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Iwata: Nintendo magic comes from integrating hardware and software
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata says the company's chief differentiator is its invention and introduction of hardware and software, and how having those different teams under the same umbrella. "What I believe is that Nintendo is a very unique company, because it does its business by designing and introducing people to hardware and software – by integrating them, we can be unique. And because we have hardware and software developers in the same building, they stimulate each other," Iwata tells CVG. This approach, Iwata says, has cemented fandom in Nintendo's lineup of franchises. And why not offer Nintendo games on competing platforms? With such a stable of system sellers at its disposal, Iwata thinks it'd be short-sighted for Nintendo to offer its games elsewhere. If he wasn't "concerned about the long-term future of Nintendo at all," Iwata says putting Nintendo games on other systems may lead to "some short-term profit." Ultimately, it's Iwata's responsibility for the long-term that prevents him from ever "providing our precious resources for other platforms at all." Iwata, who this year took on the role of Nintendo of America CEO in addition to his duties as company president, got his start at Nintendo as a programmer for HAL Laboratory, the outfit responsible for creating Kirby, the Mother series (Earthbound) and the Super Smash Bros. franchise. He has served as president of Nintendo since 2002.
Nintendo continues piracy fight with lawsuit against hacked goods retailer
Nintendo has filed a lawsuit against HackYourConsole.com, a site that offers DS and 3DS flashcarts, devices that allow owners to play pirated games on their systems. Nintendo's press release to the media stated that the site "has developed a global business focused on selling unauthorized copies of Nintendo games and game-copying devices (such as the R4 device) used to circumvent the technological protection measures contained in the Nintendo DS family of hand-held systems." One of the products offered on the site is a portable hard drive that's pre-loaded with 200 Wii games. Which, you know, is probably super-illegal. "The website operator, for a fee, also provides services to hack and modify the Wii console and allow the play of illegal software," Nintendo added.
Now Playing: August 5-11, 2013
Improbably dressed heroes battle armies of deadly critters this week in Dragon's Crown. Choose your platform to jump to a specific release list:
Square-Enix improves losses in Q1
Square-Enix's latest financial numbers (PDF) are a bit mixed. The publisher posted a loss for the first quarter of its fiscal 2014, but said loss is an improvement over the loss posted during the same period last year. Specifically, Square-Enix posted net sales of 24 billion yen ($245.3 million), down from 24.9 billion yen ($253.7 million) during Q1 last year. The company recorded a net loss of 493 million yen ($5 million) an improvement over last year's loss of 2 billion yen ($21.1 million). Outside of Square-Enix's overall performance, the Digital Entertainment arm of the company (i.e. video games) showed some growth, with net sales of 11.5 billion yen ($118 million) and an operating income of 1.3 billion yen ($13.4 million), up from sales of 11.3 billion yen ($115 million) and a 111 million yen ($1.1 million) operating loss last year. Even so, Square-Enix cited "weak" sales of console games, as no major titles were released during its first quarter. Meanwhile, its browser and smartphone titles have been making "smooth progress" and the Wii MMO Dragon Quest X "has been showing steady performance." The financial statement reiterated comments from earlier this year – when the company posted a $134 million loss – noting the rapid spread of mobile devices like tablets and smartphones, while the console game market becomes increasingly competitive. These changes have already led to major restructuring, in particular a lot of executive shuffling.
The Legend of Zelda CGI movie that never was
A pitch reel from Imagi Animation Studios for a CGI The Legend of Zelda film, proposed in early 2007 and subsequently turned down, has made its way online. It was supervised, shot and edited by animator Adam Holmes, who thankfully posted it to his online portfolio for us all to see – well, not here. Embedding has been disabled on the video. Imagi Animation Studios, formed in 2000, is the outfit that produced TMNT, the studio's first major feature release. Two years later, Imagis followed up TMNT with Astro Boy, which reportedly lost money on its initial $65 million production budget.
PSA: 1,800 pre-orders will get Devil Survivor 2 published in PAL region
Publisher Ghostlight would love to release Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 in the PAL region, but it needs to reach its minimum order quantity of 1,800 units by August 30 in order to do that. An update on its official blog details two versions of the game: a standalone release of Devil Survivor 2 for £25 and a bundled copy with the 3DS' Devil Survivor Overclocked for £50. The bundle carries a £10 discount and cannot be shipped to Germany due to "an existing distribution agreement." Devil Survivor 2 continues the series' tradition of following a group of high-school students that save the world by making pacts with demons. If you're on the fence, we were quite fond of it.
