General Nintendo

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

The Famicom possessed an interesting color scheme. These days, we typically don’t see hardware that is covered in red, gold, and white colors.

Masayuki Uemura, a former Nintendo hardware designer, cleared up some misconceptions as to why the color scheme was chosen while speaking with Weekly Playboy:

“Originally, the inexpensive steel body we planned to use was too fragile, so we changed it to a highly durable plastic.”

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

This is something that has becoming a huge worry for me regarding Nintendo lately. In recent months it has become increasingly apparent that the Big N vastly underestimated how much more work has to go into HD games compared to what they did on Wii, and as a result we’ve seen their game budgets going up, their games getting delayed, and consequently their Wii U console not selling. It’s somewhat troublesome, but what does Nintendo’s CEO and President have to say about the situation?

Sometimes I wish Nintendo would just go back to make games with N64-level tech scaled up to HD instead of worrying about all of this modern mumbo jumbo. The concept that all games have to sell millions and millions of copies to break even is quite troubling, but hopefully Nintendo will continue to develop low-budget games like Sin and Punishment and Punch Out!! alongside the big titles.

Via Gamespot

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

EarthBound is kind of seeing a renaissance. Earlier this month, Nintendo announced that it would finally be re-releasing the game overseas through the Wii U Virtual Console after it originally launched close to two decades ago.

Let’s say EarthBound was a huge success on the eShop. Perhaps then a new entry would be possible, knowing that the series still has a big following worldwide.

Not so fast. EarthBound/Mother creator Shigesato Itoi, when asked about the possibility of a new installment, responded with just one word: “Impossible.”

Surely Nintendo can’t keep EarthBound/Mother dormant forever, right? Maybe one day we’ll see a complete revival, much in the same way that Kid Icarus came back after a 20-year hiatus.

Source, Via 1, Via 2

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

The video game industry has been in the slump over the past couple of years, Satoru Iwata has acknowledged. Some say that the US has specifically seen a downturn. Why is this so?

Iwata did offer two possible reasons during Nintendo’s most-recent financial results briefing Q&A.

First, Iwata commented on consumers’ “higher psychological hurdle to paying a certain sum of money for software.”

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

Satoru Iwata, Nintendo’s global president, is now the CEO of Nintendo of America. What will that mean for business operations overseas?

Speaking during Nintendo’s latest financial results briefing Q&A, Iwata provided some insight into the situation. There are plans to increase communications “with those working for our overseas subsidiaries” in order “to make their marketing strategies and tactics more aligned with the management decisions at the headquarters.” Iwata will additionally inform such employees “about the products under development on a more timely basis so that they can take advantage of the sales potential of such products in their business territories.”

I decided to refer to our plan to place our overseas operations under my direct control here because, in evaluating the notice regarding changes of directors, I thought that you might wonder who will replace the retiring general manager of the International Division and who will supervise our business in the U.S. after Mr. Kimishima, current chairperson and CEO of Nintendo of America Inc., comes back to Japan to replace Mr. Mori as a managing director.

I already communicate very frequently with those working for our overseas subsidiaries, but I will try to intensify the communications with them to make their marketing strategies and tactics more aligned with the management decisions at the headquarters. I will also inform them about the products under development on a more timely basis so that they can take advantage of the sales potential of such products in their business territories.

Source

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

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata was asked to discuss cloud gaming during a previous financial results briefing. At the latest meeting, Iwata commented on the topic once again.

Iwata has expressed concern about cloud gaming’s latency, which wouldn’t work well with Nintendo’s titles due to the company’s “strict requirements in terms of real-time responsiveness”. While Nintendo plans to monitor how the technology progresses, Nintendo has no plans to acquire a cloud gaming company.

As for your remark about cloud gaming, I believe that there are games that have an affinity with cloud gaming and games that do not. Of course, we constantly pay attention to the advances and changes in cloud gaming technology and Internet infrastructure. On the other hand, I don’t think that our games, particularly the types that have strict requirements in terms of real-time responsiveness, can offer high-quality services using cloud gaming technology because of unavoidable network latency, which I mentioned last time. We will of course continue to see how this technology develops, but in order to decide whether cloud gaming is something that we should be interested in, we will need to closely follow the changes in technology and also the business environment. However, at this point in time, I do not think that acquiring a cloud gaming company will in any way improve our performance, so we are not moving in that direction.

Source

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

One investor at Nintendo’s recent financial results briefing Q&A suggested that the company “abandon the strategy of the expansion of the gaming population and instead focus its business efforts on children and families”. In response, president Satoru Iwata promised that Nintendo has no plans to abandon this demographic, adding: “Families and children are indeed very important audiences for Nintendo. This policy will never change.”

Iwata said:

“First, families and children are some of the most important consumer groups for Nintendo with whom we have been trying to expand the gaming population, and Nintendo has shown and would like to continue to show a strong presence among these groups. Families and children are indeed very important audiences for Nintendo. This policy will never change.”

Source

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, 3DS eShop, General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 0 comments

More and more consumers are purchasing digital content – even in Japan. A good chunk of Animal Crossing: New Leaf’s sales came from the eShop, and there are a fair amount of 3DS owners who have opted to purchase the downloadable version of Tomodachi Collection.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata recently commented on the rise of digital sales during the Q&A session of the company’s latest financial results briefing. He confirmed to attendees that Animal Crossing’s digital sales in Japan stand at 10%, while Tomodachi Collection’s digital sales have come in at 10% thus far.

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Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 0 comments

Last year, a few Mario Kart 7 trophies were added to the European Club Nintendo website as new rewards. Two more trophies have been added to the selection – the Banana Cup trophy and the Mushroom Cup trophy. Each is available for 5,000 stars.

Nintendo UK shared the news through Twitter:

Source

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

Ecco the Dolphin creator Ed Annunziata launched a Kickstarter last month for a spiritual sequel called “The Big Blue”. Unfortunately, Annunziata wasn’t able to secure the requested funding. Only $55,765 was raised out of the necessary $665,000 total.

So what’s next for the project? Annunziata plans to downsize his goal in hopes of making a smaller and cheaper version of the original idea so that fans can get a better idea as to what The Big Blue can offer.

“I am absolutely certain that if you could try the game and see how beautiful and unique it will be, most people would not hesitate to back it, and will want to be involved in it’s creation. If you can play Little Blue and feel it you will have much less doubts about the Big Blue.”

Little Blue provides one playable dolphin and one other unannounced sea creature, song mechanics, a couple of “very large” environments, private ocean environments, and 10 or more “significant creatures” including at least one leviathan.

Annunziata intends to make Little Blue available for free. It will be directly linked to the next Kickstarter campaign, The Big Blue, Part 2.

Via