Posted May 1, 2011 I love watching the Bonus Round at this time of year in the build up to E3 They are, however, as clueless as us regarding what is going to come from Nintendo at the event.. as expected Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 2, 2011 I love watching the Bonus Round at this time of year in the build up to E3 They are, however, as clueless as us regarding what is going to come from Nintendo at the event.. as expected I like to watch it too, but they never even seem to scratch the surface of all the rumours and speculation going around. I mean, ....it seems that all Geoff knows is Pacter's 'WiiHD' term.... How can Geoff seriously suggest that it's just going to be a Wii with added HD? Let's hope Reggie will stick it to him on the 'Stream' when they hold their annual E3 show-off:awesome: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 2, 2011 Have Nintendo announced their press conference yet? Really can't wait to see this thing unveiled so we finally understand it. Main things are how powerful is this thing going to be, what is the screen used for, and will the wii controls be implemented into the device (so will motionplus be a primary control scheme or just for wii games)! I just can't piece it all together and come out with a winning formula. A machine that will be amazing, sure. But from a business perspective it just doesn't make any sense. Unless Sony and MS really do give their consoles near 10 year life cycles. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 2, 2011 (edited) Satoru Iwata Q&A Brief is now in english. Recently many tablet-type devices have entered the market, and I feel they have reasonably large screens, are intuitive and are attractive as game devices. What is your viewpoint, Mr. Iwata, on having a tablet device as Nintendo hardware or a game device? Regarding the format you referred to as "tablet," which has a certain big screen and allows users to directly touch it, when we look at it from the viewpoint of "developing software which uses a touch screen," I think it is an interesting device if it creates an experience that is in line with the trend created by Nintendo DS. On the other hand, we have never abandoned the + Control Pad and buttons for our game systems because we think these functions are advantageous when creating highly reactive games. In this meaning, I do not think Nintendo hardware will take on any of the current tablet forms as they are without buttons, to make our game devices. However, this is only when we consider tablets as game devices and, for other purposes, I think tablets are very interesting, and they are a form of hardware that will continue to grow. Social games in addition to mobile games, which are played mainly on smartphones, are continuing to grow rapidly. How do you think this affects your company's business? Also, are there any possibilities you will somehow incorporate social games as one of revenue sources? At the same time Nintendo's performance was declining, the growth of social games and smartphones was seen, and I think there was much speculation, along with reports and articles stating that there was a causal relationship between the two. For example, social games became popular, or iPhone and Android were launched, and smartphones became a large presence in the mobile-phone market and a number of applications including games became available at a very low price. Then articles were published saying that "this is the cause of the decline in the Nintendo DS business," and even this morning there was an article with such tone. I have repeatedly brought up the question, "Is Nintendo's performance as it is because it has been affected by social games or smartphones, or is there a separate cause?" In other words, "Is there a causal relationship or is it just that the two things are happening at once?" As I emphasize again and again, if there was a causal relationship, there would be a significant difference between Nintendo DS users who play social games and Nintendo DS users who do not play social games, or a significant difference between Nintendo DS users who play games on smartphones and Nintendo DS users who do not play games on smartphones. For example, if we discover that users who play social games are not playing with Nintendo DS as much anymore, or if there is a decline in how many games they buy in a year, we would need to start believing that there is a causal relationship because, no matter what I think, we would have actual proof, but if we cannot find any proof, the assumption that there is a causal relationship may not be correct. I have mentioned that we are researching the gaming population in Japan and the United States, and at the same time, we have also researched whether respondents play social games, have smartphones, or play games on smartphones. As for the use rate of Nintendo DS, we have not found any significant differences. I can not say that no one said, "I recently stopped playing Nintendo DS because I am now playing games on my smartphone," but statistically, there was no significant difference. On the other hand, we found out that people who play paid social games have a higher Nintendo DS use rate. This was a significant difference. Isn't this the opposite of your impression? Therefore, I think that the people who play paid social games are people who like games. And as a result, they have a higher overall use rate. I have a question about your mid-and-long term strategy. I understand that the characteristic of Nintendo, which has especially been reflected in the business since Nintendo DS, is continuous innovations based on the policy "Jimae-shugi (doing things by one's bootstraps)," in other words, the commercialization of unique products that your company has developed by itself. Are you thinking of strategically taking advantage of outside resources in the future? In slight connection with the question about Wii's concept before, honestly speaking, Wii's future could have been different if Nintendo had made better partnerships with outside companies in the field of network services at the early stages of the penetration of Wii. In other words, Nintendo might have been a little obsessed with the policy "Jimae-shugi" at that time. Although we have already put ourselves back on track, we would like to clearly differentiate what is our true strength from what we can basically do by ourselves but can be done better by more skillful outside specialists in order not to fall into that trap again. You may be aware of some features which I am implying now in relation to the future developments of Nintendo 3DS and Wii's successor system that we announced yesterday. I am sorry I cannot say anything more specific today. On the future Next, regarding the subject of overseas, there was an era in the past, which was until the time of PlayStation 2, when games made in Japan sold well all over the world. However, I think that, over the past three or four years, the presence of Japanese software developers has become relatively small. Nintendo is doing what overseas software developers do not do, so Nintendo's software is selling relatively well also in foreign countries, but for the software oriented to enthusiastic game players, such as "Call of Duty," the ones created by overseas developers are more mainstream in the overseas markets. In addition, because the expressions in games are becoming more and more photo-realistic, I imagine that the cultural differences in acceptance have started to be reflected more clearly. I think this is the reason why western users tend to prefer software created overseas than software from Japanese software developers. Of course, Nintendo will continue to run a business by creating Nintendo-like games, but we will not be able to meet the various tastes of consumers by only doing this, so I feel that it will become necessary to reinforce the development resources in the foreign countries. Therefore, I hope we will be able to show you something like that at E3. Concerning Wii, I think that Nintendo failed to draw in third parties. Thinking about the Japanese and overseas situations separately, in Japan, I assume that third parties thought that Wii's performance was low, and did not actively develop software for Wii. For the overseas markets, I assume the biggest reason was that Wii wasn't capable of HD, but was it not also because Nintendo failed to draw in third parties in terms of M- rated (ESRB rating: 17 years and older) games? I would like to hear about your recognition of the current status. Taking my comments into regard, will Wii's successor be a system which can alter the current understanding that third parties have especially in the area of performance? I would also like to receive your comments on that point. Regarding your analysis that cooperation with third-party software developers didn't go as well for Wii as it went for Nintendo DS, there actually are some arguments which attribute the reason to the system’s "performance," but in terms of "performance," Nintendo DS did not overwhelm other devices by its performance. However, it proposed what other devices could not, and that value was recognized, and as a result the software sold well, which is the most important point. Unfortunately, there are very few success stories of third-party software in Japan on Wii. This lowered the motivation of the software developers, and at a time when these software developers should have been running their businesses on the platform with the biggest installed base, this wasn't the reality. On the contrary, in the U.S., several titles sold well. Not only "JUST DANCE," which I introduced today, but for some titles, such as "Guitar Hero," even if the titles were released for multiple platforms, the Wii version sold the most, and in such a situation, the developers did not completely lose motivation for development on Wii. However, Wii is good in some areas but not in others, so especially for games like "Call of Duty," the Wii version sold pretty well, but the unit sales were very different from the versions of other platforms, and I assume that one of the reasons is the issue with the graphical representations which you mentioned before, and also, the consumers who like that kind of game will have other platforms at home as well, which led to this result. Of course, we would like to cooperate with software developers for Wii's successor, and as I am repeatedly saying, I don't believe Nintendo can carry out everything alone. I am saying that we are responsible for building up the market, but I don't think that Nintendo can maintain the market alone; We are aiming for creating a situation where software publishers will be willing to cooperate. As for commenting on such things as the performance, I already stated in the beginning that I would not mention any specific plans. Thank you for your understanding. Edited May 2, 2011 by Dante Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 2, 2011 In other news. Just played me some Little King's Story. Seriously. WTF? I can't believe I didn't play this earlier. It' sublime. It's like Pikmin, Animal Crossing and perhaps Settlers combined, yet manages to destroy them all with more charm and wonder than a stable of games I already adore. Wow. