Nintendo Wii set for a major struggle says analyst

Posted by Michael Sawh on Wed 25 Nov 2009

Is it time for Ninty to panic?

Swinging your Wiimote appears to be losing its appeal according to one US games industry analyst who believes the Nintendo Wii may have run its gaming cause.

Cowen Group analyst Doug Cruetz reports that Ninty's motion control marvel could be fighting a losing battle with rivals Microsoft and Sony on the hardware console front.

Speaking on the possible demise of the Nintendo Wii, Cruetz said, "While we believe the Wii is likely to be a drag on overall software sales through the holiday, the impact should be limited to those publishers which have invested significantly in Wii development, with the biggest negative impact likely to be felt by Electronic Arts, which (unwisely in our view) heavily invested in Wii development for [calendar 2009]."

Creutz also believes that the festive period will be dominated by PlayStation. In a recent survey carried out by Creutz, 21 percent of respondents said they plan to purchase a PS3. 12 percent said they plan to buy a Xbox 360, while 26 percent of people surveyed said they plan to buy a Nintendo Wii. Despite putting the Wii on top of the wish list tree, that figure is considerably lower than the demand for Nintendo's flagship console over the last two years.

Head Nintendo honcho Shigeru Miyamoto recently spoke about his thoughts for the future of the Nintendo Wii reassuring fans that there was still more to come from the console platform.

However with Project Natal and PS3's motion controller set to embrace the Wii's unique selling appeal, worrying times could be ahead for Nintendo.

Link: Tech Radar & Guardian