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Reggie: Wii U's online functionality will be 'flexible' to publishers
If you're looking for Nintendo's Wii U to have a unified online network ... don't. While concrete plans for the system's online functionality have yet to be fully detailed, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime made it sound like it'll be left entirely up to individual publishers in an interview with Forbes. Nintendo is "creating a much more flexible system," Fils-Aime said, "that will allow the best approaches by independent publishers to come to bear. So instead of a situation where a publisher has their own network and wants that to be the predominant platform, and having arguments with platform holders, we're going to welcome that. We're going to welcome that from the best and the brightest of the third party publishers." He said that Nintendo's system would be an "extremely robust online experience," but deferred to publishers regarding specifics. However, during the Ubisoft/Nintendo developer roundtable at E3, Ubisoft continually deferred to Nintendo. We hope this isn't how the actual development of the service is going.
Fils-Aime: Consumers' two biggest problems with the 3DS have been fixed
In an interview with Kotaku during E3, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime discussed how the company is addressing consumers' concerns about its stereoscopic handheld gaming system, the 3DS. Citing "consumer information," Fils-Aime said shoppers' biggest hang-up was that the 3DS' launch line-up lacked a "big Nintendo franchise," an issue he hopes will be fixed by the handheld's first-party-heavy future line-up. ""I think we've got that issue not only identified but addressed," Fils-Aime added. The second issue Fils-Aime pointed out was the 3DS' lack of an online network at launch, an issue he says was corrected with the launch of the eShop during E3 -- as well as the upcoming rollout of features like Netflix and 3D movies. That last bit sounds promising, though we ask that Fils-Aime first looks into a logical third problem: Making it so the 3DS battery will last through a full movie. Sure, it can probably tackle most 90-minute features; but what of our extended Lord of the Rings Director's Cuts? What of that, sir?
Reggie demos Skyward Sword on Jimmy Fallon, says Wii U coming after April 2012
Continuing his week of video game-themed coverage, Jimmy Fallon played host to Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime last night. Check out the video below to see The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword in action, and to hear Reggie talk up the Wii U, which will apparently launch "in 2012, after April."
Nintendo admits its Wii U highlight reel was spiced up with PS3 and Xbox 360 footage
Nintendo's E3 2011 keynote yesterday gave the world its first official look at the all-new Wii U hardware plus (we thought) a glimpse at the graphical capabilities of its next console. As it turns out, the impressive list of upcoming games for the 2012-bound console was just that, a list, with the visuals we saw on screen coming from PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of said titles. Nintendo of America chief Reggie Fils-Aime has confirmed that to be the case in an interview with GameTrailers, where he also points out that the eventual Wii U games will look at least as good as their PS3 / 360 counterparts. Which is why, in his eyes, it's okay to show us those games being played on the competition's (current-gen) hardware. He does remind us that the Wii U will be delivering graphics at a 1080p resolution, and points to the garden tech demo that also graced E3 as an indicator of what can be done with Nintendo's next console. That's all well and good, but maybe tell us in advance next time, Reggie?
Wii U third-party sizzle reel composed of 360/PS3/PC footage
When Nintendo showed off a reel of major third-party games currently in development for its newly announced console, the Wii U, the footage wasn't actually playing on Wii U hardware. Nintendo of America prez Reggie Fils-Aime casually admitted as much in a post-presser interview with GameTrailers, excusing it by saying, "We're talking a year away from when the system's gonna launch" -- a hard to argue point, considering developers probably need some time to, ya know, actually make games for it. We're hoping to see some actual third-party game footage soon, but aren't exactly expecting it in the upcoming weeks. Nintendo's Wii U is expected to launch at some point in 2012, with Nikkei predicting the latter half of the year.
Reggie Fils-Aime talks Nintendo's 3DS supply strategy
Remember how finding a Wii after its launch was more difficult than finding ... um, a thing, like -- you know what? There actually isn't an analogy that's applicable, here. It was the hardest thing to find, ever. That was a rough period to be sure, but Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime recently explained to USA Today, "We learned significant lessons from the launch of Wii and we made sure to have not only ample supply [of 3DS] in the marketplace, but we staged supply so it would not sell out." He added, "That strategy is why you didn't see massive sellouts on Nintendo 3DS." Fils-Aime explained that, even though the system sold almost 400,000 units in its first week on store shelves, it avoided sellouts largely because Nintendo "had product going direct to store and we also had product in retailers (distribution centers), so they could easily replenish when they had stores running low on inventory." The supply chain seems to be holding up pretty well -- way better than Nintendo's supply strategy for the Wii, which involved making secret wishes on falling stars that Wiis would just, like, appear.
