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Iwata says no Wii price cut coming
It's such a "duh" statement, but when the president of Nintendo says the Wii isn't getting a price cut it does qualify as something to report. Speaking with the Associated Press, Nintendo pres. Satoru Iwata says, "Y'all beeatchs crazy? We ain't droppin' da price! Come up in my house askin' dumb question like dat? I oughta cap you." Fine, fine, he didn't actually say that. He really said, "We're absolutely not considering a price cut."This echoes statements made yesterday by Nintendo senior managing director Yoshihiro Mori, who said that (surprise!) there is no price cut planned. This was following Nintendo's adjustment of their fiscal forecast where they said profits would be higher than expected. From the consumer perspective, the Xbox 360 Arcade at $280 hopes to put a dent into Nintendo's business, possibly prompting an eventual drop in the Wii's $250 price in '08 -- but first, the Wii needs to stop selling out the moment it comes back in stock.
Iwata: Monster Hunter acquired to attract core gamers
In the U.S., Monster Hunter doesn't seem like much of a big deal, but it's serious business in Japan. It's not exactly Japan's Halo-- Halo 3 is actually doing a pretty good job of that right now-- but Famitsu and the other Japanese gaming sites manage to post about a Monster Hunter game nearly every single day. Such serious business is Monster Hunter that Nintendo's president Satoru Iwata celebrated Capcom's move of Monster Hunter 3 to the Wii as a strategic play on Nintendo's part to attract more hardcore gamers.In a statement made during Wednesday's Nintendo Conference, Iwata said "I understand that some experts argue that our success is short-lived and temporary. So, now we need to make efforts to [offer] services and titles that can appeal not only to those who have never played games but also to those who play them hard."In a delightfully hilarious understatement, publisher Enterbrain's Hirokazu Hamamura declared that "The transfer of the platform is a positive surprise for Nintendo and negative news for Sony." Yes, we'd say that a series that has sold 4.5 million copies on your systems moving toward the competitors is negative news. We think that there's almost no reason for Capcom to release a big game like Monster Hunter 3 on the PS3 when they could do so on the Wii. It costs less to develop Wii games, and there are more Wii owners to sell to. Oh, plus it sounds like Nintendo made them a very attractive deal, which doesn't hurt.The Wii's relatively lacking online integration is the only thing that could hurt Monster Hunter, and we imagine that Nintendo will bend over backwards to help out in this case.[Via Game|Life]
Iwata: 100 proposals for WiiWare
Along with announcing the slew of new titles for Nintendo's Wii Ware download service, Satoru Iwata revealed that the company has received lots of proposals for Wii Ware titles. In commenting to the press, Iwata stated "We've already received proposals for over 100 titles from software development companies. We've made a platform for developing software at low cost, and would like to offer a new business chance based around a battle of ideas."That means this flood of new titles for the download service is only going to be followed by even more titles, causing us great joy here at the Wii Fanboy HQ. Because, you know, we like games.
Itoi and Iwata continue their dinner conversation
Normally, dinner conversation doesn't translate into a multi-part feature, but most dinners don't include Nintendo president Satoru Iwata and novelist/Mother creator Shigesato Itoi. Three more segments of the "interview" have been posted on Itoi's site, called "View Things over Someone Else's Shoulder," "Something Special about Mr.Miyamoto," and "On Management: 'Enhance your Strength.'"The first two parts continue the de facto theme of the conversation, which is talking about how awesome Shigeru Miyamoto is, but the third part is most interesting to us, as it deals with Iwata's management style. Somehow, during the discussion, Iwata manages to omit any mention of his "yelling at NOA about Brain Age" tactic.
