[Opinion] America doesn't want Advanced Handhelds

N-Sider Mariner writes:
"We've learned the most recent monthly sales for Game Boy Advance in the United States were 201,000 units. Greater than either of the two "next gen" handhelds, Sony PSP and Nintendo DS. This has consistently been the case since both of them have been released. In other words. It's not that the US market is rejecting the DS. It's that it's rejecting advanced handhelds in general.

The reason why should be rather obvious. We're a nation of 300 million people spread out over half a continent. Japan is a nation half our size yet stuck on a tiny island. They have trains, we have cars. We don't need or want mass transit. We also have nice large living rooms with nice large TVs and nice large sofas. Why on earth would we want to play on a dinky screen when we have our cool looking TV right there? We are a nation constantly occupied, with no time to grab a handheld and start playing. We are a nation that still sees videogames as a waste of time, and thus prefer not to be seen playing them. We are a nation that doesn't always care about getting the brand new toy or piece of tech. And that is anathema to the idea of a high priced handheld.

People look at the DS and PSP and think they're cool. They also think that there aren't many times when they've wished they've had a handheld. They realize if they buy them, they won't be playing them much, especially not at times when they could be playing a PS2 or XBox or GC. They realize their kids will be just as quiet in the back seat with the cheaper GBA. They realize that they'd rather be spending money on an iPod or XBox 360 or whatever. And the numbers back this up. The DS isn't doing abysmally, but it's not all that great either. Same with the PSP. The market's tolerating them, but by no means are they huge hits.

So what's it going to take to get the DS to take off? Simple: it needs to replace the GBA. It needs to be $80-$100, and have all those cheap games available. It needs to be sturdy and kid-friendly. (The DSLite may even be a turn off in that regard, although then again the SP helped Nintendo out. So maybe not.) It needs Pokemon and Mario. It needs to give kids something to do.

And I just can't see any way how it can become more popular than that. I don't see it being the phenomenon that it is in Japan. I just don't see it being the best selling console ever here in the US. The market simply doesn't want it. The market was clearly aching for something in Japan - its been on the decline for over 8 years now. But here? We still like our games. We still can support a gazillion consoles. Which means, in the grand scheme of things, the DS has to compete. And it can't compete with the GBA in terms of price and ease of use. It can't compete with the XBox 360 or PS3 or Rev in terms of appeal. It just isn't going to shine.

Attracting new people? Sure, it'll get some. And the games like Brain Age will do well, just as Nintendogs did. But the vast majority are going to look at it and think that there are other ways of training your brain that don't require spending $150. America seems to be less faddish than Japan; I doubt people are going to buy a brand new DS for it. And even if it does do as well (not impossible; Nintendogs sold more over here than in Japan), it won't be equivalent to the extraordinary effect it's had on Japan. Mario Sunshine sold well. Wind Waker sold well. But neither of them are in the same league as Mario 64 or Ocarina of Time. Neither of them had the same effect. And I can't see the DS in the US being any different."