Nintendo posted a Japanese transcript of its latest financial results briefing Q&A today. There isn’t anything too earth-shattering, but some interesting tidbits were shared.

Here’s a brief summary:

– Some talk about amiibo in Japan selling differently to the US, since the toys-to-life category isn’t really a thing in Japan yet (Skylanders and Infinity are both niche)
– Some talk of them doing experiments with amiibo that aren’t plastic figures or cards in the future
– Iwata says there is a lot Nintendo has to change
– This includes making better use of smart devices and character IP to drive their core hardware/software business
– QOL department is separate from others
– QOL department is comprised of staff from the hardware division, both software divisions, and the systems department
– QOL, using smartphones, and character IP licensing will be the big focus at the next meeting
– Nintendo’s ability to produce New 3DS units last year was low
– Nintendo couldn’t guarantee high shipments for all regions during the holidays so made a decision to focus on Japan (and a low-population region AU)
– There’s a question on marketing and Iwata’s answer makes it clear he knows it’s no longer an age where you can just do a ton of TV ads and guarantee something will sell

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Nintendo España confirms Super Mario amiibo for Rosalina, Donkey Kong and Wario?

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Rumors | 11 Comments

Speculation about Rosalina, Donkey Kong and Wario getting their own Super Mario amiibo first surfaced last week when Nintendo updated the Japanese Mario Party 10 website with a few images (see above). Now Nintendo España is adding fuel to the fire and may have essentially confirmed the rumors.

Take a look at this roughly translated section from a Nintendo España / Spain press release:

From the collection of Super Smash Bros., now on sale, you can play with amiibo Mario, Peach, Yoshi, Luigi and Bowser. What have not you done with them and not find them anywhere? The March 20 comes a new collection of ad hoc amiibo made for Mario Party 10: Super Mario Collection, which includes new amiibo Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Yoshi, Bowser, Estela, Donkey Kong and Wario.

That’s still not a complete and total confirmation, since there’s a small possibility that the press release text is an error. We’ll let you know if we hear anything out of Nintendo of America/UK!

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Takahashi would love to see an Xenoblade amiibo series

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 15 Comments

Tetsuya Takahashi posted a couple of additional tweets on the Japanese Xenoblade Chronicles X Twitter account today. However, rather than sharing more on the game, he instead spoke about another topic: amiibo.

Takahashi mentioned that he supervised the Shulk amiibo since its early prototype stages. He also expressed a desire for there to be an Xenoblade amiibo series in the future, though perhaps we shouldn’t read too much into it – at least not yet.

Below are Takahashi’s full comments:

It’s been about a month since I posted. The Shulk amiibo came out! I’ve been supervising this since the early prototype stages, but I’d like to say thanks to all the people who’ve worked very hard on the amiibo. I saw a production model at the start of this month and I was very impressed with the build quality. This time it’s a Smash Bros. figurine, but I’d love for there to be a Xenoblade [amiibo] series sometime in the future, too.

I know I’d buy a ton of Xenoblade amiibo. What about you folks?!

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Video: An interview with Eiji Aonuma and Koji Kondo at The Legend of Zelda Symphony

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Videos | 0 comments

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Miiverse update – see when the people you follow start following somebody else

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 1 Comment

A small update has come to Miiverse today. It’s now possible to see when the people you follow start following somebody else. Users can check out that person’s profile/favorite posts, and even follow them. This can be accessed in the activity feed.

View post in Miiverse

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Satoru Iwata confirms port strike is reason for shipment woes in US

Posted on 9 years ago by Dennis Gagliardotto(@LyonHart_) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 18 Comments

A translation coming from Nintendo’s recent investor Q&A meeting shows the President of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, admitting that the port strike on the west coast of America has had an impact on shipments regarding amiibo and the New Nintendo 3DS XL.

This would explain the amount of delays, shortages and vague dates we’ve been getting since amiibo first launched alongside Super Smash Bros. for Wii U back on November 21st, 2014, which is the only time there’s been a solid date on an amiibo release in the US. Video games, on the other hand, haven’t been impacted in this strike, as “games are light and can be flown to America”, Iwata says.

Let’s just hope this doesn’t go on for much longer so both the consumers and Nintendo can go about amiibo and any future products stress free.

The Q&A meeting is currently available in Japanese here

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Toys “R” Us to sell fan-made amiibo customizations on its website

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 12 Comments

Toys “R” Us is in talks to sell custom amiibo from creator “Evilos”. While the two sides are in the negotiating phases, everything is proceeding as planned and the fan-made figures will be sold online at some point. Pricing and other details are up in the air at the moment, but we’ll let you know more as soon as we receive more information.

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GameStop – Ike amiibo pre-orders could be delayed until spring, King Dedede until summer; one per household for Ike

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 2 Comments

Have you pre-ordered an Ike or King Dedede amiibo at GameStop? Then you’ll probably be interested in hearing the latest update from the retailer, via a memo obtained by Destructoid.

Those who reserved Ike before December 27 should have their orders fulfilled within the next week or so. However, all reservations that came after won’t be completed until spring. Ike is also being limited to one per household.

The situation is similar with King Dedede. If you got your pre-order in before December 31, expect the figure to arrive soon. Unfortunately, all other orders won’t be fulfilled until summer.

Mega Man and Sonic are safe at least. GameStop says that these two figures will reach all consumers in one wave, unlike Ike and King Dedede.

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Rumor: West coast port strike impacting Nintendo’s supply

Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, New Nintendo 3DS, Rumors | 5 Comments

Nintendo stock in North America as of late has become a bit ridiculous as of late. Finding amiibo, New 3DS XL systems, and other products in stores has been far from easy.

Whatever’s going on could partially be attributed to the port strike happening on the west coast, which has been taking place for several months. 70 percent of goods coming from Asia have been affected, Reuters says. Nintendo hardware and amiibo come from China, and ships tend to head to the west coast since it’s the shortest route. That happens to be where the strike is happening.

Nintendo hasn’t commented on whether the port strike has impacted them. However, Kotaku writes that it has heard from people at the company that supply of amiibo and New 3DS systems have been affected.

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