Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has told investors that the company is hard at work creating titles for the Nintendo 3DS that should attract people who are not particularly interested in video games. Apparently several of these titles are already in development and should be coming out next year.
“Aiming for the next fiscal year, we are also working on new genres of software that may attract people who are not particularly interested in video games.”
- Satoru Iwata
During the latest Iwata Asks Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed that Super Mario 3D Land will have a time attack mode once the main levels are completed. With StreetPass enabled you will be able to see the times of people you have passed and determine whose skill level is similar to yours.
“To be honest, it was so hard that at one point we gave up, but Koizumi-san said he definitely wanted to put it in. (laughs) After you clear the normal stages, you unlock the Time Attack mode and can see the times of people you have passed and determine whose skill level is like yours. You have a friendly race with people about your level and enjoy shaving away your times.”
“This time, you can even pass by people who don’t have the game! If you pass by someone’s Mii character someplace like the StreetPass Mii Plaza application, you can receive an item from that Mii character at Toad’s house. If you pass by the same Mii character again, you get something better.”
Nintendo America has released two new Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword trailers. The first trailer shows the Fire Sanctuary whilst the second trailer gives us a glimpse at the Volcano Summit. Clearly these video’s contain spoilers so if you want your Zelda experience to be unblemished then you’ll have to resist watching I’m afraid.
Nintendo of America has issued a press release detailing some new features and locations in the forthcoming Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for Wii. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword launches November 18th in Europe and November 20th in North America.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has explained to investors that the company is going to revamp the Nintendo 3DS eShop, with demos, sleep mode downloads, and a browser version of the store for PCs and smartphones. Nintendo will also be providing support for DLC and micro-transactions.
“We are aiming to accelerate our digital business, the importance of which is expected to become even higher in the future. Several new functions will be added to the Nintendo eShop.”
“In terms of usability, we know that there are still several issues with the eShop. We are now preparing for the Nintendo eShop to be available on the web so that you can access it via PCs or smartphones too.”
- Nintendo president Satoru Iwata
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has confirmed that the final version of the Wii U will be shown at next years E3 event in June. During Nintendo’s semi-annual financial results briefing Iwata confessed that Nintendo had learned a “bitter lesson” with the launch of the Nintendo 3DS, and that they will take “every possible measure” to ensure that the Wii U launch is an overwhelming success.
Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter claims that Nintendo’s famous blue ocean strategy has just ‘become very red’ for the company. Pachter still believes that there’s room for the company in the video game market despite estimating that Nintendo’s business could shrink between 30% and 50%.
“There is room for them in the market, but the blue ocean just became very red.”
- Michael Pachter
Sega has issued a press release detailing a whole host of release dates for the Nintendo 3DS. Some of these dates were previously confirmed and others such as Crush 3D have changed. Now’s the perfect time to place down some pre-orders!
Shinobi – November 15th (U.S.), November 11th (EU)
Sonic Generations – November 22nd (U.S.), November 25th (EU)
Crush 3D – January 10th (U.S.), January 13th (EU)
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympics (3DS) – February 14th (U.S.), February 10th (EU)
Nintendo Europe has revealed the official packaging for the Ice White Super Mario 3D Land bundle and Lavender Pink Nintendogs + Cats bundle. The Super Mario 3D Land Ice White bundle goes on sale December 2nd and the Nintendogs + Cats Lavender Pink Nintendo 3DS bundle goes on sale on the 18th November.
Nintendo has recorded a loss of 70.29 billion yen from the first half of the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011. Although it’s not as bad as the 100 billion yen that was previously predicted, it has left many doubting Nintendo’s current strategy going forward.
“I think they need to change their strategy drastically.”
“Now that people can do so much on their smartphones, will they want to buy a games machine?”
- Yuuki Sakurai, president of Fukoku Capital Management
