Target is carrying on with its annual “Buy 2, Get 1 Free” sale. The offer will be valid between November 10 and November 16. Note that the ad above highlights PlayStation 4 titles, but all in-stock games will be included in the sale.

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Famitsu celebrates 1,300th issue with a look back on sales for the 21st century

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, General Nintendo, News, Wii | 0 comments

This week, Famitsu put out its 1,300th issue. The magazine celebrated by giving insight into Japanese sales since the beginning of the 21st century.

Some notable statistics:

– Roughly 14,000 console and portable titles have come out in Japan since January 1, 2001
– Handheld systems have dominated the Japanese market since the DS’ arrival
– 32.9 million DS units sold in Japan
– PSP sold just under 20 million
– 39 DS titles are in the top-100 sales ranking
– 22 PS2 titles are in the top-100 sales ranking
– 16 Wii titles are int he top 100-sales ranking
– Year 2006: most titles in the top 100 with 14
– New Super Mario Bros. sol 6,424,042 copies in Japan
– Nintendo took up all five top slots for software sales since 2001
– Pokemon Diamond/Pearl is number two, followed by Black/White, Ruby/Sapphire, Animal Crossing: New Leaf
– All of these games sold at least 5 million copies
– Brain Age, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Dragon Quest IX and Mario Kart DS round out the top 10
– 8 Nintendo-published titles overall
– Nintendo has sold 99.8 million pieces of retail software in Japan since 2001
– Combined with the 33 million or so Pokemon games sold, that’s nearly 133 million Nintendo-produced game cards and discs floating around Japan
– That’s enough to give every Japanese citizen one game and still have about seven million left over
– Runner-up in software sales: Square Enix
– Square Enix has sold just over 30 million retail copies
– Only 11 publishers produced all of the games that made the top 100 sales ranking

Famitsu concluded with the following:

“More users are downloading their software purchases, and the flow toward free-to-play can’t be ignored. Games are being played in an expanding number of ways, and there’s been a massive rise in the number of users who play games on their smartphones. We’re approaching an era where software sales aren’t necessarily a direct reflection of what gamers like.”

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Details from Nintendo’s latest financial results

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 3 Comments

Nintendo’s latest financial results are in. The company did just about what most had expected – the Wii U struggled, but the 3DS continued to perform very well.

Here’s the full overview of Nintendo’s performance:

– 300,000 Wii U consoles sold in the three month period to September 30th
– That’s double the 160,000 sold in the prior three months
– Wii U has sold only 460,000 worldwide in the six month period to September 30th
– An average of 76,666 units a month worldwide
– Lifetime Wii U sales are 3.91 million
– Nintendo not likely to reach its nine million sales expectation by the end of its 2014 financial year
– Pikmin 3 and Zelda: Wind Waker HD did not significantly boost console sales during the six month period in which both games were released
– Nintendo’s net sales: 196.5 billion yet
– Loss of 23.2 million yen
– Nintendo statement: “The Wii U hardware still has a negative impact on Nintendo’s profits”
– Nintendo blamed the loss on a markdown in the US and Europe, plus advertising and research/development for Wii U
– Animal Crossing: New Leaf has sold 2.49 million units worldwide
– Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team and Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D all showing “steady sales”
– Global 3DS sales: 3.89 million for the period
– 27.38 million games sold during the period
– 3DS has now sold 34.98 million units worldwide since launch to the end of September 2013
– Nintendo not revising its forecast for the 2014 financial year even with the loss and Wii U’s poor sales
– Pokemon X/Y “showed extremely strong initial sales, further propelling the popularity of the system”
– Wii U: “we attempt to concentrate on proactively releasing key first-party titles towards the coming year in order to regain momentum for the platform”
– Nintendo pointed to Wii Party U and Super Mario 3D World
– Wii U will be offered “at an affordable price by bundling software with the system”
– New promotional activities for Wii Fit U
– Nintendo also hopes to improve digital revenue and hardware profitability for both Wii U and 3DS by reducing their manufacturing cost

You can find Nintendo’s full financial results here.

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Aonuma: Nintendo will be “a bit more careful” choosing Zelda art styles in the future

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 5 Comments

Nintendo tends to make use of various art styles with the Zelda games. We’ve seen approaches that have been realistic, cel-shaded, and even impressionistic.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker most definitely introduced the biggest change in the series. No one saw the cartoon-like visuals coming, and the style initially caused quite the uproar. It’s in part due to Wind Waker’s original reception that it seems as though Nintendo will be more cautious with art styles in future Zeldas.

Eiji Aonuma, speaking with GamesTM this month, said the development team “will be a bit more careful in the future” with regard to the visual direction of Zelda entries. That being said, Aonuma would be willing “to break new ground again” if an approach was created that would appeal to the developers and players.

Aonuma told the magazine:

“We encountered an awful lot of problems from the drastic leap we took with Wind Waker. I think we will be a bit more careful in the future, but if we find a new approach that not just the developers, but also the users would enjoy then I think we will want to break new ground again. But we haven’t found such an approach yet.”

Thanks to joclo for sending this our way.

More: Eiji Aonuma, interview, The Legend of Zelda, top

Japanese Club Nintendo Platinum rewards for 2013 – Advance Wars: Days of Ruin and a calender

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DSiWare, General Nintendo, News | 2 Comments

Nintendo has announced the 2013 Japanese Club Nintendo Platinum rewards. Members who reached the status this year will receive a download code for Advance Wars: Day of Ruin as well as a calender.

Advance Wars’ inclusion as a reward is particularly noteworthy. Nintendo never released Days of Ruin in Japan, but is now doing so through Club Nintendo.

Platinum members can download the title as a DSiWare title starting today. Nintendo will also allow all Japanese Club Nintendo users to pick up Advance Wars: Days of Ruin for 800 points beginning in May 2014.

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Reggie talks using mobile devices for marketing, Nintendo TVii will see continued updates, more

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 3 Comments

Nintendo doesn’t plan on putting any of its franchises on smartphones. However, that doesn’t mean the company is opposed to the use of such devices entirely.

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime, speaking with CNET, spoke about how Nintendo is consistently considering the mobile space from a marketing perspective. He also pointed out the importance of exclusive IPs like Mario and Zelda so that consumers understand they can only experience these series by picking up Nintendo hardware.

“We’re constantly thinking about how to leverage mobile as a marketing vehicle. How do I give little tastes of content, little experiences that then drive the consumer back to my hardware environment?”
“That’s why we’re so focused on having content exclusive to our platform. When the consumer wants to play Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon, they have to purchase our hardware to do so. And that preserves our overall financial model.”