Nintendo to begin selling retail games digitally before April 2013
During Nintendo’s last financial results briefing in January, president Satoru Iwata made it clear that the company was readying itself to sell Wii U and 3DS retail software through digital means.
These plans were reiterated today in Nintendo’s fiscal year earnings report.
The company wrote in the document:
Moreover, Nintendo will push forward with “Nintendo Network”, which is the network service for the “Nintendo 3DS” and the “Wii U”, and offers game experiences, which enable users to compete and interact with others all over the world, and provide add-on content by utilizing its network functions.
Furthermore, for the purposes of adapting to the changes in the environment surrounding the video game market and creating new business opportunities, Nintendo is envisioning the digital distribution of packaged software and is aiming at expanding the business.
It seems as though Nintendo will be implementing this functionality before April 2013. Nintendo’s hardware/software forecasts for the upcoming fiscal year – which ends on March 31, 2013 – “include the quantity of the packaged software by means of digital distribution.”
