New Gaming on the block: Ninetendo gets a taste of fresh rivalry

New Gaming on the block: Ninetendo gets a taste of fresh rivalry

After reigning over thousands of video gamers and handheld game lovers for years, Nintendo's Game Boy series is confronted with fresh rivals who seem threatening enough to carve substantial inroads into the miniature game devices market.

The Game Boy is a tiny, hi-tech device for gaming and the sole king of this vertical, a position it may soon have to share with new rivals, with game creators focusing on new playgrounds like cell phones and private MP3 instruments.

Nokia's N-Gage offers a mobile phone experience created specially for gaming. Sony's portable PlayStation from last year allows all; games, music and movies. Another gadget, named Gizmondo, is a combination of all features plus boasts of GPST add-ons. All this recent competition has Nintendo scouring for better products to ensure its peak position in the market, launching a tinier version of Game Boy to that effect.

Though the gaming market is expanding with these organic product developments, the hottest foray for various companies seems to be in the mobile phone arena. Estimates indicate that the global mobile gaming market, which was at $345 million in 2004, is ready to rake in $590 million in the current year. Right now, that is quite a small niche in the total $7 billion industry of video gaming, but technological advances in cell technology promise more growth in the future.

Game creators are of the opinion that the line between conventional video games and hand-sized gaming devices is beginning to melt. For instance, one will soon be able to carry his game, being played on a home installed Playstation, to his car, in a sudden traveling spree, just by operating a single control on the handheld version. Nintendo's CEO, Satoru Iwata, says, "In the long run, we will see a merging of mobile-gaming and mobile-phone technologies."

Meanwhile, the craze for handheld gaming is growing tremendously day by day. The comfort of being able to play one's favorite games anywhere through these devices is something irresistible for the target market. Nintendo currently controls 98% of the handheld gaming market, a lead which has been growing since 1989, when the Game Boy series was launched. It has been focusing on this niche ever since Sony overtook the lead in the home based video gaming segment. Game Boy alone raked in 50% of the company's sales revenue in 2004 and about 70% of the corresponding profits.

However, with newer competition getting more aggressive, the scenario here is again set to change. The biggest rival looming on the horizon is Sony, with its Portable Playstation taking the market by storm. The PSP is touted as the pioneering hand sized gaming device to play on miniature discs, offering more flexibility than nay other such gadget. Sony calls it the Walkman of the 21st century, which everything, games, movies and music. The net has been cast on the difficult-to-capture 20 plus market by offering them something to occupy their vacant time on long drives.

The PSP has finer graphical resolution and in-built wireless connectivity, making control of games simpler and instinctive. However, the lowdown is the need to use company made mini discs or UMDs which cause tremendous battery drain. The battery life is also half that of the Nintendo DS. The finer resolution makes loading slower and of course, the PSP is twice as costly as the Nintendo DS.

On the other hand, the Nintendo DS shows off dual screens, touch screen operation, wireless connectivity, and voice controlled gaming through an integrated sound system. On the flop side, some gamers complain of discomfort on the DS due to its bulkiness. The prominent negative is that it plays only games and nothing else.

Though the Nintendo CEO claims there is no cause for worry from Sony entering the market, analysts call that approach as illogical, given the fact that Sony ventures into a market always with its homework done and its strategy for longevity in place.

One plus which gives Nintendo a strong foothold currently is its wide array of child friendly games which appeal to parents concerned about violence and bad language.

Whatever the case, CEO Iwata does have an edge currently. The existence of 150 million Game Boy machines globally and a library of 1,300 games gives it a comfortable establishment which Sony can overtake only in some years, if it does. However, agreeing that complacency can ruin everything, Iwata does see a strategy change in the future.