Nintendo 3DS clocks up 400,000 US sales in opening week, nearly matches month-long total for DS
Now we're talking. After Nintendo slyly told us that the 3DS set a day-one US sales record for its handheld division, it has now been more forthright and actually disclosed some cold hard numbers. 400,000 3DS units were shifted in the month of March, says Nintendo of America chief Reggie Fils-Aime, which amounts to just one working week's worth of sales when you consider the portable console launched on March 27th. That was still enough time for it to threaten the DS' overall March tally of 460,000, however, and extrapolated over a full 30 days would total a whopping 2.4 million transactions. Of course, sales rarely sustain such a roaring pace after launch, but Reggie foresees good things for the 3DS with a marquee Legend of Zelda game, the launch of the E-Shop, and Netflix integration all coming over the summer. So the future's bright, we just wish it didn't have to be turquoise.
Rovio's Vesterbacka defends mobile games, calls out Nintendo's '$49 pieces of plastic'
"A lot of people in the games industry, they think the 'real' games are on consoles. You're only a 'real' games company if you do a big budget game. But we don't have that inferiority complex," Rovio head Peter Vesterbacka told MCV in a recent interview. Vesterbacka was defending against Nintendo's latest criticisms of the mobile market -- both Nintendo of Japan head Satoru Iwata and Nintendo of America head Reggie Fils-Aime have argued that low-priced smartphone apps are degrading the value of games. "If I was trying to sell a $49 piece of plastic to people then yes, I'd be worried too," Vesterbacka added, with a tinge of vitriol, alluding to the standard retail price of a Wii game disc. "But I think it's a good sign that people are concerned -- because from my point of view we're doing something right." Rovio's Angry Birds and its spin-offs are just a $1 each for iPhone and are offered as free, ad-supported apps on the Android Market. Still, the company has plans for more console development, having already released Angry Birds as a PlayStation Mini, with additional console ports in the pipeline -- even Nintendo's 3DS is getting an Angry Birds port. "Games consoles for us are just like launching on a new smartphone platform," Vesterbacka said nonchalantly. After all, he's probably more concerned with the movie tie-in, the planned US IPO, and, uh, having an Angry Bird etched into the Moon. Okay, that last one probably isn't happening. Yet.
Reggie: Nintendo's next home console unlikely to feature 3D
Nintendo believes strongly in glasses-free 3D. The company wouldn't be able to achieve this feat on a home console, short of shipping an innovative TV in the box, so ... it's probably not going to do that. "I think at Nintendo, we realize that any sort of goggle-type 3D technology was not going to work," 3DS hardware producer Hideki Konno told CNN. "In order to make 3D technology viable with video games, we thought we needed to have glasses-free 3D." Konno and his team at Nintendo did experiment with a 3D display tethered to a Wii before development of the 3DS began, but purely as a proof-of-concept for glasses-free 3D. Echoing Konno's remarls, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told CNN, "Glasses-free is a big deal. We've not said publicly what the next thing for us will be in the home console space, but based on what we've learned on 3D, likely, that won't be it." It probably won't be 4D either -- that's been done.
