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.”
Iwata on rising digital sales, digital models such as free-to-play, more
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.
Remember how Nintendo promoted Fire Emblem: Awakening on its 3DS Facebook page by providing art and details about its characters? The company is now doing the same thing for Animal Crossing: New Leaf, which launches in June.
You can find a rundown of the first round of New Leaf character content below.
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:
Share your #MarioKart7 victories as a #ClubNintendo member with these new trophies: ow.ly/i/1ZHP9 ow.ly/kw9R7
— Nintendo UK (@NintendoUK) April 29, 2013
Although Zen Pinball 2 is available through the Wii U eShop, it isn’t possible to purchase any Star Wars-related content. Zen Studios has offered Star Wars tables in other versions of the game, and while the same can’t be said for Wii U, the company continues to work towards fixing that in the future.
An official tweet from Zen Studios reconfirms that Star Wars Pinball is still underway for Wii U:
@bartoszdebski We are still working on SWP for Wii U as well as fixing some existing issues 🙂
— Zen Studios (@zen_studios) April 29, 2013
Keiji Inafune could have contributed to Guild01. Level-5 actually approached Inafune before development on the collection began, but because he was still with Capcom at the time, teaming up with the company proved difficult. Inafune made sure to participate when Guild02 rolled on in.
According to Inafune:
“At the very beginning, when Level-5 was creating Guild 01, Hino-san from Level-5 approached me and asked if I would be interested in participating in the project. At that time, I was still at Capcom and I was willing to work with them, but it was very complicated since I was employed by a different publisher. We kept the discussion open and when I became independent it was easier for me to participate, but at that time it was after Guild 01. When Guild 02 started I was one of the first candidates on the list. I showed a couple of concept to Hino-san and the one that was most appealing was Bugs vs. Tanks.”
Inafune told Siliconera about one of his other ideas, which was “bloody and gory”. Because of its M-rated nature, it wasn’t a likely candidate for inclusion in the Guild series.
“Hino-san also liked the other idea, but it was bloody and gory. It would probably a M-rated game and it wasn’t really suitable even if it was a good idea. Hino-san laughed and said it might be hard to put it into the Guild 01 Nintendo series.”
Casual Arts, the team behind the DSiWare games Oscar in Toyland, Oscar in Toyland 2, and Oscar in Movieland, is developing new games for the 3DS.
Thus far, Casual Arts has only shared details about “The Sleeping Palace”. The hidden object game has players taking on the role of Sophia Fay, a girl who is suffering from memory loss. You’ll be navigating through the Palace Laroche in hopes of discovering why its residents are in a magical sleep.
A release is planned for 2013. Casual Arts is also working on one 3DS game that is due out by Halloween and a third title for Christmas.
