Nintendo on downplaying tech specs
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 88 Comments
Nintendo has always been coy when it comes to technical specs. We rarely see spec sheets from the company, and we often don’t see comments about what Nintendo’s systems can do from a technical perspective.
Last week, Nintendo senior managing director Genyo Takeda spoke with investors about how “Nintendo tries not to emphasize the raw technical specifications”, instead opting to place the focus “on how we can use technology to amplify the value of our entertainment offerings”.
Takeda said, “Whether a machine is powerful or not only has meaning in the context of whether that can express itself in terms of gameplay to consumers.”
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Miyamoto on providing enough software for Nintendo systems, working with outside devs to recreate past games for Wii U, more
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 7 Comments
One investor asked Nintendo how it will address the lack of software available for its systems at launch during the company’s investor briefing last week. Shigeru Miyamoto addressed the question, suggesting that the situation had been improved with Wii U. New Super Mario Bros. U and Nintendo Land were available at launch, followed by Pikmin 3 “after a long interval”, and Supre Mario 3D World at the end of last year. Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. are also on the way.
“Therefore, I feel that we have managed to overcome the challenge of releasing enough first-party franchises on Wii U,” he said.
Miyamoto later addressed what Nintendo believes was Nintendo’s biggest issues last year: “we failed to communicate the true value of Wii U, failed to make children persuade their parents to buy our products for them, and failed to offer products that parents could not resist.” He stated that, as a result, Nintendo “will need to put more focus on creating experiences that utilize the GamePad that can also be fully enjoyed when playing alone.”
Miyamoto’s final comments were about developing for Wii U. Due to the huge evolution in technology between Wii and Wii U, just using a technique such as shaders “has significantly changed our development environment as well as our developers themselves and the time to develop games, all of which are areas toward which we have been making significant reinforcements.” Miyamoto said Nintendo is now looking to work with “many outside developers” so that “past games” can be reborn on Wii U.
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Iwata on the importance of momentum, never thought about resigning
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 0 comments
Momentum is something that we often hear Nintendo discussing. The 3DS, for example, saw a tough start, but Nintendo turned things around with a price drop and steady stream of software. This provided a momentum boost for the system.
Unfortunately, Wii U has yet to see any sort of momentum. This is something that Nintendo president Satoru Iwata reaffirmed to investors last week.
In spite of the Wii U’s struggles though, Iwata says he “never thought of resignation as an option, and I believe that my job is to do whatever I can do to deliver results, and I am as passionate about this responsibility as ever.”
Read Iwata’s full comments on momentum below.
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Iwata on licensing Nintendo’s characters
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 3 Comments
Nintendo announced a new approach to character licensing at its financial briefing last week. Whereas the company previously guarded its characters closely, Satoru Iwata confirmed plans to make IP more widely available and “actively expand” its character licensing business.
Iwata later clarified to investors that Nintendo won’t likely approve each request. Rather, Nintendo “will judge, based on our own criteria, if that licensed product really leads to consumers’ smiles in the medium- to long-term, and if it is in direct competition with our core business.
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Iwata on 3DS/Wii U profitability, Mario Kart/Smash will drive Wii U, more
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 11 Comments
Thanks to the 3DS’ install base, Nintendo now feels that it can turn a profit with the system’s software. President Satoru Iwata mentioned to investors last week that the company has “many key titles to be released in this calendar year and we will strive to drive profits from these titles.” 3DS overall is expected to be “the key profit-driver for the next fiscal year”.
With Wii U, on the other hand, Iwata admitted that “it is not easy to make a significant profit with the current units sold.” But with Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. acting “as our main drivers”, Nintendo “would like to make sure that the markets will thoroughly acknowledge the value of Wii U, including the titles that we have released to date.”
Iwata elaborates on plans and goals for smart devices
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 2 Comments
Last week, Nintendo confirmed plans to take advantage of smart devices in a number of ways. This will demonstrate “the value of our entertainment offerings, thus encouraging more people to participate in Nintendo platforms.”
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata elaborated on the company’s plans and goals for smart devices during the Q&A portion of its investor briefing. You can find his comments in full below.
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Yamauchi family interested in selling Nintendo shares, buyback terms disclosed
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 3 Comments
The family of Hiroshi Yamauchi has a “desire to sell” its shares, Bloomberg reports. Yamauchi was president of Nintendo for over 50 years and passed away last September.
Yamauchi’s heirs currently maintain 10 percent of the total shares for Nintendo. Yet despite the family’s interest in selling its shares, it’s unclear just how much they intend to part with.
Meanwhile, Nintendo will initiate its buyback program worth totaling 114.2 billion-yen ($1.1 billion) tomorrow. The company could puchase as many as 9.5 million shares (7.4 percent) at 12,025 yen each.
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Super Smash Bros. for Wii U screenshot (2/3/14)
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Screenshots, Wii U | 5 Comments
Along with today’s screenshot, Sakurai passed along the following message on Miiverse:
A size comparison of Lucario’s standard special attack, Aura Sphere, in its weakest and strongest states. The attack is faster and more powerful when the Aura Sphere is bigger.
Nintendo Download (2/6/14, Europe)
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News, Podcast Stories, Wii U eShop | 0 comments
This week’s European Nintendo Downloads are as follows:
Wii U
My Farm – €7.99 (£7.19)
Wii U VC
NES Open Tournament Golf – €4.99 (£3.49) – 60Hz Version
3DS
Animal Hospital Demo
DSiWare
Hidden Expedition Titanic – €7.99 (£7.19)
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Price Reductions
3DS
BIT.TRIP SAGA €9.99 (£8.99) until 06/03/14, 23:59 UTC
Girl’s Fashion Shoot €14.99 (£14.99) until 06/03/14, 23:59 UTC
Virtue’s Last Reward €12.49 (£9.99) until 06/03/14, 23:59 UTC
Shifting World €9.99 (£8.99) until 06/03/14, 23:59 UTC
Super Black Bass 3D €9.99 (£8.99) until 06/03/14, 23:59 UTC
Hakuoki: Memories of the Shinsengumi €16.99 (£14.99) until 06/03/14, 23:59 UTC
Jewel Master Cradle Of Rome 2 €9.99 (£8.99) until 06/03/14, 23:59 UTC
Jewel Master Cradle Of Egypt 2 €9.99 (£8.99) until 06/03/14, 23:59 UTC
Beyblade Evolution €14.99 (£14.99) until 06/03/14, 23:59 UTC
URBAN TRIAL FREESTYLE €3.49 (£3.15) until 13/02/14, 23:59 local time
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Retro originally wanted to include Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze’s dynamic 3D camera in Returns
Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii, Wii U | 5 Comments
It’s not unexpected for developers to abandon a few ideas while making games. For Retro Studios, the team was able to take some elements abandoned for Donkey Kong Country Returns and implement them into its direct sequel, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.
One feature scrapped from Returns but included in Tropical Freeze is the game’s dynamic 3D camera. Retro was forced to cut the idea due to a lack of time, but managed to save it for the Wii U title.
Retro Studios president Michael Kelbaugh told ONM this month:
“As a game developer, I’ve felt that you always leave something on the drawing board that you wish you could have got in and you’re always tormented by the thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if we have included…?’ I really believe, however, that those thoughts inspire future games and ideas that you use on the next game. For example, the dynamic 3D camera we used in Tropical Freeze was something we wanted to work into Donkey Kong Country Returns. We didn’t have the time, so we implemented it into Tropical Freeze instead.”
Thanks to joclo for the tip.
