Nintendo wants to regain trust before Wii U launch, price/date announcement next year
Posted on 14 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 0 comments
Some Nintendo fans might be concerned that the Wii U could see a price drop soon after it’s released. President Satoru Iwata is aware of this and hopes to regain trust from consumers before the new console arrives.
You might also be wondering when we’ll be getting a Wii U launch date and price. Iwata confirmed to investors last week that an announcement can be expected next year.
“…With regard to the influence on the Wii U, what we have to take most seriously is that the price markdown could damage the trust of the consumers who bought the Nintendo 3DS just after the launch. I feel greatly accountable for it. Our decision of the price markdown this time has a side effect that, at the launch of the Wii U, people may feel that the price might drop in the near future if they wait. Nevertheless, we have decided to cut down the price of the Nintendo 3DS as we consider it as a necessary decision now. What we will be able to do to recover the consumers’ trust before the launch of the Wii U is very important to us. Since the Wii U we showed you at the E3 show in June was still in the development phase without very specific proposals on the software titles, we are going to announce the release date and the price next year when we are able to explain the specific proposals. Anyway, the biggest influence is on our consumers’ trust, I think. …”
Longtime Retro Studios staffer leaves company for id Software
Posted on 14 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Mike Wikan, one of the key staffers at Retro Studios since the studio’s early days, has left the company for id Software. Wikan participated in the development for all three Metroid Prime titles. Last year, he led the Donkey Kong Country Returns team in boss and enemy creation.
Wikan’s LinkedIn profile reveals that he left Retro in May and joined id Software in the same month. This ends his eleven-year tenure as Senior Game Designer with the company.
Super Mario Bros. mixed with Unreal Engine 3
Posted on 14 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Videos | 0 comments
What do you get when you mix Super Mario Bros. with the Unreal Engine 3 and a little bit of first-person action? The videos above, of course! A fan took it upon himself to recreate the title using Epic’s engine to “learn about game development.” The project took eight weeks to complete.
Nintendo at Comic-Con 2011
Posted on 14 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Videos | 0 comments
This video was part of this week’s Nintendo Channel updates, so you can also watch it on your Wii if you’re interested.
OpRainfall Isn’t Nintendo’s Fault: My Responses to Your Comments
Posted on 14 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, General Nintendo | 0 comments
I have no idea how long I have until I have to leave again, so I may have to stop this post short and come back to it later. Sorry! To read the original article and read the comments I am replying to, click here.
Anyway, let me start off by reiterating a point I made at the beginning of the article, though clearly not strongly enough: I’m in support of OpRainfall. I want these games to come here as badly as you all do, and I’m very sad Nintendo has decided (at least for the time being) to forgo their publication in North America. If anything, they could take any number of alternate sales routes to minimize risk- limiting quantities or selling it on a demand basis like Demon’s Souls- and so really, one could just jump to the conclusions that Nintendo is either lazy, mean, or doesn’t care about us at all.
The purpose of this article was not so much to question the validity of arguments against Nintendo because I do not believe they are valid. The purpose is to say “Hey you guys, I know this sucks and it shouldn’t be this way, but let’s take a look from Nintendo’s perspective for a second.” Their behavior in this situation, while unfortunate, I don’t think is nearly as unfair and people are making it out to be. If people are making it out to be, say, a 10 on the unfairness scale, I’d like to say it should really only be a 6 or a 7. We aren’t being treated horribly and unfairly; we just haven’t given Nintendo a reason to trust us with “core” titles on Wii.
Iwata’s full explanation for the 3DS price drop, salary cuts
Posted on 14 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
As we reported on a few hours ago, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata held a Q&A session for Nintendo’s Q1 2011 financial results earlier today. Although he didn’t prepare a presentation, he did provide a few opening remarks, mainly focusing on the 3DS price drop. Iwata also discussed salary reductions for executives, including himself.
If you’re interested in seeing Iwata’s comments in summary form, head on over to this link. It also contains additional details from the Q&A session.
Iwata’s full opening statements can be read below.
Good morning. Before accepting questions, there is one thing that I would like to address here.
Since the first fiscal quarter has limited importance within the annual business of game companies, it does not make much sense for me to make a detailed presentation on the business in that quarter, so I have not made such preparations for today. On the other hand, a number of people must have such doubts as, “Why does the company have to make such a drastic markdown now?” Please let me talk about that before the Q&A session.
First of all, we have made the decision to markdown the Nintendo 3DS because we recognize that the current situation surrounding the system is different from that before the launch and immediately after the launch.
Having strong momentum is very important for game platform businesses. Once momentum is lost, great power is needed to change that trend.
Nintendo Week (7/28)
Posted on 14 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, Wii | 0 comments
On this week’s episode: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, AR Shop Games, Nintendo Video, UFC Personal Trainer and Club Nintendo Rewards.
Watch Link break dance
Posted on 14 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Random, Videos | 0 comments
This is so incredibly random that I had to share it with you folks. You’ll either be memorized or disturbed once you’ve finished watching. Either way, enjoy!
Gotta love how Ganondorf, Dark/Shadow Link, and Zant are in the background nodding their heads to the beat…
Thanks to Jake for the tip!
Pokemon Black/White director saddened by emphasis on killing at E3
Posted on 14 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Pokémon Black/White director Junichi Masuda recently posted about his experiences at E3. Based on what he wrote, he wasn’t too happy… well, about one thing in particular.
He did discuss how he was excited about a sit-in Lamborghini racing game controller he saw along with other content he saw, though he also took some time to discuss how he was saddened by the emphasis on killing and first-person shooters at the show.
Masuda wrote on his blog:
“This tank is for game’s advertisement. Just wow… This year, FPS war games were trend!! A lot of splatter scenes!! Blood spread everywhere. Shooting a lot, killing a lot. The game developer seems get used to ‘kill’ the target. Therefore, I felt ‘how to kill’ became a focus of developing game. For that reason, target become zombie and alien… These targets’ savage attack and human counterattacks… It became savage contents and you never know. Mmm… It is the player who choose the game to play. As a game creator, it is little sad! Majority of the games look like a same game. There were little of original games. I felt a sense of crisis with above part.”