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 2, 2011 Fuck Yeah, Tapedeck! Best game on the Wii by lightyears! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 2, 2011 Well, just expanded the kingdom for the first time and loving it. It's a refreshing change and I'm more than happy I picked it up. I feel ashamed for not getting it on release and supporting Cing before they suffered financially, as this is a real gem. Can't wait to play more! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 2, 2011 In other news. Just played me some Little King's Story. Preach that shit! Seriously. WTF? I can't believe I didn't play this earlier. You're so late to the party, Richter. You know, when I play...I do fuck all. I build shit and I collect tax. I get mega-pissed if a day goes by and I forget to collect my tax. Infact, it takes me a whole day just to get it. I need that money, man. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 2, 2011 Hah. Epic post Flink. Tax you say? Iiiiinteresting! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 2, 2011 Hah. Epic post Flink. Tax you say? Iiiiinteresting! Yeah, man. You get your crew, your posse, your mans, and you basically go house to house. Send them through the door and they come out with money. Send your whole crew in though until they're unable to go in again. (You'll know when). Then, ta-daa, you have monies. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 2, 2011 Yeah, man. You get your crew, your posse, your mans, and you basically go house to house. Send them through the door and they come out with money. Send your whole crew in though until they're unable to go in again. (You'll know when). Then, ta-daa, you have monies. Awesome. The tax man's taken all my dough and left me in my Stately home... Can't wait to play more tomorrow. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 2, 2011 Well, just expanded the kingdom for the first time and loving it. It's a refreshing change and I'm more than happy I picked it up. I feel ashamed for not getting it on release and supporting Cing before they suffered financially, as this is a real gem. Can't wait to play more! Bump the LKS thread, bump it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 2, 2011 Where is the cheapest place to buy a Wii at the moment? Any good deals around? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 2, 2011 I'm not actually sure how good a deal this is but Amazon have a white one going for £129.99 though I know GAME had offers on over the last couple of weeks for both the black and white versions for £99.99.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 2, 2011 Id say the Wii is still a bargain at it's release day price. There are absolutely loads of top notch games available for the system that would keep you busy for absolutely ages! Although if the next console is backwards compatible then yeah, either look for as cheap a deal as you can get in the meantime or just hold out until the new console is released, then play the amazing back catalogue of games! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 3, 2011 Caris, I'd wait a month or two if you can. The RRP is bound to come down significantly around e3! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 3, 2011 Where is the cheapest place to buy a Wii at the moment? Any good deals around? With Nintendo giving confirmation that Project Café is indeed real, they have also pretty much also said that the Wii is dead As seen at... Well...this is awkward. :P Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 3, 2011 Well no, it's not really. I stand by everything I said, and I think it's future is bleak to say the least. But I haven't owned a Wii in years and they're a hand full of games I want to play such as Goldeneye and Donkey Kong. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 4, 2011 Nintendo Select range has been confirmed for Europe, the games are: Animal Crossing: Let's go to the City WarioWare: Smooth Moves Mario Strikers: Charged Football Wii Sports. All will be released on 20th May and will cost about £19 - 20. Not sure why they are selling Wii Sports, did they stop packaging it with the Wii or something? Source. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 4, 2011 Nintendo Select range has been confirmed for Europe, the games are: Animal Crossing: Let's go to the City WarioWare: Smooth Moves Mario Strikers: Charged Football Wii Sports. All will be released on 20th May and will cost about £19 - 20. Not sure why they are selling Wii Sports, did they stop packaging it with the Wii or something? Source. As far as I know, Nintendo takes Wii Sports out of the main package, and replaces it with Mario Kart Wii. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 4, 2011 Oeh, might pick up Smooth Moves: Wario at his best; a greedy, stinking, corporate fat fuck:laughing: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 4, 2011 Picked up Warioware at a car boot for £3 2 years ago Isn't Mario Strikers £10 currently brand new? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 4, 2011 I've been playing Strikers as of late. Fantastic game with brilliant music. Sold it eons ago but picked it up again for nephew Who loves it. Also played De Blob 2 today. Played it for about ten minutes and ended up losing 3 hours. Annoying save functionality though :-/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted May 4, 2011 Isn't Mario Strikers £10 currently brand new? Yeah but this one will have an awesome and sleek budget case design, with stylish logo utilising a number of colours and font sizes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
