Iwata: Third-party 3DS announcements coming, including ones from overseas devs
Nintendo has a solid lineup of 3DS games planned through the rest of 2013. Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D is out in May, Animal Crossing: New Leaf is due in June, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team and Mario Golf: World Tour are both launching this summer, and others are on the way such as Zelda, Pokemon X/Y, and Mario Party.
The one downside of the 3DS’ lineup concerns third-parties. Western developers haven’t been throwing a ton of support the system’s way, but Satoru Iwata told investors today that “the release of several key titles has already been announced, and I have also heard there are more unannounced titles to come.” Which kind of overseas games could Iwata be referring to?
Iwata additionally commented on the status of Japanese 3DS games in the west once again, noting that “we plan to more actively support the Japanese software developers in distributing their key titles overseas.”
Iwata closed by saying that he is aware “that our third parties are planning to launch other software titles that they have not announced yet.”
On the other hand, in addition to the first-party titles, it is also important to offer strong third-party software titles.
Recently, third-party software developers overseas have had fewer of their best development studios develop software for handheld devices. However, for this year, the release of several key titles has already been announced, and I have also heard there are more unannounced titles to come.
Also, as I mentioned on another occasion, we plan to more actively support the Japanese software developers in distributing their key titles overseas.
To be more specific, as of today, such third-party titles as shown on this slide have already been announced that they will be sold in the overseas markets, and I’ve also heard that our third parties are planning to launch other software titles that they have not announced yet. With these titles in the lineup, I think that, although much later than in Japan, the overseas markets are finally ready for Nintendo 3DS to get on an ideal sales track.
