Iwata says “Wii U isn’t in good shape”, more price cuts unlikely, will talk about smart devices at investor conference, more
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 17 Comments
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata commented on a few topics ahead of the company’s investor briefing set to take place later today.
Of Nintendo’s buyback initiative, Iwata said that Hiroshi Yamauchi’s heirs will have to pay inheritance taxes and may need to sell shares. He also remarked:
“That won’t merit shareholders, that’s why we decided on the buyback. But that’s not all the reason. We’ve been rewarding our shareholders mainly through high dividends, but we cannot generate as much profit as we used to make.”
More: Satoru Iwata, top
Satoru Iwata will take a 50% pay cut
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories | 11 Comments
Back in July 2011, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced that he would be taking a 50 percent pay cut following poor 3DS sales. With the Wii U now facing a similar situation, Iwata is making a similar move.
Iwata will once again take a 50 percent pay cut, it’s been confirmed as part of Nintendo’s most recent financial results. Japanese publication Nikkei reports that his salary will be reduced from the period of February until June.
Nintendo’s two other representative directors, Genyo Takeda and Shigeru Miyamoto, will be taking a 30 percent cut as well. All other board directors, including Tatsumi Kimishima, Kaoru Takemura, Shigeyuki Takahashi, Satoshi Yamato, Susumu Tanaka, Shinya Takahashi, and Hirokazu Shinshi, will take a 20 percent reduction.
According to Iwata, Nintendo will evaluate future salaries based on the business environment at that time.
More: Satoru Iwata, top
Danger, Inc. created a Game Boy Advance-based mobile phone with digital game downloads back in 2004, “Nintendo were blown away”
Posted on 10 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in GBA, General Gaming, General Nintendo, News | 2 Comments
Here’s an incredibly interesting bit of reading for you: A company called Danger, Inc. once took their prototype for a T-Mobile Sidekick (also known as the “hiptop”), merged it with a Game Boy Advance chipset, created an online “app store” of sorts to purchase digital Game Boy Advance game copies, and sent it off to Nintendo for them to take a look at. Nintendo’s response? Read it below, as it’s worth hearing it through the first-hand account:
More: Chris DeSalvo, Danger Inc.
Nintendo: “we can confirm that there are no plans to offer mini-games on smartphone devices”
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 8 Comments
Nintendo has ruled out speculation that it will be bringing “mini-games” (also categorized as demos) to smartphone devices.
Nikkei published a report yesterday indicating that Nintendo would be increasing its presence on mobile hardware. Mini-games and an increase in advertising were mentioned as two prominent ways in which the company would be pushing its products on smartphones and tablets in the future.
A new statement from Nintendo, however, indicates otherwise. It flat-out says, “we can confirm that there are no plans to offer mini-games on smartphone devices.”
You can find the statement in full after the break.
More: smartphones, tablets, top
Nikkei claims Nintendo will announce demos and ads for smartphones/tablets this week
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 35 Comments
Nintendo isn’t planning on bringing its games to smartphones and tablets any time soon, but the company does appear to be extending its reach on such devices.
According to a report from Japanese business paper Nikkei, Nintendo is gearing up to launch free game demos/mini-games on these mobile platforms. Advertising will also be increased on smartphones and tablets. Both moves will aid Nintendo in better marketing its products.
Outlet Dr. Serkan Toto, reporting on the news, writes that “Nintendo wants to use smartphones to expand its potential user base by spreading information about new game releases, i.e. by using video to introduce future titles,” possibly through an official app. Meanwhile, the “playable demos of console games” are a means “to give smartphone-only players a taste of the experience without making the actual game available on non-Nintendo devices and convert these users into Nintendo customers.”
Assuming Nikkei’s report is accurate, Nintendo will be making this news official on Thursday during its latest financial results briefing.
Capcom releases video looking back on previous Monster Hunter games
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, Videos, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments
Monster Hunter is seeing its 10th anniversary this year. To celebrate, Capcom released the video above highlighting the series’ previous entries.
More: Capcom, Monster Hunter
Pikachu statue is all sorts of creepy
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Images, Random | 4 Comments
Well, this is one of the creepiest things I’ve seen… certainly when it comes to Pikachu! You have to wonder where the inspiration for this kind of thing comes from!
Shinichi Kameoka reflects on 2013, talks about what lies ahead this year
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 1 Comment
Brownie Brown founder Shinichi Kameoka left the company, now known as 1-UP Studio, and went on to form “Brownies” in March of last year.
Kameoka described 2013 as a “very blessed year of development and releases” while speaking with 4Gamer last month. Before leaving Brownie Brown, he worked on Fantasy Life Link for Level-5, and then helped create “Shooting Hero” – Brownie’s debut title on iOS.
As for 2014, Kameoka teased that Brownies is working on “a little epic adventure”. While there’s no sort of guarantee that it will wind up on a Nintendo system, we’re certainly hoping the possibility exists given Kameoka’s previous projects.
Namco Bandai now going by “Bandai Namco” in all territories
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 2 Comments
Namco Bandai has gone by the name “Bandai Namco” in Japan since Bandai and Namco merged back in 2005. Overseas, though, the “Namco Bandai” name has been kept in tact.
That’s changed following a meeting of the board of directors held in Japan yesterday. The names of all 31 subsidiaries have been unified, and will be known as “Bandai Namco” going forward. In doing so, the company hopes to enhance the value and appeal” of the brand.
More: Bandai Namco, Namco Bandai
Dakko Dakko says Nintendo has been “tremendous to work with”
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 1 Comment
Dakko Dakko lead designer Rhodri Broadbent has spoken very positively about the studio’s experience working with Nintendo and the Wii U hardware for Scram Kitty and his Buddy on Rails’ creation.
In an interview with ONM, Broadbent commented that Dakko Dakko has “found Nintendo to be tremendous to work with, and very supportive of Scram Kitty and his Buddy on Rails right from the start.”
Broadbent also shared a few remarks about developing for Wii U. He said that the recent report from an unnamed developer, which essentially blasted the console, was “out-of-date information and needless negativity around Wii U development.” Ultimately, he feels that “bringing your game to a Nintendo system should be about taking advantage of the toybox of possibilities they provide you with in terms of the controllers, the two screen setup, Miis, and so on.”
Be sure to head past the break for Broadbent’s comments in full. You can also find ONM’s full interview here, which includes comments about developing for one platform and more.
