Nintendo Shares Fall On EA Estimates, Possible Loss Of Sports Games

Nintendo's stock dropped over 6 percent (to 9,480 yen) on the Nikkei stock exchange, when EA said it only expected Gamecube sales to grow by 15-20 percent this year, down from a previous estimate of 20-25 percent. In comparison, EA believes its PS2 game sales in the region will increase 25-30 percent, and sales of its Xbox titles will grow by 20-25 percent. Further hurting Nintendo was EA's statement that it is considering whether to stop publishing sports games for the Gamecube. Sega already made a similar statement last month, and if both publishers pull their sports titles for the Gamecube, it could be devastating for the console. However, a more likely scenario is that either EA and Sega will pull out, and the other will be left in the dominant position and continue to support it. Shares in Nintendo have lost 53 percent over the past year.