Nintendo, not a failiure?

In a 600 page report, Market Leaders in the Video Game and Interactive Entertainment Industry, DFC Intelligence says that Nintendo's $4.6 billion in revenue makes it second only to Sony at $8.2 billion in the video game industry in 2002.

And because Nintendo is a cautious company which always looks at the bottom line, it beats even Sony on profitability, and has a record of top selling video games, sitting on a cash pot of $7 billion.

But that cash pot might well be needed, the report adds ? by concentrating on short term earnings, it may well have taken its eye off the ball in terms of long term strategy.

Nintendo failed to realise that grown ups are now playing games in big numbers, and has only recently shifted to that realisation. And as far as online games go, it's nowhere found.

But even for games in the eight to 14 age group, Nintendo faces increasing competition ? particularly so as kids like Grand Theft Auto III, even if their parents don't like them playing this kind of game.

And Nintendo's market share in the portable market is bound to slip, according to DFC Intelligence, although perhaps the Nokia N-Gage may give it some additional share.

Despite these downs, the report says that Nintendo is still relevant, despite it losing market share, and describes the firm as a "video game powerhouse". Console firms can always re-invent themselves every five years, the report reckons.