Doesn't seem weird to me.
Also, Nintendo was the market juggernaut since the original Game Boy and has been up until the iPhone grew popular. Nintendo's competition is Apple, not Sony. I'm sure Ninty could care less about whatever Sony has since the PSP more or less became yet another failed Game Boy competitor (although not nearly as badly as the other failures that came before it).
Nintendo is having such a rough one this time around for several reasons:
- The iPhone isn't a specialized gaming device. It has a number of uses, one of which happens to be gaming.
- The iPhone is more open than Nintendo's systems (which doesn't say much compared to all the other platforms out there, but says a TON when you're only looking at Nintendo).
- This means that the iPhone has more games for it. LOTS more. HEAPS more.
- I suppose it also helps that Apple has a better business sense in the West than Nintendo of America.
- Today's gamers just aren't as interested in super-long $50 adventures as they used to be, no matter how hard Nintendo tries to fight this (and yes, they WILL fight this, and perhaps for quite some time unless there is an attitude change within the company). In an increasingly mobile society, people just don't have the time or interest.
To be truthful, the iPhone is the last thing I would want to play games on, if only for the lack of any physical controls at all, as well as its dependence on iTunes (
UGH). However, it can't be denied that the iPhone just has a much bigger advantage here.
A bit off-topic, I know, but I'd really like to know why Ninty's been so slow at releasing games as of late. Or maybe it just seems that way since all the other developers have fled Ninty's platforms. Frankly, I would love another gaming system that actually has a balanced variety of games. Ever since the demise of the Gamecube, I don't think I've ever really come across a platform that had a legitimately diverse offering. Nintendo's latest systems mainly consist of lacking first-party releases and casual games. Sony's forte is "movie games". The 360 (and Microsoft's vision for PC gaming) more or less just involves Call of Duty clones and Bejeweled (with nothing in between). And yes, you said it yourself, mobile gaming is pretty much a joke these days. Here's to hoping that the Wii U will win back some third-party support. I would love to see a change in developer policies from Nintendo as well, but the company is... well... stubborn.
tl;dr: Today's gaming sucks. Thanks for being a jerk, Nintendo.