Iwata says first-party success begets third-party success
Nintendo's president Satoru Iwata sat down for a probing interview with Newsweek's N'Gai Croal. While N'Gai admits the interview was long overdue for publishing (it was taken back during E307), it has several interesting tidbits within. It only makes us think that it should've been published that much sooner.Iwata takes time to talk about all things, including the widespread popularity of the DS in Japan, as well as the low sale numbers for Twilight Princess in the region. Iwata also says that third-party publishers shouldn't be scared of Nintendo's software success on the platform, stating that, in the end, it'll actually end up being better for third-party publishers.[Via Gamesindustry.biz]
Iwata and Itoi talk shop over dinner
Perhaps inspired by our recent interview with Starmen.net's Reid Young, Shigesato Itoi, best known in video game communities for his work on EarthBound and the Mother series, posted a few English-translated notes from a conversation he had with Nintendo president Satoru Iwata six months ago over supper.Itoi and Iwata spent a great deal talking about Shigeru Miyamoto, as Japanese developers/designers are wont to do, discussing his belief of ideas being "something which solves multiple issues at once." Though the two chums didn't chat much about past projects or games, there are still ten more portions of the roundtable that Itoi promises to release over the next two weeks. We'll make sure to notify you if we hear of any megatons.
Enjoy Metroid Prime 3; Iwata sacrificed his weight for it
We have yet to test this, but apparently Nintendo president Satoru Iwata left Metroid Prime 3: Corruption players a secret message, accessed through the cockpit of Samus's ship. A GoNintendo reader translated the message, and our kinda-okay Japanese language skills are sufficient to verify its accuracy."Hello, this is Iwata from Nintendo. You may not know from an outsider's point of view, but being a director is really hard! When things are really busy and stressful we (us directors) may look tired and sick, then people may feel sorry for us! But in my case, it's the opposite, I get fatter and fatter, so then people don't think I'm stressed at all!"We're pretty sure he's talking either about running Nintendo or about his sympathy for the Metroid Prime 3 director, because we don't think Iwata was personally involved with the creation of this particular game. Maybe felt so involved that he reached for the Hello Panda. We have a little giggle when we think about Iwata working on Kirby games and starting to look like Kirby.
Samus gets a secret call from Iwata
Of the things you were wondering about today, the size of Nintendo president Satoru Iwata's waistline was probably not high on your list. Now, imagine if you had to worry about getting killed by Metroids and piloting a starship. Pretty much falls off the list all together, doesn't it?But did that stop Iwata from calling and leaving that exact information on Samus' answering machine? Of course it didn't. According to Go Nintendo's translation, he says "Hello, this is Iwata from Nintendo. You may not know from an outsiders point of view, but being a director is really hard! When things are really busy and stressful we (us directors) may look tired and sick, then people may feel sorry for us! But in my case, it's the opposite, I get fatter and fatter, so then people don't think I'm stressed at all!" That's great, boss. Can we get back to saving the world now?
Could Wii outsell the PS2? Iwata thinks it can
With over 100 million units sold worldwide, the PlayStation 2's success is nothing to scoff at. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, however, believes that his latest contraption -- built entirely out of two Gamecube's duct taped together -- can surpass those numbers.In an interview with Reuters, Iwata spoke of the unprecedented success of the PlayStation 2, adding "if we can make our bid to expand the gaming population a continued success, we could exceed that."When it comes to the recent fire sale of the PlayStation 3, Iwata doesn't seem terribly concerned, noting that the overlap between the customers Sony is targeting against those of Nintendo is quite small. However, Reuters claims that Sony's "price drop" was a move to better compete with Nintendo. If that's the case, we anxiously await their bathroom scale peripheral.[via GamesIndustry.biz]
Conjecture Countdown: 3 days to go
Even with a diminished E3, there's no controlling the wave of rumors that hit the Internet every year before the show. Why fight it? From now until E3 hits, we'll be posting one piece of wild speculation every day. Some may be patently ridiculous, and others just might turn out to be true. Even some of the ridiculous ones might turn out to be true! Rest assured, everything will be totally made-up and unfounded. Except, of course, when we speak about all the ass Reggie is going to kick. That part? Totally true.Rumor: Iwata's face will appear much younger this year, for some reason.
