Nintendo president Satoru Iwata began the company’s investor briefing Q&A last week by addressing points pertaining to graphics, the E3 Nintendo Direct, and appealing to all types of gamers.

Due to how lengthy the investor’s question was, it would probably be best to share the entire thing:

I enjoyed Nintendo Direct yesterday, so I would like to “directly” ask a question to Mr. Iwata and Mr. Miyamoto. I am afraid that personally the new hardware systems announced at E3 were not a big surprise. Some games certainly had breathtaking graphics, but their gameplay seemed as if they were an extension of existing games. Wii U is no exception to me. I think it is unfortunate that there have been no unique games only it could provide yet. It is true that “Off TV Play” is very convenient when we play Virtual Console games, but Wii U itself has not surprised me as much as Wii, which created a new form of entertainment that revolutionized conventional wisdom. Also, I saw the first-party software lineup for Wii U to be released until 2014, which was announced in “Nintendo Direct@E3 2013,” as continuations of existing games and found nothing in it that seemed possible only on Wii U. This is also true for third-party games. I am concerned that no one in the video game industry will be able to create anything new in the near future because developers have reached their creative limits. Nintendo is supposed to create products that can be enjoyed by many people regardless of age, gender or gaming experience, in accordance with its philosophy of “gaming population expansion.” However, most of the games in the current lineup are for those who have some interest in games. Some Japanese software developers focus on creating innovative games, but this appears to be possible only when they are small companies. Is Nintendo faced with a dilemma of attempting to improve its business performance while creating innovative games for a new consumer base?

And now for Iwata’s response:

Club Nintendo Japan hacked

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 1 Comment

Earlier today, Nintendo announced that the Japanese Club Nintendo website has been hacked. Personal data such as names, home addresses, phone numbers, and mail addresses may have been compromised.

Nintendo started looking into the situation after a significant amount of errors were detected on Tuesday. Between June 9 and July 4, the company confirmed that 23,000 unauthorized log-ins were made with 15 million attempts.

Users will need to change their passwords through email, as all old passwords will no longer work. Nintendo is now looking to improve security on Club Nintendo Japan.

Thanks to luis santiago for the tip.

Source

Survey says the average age of a gamer in UK is 35, and they’re generally married

Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in General Gaming, General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories, Wii | 1 Comment

This data comes from a survey done by gaming social network “Pixwoo”. 2000 people who identified themselves as “gamers” were questioned, and they’re all from the UK:

– Average gamer in the UK is married
– They play, on average, for about 2.5 hours a day, five days a week
– Average age is 35
– They stay up until (on average) 10:58PM playing games
– The data stays relatively consistent from male the female gamers

– Average gamer owns two consoles, 18 games
– Takes around a month to complete each game
– Most of them argue more than twice a week with their partner about gaming (not sure if this means about games themselves or gaming habits)
– About 5% say gaming is a “constant cause” of arguments
– 15% have broken up with someone due to their love of gaming

– Average gamer has about 5 online friends
– 29% say they’ve met at least one of their online friends face-to-face
– 33% play multiplayer games locally
– 25% play online
– 20% play with their online friends consistently
– 44% will purchase an Xbox One, PS4, or gaming PC in the next 12 months
– Most popular console was Wii, followed by PS3, then Xbox 360

Via CVG

Super FX creator says the North American SNES almost shipped with it built in

Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments

Take a break. Listen to some of the SNES’ best tunes, courtesy of the Super FX chip.

“Nintendo liked the idea of souping up their hardware – there was even talk of putting it inside the USA version of the SNES, which hadn’t been released at that point – but in the end it had to go into the cartridge to keep the initial cost of the console low. It’d have been awesome if it was as standard on every SNES, so it’s a shame that didn’t happen.”

– Super FX developer Jez San

The Super FX chip allowed for games like Star Fox and Yoshi’s Island to be conceived and executed, and having it installed inside cartridges– while it may have been more expensive for developers– certainly kept the SNES cost down far enough where Nintendo could manage to sell as many units as they did and further fund the development of such interesting gaming experiences! It definitely would have been cool to see what the SNES would have looked like if every game was able to use the chip though…

Via Nintendo Life

Index Corporation approved for Civil Rehabilitation Proceedings

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

Atlus parent company Index Corporation has been approved for Civil Rehabilitation Proceedings by the Tokyo district court. Index will now have four months to find a new sponsor for its business transfer. Things will need to be settled by November 5 of this year.

