During Nintendo’s latest shareholders meeting, one attendee brought up the slow launches of both Wii U and 3DS. This same person expressed concerns about NX meeting a similar fate.
Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo, addressed this by stating:
The situation for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U is in line with what you mentioned. For Wii U in particular, it cannot be said that it had a successful launch. As for Nintendo 3DS, in Japan there was a temporary slowdown but we managed to make a recovery by offering a number of initiatives collectively. On the other hand, Wii U has not been able to recover at this point in time. Because of this, the size of the installed base compared to the Nintendo DS or Wii eras appears not to be as solid and this is reflected in the company’s profitability. But taking a look back, it was not the case that Nintendo DS sold with huge momentum from the beginning. When it first started to lose momentum, we offered a number of titles from a new genre, such as “nintendogs” or “Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day,” and these titles were widely accepted even by those who had never played video games in the past. This sequence of events led to a very large business. The platform business can sometimes be referred to as a “momentum business.” Thus, it is ideal to have a jump start and drive momentum. Looking back at some of Nintendo’s past platforms, this ideal launch has been achieved 100 percent by perhaps only Wii. Even the Nintendo DS launch had areas in which we could have done better. I cannot disagree with your indication that Wii U is experiencing the most unfavorable situation.
Since the word “NX” has been mentioned, please let me elaborate. When Nintendo announced the collaboration with DeNA on March 17 of this year, I mentioned that Nintendo is currently developing a new dedicated video game system codenamed “NX.” The reason I mentioned this was, at that time, there were more than a certain number of people that thought that Nintendo would give up on the dedicated game system business and concentrate on smart device application development, or that Nintendo should take that path. In addition, such tone could be seen frequently through the media. I felt it was necessary to communicate that Nintendo is not pessimistic about the future of the dedicated game system business but rather more and more eager to continue it. On the other hand, details on the new platform essentially should come later. This is because the entertainment business has an aspect where there is value in surprising consumers. It is not convincing enough to the consumer if we describe how the magic works before actually showing it to them and then expecting them to be surprised or delighted. Having the element of surprise or doing the unexpected is the premise for introducing new ideas and having them welcomed with surprise. That is why I have been repeatedly saying that the next news on NX will not be announced during 2015 but will be announced in 2016. Nevertheless, since NX has news value, when I am interviewed on various occasions, I am asked about it almost every time. I will not share details on NX today but with regard to the launch of Nintendo 3DS and Wii U not necessarily having progressed well and not acquiring sufficient support from software publishers, we intend to offer NX through a Nintendo-like solution. Thank you for understanding that we are making various considerations and preparations in order to avoid what happened with the previous generations.
On a different note, I believe the standard for software publishers in selecting what hardware to provide their games for is the installed base after all. The larger the installed base or the more it is believed that the installed base will largely expand, there is an aspect that more software publishers are likely to join in. On the other hand, Nintendo is collaborating with various software publishers. At E3, which was held in the U.S. and is the largest trade show in the video game industry, we received many proposals for joint initiatives. In addition, Japanese software publishers have close relationships with our licensing department on a regular basis. As for collaborations with software publishers or their games, please consider that there are various ongoing projects below the surface.
Nintendo conducted its 75th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders a couple of weeks back. The event featured some brief opening remarks from president Satoru Iwata, but the main highlight was the Q&A. Nintendo now has the entire transcript up in English here.
We already covered the Q&A in-depth last month, so we won’t be posting all of the information here. However, I’ll be picking out a few highlights throughout the day.
Thanks to Thomas for the tip.
According to the latest issue of Jump, Dragon Quest VIII on 3DS will feature an additional dungeon. Jahagaros, a new boss monster, is located here. You can view a scan from the magazine above that provides a look at the new box art illustrated by Akira Toriyama.
Jump is also teasing the reveal of a “big title” for its next issue due out next week. Since it’s on the Dragon Quest VIII page, it should be something related to Dragon Quest. It’s unclear if the game in question is for Nintendo platforms.
Nintendo released a new video today showcasing a few European digital game highlights from June 2015. You can watch it below.
This week’s North American Nintendo Downloads are as follows:
Wii U Download
Roving Rogue – $7.99
Quadcopter Pilot Challenge – $8.99
Wii U Virtual Console
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – $9.99
3DS Download
Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3 – $39.99
Mercenaries Saga 2 – $4.99
3DS Themes
Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies Mood Matrix
Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies Court Record
Ace Attorney Trilogy Pixel Art
Ace Attorney Trilogy Main Characters
Pokémon: Mega Charizard Y & Mega Rayquaza
Pokémon: Eevee Collection: Espeon & Umbreon
eShop Sales
Wii U
– Bombing Bastards and Spot the Differences: Party! from Sanuk Games are on sale until 8:59 a.m. PT on July 9.
– Ittle Dew is 50 percent off (reduced from $9.99 to $4.99) until 8:59 a.m. PT on July 30.
– Plenty of Fishies is 40 percent off (reduced from $4.99 to $2.99) until 8:59 a.m. PT on July 31.
3DS
– Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies from Capcom is 44 percent off (reduced from $29.99 to $16.79) until 8:59 a.m. PT on July 16.
– Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy from Capcom is 25 percent off (reduced from $29.99 to $22.49) until 8:59 a.m. PT on July 16.
– Talking Phrasebook – 7 Languages is 40 percent off (reduced from $4.99 to $2.99) until 8:59 a.m. PT on July 9.
– European Conqueror 3D, The Legend of Dark Witch and Tappingo from Circle Entertainment are on sale until 8:59 a.m. PT on July 23.
– Toy Stunt Bike is 50 percent off (reduced from $4.99 to $2.49) until 8:59 a.m. PT on July 30.
– Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove, 4 Elements and more games from Tulip Games are on sale until 8:59 a.m. PT on Jan. 1.
Activities
Splatoon: New Game Mode and Splatfest – Tower Control, a new game mode that finds Inklings riding a tower into the enemy’s base, has been added to Ranked Battle. In addition, the theme for the first Splatoon Splatfest is “Cats or Dogs” and starts July 4. Learn more here: http://splatoon.nintendo.com.
Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. “Independence” Tournament – See how your Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. squad stacks up online in Nintendo’s Public Tournaments. Top players earn unique titles that are visible online and earn major bragging rights with their friends and around the world. The new “Independence” tournament runs from July 2 to July 6. Opt in via the SpotPass feature for notifications on future tournaments, and click here for more information about multiplayer tournaments. Good luck, agents!
Source: Nintendo PR
5pb.Games released a new trailer for Corpse Party: Repeated Fear. Check it out below:
Super Mario Maker won’t have an inherent content filter, so players can potentially upload any kind of level. Should other users find a level offensive or inappropriate, however, they can report that level. The level will then be reviewed by Nintendo who will decide whether to take it down or not.
Capcom just released some gameplay footage of their upcoming Monster Hunter spin-off game Monster Hunter Diary: Poka Poka Airou Village. Check it out below (live gameplay starts at 8:23):
Alongside a new trailer, Bandai Namco Europe also revealed a New 3DS bundle for the game, pictured above. Included in the bundle is a New 3DS with the game pre-installed on it, exclusive cover plates and a digital copy of the (Japanese) SNES game Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden 2.
If you pre-order the regular game now, you also get Super Butoden 2 and access to six support characters in Extreme Butoden: Kid Goku, Baby Goku, Super Vegito, Garlic Jr., Meta-Cooler and Kid Gohan.
