Nintendo's Fils-Aime: 'Apple Can Hurt Us More Than Microsoft'

Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime has said that Apple is currently his company's greatest threat, not the rival console makers. Speaking with Forbes, Fils-Aime pointed out that, with 20 million gaming devices sold, Nintendo shifted more systems in 2009 than Sony and Microsoft combined. However, with 14.1 million iPhones sold in the last quarter, Apple has emerged as a rival that could "absolutely hurt us more than Microsoft in the near term." Fils-Aime said that the greatest challenge for the company today is competing for people's time and attention. “It’s all about time,” he said. “I compete with Zynga, I compete with surfing the net, I compete with the newspaper.” Nevertheless, Nintendo has an advantage over the competition thanks to the depth of its products, he said, pointing to the fact that 14 of the 20 best-selling games for the current generation of gaming devices are from Nintendo. He argued that, while the iPod and iPhone are great for casual games like Angry Birds that provide a welcome distraction, games on the Nintendo DS, by contrast, can consume larger amounts of time. By way of example, Fils-Aime admitted he’s spent 150 hours playing Nintendo’s Dragon Quest IX. Earlier this summer, Fils-Amie countered claims that sales of Nintendo's Wii were slowing claiming that the system "continues to extend its advantage".