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Nintendo: Apple is our greatest threat

And competing for time is greatest challenge.

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Image credit: Eurogamer
Wesley Yin-Poole avatar
News by Wesley Yin-Poole Former Editor-in-Chief
Updated on
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Nintendo sees iPhone maker Apple as its greatest threat.

Apple has emerged as a rival that could "absolutely hurt us more than Microsoft in the near term," Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told Forbes.

And the Wii and DS creator's greatest challenge? Competing with other forms of entertainment for people's time.

"It's all about time," he said. "I compete with Zynga, I compete with surfing the net, I compete with the newspaper."

Fils-Aime made a point of saying that, with 20 million gaming devices sold, Nintendo shifted more systems in 2009 than Sony and Microsoft combined. Perhaps that's why he's more concerned about the iPhone than the Xbox or PlayStation.

14 of the 20 best selling games for the current generation of gaming devices are from Nintendo, Fils-Aime mentioned.

While the iPod and iPhone are great for casual games like Angry Birds, games on the Nintendo DS can consume hours of your time, Fils-Aime reckoned - he admitted he's spent 150 hours playing DS RPG Dragon Quest IX. What?

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