October 16, 2007 - Hirokazu Hamamura, the president of Famitsu publisher Enterbrain, provided his latest annual industry forecast at a seminar in Tokyo last week, which included predictions of more positive developments for Nintendo.
The success will continue for Nintendo DS and all parties on-board, Hamamura said, expecting that Japanese shipments of the hot-selling handheld will exceed the 30 million mark in 2009. Dragon Quest IX, he added, might also set a new series record of 5 million sales.
On a less-than-positive note, Hamamura cited survey figures suggesting that 67% of Wii owners haven't used their systems as of late, due to the lack of a second big hit behind Wii Sports. Wii Fit is gaining more attention though, Hamamura continued, while noting that it's possible that more games will follow in the footsteps of Capcom's Monster Hunter 3 by making the move to Wii.
Briefly, on PlayStation 3, Hamamura said that the system will finally start selling as a games machine due to the release of a 40,000 yen model in Japan. He reminded, worringly for Sony, that there is no guarantee of exclusivity for Final Fantasy XIII and Metal Gear Solid 4, leaving Sony to rely on its own in-house efforts like Gran Turismo 5 for success.