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Is Nintendo back, or almost back at having a monopoly?

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Azelover

Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was.
I don't wanna be provocative, or bother anybody. This is simply a technical question.

I know most people game on mobile phones these days. But back in the NES days a lot of people played on computers, yet it was still considered a Nintendo dominated market because PCs weren't technically "consoles".

There's no other big handheld system out now. The Vita is waning, and there's nothing else on the horizon. Is Nintendo temporarily the owner of the handheld market?
 

Shancake

Junior Member
I don’t think you can compare the NES to a computer like you can with a 3DS to an iPhone but that’s just me. I don’t think they’ve got the monopoly on anything at the moment.
 
They've had a monopoly on the handheld market for several years already, vita has provided less competetion than the master system did to the nes
 

NSESN

Member
Nintendo has a monopoly on handheld market in the west for almost a decade now, and in Japan since Monster Hunter stopped being made for sony handhelds. Switch is changing nothing.
 

Rival

Gold Member
They've never really not owned the dedicated handheld market.

I guess psp sold a bunch of systems but ds still outsold it almost 2:1.
 

low-G

Member
Oh yeah I mean Nintendo always dominated handhelds, and now that they have put 100% of their strength there, they'll dominate it for a long time...

Only, mobile gaming has already completely eclipsed them, but it really is a separate thing.
 
Sure they have a monopoly over the 'dedicated' handheld market, but mobile has completely usurped the idea of a dedicated handheld being the way the majority games on the go.

A monopoly in a waning market is a correct assessment in my opinion.
 
Yeah, if you ignore phones, they've almost always had a monopoly (outside of PSP era). But ignoring phones is a big thing to do. Its where the vast majority of mobile gaming is done these days.
 
Nintendo is set to dominate arguably the most shrinking space in gaming, and hopefully (maybe successfully?) turn the shrinking around back into growth. I think they can succeed if they keep switch with a fresh mass market focus with its marketing push while keeping their own software quality up, but that's a tall order.
 
The 3DS will end up selling like 70M units. They never left on the handheld space
Vita probably sold <15M. Don't think it had much of an impact on their business.
 

goldenpp72

Member
Vita was never alive enough to wane, it never competed, so this isn't really anything new. The Switch will likely have outsold the Vita entirely within its first year.
 

Usobuko

Banned
Monopoly make it sounds bad when

1) they have been challenged before in the traditional space

2) and it is now being sieged from other monopoly / duopoly.

Their market is shrinking rapidly. Mobile took over.

Edit: typo, I should sleep.
 
Monopoly make it sounds back when

1) they have been challenge before in the traditional space

2) and it is now being sieged from other monopoly / duopoly.

Their marker is shrinking rapidly. Mobile took over.
They'll likely never get the 250M of the Wii era, but they can probably continue to thrive as long as consoles are viable if they differentiate and have one singular platform
 

phanphare

Banned
they've literally never had any competition in the dedicated handheld space. the psp was the closest thing but the ds was a fucking monster.

so they're not back, they never left
 

Servbot24

Banned
Right now they have less of a monopoly than they ever have. GB and GBA were obviously borderline on being the only options. Although PSP was successful, DS dominated it. 3DS also dominated Vita, but lost significant ground to smartphones. Now it seems Nintendo is aiming for a compromise between handheld and console due in part to the tumultuous handheld market. Switch is successful but is extremely, extremely far from being a "monopoly". It is a very niche market with under 10 million consoles sold versus literally billions of smartphone users.
 
nintendo... monopoly... in 2017

i want what OP is smoking
L5-6xYoQWwBfh-H76fZnW6KnFzcz0qOr.jpg

i don't know either
 

zelas

Member
I don’t think you can compare the NES to a computer like you can with a 3DS to an iPhone but that’s just me. I don’t think they’ve got the monopoly on anything at the moment.
It's not just you. Mainstream consumers are actively choosing smartphones as their sole mobile gaming device at the expense of the entire handheld market.

Besides the PSP selling 80 million is not what a monopoly looks like. The 3DS failing to reach 50% of what the DS sold, and even selling less than the psp, is not what a monoply looks like. Being one of the last competitors left after having your market shrink so much is more just a sole survivor.
 

SMD

Member
Are you serious? The second best selling console was the master system and the NES/Famicom outsold it by 600%*

*Rough estimate based on Wikipedia, cuz I'm lazy.

Master System and NES were really close and competitive in Europe. Nintendo never dominated the home console market until the Wii, really.
 

Aurongel

Member
The only thing they have a monopoly on in 2017 is boneheaded PR moves. This is the furthest they've been from market dominance in recent memory. Apple ate their lunch on mobile.
 

D.Lo

Member
Selling a lot is not a monopoly kids.

Any company is welcome to come in and compete in a market. Sony tried twice, so did Sega. Nintendo didn't beat them by using heavy handed tactics, just by making a product the market wanted more.
 

mario_O

Member
It's the opposite, they're compiting with more platforms than ever. It's a hybrid, so they are compiting with home consoles too. And of course mobiles and tablets. The Switch is really a tablet with two controllers attached, and not the first one.
 
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