If you’re reading this, chances are you’re an avid Nintendo fan – or a gaming fan, at the very least. That likely means you try watching the Nintendo Direct presentations live. Or perhaps you view them on YouTube a few hours later.
Not everyone operates this way. In fact, Satoru Iwata revealed during today’s investors meeting that more and more consumers are viewing the Nintendo Direct broadcasts through the eShop.
Iwata noted, “It is no exaggeration to say that the most preferred viewing option has now become the Nintendo eShop, and it is not uncommon to find that approximately 60 to 70 percent of total views come from the Nintendo eShop.” Iwata additionally stated that with recent shows, “it became common to see total views for a single video reach five hundred to six hundred thousand in a matter of about 10 days on the Nintendo eShop while they did not show apparent growth on YouTube”.
The Wii U has not been able to maintain any momentum. This is most apparent in the marketplace, where the console has struggled to sell worldwide.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata discussed the Wii U’s lack of momentum during the company’s investors meeting earlier today. Iwata pointed to a few key issues like extended development of important first-party titles, consumer confusion, and slow release pace of games.
Iwata’s comments in full:
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.”
Update: To clarify – Nintendo isn’t ditching E3 as a whole. It sounds like there won’t be a traditional conference, but they’ll still have a presence at the trade show. The media and analysts will be given a chance to try out upcoming games, for example.
A good portion of Nintendo’s Wii U titles confirmed for E3 are already known to the public. Mario’s 3D debut, Mario Kart, and Smash Bros. are among the games to be featured in some fashion.
Satoru Iwata commented briefly on Nintendo’s E3 plans during an investors meeting earlier today. Along with statements suggesting that a traditional press conference won’t be held, Iwata told attendees that the expo will be used as an opportunity to reveal details about Wii U games coming this year. Additionally, he cryptically said that Nintendo “will attempt to use this year’s E3 to make announcements in a new way that we have not tried before.”
“At this years E3 we will not be announcing a new hardware system, so E3’s primary mission will be to have [press, analysts] experience our software. Many people would like to know more about the titles for Wii U that will be announced. We will use the timing of E3 to focus on providing details about our Wii U titles for release this year, and intend to create opportunities for guests to the conference to experience them immediately. We will attempt to use this year’s E3 to make announcements in a new way that we have not tried before.”
Update: Added in official translation.
Nintendo has held annual press conferences at E3 for nearly two decades. But this year, it sounds like the company will be bowing out of the typical proceedings.
Speaking with investors during a meeting today, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata indicated that the company will not be hosting “a large-scale presentation where new news is presented to a general audience from all over the world as in previous years.”
Below are Iwata’s comments in full, which have been translated by NeoGAF’s StreetsAhead:
First, we decided not to host a large-scale presentation targeted at everyone in the international audience where we announce new information as we did in the past.
Instead, at the E3 show this year, we are planning to host a few smaller events that are specifically focused on our software lineup for the U.S. market. There will be one closed event for American distributors, and we will hold another closed hands-on experience event, for mainly the Western gaming media. Also, I did not speak at last year’s presentation, and I am not planning to speak at these events at the E3 show this year either. Apart from these exclusive events for visitors, we are continuing to investigate ways to deliver information about our games directly to our home audience around the time of E3. We will share more information about them once they have officially been decided.
During the E3 period, we will utilize our direct communication tools, such as Nintendo Direct, to deliver information to our Japanese audience, including those who are at this financial briefing, mainly focusing on the software that we are going to launch in Japan, and we will take the same approach outside Japan for the overseas fans as well.
Summer Carnival ’92 Recca originally launched for the Famicom over two decades ago. And late last year, the game hit the Japanese 3DS eShop. Could Summer Carnival ’92 Recca now be coming to the North American and European eShops, too?
The OFLC has added in an entry for Summer Carnival ’92 Recca. These kinds of ratings usually imply future western VC releases, which may be the case here.
Miiverse has officially launched on the PC. You can access all of the platform’s communities directly through your browser by visiting this link.
You’ll need a Nintendo Network ID in order to participate in Miiverse. For the time being, accounts can only be created on a Wii U console.
Signing in lets you access almost all functionality available on the Wii U including community posting. You can also check up on your latest notifications and keep track of your activity feed.
As is typical for the company, Nintendo is holding a meeting with investors following the release of their fiscal results yesterday.
We’ll be keeping this post updated with all of the tidbits from the latest event. In one way, I guess you can say this is a live-blog! Keep checking back for updates, which come from analyst David Gibson.
– Nintendo claims that it has increasing market share globally in markets that are in decline
– Says they need to rebuild momentum for Wii U
– One of Nintendo’s biggest priorities is to improve the 3DS in international markets with major software titles
– Nintendo claims that the press’ tone has been more positive, citing Kotaku and USA Today comments that 3DS has the best games
– Nintendo says Wii U sales will improve from July onwards with first-party titles
– Miiverse can be accessed from PC today
– Miiverse coming to 3DS this year
– 87% connection rate for 3DS
– 80% connection rate for Wii U
– 25% of Animal Crossing’s sales in Japan were digital; 2/3 purchased at retail
– Wii U will get Sucia (trains) card compatibility in Japan in the near future to make payments easier
– Nintendo open to new business models on its platforms such as FTP or cheap price
– Cloud-based games not suited for their platforms and no plans to take advantage of the tech
– Iwata is taking over direct report of overseas business so there will be more alignment and product potential will be enhanced
– Iwata is giving up some of his roles in Japan
– Nintendo sees driver of this year profit improvement from hardware cost reduction and rise in first-party mix
– Nintendo said that with US purchases larger than sales that currency benefit was limited but should increase as sales rise
– Nintendo says that Wii U momentum is already lost and now wants to release software continuously
– Also important that consumers are satisfied with the software
– Nintendo said advertising expense doesn’t rise much this year because of efficiency of using Nintendo Direct, social media, and eShop
– Last year’s advertising included brand building for Wii U, which won’t be needed this year
– Regarding software delays, this was because people had to work on hardware more than planned and min expectations rising
– Nintendo on share buyback: said it’s only benefit is to those who exit their shares into it, only short term benefit
Another item included in Nintendo’s financial report materials is an updated release schedule.
There aren’t any huge megatons, but The Wonderful 101 and Wii Fit U have slightly more-specific release windows. Both titles are coming out for the Wii U this summer in North America, Europe, and Japan. Monolith Soft’s new game appears to have been officially confirmed for the west as well, with a vague “TBA” release date listed.
Look for the full release schedule above.
Included in Nintendo’s latest financial report is an updated listing of its million seller titles. New entries include Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon and Super Mario Galaxy.
The full listing is as follows (worldwide numbers):
Nintendo DS
Pokemon Black/White 2 – 7.81 million
New Super Mario Bros. – 30.38 million
Nintendo 3DS
New Super Mario Bros. 2 – 6.42 million
Animal Crossing: New Leaf – 3.86 million
Mario Kart 7 – 8.08 million
Super Mario 3D Land – 8.29 million
Paper Mario: Sticker Star – 1.97 million
Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon – 1.22 million
Mario Tennis Open – 1.11 million
Wii
Wii Sports – 81.99 million
Mario Party 9 – 2.87 million
Mario Kart Wii – 34.26 million
Wii Sports Resort – 31.89 million
New Super Mario Bros. Wii – 27.88 million
Super Mario Galaxy – 11.72 million
Wii U
Nintendo Land – 2.60 million
New Super Mario Bros. U – 2.15 million
