Rik wrote:During what has to be one of Nintendo's worst christmases on record, it has become abundantly clear that the big money lies not with the company's loyal supporters but with its new crowd of potentially fair-weather friends......Nintendo is more than happy to entertain those (new) paying customers while turning a blind eye to others
Spot on.
Thing is, it won't be their worst Christmas on record. It'll be their best. My work is pretty much constantly selling out of DSs, and is running low on Wiis. Mario Kart Wii and extra steering wheels are flying off the shelves as fast as they get put out. New Super Mario Bros. is doing the numbers on DS, as are both versions of "The Brain Training" and Mario Kart DS. Nintendo must also be making a tidy amount from Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. Despite their lukewarm reception WiiMusic and Animal Crossing are doing better than the majority of new PS3 and 360 titles. That doesn't even account for licenced products from third parties.
Nintendo things that are not selling this Christmas, when you might expect them to: Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros Brawl, Twilight Princess (we've not had any new copies in ages), Disaster: Day of Crisis and Wii Points Cards.