Despite the buzz surrounding the Japanese entertainment giant’s Wii U at the videogame industry’s annual trade show in Los Angeles, the console and its touch screen controller has left investors cold.<\/p>\n
Nintendo shares dived more than 5 percent on Wednesday after the company unveiled the console at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3.<\/p>\n
The stock extended losses Thursday, closing 4.5 percent lower at 16,160 yen on the Osaka Securities Exchange.<\/p>\n
The company’s shares are now at their lowest since March 2006 before the launch of the original Wii console amid worries over its strategy at a time when online games and smartphones are taking market share.<\/p>\n
Nintendo has not said how much it plans to charge for the Wii U when the new consoles hit the market next year to do battle with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3 (PS3).<\/p>\n
“I don’t really see Nintendo’s strategy yet,” Hiroyuki Fukunaga, a Tokyo-based market analyst and chief executive of Investrust Inc, told Dow Jones Newswires.<\/p>\n
“There are concerns that (the Wii U) may turn out to be expensive with the touch-screen controller,” he added.<\/p>\n
A key feature to the Wii U controller is a 6.2-inch (16-centimetre) screen that displays maps or other information to complement game play, acts as a touchscreen game board and serves as a second monitor.<\/p>\n
A forward-facing camera allows for online video chat with friends while playing with or against them online using a television connected to a Wii U, which will boast high definition graphics.<\/p>\n
Nintendo is credited with opening the world of videogames to “casual” family players and with the introduction of motion-sensing controllers on the first Wii console launched in late 2006.<\/p>\n
But analysts question whether the Wii U or the handheld 3DS can once gain capture that unique fan base now that such non-traditional gamers can use their smartphones to play inexpensively online.<\/p>\n
Microsoft and Sony last year challenged Nintendo by adding motion or gesture-based controls to Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles, which boast more power than the Wii for richer imagery and more complex action.<\/p>\n
— Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this story —<\/p>\n