NINTENDO SAYS IT'S NUMBER ONE, SEGA SAYS 'NO WAY'
By Adnews Staff
Nintendo of Canada says most consumers stuck with 16-bit video game systems last year. Ninety per cent of its total dollar sales in 1995 were for established systems, including 8-bit portable games. Nintendo says that, overall, 16-bit hardware unit sales outpaced 32-bit technology by a rate of over seven to one. Sega of Canada marketing director Deborah Wardrope thinks these figures are "a bit inflated." Sega's 16-bit hardware accounted for 51% of the company's sales. The 16-bit systems are still doing well because the games are good and they're cheaper than the 32-bit systems, explained Wardrope. Nintendo claims that it had 62% of the market last year but Wardrope disputes this, saying Sega had 44% of the market and Nintendo trailed behind with 42%. She adds that Sega figures show Sony Canada's 32-bit Playstation held 12% of the market and Panasonic's 3DO system, also 32-bit, had 3%. "We're meeting our expectations," Panasonic sales manager Ian Jackson told Adnews yesterday. "I think the whole 32-bit system market is slow." Sony Computer Entertainment's Canadian manager, Butch Freedhoff has another set of figures to fire in this battle of numbers. He says that the Playstation outsold Sega's 32-bit games four to one during the Christmas sales season, September through December, which was when the Playstation made its market debut.