Reggie – fan feedback, NWC success and future, Zelda Wii U, amiibo, EarthBound, and more
GameSpot has put up an 18-minute interview with Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America. Topics include fan feedback, the Nintendo World Championships, Zelda Wii U, amiibo, EarthBound, and more.
You can watch the interview in full below. We also have a summary available for the entire interview.
– Nintendo sees how people are reacting to the Digital Event through real-time social media, what people are commenting on
– Reggie says Star Fox Zero has been showing really well, big lines on the show floor
– Super Mario Maker, Yoshi’s Woolly World did well also
– Reggie says Metroid Prime: Federation Force “is a tough concept”
– Nintendo tried to communicate that there’s no Samus, gameplay is different in the Digital Event
– Since they heard that it wasn’t entirely clear, Nintendo spent time on Metroid Prime: FF during Treehouse Live
– Reggie heard that the reaction to Blast Ball “has been quite fabulous” from those who have played it
– Nintendo World Championships targets for simultaneous views, VOD views immediately after
– Both of those targets were blown away
– Nintendo doesn’t have a formula for E3 that is locked in for years
– Super Mario’s anniversary, Super Mario Maker, Splatoon made sense for the Nintendo World Championships to return
– Feedback of the NWC was phenomenal, so Nintendo will consider how they might do it more regularly
– Nintendo wanted to showcase games launching in the 6-9 months at E3
– Reggie said Nintendo breaks its own rules “all the time”, but this is generally the company’s mentality
– Nintendo was worried that “showing wonderful footage” of Zelda Wii U “would lead to further disappointment on behalf of the fans”
– Nintendo will have many opportunities to show Zelda Wii U
– Reggie has seen how Zelda Wii U has been progressing, and it will be “wonderful”
– Nintendo also feels that it had more than enough content for E3, so they didn’t want to pour salt on wounds
– “The state of the Wii U is quite strong”, had a strong year
– Nintendo feels that if it continues putting out great software, it’ll drive the install base
– “The support we’re getting from third-parties continues to be there”
– Reggie says the Skylanders announcement “has been incredibly well-received”
– Splatoon “performing exceptionally well”
– Strong sell-through for Splatoon globally
– Nintendo’s online presentations are done internally, though they have some external support
– For Nintendo’s E3 2015 announcement video, there was a script, but some things were made up as they went along like Reggie firing Bill (this was unscripted)
– With the Nintendo Direct Micro, they thought it’d be fun for Bill to be small, working his way up
– Nintendo is “extremely pleased with amiibo”
– Nintendo knows there is some frustration with amiibo, and is committed to improving the flow of product, which Reggie says they’re delivered on
– During the 30-day time period for the most recent amiibo launch, Nintendo sold through about 1 million units
– Nintendo is now looking forward to the different forms of amiibo
– Nintendo will continue experimenting with the amiibo form factor
– For a dedicated amiibo game, Nintendo isn’t announcing anything
– However, the Treehouse team and Reggie visit Japan and share their wishes with the developers, and have communicated that there is a strong opportunity for an amiibo-dedicated game
– Nintendo will continue delivering unique, compelling, and differentiated experiences
– Tomodachi Life was one of last year’s big surprises
– EarthBound: Nintendo knows about the love for the franchise, thought Beginnings was a great way to service the fans
– Nintendo knows the love is there for EarthBound, and will see what happens
– In terms of releasing Beginnings, there are a lot of consumers who don’t know the fundametal series, and thought it’d be best to bring them back to the beginning
– Reggie says the industry loves focusing on the shiny new thing, which is currently virtual reality
– Reggie believes that VR will take off when it’s inherently fun and socialable/shareable
