Virtual Console helped change Miyamoto’s stance on making a Mario movie, felt Nintendo should have more video content
This information comes from the Q&A portion of Nintendo’s latest financial results briefing…
The touchpoints that consumers have with Nintendo IP, especially Mario IP, are currently Nintendo Switch, smart devices, and the like. I understand this will expand to theme parks, a movie, and so on, but what lines separate these different media? I expect each medium probably has some certain set themes, not just introducing the Mario character anywhere. I would like to know what will be different about each touchpoint, and what will be the same.
Miyamoto:
We have not established individual IP expansion strategies for each touchpoint. Take video content development using Nintendo IP, for example. I wasn’t in favor of the idea originally, but to give you some background on my current involvement in creating video content using our IP, consider the number of times we created Virtual Console games (a service that allowed titles released for older Nintendo hardware to be available for download and played on newer hardware). Our assets include our past software, and we can continue to leverage those assets even now, 30 years after the original titles were released. Unfortunately, when the original hardware that supported this software is no longer available, that software must be ported to new hardware. As we continue to port our older games to newer hardware, we have come to think that if we have assets in the form of video content in addition to our beloved video game titles, and if we can leverage both of these assets over the long term, then I can see how our content business could lead to further growth.
In other words, my way of thinking changed, and it’s not so much that I wanted to make a Mario movie, but that I felt Nintendo should have more video content. More people will have access to our IP with video content, and so the number of people who will come into contact with Nintendo IP will continue to grow in the future. The various mediums through which video content is available will continue to expand. As this happens, we believe that the most important thing for us will be to keep a firm hold on our rights. A critical aspect of our strategy is making our rights clear while creating content. And collaborating with other companies to create this visual content means that we have no need to expand our company’s size unnecessarily. This in turn means that we feel able to invest actively.
