Mario seems to be flexing his muscles more and more as the launch of the Wii draws nearer. Case in point: the number one cheerleader and president of Nintendo North America, Reggie Fils-Aime, stated that Nintendo is planning to kick the backsides of Sony and Microsoft in the next gen console wars. Fils-Aime said to USA Today, "Nintendo DS in Japan outsells all of our competitors by a factor of five to one. We are so far in advance of our handheld competitors that they’re not even on the map. That’s all based on a market expansion strategy. And that’s what we’re looking to do with home consoles."
Fils-Aime sees the situation as an inevitable event, since Nintendo is taking an entirely different route, when compared to the other two big game console manufacturers. Reggie clarified his position by saying, "Our competitors are both going down the same path. Both believe that more and more performance with a higher and higher price tag are their keys to success.”
So how does Reggie see Nintendo,s role in all of this heated competition? Fils-Aime said, "What do I see? I think our two competitors will trade share between them, while we go off and grab share in a completely different way."
Satoru Iwata, CEO of Nintendo, has often remarked that the Wii will be going after a different type of consumer-the causal and non-gaming person. In effect, Nintendo is banking on the success of its handheld DS game machine as a strong indicator that market share for gaming has shifted from the hard-core to the casual. If Nintendo is right in their logic, they may pull off more market share with its Wii than anyone thought was possible.
