pink) DSi out on September 13th!
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09/05/09 8:00 pm | |
Needs moar Lavender.
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