Reggie Fils-Aime on the competition and what it means to be a 'garage' developer
A few minutes before Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime handed over the first 3DS sold in the US (as seen above), he spoke with me on how the new portable stands out from the competition, what Nintendo considers a "garage" developer versus an "indie," and what he's playing at launch (spoilers: it's not Nintendogs + Cats) "At its heart, what Nintendo's trying to do is to bring more and more consumers into gaming. And to do it in a way that's fundamentally different than anyone else," Fils-Aime told me, explaining his company's continued adherence to the "Blue Ocean" business strategy. "With the Nintendo 3DS -- yes, it's a handheld, but 3D in the palm of your hand without glasses. A full range not only of games but of other elements -- photography, video. It's not what people expected. Which is, at its heart, what the Blue Ocean strategy and Innovator's Dilemma (which was the other book we used to demonstrate our strategy) are all about." Because of this strategy, among other things, Fils-Aime remains unconcerned with the competition -- whether that competition be from Sony's upcoming NGP platform or from the smartphone crowd. "First off, it's a product that isn't out yet," he said of the NGP. "It's a product that hasn't had an announced price point, it hasn't had an announced availability. So, how that product impacts us is to be told in the future." %Gallery-119783%
Triforce Johnson gets his Nintendo 3DS first, the legend continues
There are fans, and then there are fans, if you know what we mean, and Isaiah Triforce Johnson has secured his spot in column number two with a Power Gloved fist -- here he is accepting the very first Nintendo 3DS on the east coast from Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America. Johnson camped out all week in front of Best Buy's Union Square location to be first in line at the launch event, replicating his feat of five years prior when he was first to purchase the Wii. Of course, Japanese gamers have had the autostereocopic handheld for over a month now, but we have to give credit where it's due -- we're already imagining Greg Packer and Triforce Johnson duking it out in a little Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition duel. By the way, we snapped a few shots of the 3DS launch event this morning -- check them out below. %Gallery-119822%
The Nintendo 3DS New York City launch event, in pictures
Trust us when we say this: you were lucky not to have weathered NYC's shockingly cold East Village this evening. No matter how much you want a Nintendo 3DS -- nothing was worth the blistering wait. Except, to the hundreds of folks munching down hot dogs and giant pretzels (not to mention the free tacos), and happily donning 3DS-branded woolen caps and tees, the cold wasn't such a big deal. As we approached the front of the line, blankets and makeshift blanket forts were keeping the most loyal -- or perhaps the craziest? -- warm in the last painful hour, with smiles as ubiquitous as the blankets. The cold, it seems, may have pushed some people off. As you'll see in the gallery after the break, the 3DS's big coming-out party could've probably used a few more attendees lining up to get inside. We're sure Nintendo will have no problem getting rid of consoles at launch and in the coming weeks, but the catering company from tonight's event is likely gonna need to get rid of a few hundred extra hot dogs.
Fallon gets his 'Adult Female Face' blown away during 3DS demo on Late Night
We expected Jimmy Fallon to flip out during Reggie Fils-Aime's 3DS demonstration during last night's episode of Late Night. We expected the audience to get a kick out of the device's AR functionality. However, we did not expect the 3DS to swap Fallon's gender on live national television. Priceless.
Reggie: Nintendo not interested in 'the garage developer,' still likes indies (just don't mention the garage)
At the tail end of Satoru Iwata's GDC keynote, the Nintendo prez took an unlikely turn asking if "maintaining high value games" was a top priority. After comparing the Wii and DS software libraries to those of the Xbox 360 and PS3 (Nintendo has more games!), Iwata inexplicably suggested that "the big app sites" had too many games. For Nintendo, it's about managing consumers' pricing expectations; in a world of $3 Super Monkey Balls, it's hard to sell a $40 copy of Super Monkey Ball 3DS. "We want consumers to see value in the software, whatever that appropriate value is," Nintendo of America prez Reggie Fils-Aime told Gamasutra. "And we want to see that value maintained over time." When asked if the Big N was reaching out to app store devs to bring their $1 games to the presumably more lucrative plains of the Nintendo portable savanna, Fils-Aime said that Nintendo is "absolutely reaching out to the independent developer," but he made a distinction. "Where we've drawn the line is we are not looking to do business today with the garage developer," Fils-Aime said. "In our view, that's not a business we want to pursue." Fils-Aime suggested that these so-called "hobbyist" developers are akin to amateur musicians in the music industry and ... Wait, is that really the example you want to go with, Nintendo? The same music industry pummeled by its unwillingness to embrace alternative methods of pricing and distribution? That one?
Reggie admits that Nintendo is 'juggling two big balls'
Speaking to IGN on the current state of the Wii -- which has seen few first party releases lately -- Nintendo president Reggie Fils-Aime admitted that the company has "pushed out some Wii launches so that [Nintendo] could focus on our handheld business." Fils-Aime was referring to the launches of Pokemon Black/White and the 3DS, saying that Nintendo is "already juggling two big balls" and that adding more to the company's plate would have proven "a little bit challenging." Fils-Aime reassured Wii owners that "there's content coming, and we'll be sharing more, certainly, in the weeks ahead." He added that there will be new content released before E3 and that there will be "more news" revealed at the expo this June. Finally, Fils-Aime teased The Legend of Zelda's impending 25th anniversary, which was briefly mentioned by Satoru Iwata during Nintendo's GDC keynote earlier this month. "All I can tell you," said Fils-Aime, "is that it will be different than what we did for Mario, and it will be just as special." If it's anything other than free ocarinas, we'll be disappointed.
