If Nintendo continues to suffer, the rest of the industry will experience a ripple effect. At least, that’s what PlayStation UK boss Fergal Gara told Trusted Reviews in a recent interview. The Sony employee feels that Nintendo’s poor financials – which were detailed at length by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata – could only be bad for the market as a whole.
"[The decline of Nintendo] could be detrimental to the market, unless people like us raise our game and help tap into the younger consumer group that they serve rather well,” Gara said. “That is the challenge to us. We need to bring maybe more family-friendly, more casual experiences into the market. I think there’s a big market segment there that we should take the challenge to engage and I see lots of potential to do that.”
That younger consumer is a market that Nintendo’s been able to control for quite some time, especially when it comes to handheld devices. The Vita just hasn’t grabbed that segment of the audience, but Gara still believes it has a unique place in the current market.
“I think Vita has maybe not a huge position in the marketplace, but a very unique position,” he explained. “First of all it’s the only device that offers the same level of control and interaction, it’s the only device to offer the same level of visual beauty, and now it’s the only console to offer that companionship with the leading home games console.”
