任天堂挤上数字化销售末班车

    任天堂的在线数字游戏业务究竟前景如何？我们目前尚无法预测。该公司近期的首要目标是下一代游戏平台Wii U。Wii U预计于11月中旬上市，将提供eShop接入。高德纳（Garter）分析师布莱恩•布劳称：“任天堂进入的时间太晚，而且进展也不够快。我认为用户只要能连上eShop就谢天谢地了。”

    与此同时，任天堂还打算继续销售老款Wii游戏机。10月15日，该公司宣布将Wii的价格从150美元下调至130美元。

    任天堂应该好好关注一下谷歌（Google）和苹果（Apple）。智能手机、平板电脑以及iPod touch等掌上设备都是绝佳的移动游戏平台，但莫菲特对此不以为然，认为这些产品根本无法与3DS相抗衡。不过，分析师们认为，苹果的应用程序商店和谷歌Play将成为任天堂争夺移动玩家的最大对手。

    事实上，虽然谷歌Play发布时间相对较晚（谷歌2012年将音乐商店和安卓市场合并，推出谷歌Play。），但从应用程序数量上来看，它已经开始逐步接近竞争对手苹果。看来，任天堂唯一的希望是，eShop也能同样取得同样高速的增长。

    译者：项航

    Nintendo's position in the online market business is also entwined with its future. The company's near-term outlook rests in large part on its next generation console, the Wii U, which is set to hit stores in mid-November and will have eShop connectivity. "Nintendo is very late to this game, and they can't move fast enough," says Gartner analyst Brian Blau. "I don't think that their users are probably going to complain that much as long as they have connectivity."

    At the same time, Nintendo seems set on continuing to offer its traditional Wii console. The company announced on October 15 that it would drop the price of the original Wii to $130 from $150.

    Meanwhile, Nintendo had better keep an eye on Google (GOOG) and Apple (AAPL). Smartphones, tablets, and handheld devices like the iPod touch are now all mobile gaming platforms, and while Nintendo's Moffitt doesn't think those other products directly compete with the 3DS, analysts view Apple's App Store and Google Play as some of Nintendo's chief rivals in the fight for the mobile gamers' time and money.

    In fact, Google Play, a relatively late entry to the app store world (Google combined its music store with the Android Market in 2012 and launched Google Play.), is within striking distance of its Apple counterpart in terms of number of available apps. Nintendo can only hope the eShop experiences similar growth.