Historically, Nintendo’s GameBoy consoles have always defined the handheld gaming experience. Intermittent efforts from Sega and Sony over the years have been unable to unseat Nintendo as the king of handhelds.

According to the latest sales figures from Sony, the PS Vita has surpassed 1.2 million units sold worldwide, despite an unenthusiastic reception in Sony’s home country of Japan.

In Europe, first week sales of the PS Vita outsold Nintendo’s new handheld console, the 3DS. In the United States and Japan, however, first-week sales figures for the Vita lagged behind other handheld gaming consoles of the current and previous generations.

The 3DS sold seven times as many units as the PS Vita worldwide last week. 3DS games have also sold well, making up 7 of the top 10 best-selling games of the previous week.

Nintendo’s perennial success with handhelds has had a massive effect on the platform as a whole. Of the top five best-selling handheld consoles of all time, four of them are made by Nintendo. Gamers who play handhelds have come to expect a certain experience, and this experience has been almost entirely defined by Nintendo’s vision.

The PS Vita also has its own strong vision for itself. It is meant to be the home console experience in your hands, with a large, high-definition screen and graphics comparable to the home experience. And this, possibly, is where it went wrong: It’s stepping on too many toes at once.

For the cost of a PS Vita (about $300 USD), you could buy an actual home console. And because the Vita requires a memory card made by Sony, that only works with the Vita, for an addition $100, you could probably find a Nintendo DS on the cheap for that price as well.

Handheld gamers do not expect, and quite possibly are not even enticed by, the ability to play home console games on a handheld system. The most popular handheld games by far are iOS games, which are often quick, shallow, and addictive. Even GameBoy and DS games are largely episodic, with frequent opportunities to quit and come back later.

Console games, on the other hand, are meant for prolonged play. To try to fit a full console experience into an intrinsically stop-and-go format is at worst a misjudgement of the nature and appeal of the platform.

At best, it suits a very particular, perhaps European, demographic. If you do not have the space in your apartment for a home entertainment system, and use trains or busses more often than a car to get from place to place, being able to experience console gaming in a handheld format could have appeal.

Taking into consideration, however, that the largest gaming markets are in the United States and Japan, the Vita seems poorly thought through. For now, gamers who want a home console experience still prefer to play on an actual home console. Add to that the exorbitant price tag of the Vita, its aesthetically unimpressive OS, and the additional hidden cost of a proprietary memory stick, and the Vita seems to be stepping on its own toes as well.

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Nintendo sold 3.61 million 3DS’ in its previous quarter. Since then, sales have dropped to 710,000 units in the last three months. Profits have also declined from lack of sales for other Nintendo products. The company lost 25.5 billion yen in the last 3 months ending June 30. They also had to lower profit and sales forecast by 82 Percent and 18 Percent, respectively.

Hearing news of this, Nintendo slashed the price for its latest innovation, the Nintendo 3DS, to $169.99 from its original price of $249.99 — a 30 percent drop. Price will come into effect as of August 12, making for a successful holiday season for Nintendo.

This was not the first price cut they made this year. Due to a drop in sales earlier this year, the Nintendo Wii also went down in price, from $200 to $150 on May 15. In the eyes of the consumer, spending $249.99 on a handheld system is no bargain, when a Nintendo Wii system costs $100 less.

What does this mean for the majority of consumers who have already purchased a Nintendo 3DS?  According to Nintendo, loyal customers will receive 20 free downloadable games from the Nintendo eShop. For 10 of those games, Nintendo has no intention of selling them in the future and they are redesigned exclusively for this purpose. Games included on that list are: Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames and Mario vs. Donkey Kong, all originally from Nintendo’s Gameboy Advance console. Starting September 1, those members will also have access to 10 new games before they become available to the public. Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Jr., Balloon Fight, Ice Climber and The Legend of Zelda are some of the games featured on that list.

Another way Nintendo is trying to boost sales and profit is by releasing remakes of Nintendo classics such as Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Mario Kart, Starfox 64 and Kid Icarus.

They are hoping that its features will be enough to sell the product as well, with its access to Netflix, they are calling it a must have. In addition, the Nintendo Video service provides access to all sorts of 3D video viewing. Finally, Users have access to the Nintendo eShop, where they can purchase downloadable games, view game trailers and have access to product information.

Satoru Iwata, the president and CEO of Nintendo, is taking full responsibility for their losses, which has led him to voluntarily cut his $2 million pay check by 50 percent. He is not the only one taking a pay cut. Other representative directors are taking a 30% pay cut, and executives are deducting 20 percent from their salary. These will be very favorable moves for shareholders.

Nintendo is in the process of working on a new project, Wii U, which is expected to launch next year. In an interview, Iwata says that this new project will not be cheap and sell for about $250. Due to the company’s sacrifices and innovations, Nintendo expects to see an increase in its profits.

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