Min-E3 press conference confirmed, dated
We hath mourned the death of the one and true E3, but like a mentally handicapped phoenix, the new Min-E3 has risen from the ashes. And while the glitz, glamour, and majority of games will have vanished into thinnest air, the wondrous tradition of the press conference remains. All three players will attempt to outdo the other, yet again.This year, Nintendo is second on the list: 9:30 AM PST on Wednesday, July 11th. Prior to their engagement is Microsoft the day before, and Sony is naught but two hours later at 11:30. We expect solid release dates for at least one of Super Mario Galaxy or Super Smash Bros. Brawl, as well as more than a few surprises. C'mon, Iwata ... drop the bomb.
President Iwata, economics, and fun with automatic translation
Japanese publicatiion Toyo Keizai recently sat down with President Iwata for five questions about the economics of selling consoles what print money (hand over the proverbial fist, even). Since we're stuck puzzling out squiggles Kanji and scratching our heads over the auto-translation, only to discover that there isn't much meat to the interview at all, we thought we'd bring it to you exactly as we read it:Toyo Keizai: The DS sure prints money, yeah?Iwata: Damn yeah it does.TK: But that's just Japan. How's the overseas market?Iwata: The overseas market also produces fat stacks of cash, only in different colors and shapes.TK: You guys are really expanding the market, eh?Iwata: We had to -- everyone already owned seven DS Lites. TK: So how about that Wii?Iwata: It also seems to be printing money. We're very pleased, and also, rich. TK: Is the hit of DS and Wii probably to mean what?Iwata: Very to recently, the game was thought that the child it is something which the young man enjoys. The woman, not to mention, to forge how no one where the old people touch to the game machine imagined and, the brain, the expectation which the person whom you think that English study can become the game software, is not.Oh, uh ... sorry, we were too busy giggling at the Google translation. This is the interesting part of the interview, but we've heard this song before: Nintendo is working to expand the gaming industry beyond the artificial boundaries we've set when it comes to determining just what a game is, and who the audience should be. And we approve; in fact, bring more of it over here! Give us the language trainers and games we can play with Grandma, as well as more traditional 'hardcore' gaming fare.
DS Daily: The signing
Yesterday's eBay treasure-find got us thinking. We tend to idolize certain figures in the gaming world, even if they happen to just be suave business men. And don't get us wrong, Iwata-san is the very definition of a ladies' man. But in all the realm of gaming, from players to publishers, who would you want to sign your DS?Bonus points if you don't pick Miyamoto, but, uh, we totally pick Miyamoto. I mean, he deserves it, right? And he's got such a cool signature.
eBay alert: DS Phat signed all over
Up for grabs on eBay is a DS Fanboy's dream: a DS signed by not only Shigeru Miyamoto, but also Satoru Iwata and the voice of Mario, Charles Martinet. Why would anyone want to get rid of such a priceless beauty? Turns out, school loans. But all of the money won't be going to school loans, as the seller will be setting aside 25% of the profit to go to Child's Play. At the time we were writing this piece up, the current bid was $330.00. We have a feeling that'll be going much higher before the end of the auction on the 19th.