Nintendo's indie guy on opening the gates for developers
Nintendo is the Willy Wonka chocolate factory of the gaming world. The products that roll out of Nintendo's doors are whimsical and wildly different than what leaves Microsoft or Sony's factories. Nintendo creates games and consoles in a secret vacuum of ergonomic white walls and strict NDAs, with rooms populated by fantastical creatures and short, foreign men with mustaches and overalls. At least, that's an apt analogy that one developer recently made about Nintendo, the company's Business Development Manager, Dan Adelman, tells me. He's Nintendo's indie outreach specialist, and for years he's been scouting potential developers for Wii, 3DS and Wii U, and he's been a part of the company's recent evolution into what he hopes is a more open, transparent distributor. Picture Willy Wonka's glass elevator. "Historically, Nintendo has seemed kind of hard to approach, kind of like there's a closed system where if a developer already knows somebody at Nintendo or has some kind of 'in,' they're in, but otherwise there's no way to interface with the company," Adelman says. "I think we're putting a lot of effort into changing that and making ourselves more accessible, so I really want to make sure that people realize that it's actually pretty easy now – and we're trying to make it easier – to work with us and release games on our systems." If Adelman is Wonka, he wants every developer to get a Golden Ticket.
Gamestop, GAME to distribute shiny legendary Pokemon
Pokemon's rare 'creation trio' is coming to GameStop and GAME stores in the US and UK, where in the run-up to Pokemon X and Y fans can pick up special "shiny" versions of the legendary monsters. In case you're not 100 percent clued up on your Pokedex, shiny Pokemon have unusual alternate colors, making them collector's items in a series that is kind of completely about collecting. Participating GameStop and GAME stores will distribute Dialga, Palkia, and Giratana, the three cover Pokemon of Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, in a series of three separate runs. We've included details for both US and UK Poke-fans after the break, who'll need to bring a DS or 3DS with them, along with their copy of White, Black, White 2, or Black 2. Our eyes, however, remain firmly set on October 12, when the first main Pokemon entries for the 3DS in X and Y will be released worldwide.
Now Playing: July 29 - August 4, 2013
A hero comes out of retirement and runs for his life this week in Cloudberry Kingdom... Choose your platform to jump to a specific release list:
Pikmin 'didn't seem like Pikmin' on the 3DS
The cross between Wii U and 3DS seems like a good business idea for just about any Nintendo game, but it also seems like a natural gameplay fit for the garden-based strategy of Pikmin 3, which has you tossing wee Pikmin hither, thither, and yon. As Shigeru MIyamoto laid it down for 4Gamer, using the stylus worked well enough as a control method, but the resulting game just plain didn't feel like Pikmin. "The truth is we were doing prototype tests of Pikmin for the DS and 3DS but it turned into unit management with only the touch pen and no matter what it just didn't seem like Pikmin. We concluded that Pikmin is a game that revolves around action based on its controls and the strategy sits on top that. Although there are elements that are built on the strategy, there are other overall things that have to be well considered. This complete experience is an important elements of Pikmin." All of which is more than a little vague, but it seems like while Pikmin 3 could've technically worked with the hardware and touch controls, the end result was too far from Miyamoto's vision for the game. Perhaps a portable Pikmin 3 would've required a bit more skill than Miyamoto really wanted for Pikmin 3, which he wants to be considered "a carefree, easy action game." While other, luckier parts of the world already have Pikmin 3, it won't be released to North America until August 4.
New Nintendo eShop releases: Kid Icarus, Picross E2
Kid Icarus flaps his ineffectual wings on the Wii U Virtual Console this week. The 3DS picks up a new puzzler, Picross E2. That's pretty much it for high profile releases, but then who wants to follow Earthbound?
Now Playing: July 22-28, 2013
Sci-fi and magic collide this week with Shadowrun Returns... Choose your platform to jump to a specific release list:
June NPD: 3DS still on top, Ouya sales 'light' [update]
The NPD Group has published its monthly report outlining the performance of the physical sector of the video games retail market, with unsurprising results with respect to both the industry's overall performance and which games sold the most between June 2 and July 6. Nintendo's 3DS remained the best-selling piece of hardware for its second month in a row with "nearly 225,000" units sold according to Nintendo, while the Xbox 360 held its spot as the best-selling home console by moving 140,000 units. The overall industry brought in $593.3 million from the sale of hardware, software and accessories (read: Skylanders toys and digital currency giftcards) at brick and mortar retail locations. This was a 15 percent year-over-year decrease from the $700.6 million the industry brought in during the same period in 2012. The hardware sales segment and its collectively accumulated $142 million suffered the most severe year-over-year loss out of the three subsections, down by 30 percent from last year's $201.5 million. June was also the first month of availability for the Ouya, the Kickstarter-funded Android microconsole that kicked off a growing craze for Kickstarter-funded Android microconsoles. "Retail sales for Ouya (not counting direct sales through ouya.tv) and were relatively light for a new console," an NPD analyst Liam Callahan said in a statement. "This may be due to the lack of a major marquee title driving consumers to seek out the console, low awareness due to Ouya being a new brand, or low inventory volume due to manufacturing constraints." The period's 10 best-selling games were lead by three different console exclusives: The Last of Us, Animal Crossing: New Leaf and the physical SKU for Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition. New physical sales of console and portable games in general were down 10 percent from last year, ringing up $296.1 million at the end of the period.