What exactly will Index be involved with over the next few months? The company will need to field and examine applications from potential sponsors and before the deadline, decide on which external party the business will be moved to.

Investment firm GCA Savvian, acting as financial advisors, will be assisting Index in its search for a sponsor.

Source, Source 2

Developer tidbits about Monolith Kyoto

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

Monolith Kyoto is one section of Monolith Soft that we haven’t heard much from. Although the studio opened in 2011, news regarding its first project has not yet been shared.

CGWorld did manage to get some tidbits out of the studio in a new interview. We now know that the team contributed to Animal Crossing: New Leaf and have around 30 staffers in total. More developer details can be found below.

-Studio opened 2011
-Worked on the graphics of Animal Crossing: New Leaf
-Hired 10 new people this year following their expansion announcement earlier this year. Both fresh graduates and experienced workers.
-Brings their total staff to around 30. Mostly character modelers, effect designers, and animators.
-Staff has a high proportion of women, many staff in their late-20s
-Work is from 9AM to 6PM, no overtime without your boss’s permission. (This is uncommon in Japan).
-No taking work home or unpaid overtime.
-Time for experimenting included in regular working hours, but can use the office tools up to 9PM for this purpose.
-Staff use their extra free time to pursue hobbies or hone their artistic skills.
-Looking for storyboard artists as they’re making cutscenes at the studio.
-Article ends with a call for job applications for 3D CG designers, effect designers, and motion designers.
-The absolute minimum monthly salary for an experienced worker is 185,000 yen (US$1,837), up for negotiation based on experience and skills. There’s also 2 annual bonuses, an annual wage rise, health insurance, and up to ~US$500 support for work related transport costs on top of the salary.
-Experienced workers must have 3 years experience or more, new graduates also welcome.

Source

Fan-made “Pokemon Generations” is a 3D action-adventure RPG

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 7 Comments

Fans are taking the Pokemon series into 3D for a new action-adventure RPG experience.

Pokemon: Generations, already playable in demo form, will offer single-player and multiplayer aspects. The game will also connect the stories between Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow and Gold/Silver/Crystal.

Some screenshots of the fan project can be seen in the gallery above. There’s also a short combat video here. For more details, check out this link.

Source

“The Atlus brand and consumer business will continue” amidst parent company bankruptcy, according to official statements

Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in 3DS, DS, General Gaming, General Nintendo, News, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments

“From hereafter also, the development and sales of the Atlus brand as well as the consumer business will continue. Other retail and download titles that are currently on sale will continue to be sold as they are currently.”

– Official Statement from Atlus

As a big fan of Atlus’ work myself, this is great news. What will happen to the parent company (and where Atlus may end up after their rough patch) is still up in the air, but with any luck things will maintain their current scheduling at the developer themselves.

Via Kotaku

Aonuma on decision to remake Wind Waker, going back to buttons on 3DS, Mario 3D Land inspiration, Zelda Wii U, difficulty with multiplayer

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, GameCube, General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 2 Comments

Wired’s interview with Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma is up now for viewing, and it contains a lot of interesting nuggets about Nintendo’s classic series.

Aonuma commented on all three current Zelda projects: Wind Waker HD, A Link Between Worlds, and Zelda Wii U. Topics include the decision to remake Wind Waker (there was pushback internally!), the change to full button control on the 3DS with A Link Between Worlds and how Aonuma gained inspiration from Super Mario 3D Land, the difficulty in implementing multiplayer, and more.

Head past the break for Aonuma’s full remarks.

Nintendo keeping region locking in place due to parental controls and game ratings

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 7 Comments

For some of its systems, Nintendo decided against implementing a region lock. But now we’re in an era in which all of the Big N’s hardware make use of the functionality. Both the 3DS and Wii U do not allow games to be played outside of their original regions.

Why has Nintendo decided to adopt such an uncompromising stance? According to a statement from Nintendo of America, region locks allow for parental controls and “ensure compliance with regional standards and rating systems.” And no: Nintendo’s region locks aren’t going anywhere.

“Nintendo has no plans to remove region locking from our systems. By taking this approach, Nintendo is able to include parental controls and ensure compliance with regional standards and rating systems.”

Source