DS piracy not entirely to blame for low sales – Iwata

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata says poor quality games also to blame

The sales of Nintendo DS games have been in decline for some time now, and while piracy has been blamed in the past, Satoru Iwata has come out and said that while piracy may play a part, it has also been the perpetuity of poor quality titles on the DS ruining it for everyone else.

Speaking during an investor call recently, Iwata has said that "If one software can attract many people and can become a social topic, that software can sell regardless of piracy". With games like New Super Mario Bros, the Pokemon series and more selling big numbers still the market is still there.

"Of course, as a responsibility of the platform holder, we will tackle piracy. For example, when we launch new hardware, such as Nintendo 3DS, it is a good opportunity to beef up the countermeasures, and we are actually working on that now.

"On the other hand, I do not think we should attribute bad software sales solely to piracy. Even with piracy, as long as we can create products which can attract attention from many consumers and which can greatly entertain them, that software can make it to the No. 1 position of the hit software sales chart.

"So, we would like to consider it from both perspectives simultaneously. It is true there is always the influence of piracy, but it is important for us to increase the number of our consumers who are willing to shell out their money to purchase our products. So, we do not intend to think that slower sales are solely due to piracy."

Truly great Nintendo DS titles have also been few and far between in recent years, with the number of rubbish titles outweighing the great. Good DS titles have still found success if they have enough marketing; however, smaller games have been getting lost in the glut.

Can Nintendo turn it around with the 3DS?

Source: CVG