Japanese stores overflowing with DS titles - Iwata on the case
So many DS games are fighting for shelf space that Japanese stores are having trouble squeezing them all in. Space is now at such a premium that most games have to be displayed spine-out, making things difficult for consumers, particularly the army of first time gamers that Nintendo has been so successful in attracting. Nintendo's butt-kicking boss, President Iwata, is concerned that too much choice may lead to consumers missing out on the best games. They may even turn their backs on gaming completely. Keeping standards high is, he says, "one of the most critical themes for us to combat this year." Having recently bitch-slapped Nintendo of America, and clipped the sails of Korean pirates, it seems Nintendo expects Japan to pull its socks up, too.[Via Game | Life]
Iwata reminds Nintendo of America who's boss
(Hint: it's Iwata. Iwata is boss.) Nintendo just released their financial results briefing, which contains a transcript of a question-and-answer session with Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. Ever wondered what it would be like to work for Iwata? This quote should replace that wonder with terror: "When I received a report from the U.S. that they sold 1 million Pokémon Diamond & Pearl already, I asked them, 'why did you sell only 10,000 Brain Age last week, when Europe sold through 30,000?' This is a typical example of how I communicate with our people in the U.S."Why would Iwata be so mean in the face of ostensibly great news? Because he's a huge jerk? Probably not. For one thing, Pokémon selling a million copies doesn't mean that anyone at Nintendo of America did anything particularly well. All they had to do was release it, making sure that the word "Pokémon" was clearly visible on the box.But more importantly, Iwata isn't looking just to sell a bunch of games. He wants to expand the gaming market in the US like the DS has in Japan, and for that, Brain Age needs to get into non-gamers' hands. Then Nintendo can sell a bunch of games to them as well as to Nintendo fans. As Iwata notes in the report, 500,000 DS systems were sold in the US in March, which is a large number, but not as large as the 600,000 to 700,000 sold in Japan each month.[Via NeoGAF]
Iwata: Expect more Wiis in stores this month
The whole text of Nintendo's financial results briefing is worth reading (and would be mandatory if we could assign homework), but we'd especially like to point out this quote from Satoru Iwata: "As this month's production will be sold in the worldwide markets by the end of the next month, a small increase is expected at the retail outlets from next month." We knew that Nintendo was looking into expanding production, but could we already see results?This report is from the end of April, so "next month" probably refers to May. We hope the statement is accurate and that the supply of Wiis increases from none to some very soon!
Iwata invites Kutaragi to work for Nintendo? Hell no!
We can't confirm the statement, but if you're inclined to believe GoNintendo's report, apparently at a financial press conference Nintendo head Satoru Iwata invited Sony's departing Ken "PlayStation" Kutaragi to join up with the Wii-maker. The irony is, of course, rich. Besides being bloody rivals for over a decade, Ken Kutaragi was also the dude who hooked Nintendo into its fabled (failed) late-80s partnership with Sony to add CD-ROM capabilities to the SNES; the eventual demise of that business relationship resulted in the original PlayStation, and Nintendo's biggest single competitor since. So will Kutaragi join up with the 117-year-old upstart from Kyoto? Something tells us probably not, but man, would that first day of work ever be aaawkwaaard.[Via PS3 Fanboy]Update: Our Japanese bureau had a crack at this one, and they found the story is pretty wrong, to say the least. According to a Bloomberg report, Iwata-san was asked whether Nintendo would make a bid for Kutaragi; the answer, which we found to be a little more realistic, had Mr. Iwata saying, "I don't think that will happen." Sorry Ken, doesn't look like anyone wants you right now. Have you thought about Microsoft?
Virtual Console sales down in the period pre-Ninja Spirit
We talked about the Nintendo of Japan press conference yesterday, and the 45 Wii games Nintendo is teasing us with. During that same press conference, Satoru Iwata revealed that 3.3 million Virtual Console games have been downloaded since the launch of the system.3.3 million sounds like a lot, right? It sure does to us. But Game|Life's Chris Kohler did the math based on their January statement of 1.5 million and realized that the sales were actually slowing down since January. Whoops.Our own take on the situation: we're afraid it's going to get worse before it gets better. The new audience that Nintendo's attracting has no attachment to retrogaming, by definition. And Nintendo isn't doing any kind of promotion or advertising to create such an attachment.. Meanwhile, the hardcore crowd that enjoys VC games faces a selection that is still too limited.Our alternate take on the situation: Ninja Spirit will make everything better. It'll make us feel better, anyway.
Nintendo says 14 million Wii sold by March '08
It's no secret that the Nintendo DS and Wii have been printing money for the company, while Microsoft's Xbox profits and PS3's traction haven't kept pace. Sales continue to rise at Nintendo along with the stock price. Today Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said they're developing 45 games for the Wii and 79 new DS titles. Now, before anybody gets excited, the key word there is "developing," not "producing." The next batch of games according to Iwata will be introduced this "summer." There is no word yet when Nintendo will release their Q3 games list or what's on it. Iwata, in probably the boldest statement, said that Nintendo plans to sell 14 million Wii during this fiscal year, that's three times the number sold in the last five months. Guess they really are planning to ramp up production. The Wii hardware drought better end soon if Nintendo expects to make their ambitious mark.
