Nintendo has some free-to-play software in the works. What exactly the company has planned is unclear, but we do know that it will have nothing to do popular franchises such as Mario and Pokemon.

Putting out free-to-play software provides Nintendo with “greater flexibility in terms of how we offer our products to consumers and how to monetize them”, president Satoru Iwata explained during an E3 2013 analyst briefing. However, Iwata warned that unbalanced such software “could result in some consumers paying extremely large amounts of money, and we can certainly not expect to build a good relationship with our consumers in this fashion.” Balanced and reasonable free-to-play games are needed so that Nintendo can maintain “a favorable long-term relationship” with consumers.

Iwata estimates that we’ll be seeing Nintendo’s first free-to-play title this fiscal year.

Iwata acknowledges that consumers still don’t understand Wii U’s asymmetric gameplay

Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 0 comments

Asymmetric gameplay was intended to be one of the Wii U’s key features. Yet, it hasn’t caught on with consumers just yet.

This is something that Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata acknowledged during Nintendo’s E3 2013 analyst briefing Q&A. Iwata also feels that Nintendo Land hasn’t been able to step into the same role as Wii Sports did for the Wii.

To remedy the situation, Nintendo will continue to release titles in order “to show how convenient and delightful it is to have the Wii U GamePad controller, and how it changes the gaming experience.” The company hopes that will games such as Pikmin 3, consumers will begin to think, “Indeed it is good to have a GamePad.”

Iwata talks further about third-parties on Wii U

Posted on 12 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 0 comments

Last week, Nintendo held an analyst briefing at E3 2013. It was led by Nintendo global president Satoru Iwata. Following the presentation, Iwata conducted a brief Q&A, and one analyst pressed the CEO further about third-party support on Wii U.

Iwata iterated two points: the plan to bring Nintendo games to the console one after another to create momentum for the platform and that “third-party software developers actively working on software for Wii U right now.”

Iwata also pointed out how, if the Wii U gains momentum and other third-parties do well, people will begin to “definitely question” those who do not support the system.