Nintendo went to Playa Bonita, Panama for its NEX Latin American event.

AUG. 21, 2008 • At Nintendo NEX Latin America 2008, a conference held in Playa Bonita, Panama, Nintendo vice president of sales and marketing Cammie Dunaway stated that Latin American sales are 50% higher than last year. The gamemaker says two top Latin American markets for Nintendo are Mexico and Brazil. Bill van Zyll, in charge of head of Nintendo’s Latin America business, told Reuters that the region’s video game market could be worth $2 billion this year.

Impact: Nintendo is looking to dominate the emerging Latin American market.This Christmas season they will focus on pushing their lineup of sports and fitness titles.  Nintendo has been making an especially strong push in Mexico. Like all developing markets, the price for console systems in Latin America is a major limiting factor. The Wii costs over $400 in most countries in Latin America. Meanwhile, buying a Nintendo DS in Mexico is almost twice as much as buying one in the U.S.