Nintendo ignores kids - analyst
They just can't win, can they?
Poor old Nintendo. One minute everyone's saying they're "too kiddy", the next analysts are accusing them of ignoring children all together - and blaming that for the company's falling profits.
Nintendo's half-year financial report reveals a drop in profits of $82.7 million from the same period last year - that's a fall of 21.1 per cent. Sales were also down by 6.2 per cent to $1.49 billion.
According to Nintendo, the lower profits are due to increased research and development costs as they prepare to launch the Revolution next year. The company also attributed the drop to lower sales of GameCube consoles and software, particularly in the US.
But according to BNP Paribas analyst Takeshi Tajima, there's more to it than that: "Nintendo is focusing its energy on DS, but it has not done that well with it so far in the United States, in part because of a delay in some game launches," Tajima told Reuters.
"The company has also been criticised for ignoring the kids' market, focusing instead on capturing women and older adults."
But don't panic, Tajima has a brilliant solution - bring out a new Pokemon game for the DS! Why didn't Nintendo think of that? Except, of course, they certainly already did and just haven't announced it yet.
We'll bring you more on Nintendo's attempts at "capturing women" just as soon as we get it.