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Former Nintendo VP Denise Kaigler joins 38 Studios
It appears that Denise Kaigler has returned to Massachusetts, as the former Nintendo VP of corporate affairs has announced that she's taken a position as chief marketing officer at Curt Schilling's 38 Studios. The notably vocal ex-Nintendo exec vacated her position at NoA late last year, saying then that she wished to spend more time with her family. Kaigler told us in an email this morning that "While at Nintendo, I was commuting regularly between SF, NYC, Seattle and my home outside of Boston. But we're all together now." In her new position, Kaigler serves as lead coordinator for all (but not thirty-eight) development studios operated by 38, including Big Huge Games and the team working on the "Copernicus" MMO. As CMO, Kaigler will also lead the publisher's marketing charge, we presume. Given her outspoken nature in the past, we also presume we'll be hearing more from Kaigler in the not too distant future.
Nintendo's Denise Kaigler steps down to spend time with family
Nintendo vice president of corporate affairs Denise Kaigler recently announced via the Nintendo Minute feature on IGN that she would be vacating her position in order to spend more time with her family. In the post, she explained, "it's a fact of life that job and family often pull us in opposite directions. As regular readers of this feature know, this has proved particularly challenging for me," later adding "the time has come where I need to choose one over the other ... and I have to choose my family." We wish Kaigler the best of luck in this new venture, and hope that wherever she may end up, she retains her unconventionally sassy interviewing technique.
Club Nintendo members to get 'exclusive artwork' this month
Some Nintendo fans are disappointed in America's Club Nintendo initiative. In spite of giving away free swag the company is completely not required to do, many found this year's Elite bonuses (a hat and calendar) a bit lackluster. Perhaps a new bonus, "exclusive" to Club Nintendo members will cheer the naysayers.Nintendo's Denise Kaigler teased IGN readers with this cryptic message: "Keep your eyes on the Club Nintendo Web site in September. That's when we will offer members some exclusive Nintendo artwork." To make the offer even more enticing, she emphasizes how super-secret it is. "For the reason I mentioned earlier, I can't say any more than that right now – it's a secret to everybody."Perhaps Club Nintendo members will be able to get a super-exclusive sneak peak at the next Zelda game? Probably not -- but your theories are certainly welcome!
Kaigler: DSi US launch a success, haters better recognize
IGN's Nintendo Minute recently posed a question to Nintendo VP of corporate affairs Denise Kaigler about sales of the DSi. IGN was under the impression that the handheld had a slow start, but Kaigler was quick to lay the smack down. "Sorry, but I'm going to have to strongly disagree with your premise," she said, pointing to NPD figures that show the DSi's first three months in the US moved more units than the original DS Phat, DS Lite and Wii did in the same period of time.During its initial three months of availability, the DSi has unloaded more than 1.7 million units onto consumers. Compare that to the figures for the first three months of the DS Phat (1.38 million) and the DS Lite (1.07 million) and it's pretty clear who the winner is. Despite the fact that the DSi ($169.99) is more expensive than the DS Phat ($149.99) and DS Lite ($129.99) when they launched, consumers have been in favor of the Facebook-compatible handheld.The DSi even managed to best Nintendo's money-printing Wii in its first three months gracing store shelves, as the Wii debuted with 1.52 million units sold. As impressive as that may be, we're pretty sure had launch supplies been greater, the Wii would've easily trumped the DSi's figures.
Nintendo's Kaigler: Hardcore Wii game sales could go long tail ... maybe
If there's one thing that Nintendo VP of corporate affairs Denise Kaigler knows, it's first-party game sales. In a recent Wired interview, she happily expounded on the "long tail" that Nintendo first-party games tend to enjoy (we're looking at you, anything with Mario in the title), though couldn't say as much for third-party sales on Wii -- especially those of the "hardcore" variety. When asked about slow sales of critically acclaimed titles MadWorld and The Conduit, Kaigler said that both games could follow the non-traditional Nintendo sales trend (the aforementioned "long tail"), but her comments seemed rooted in speculation. "You know, I don't know ... it could be titles have the same type of sales curve that a lot of Nintendo titles have -- titles [that] don't follow that traditional sales curve where they launch big and then that's it." She said that Nintendo remains "hopeful" that the titles will move more units in the future, calling them both "deep experiences," though we're not sure those kind words will help soothe Sega's assuredly dented coffers.