Special Edition of Indie Game: The Movie spooled up for July 24
A new version of Indie Game: The Movie, the 2012 documentary chronicling the lives of indie video game developers chasing their dreams, will be released on July 24. This special edition will include 300+ minutes of footage, including over 100 minutes of never-before-seen film that will include epilogues for some of the developers featured in the film. The Team Meat fellers, prominently featured in the film, also provide some new commentary tracks, as do directors James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot. The special Indie Game: The Movie will be available through Steam and the official site for $15, or for $5 if you already own the first version. If you pre-order now, a DVD boxed set is available for $59 (regularly $69), while the Blu-ray version is down to $69 from $89. Boxed sets won't ship until August, at which point they'll revert to their full prices. Both DVD and Blu-ray special editions will be signed by the directors, include exclusive artwork from Edmund McMillen, and offer a code for the digital special edition. Indie Game: The Movie is currently available for streaming on Netflix Instant, as a rental or purchase on YouTube and, until July 22, a $2.99 purchase on Steam, thanks to the Steam Summer Sale.
Sonic: Lost World plots a path to retail October 22
A new gameplay trailer for Sonic: Lost World reveals a release date of October 22. The trailer also shows off Sonic's new powerups, which allow him to change form as he did in Sonic Colors. In Lost World he can become a bird that zips through the sky, a hovering planetary body and a gigantic pink musical note. We sure hope that one's explained by the plot and extensive dialogue in agonizing detail. Sonic: Lost World is the first of three proposed games in a new partnership between Nintendo and Sega. The 3DS version is currently in development at Dimps, while the Wii U game is being crafted by Sonic Team. Both will feature multiplayer modes unique to their platform.
Club Nintendo 2013 elite members get swanky rewards
Nintendo has announced the elite rewards for its platinum and gold level Club Nintendo participants. Platinum members may choose between a three-poster set or a The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask soundtrack, while gold gifts include a 2014 calendar or a download of Super Smash Bros., Warioware D.I.Y. Showcase, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX, Super Mario Land or Sakurai Samurai. Club Nintendo is an incentive program where coins are earned through registering Nintendo products and participating in surveys. Those coins are then redeemed for gifts – platinum status is achieved when a Club Nintendo member gathers 600 coins through the program, while 300 coins achieves gold status.
Super Smash Bros Melee returned to EVO 2K13 streaming [update]
Update: Well, fighting game tournaments are all about swift reversals. Nintendo has sent word that the Super Smash Bros. Melee stream will be allowed to proceed as organizers intended. Original story: Super Smash Bros. Melee will no longer be part of EVO 2K13's streaming schedule, as per Nintendo's request. Shoryuken reports that Melee will be replaced by a mixture of Persona 4 Arena and King of Fighters XIII. Adding an extra level of pain to the entire situation is the nearly $100,000 the Melee community raised for breast cancer research, in the hopes that Melee would be a featured game during the EVO 2K13 streams. Nintendo recently started cracking down on broadcasters posting footage of its games online. In May, Nintendo hit "Let's Play" videos on YouTube – essentially narrated game walkthroughs – with mass revenue claims. EVO 2K13 is this year's installment in the prominent EVO championship series of fighting game tournaments. EVO 2K13 will take place the weekend of July 12 at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. [Thanks, Stephen.]
Nintendo wins another legal battle against R4 flashcart resellers
Nintendo has achieved another victory in its ongoing quest to rid the world of the R4 flashcart. The Tokyo District Court has ruled that two Japanese resellers of the homebrew/piracy-enabling device owe Nintendo (and 49 other companies, including Capcom, Konami, Square Enix and Namco Bandai) ¥95,625,000, or roughly $946,113 at today's exchange rates. Nintendo et al.'s victory also reinforces legislation passed into Japanese law in 2009, which makes it illegal to sell R4 carts in the country. Another blow to the R4 was dealt last year, when new law made importing the device into Japan illegal as well.
Now Playing: July 8-14, 2013
Discover all new ways to conquer the world this week with Sid Meier's Civilization V: Brave New World... Choose your platform to jump to a specific release list:
Iwata: Profitability possible without layoffs
Nintendo global president Satoru Iwata believes that his company can get back into the black without firing any of its employees, through good ol' fashioned efficiency and cost-saving measures. "It is true that our business has its ups and downs every few years, and of course, our ideal situation is to make a profit even in the low periods, return these profits to investors and maintain a high share price," Iwata said during a recent shareholders meeting, in response to a question about "corporate restructuring" as a solution to Nintendo's problems. "If we reduce the number of employees for better short-term financial results," he continued, "employee morale will decrease, and I sincerely doubt employees who fear that they may be laid off will be able to develop software titles that could impress people around the world." Iwata also noted that global exchange rates have played a major part in Nintendo's financial situation, saying that "the influence of exchange rates is the main aspect of this matter," rather than Nintendo's headcount. "Employees make valuable contributions in their respective fields, so I believe that laying off a group of employees will not help to strengthen Nintendo's business in the long run," he said. "Our current policy is to achieve favorable results by continuously cutting unnecessary expenses and increasing business efficiency."
