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Nintendo key to holiday season success, say analysts
"I suspect that this holiday season will see relatively weak overall spending totals in the US.
The reality is that sales of Xbox 360 and PS3 physical products this holiday season will probably be off 10 percent to 20 percent compared to last year, a noticeable but manageable decline. Nintendo is the wild card that will determine whether the holiday season is viewed in retrospect as one of 'treading water' or one of sharp decline.
Most of the drop off in aggregate retail sales in the US in 2012 was the result of weak Wii hardware and disc sales - the HD platforms held up okay. If the Wii U storms out of the gate it will lift the video game industry back into 'treading water' mode - and allow Nintendo to breathe a giant sigh of relief. If Wii U doesn't preform well, total industry sales could be down 20 percent even once digital console game sales are taken into account. The holiday season will always be critical for gaming. In the past decade I don't think there's been a single year where at least 40 percent of all dollars spent on consoles hasn't been in the fourth calendar quarter and 2012 shouldn't be any different." - IDC Research manager Lewis Ward
Check out commentary from more analysts, Pachter included, here
Most of the drop off in aggregate retail sales in the US in 2012 was the result of weak Wii hardware and disc sales - the HD platforms held up okay. If the Wii U storms out of the gate it will lift the video game industry back into 'treading water' mode - and allow Nintendo to breathe a giant sigh of relief. If Wii U doesn't preform well, total industry sales could be down 20 percent even once digital console game sales are taken into account. The holiday season will always be critical for gaming. In the past decade I don't think there's been a single year where at least 40 percent of all dollars spent on consoles hasn't been in the fourth calendar quarter and 2012 shouldn't be any different." - IDC Research manager Lewis Ward