Nintendo talks core, third parties, and DSi
During a recent interview with Gamasutra, Nintendo's Denise Kaigler spoke about a slew of subjects sensitive to the Nintendo loyal. Core gaming, third-party support, and the new DSi were just a few of the subjects Kaigler touched on. In regards to the core, Kaigler says that developing games for that audience is important for "everybody, the industry, certainly for Nintendo, but most of all, for consumers." She points to Zelda: Spirit Tracks as a game for that audience.Moving on to third-party support, we're starting to see more and more third parties recognize Nintendo's platforms. Kaigler says that being able to offer that 150 million user base between the two systems is very enticing to those developers. But, she notes that Nintendo wants to impart its own success on the platform and show these developers how it has achieved success (see: characters with floating, circular hands in everything), which might tie into those poor sales figures for the recent original, mature games MadWorld and House of the Dead: Overkill.Finally, no interview with a Nintendo exec can skip the company's latest handheld, the Nintendo DSi. Some folks (especially commenters on Joystiq) have felt the handheld doesn't improve enough over the DS Lite, especially for the price it's demanding. Kaigler, however, argues that the new handheld has plenty to offer, pointing out the DSi's popularity on Amazon and at GameStop through pre-order figures, as well as the one feature that we think too many people are overlooking: DSiWare.
GDC09: Joystiq interviews Nintendo's Denise Kaigler about Nintendo and 'the core,' DS coexistence
We first met Nintendo of America's VP of Corporate Affairs Denise Kaigler at a Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament in Worcester, Massachusetts, shortly after she accepted the job with the company. At the time, she had just left Reebok and was a little defensive (probably because she didn't really know all the details yet) of her role at the house of Mario. Our initial impression of Kaigler was that she was a little different, there was something we couldn't quite pin down at the time. Here we are now, a year later, and she certainly is comfortable in her role. Sitting in a big comfy armchair -- barefoot, mind you -- in a San Francisco hotel during GDC, we spoke with the executive about Nintendo's relationship with the core audience, its plans with the two DS models and its relationship with third-party publishers. Reading our transcription of this interview, it can be interpreted that there was some hostility in our conversation; however, it's worth noting, that in context, it was a mixture of sass and smiles. She certainly is a different type of executive than the other public figures we've gotten used to in this industry.So, is the SD storage solution a sign that Nintendo is paying attention to the core gamers? Was that development part of feedback? How did that happen?Kaigler: We have never stopped listening and caring about the core gamer. Ever. As you know, a year ago when I got to the job and reading your site, reading some of the other sites, and reading most of all the message boards -- what folks are saying about it. And they are saying, you know, Nintendo doesn't care. It's never been about that, right. So what I think - I am going to answer your question in a second - but how I like to explain it: So, there is the core, who have been so faithful to Nintendo for so many years and we absolutely appreciate it and recognize that. ... You guys are still right there dead center, we've just brought in more gamers. We've shared the fun that you guys (the core) have had to yourselves and enjoyed for so long. We are sharing it with many, many more people. So our focus has never gone off the core, we have expanded our focus to include others. So I want to first say that.
NoA VP spins some software sales for us all
Nintendo of America's VP of Marketing, Denise Kaigler, wants to let us all know software sales on the Wii are better than any other console on the market. How does she know this? Why, the fancy chart above, we assume. It's not like she tracked all of this information down herself. In short, this story can be summed up as so: Nintendo rocks, everyone else not so much.Joystiq posed a good question though: what happens when Wii Play and first-party games are taken out? We bet the chart would look pretty different, to be honest.
Nintendo spins false assumptions on software sales
Nintendo gave GameDaily a chart to show that the assumption of low software sales for Wii are incorrect. Nintendo's Denise Kaigler wanted to set the "record straight" that the company is "selling third-party games and they are doing very well, and better than [Nintendo's] competitors." That is a very impressive chart. What we want to know is what happens when two things are taken out of that chart: first-party titles and -- way more importantly in Nintendo's case -- a little piece of "software" called Wii Play. After doing those two things the chart may look the same, it may look totally different, but we'll be sure to post the comparison when we get it.Update: Third-party chart now up.
Nintendo: Wii Music not competing against Rock Band, Guitar Hero
Nintendo's VP of Corporate Affairs, Denise Kaigler, says the company isn't competing against Guitar Hero and Rock Band with its toddler-friendly overly-casual Wii Music. She explains to GameDaily that the company is trying to make "enriching opportunities for consumers" and have them create something unique. Yes, tempo creation through waggle is certainly unique.Kaigler tells the site that Wii Music will have the "power to inspire kids to develop an interest in music." Well, as GayGamer discovered, it sure didn't inspire the media attending E3 this year. We're frightened sure that Wii Music will find an audience somewhere, even if it is just the rugrats roaming the great plains of the playpen.
