The DSi at retail

Peter Willis – Games Buyer, DSGi

"The DS has been a key product for us for the last couple of years and I am sure the DSi will be just as popular. It’s a great fit with our customers and we are anticipating big things. We have one of our strongest ever pre-order executions in place and we are expecting significant uptake of the machine."

Toby Burton – Games Buyer, HMV

"The DSi is great news for the industry and for retail. New product launches are always welcome, especially as they can help galvanise interest in gaming. Easter is particularly strong timing, as the launch enables retailers to build on traffic that will already be there.
Not withstanding the current economic climate, and the impact this may have on overall demand, our expectations are still high for DSi. It’s a great product and anticipation among customers have been building for some time. It should provide retail with a well-timed boost."

Jon Biggs – Games Buyer, Morrisons

"We have our allocation on DSi and intend to launch across the Morrisons estate. My expectation is we will quickly sell out our initial allocation. Morrisons customers love Nintendo and there have been many enquiries in store. We are currently building awareness online and have cross media promotional plans in place to push the console and the software over the launch period. It’s always exciting when a new product touches down and breathes new life into the games market."

Don McCabe – Joint MD, CHIPS

"The public are in love with Nintendo at the moment, and I’m sure stock will disappear very quickly come launch. I think Nintendo has a job to do in educating the consumer on why they should upgrade to the DSi. Nintendo needs a good quality game that can only be used on the DSi in order to give consumers a reason to switch hardware. There’s currently no dedicated DSi software, but I am sure that will change given time."

Richard Chapple – Marketing Manager, Play.com

"Play.com are really excited about the forthcoming Nintendo DSi launch in April. The timing is perfect with Easter just around the corner, and the new features on the slimmer, lighter console – such as the two cameras and bigger screens – means that DS fans won’t be able resist upgrading. These fans could also give their current DS to a friend or family member, meaning more DS and DSi consoles in the market in total and more opportunity to sell first and third party software this year."

Igor Cipolletta – CEO, ShopTo.net

"Nintendo have proven over the years they know how to launch hardware successfully and we anticipate the DSi will be no different. We believe with the great new features the DSi has that it’ll be another top seller and we are confident there will be sufficient supply to cope with the demand. We’re definitely viewing it as the top product for Easter. It’s right in time for the school holidays and once the press campaign starts and people see some of the features, this should create further demand. There are also those from the casual market who have held off getting the DS and will see this latest revision as the ideal time to pick one up."