Nintendo GDC keynote roundup: Netflix and free AT&T WiFi coming to 3DS this summer!
We survived the keynote address here at GDC 2011, where Satoru Iwata and Reggie Fils-Aime just got done revealing a veritable cornucopia of info about the 3DS. On the video content front, the 3DS will get Netflix this summer along with the ability to pause a video on your handheld and continue watching on your Wii -- though we presume you may recommence your cinematic experience on an XBox or PS3 too. The addition of Netflix wasn't the only announcement by Iwata, however. Get the rest after the break.
Netflix and 'short-form video service' coming to Nintendo 3DS
Why should the 3DS' futuristic screen be relegated to games only? Nintendo has announced two media services for the upcoming handheld. First, Netflix is coming to the 3DS, allowing you to watch a movie on the go ... and then finish watching at home using your Wii. In addition, Nintendo will offer a "short-form video service," which will offer "curated" (i.e., in 3D) content, such as comedy shorts, music videos and movie trailers. These features won't be available at launch, but will be available via a system update in "late May."
Reggie explains motivation for 3DS 'Play Coins'
The 3DS's "Activity Log" uses the built-in pedometer to track your steps, awarding players "Play Coins" for certain distances. Those Play Coins can then be used for unspecified unlocks within supported games. According to Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime, this was included for two related reasons. First, he told MTV Multiplayer, "Nintendo has always been at the forefront of active gaming." He cited the Pokewalker, Personal Trainer: Walking, and, of course, that whole Wii thing. Second, "it's just another reason to encourage people to get up and walk around. Why? Because we want them to be carrying their Nintendo 3DS, going through StreetPass, SpotPass types of activity." Apple managed to get people to carry their iPhones around everywhere by making the iPhone a phone -- one of the major advantages enjoyed by that platform. Nintendo has chosen to basically bribe users with virtual coins in order to get people into the habit of making the 3DS part of their everyday equipment. Hear Reggie's explanation for yourself in the video after the break.
Reggie articulates what's compelling about Nintendo's 3DS launch games
Just as Super Mario 64 DS ushered in the era of the original DS system, it seemed fitting that a 3D-enhanced version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time -- the cherry on top of last June's "E3DS" scoop -- would be the linchpin of the 3DS hardware launch this March. Except, it's not going to happen. Footnoted in a vague announcement that more than thirty 3DS games would be released between the system's launch and E3 2011 (in early June) was the equally ill-defined update that Zelda: OoT 3D was still "in the works," along with other triple-A Nintendo iterations for the new handheld, including Mario Kart, Paper Mario, Animal Crossing and Star Fox -- not to mention the ballyhooed Kid Icarus comeback, Uprising, which did impress at last week's preview event. "Mario, Zelda, all of those titles are coming," Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime told MTV Multiplayer. "From our perspective, we like to launch titles when they're ready. And so they'll be ready. They'll be ready soon -- just not in that initial time period of late March to early June." In other words: "after E3." That leaves Nintendo with a somewhat dubious 3DS launch "window" lineup (we still don't know exact release dates) of first-party titles -- three to be exact: Nintendogs + cats, Pilotwings Resort and Steel Diver. You could make a case for those first two serving strong supporting roles in the hardware launch; and Reggie, off the top of his head, said that the Nintendogs and Pilotwings franchises have combined to sell "tens of millions of copies," despite neither being a particularly prolific sequel bearer. Steel Diver, on the other hand, is an unknown (it began as a tech demo for the original DS) and stars ... a rather drab submarine. Astutely sensing our apathy for the game, Reggie explained that "from a compelling standpoint, we think it's awfully compelling." If you're not buying it ... you could just buy Street Fighter IV again.
Live from Nintendo's 3DS preview with Reggie Fils-Aime
We're here live in NYC at Nintendo's 3DS press preview event, where Reggie Fils-Aime is scheduled to give a short presentation to kick things off. We're hoping to learn some pricing and availability details -- and possibly hear a word or two about 3D and the eyesight of younger gamers. After that, it's time to party, right? We'll find out.
