Platforms

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 2 Comments

Wii U is maintaining momentum even after the start of the new year, especially in the overseas markets.

This is the year-on-year Wii U hardware/software sell-through ratio for the October-December period we showed at the Third Quarter Financial Results Briefing.

The momentum gained during the year-end continued into the fourth quarter.

As the ratios show, software in all regions and hardware in the overseas markets exceeded those of the previous year.

Our analysis is that this increase is not so much owed to the release of new titles but instead to the release of two classic multiplayer titles for Nintendo’s home console last year.

Specifically, I believe it was significant that “Mario Kart 8” and “Super Smash Bros. for Wii U” were released in the same year and that we have been able to maintain users’ active use of these titles months after their respective releases.

We are trying to motivate our consumers to continually play the games that they have purchased and are placing emphasis on the ability to keep a high replay value even after time has passed since their release by adding new functionalities via software updates or by digitally offering new add-on content such as new characters and new courses. This is an important effort for maintaining the performance and momentum of evergreen titles and further extending their lifespan.

Source

More: sales, top

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 0 comments

In the video game platform business, although people tend to focus on the huge spike of sales immediately after a game release, looking back at the history of Nintendo’s handheld game systems, not only does hardware sell well with new titles, but our systems also tend to sell well paired with big titles that have become evergreen.

This tendency is strongest in the overseas markets, and we will aim to expand our hardware by promoting new titles as well as retaining the energy of our abundant evergreen titles (which are not new on the market but maintain consistent sales.)

These are the cumulative sales figures of some of the Nintendo 3DS software sold so far. Although “Mario Kart 7” was released in 2011, “New Super Mario Bros. 2” and “Animal Crossing: New Leaf” were in 2012 and “Pokémon X” and “Pokémon Y” were released in 2013, each of these titles sold more than 1 million units in the subject fiscal year. In the overseas markets especially, many titles tend to become evergreen and sell consistently even long after their releases.

“Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS” was released in fall last year and sold 6.75 million copies by the end of the subject fiscal year. “Tomodachi Life” was released in Japan in November 2013 and in the subject fiscal year overseas, and it sold particularly well in Europe with the global cumulative shipment reaching 4.15 million units. Also, from their release in November last year to the end of the subject fiscal term, 9.94 million units of “Pokémon Omega Ruby” and “Pokémon Alpha Sapphire” were shipped. While on one hand, we will keep these titles evergreen and on another we will add new quality software, we aim to further expand the sales of Nintendo 3DS hardware by increasing its broad software lineup.

In addition, as I mentioned in my presentation for the last Financial Results Briefing, we are working on further promoting multiplayer gameplay using the local communication function of Nintendo 3DS in the overseas markets as well. This shall play a major role for franchises such as “Mario Kart,” “Animal Crossing,” “Super Smash Bros.,” “Pokémon,” “Monster Hunter” and for the “YO-KAI WATCH” game, which will be released in overseas markets in the future.

Source

More: sales, Satoru Iwata, top

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News | 9 Comments

This is the graph displayed in the last Financial Results Briefing, which shows the percentage of change found in the sell-through data of Nintendo 3DS hardware and software in each market for the third quarter of this fiscal year compared to the corresponding term of the previous year.

As you can see, except for Japan, where New Nintendo 3DS contributed to the full quarter, the hardware sales fell far short of the previous year in the U.S. and Europe where the new models were not available during the third quarter and in Australia, where they were launched in late November.

In the fourth quarter, you can see the launch of New Nintendo 3DS in the overseas markets boosted the sales of both hardware and software from one year prior and brought momentum to the platform once again.

On the other hand, the Japanese market was in between big titles and this resulted in a different outcome after having enjoyed five double-million sellers in the latter six months of the year 2014.

In the Japanese market, the cumulative sales of Nintendo 3DS hardware since its launch are about to reach 19 million units. Regarding the Nintendo 3DS software market, the situation remains promising not only because there have been numerous major-hit titles released since the latter half of last year, but also because we have high hopes for the many titles that are planned to be released this year by both Nintendo and other game software developers. On the other hand, regarding the Nintendo 3DS hardware, four years since its release, we are seeing a certain level of positive results by the release of New Nintendo 3DS, but we still have not been able to break free from the period beyond the popularization of the Nintendo 3DS in which the performance leveled off. I believe that the key to revitalizing the Nintendo 3DS business in Japan is by intensifying its appeal to even more generations of female consumers.

This year, we are planning to release titles that offer high potential to appeal to female consumers, and we would like to further strengthen our approach to reach a female audience covering wider generations.

Meanwhile, in the overseas markets, the Nintendo 3DS hardware has not spread to a level where it has reached its market potential. In other words, there is plenty of room for growth.

Since the release of New Nintendo 3DS in February this year, especially for the large-screened New Nintendo 3DS XL, stock in stores has continued to run low in the U.S. and Europe, which of course is a sign that the game platform has momentum.

Source

More: sales, Satoru Iwata, top

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U eShop | 0 comments

The newest Paper Monsters Recut update is now live in North America. Once applied, players should find a much smoother experience thanks to the elimination of certain bugs.

Developer Mobot Studios passed along the update news on Twitter:

Paper Monsters Recut’s update previously came to Europe in March.

Thanks to Cameron for the tip.

More: indie, Mobot Studios, Paper Monsters Recut

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Mobile, News | 4 Comments

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata shared a brief update about the company’s mobile plans during today’s financial results briefing.

According to Iwata, Nintendo wants to have five mobile games out by March 2017. This may seem like a small number, but the Big N wants them to become hits. Additionally, given the business, Nintendo doesn’t believe their plans are half-hearted at all.

It won’t be too long before we see Nintendo’s first, true effort for smart devices. The goal is to bring out the first mobile title this year.

Source, Via 1, Via 2

More: top

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U eShop | 0 comments

YouTube user “Akwartz” shared an hour of Dex footage today. You can watch the full video below.

Dex launches on the Wii U eShop this summer.

More: Dex, Dreadlocks Ltd, indie

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Screenshots, Wii U eShop | 0 comments

The developers behind Anima: Gate of Memories confirmed late last month that the game has finally entered beta. Although it can be played from start to finish, Anima requires lots of polish, the addition of story cut-scenes, and bug corrections.

That’s not all on Anima: Gate of Memories. The team announced that Badland Games is handling the title’s distribution. I’m not entirely sure how/if the news applies to the Wii U version, so I’ll just mention that off-hand.

Source, Via

More: Anima: Gate of Memories, indie

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U eShop | 0 comments

Some footage has come in of Ultratron’s Wii U build. You’ll find nearly a half hour of footage below.

More: Curve Digital, Ultratron

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 5 Comments

Splatoon Global Testfire hit the eShop today, though you can’t do much with it at present. As it’s an online-only demo, you can only experience what Nintendo is offering during select hours on Friday and Saturday. You can at least poke through Splatoon’s entire digital manual, and some users have done just that, which has resulted in the discovery of an interesting option in the final game.

Splatoon will come with a “Color Lock” option that lets players choose from a few pre-set color patterns. It’s unclear what these options are currently, but the manual says it’s “for the aid of players who have difficulty distinguishing certain colors.” Good on Nintendo for including this feature!

Source, Image source

More: Splatoon

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U | 0 comments

Game Informer published a new video feature that provides some insight into the creation of the Disney Infinity 3.0 Star Wars figures. There’s also some commentary from Avalanche’s Jeff Bunker. Watch the video in full below.

Source

More: Avalanche Software, Disney Infinity 3.0, Disney Interactive, interview, Jeff Bunker