reggie fils-aime
Latest
Wii U only needs one game bought to make a profit, says Nintendo
A single game purchase turns the loss Nintendo makes with each Wii U sold into an overall profit. So says Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime, who in an interview with Mercury News played down how his company's latest system is selling for a loss at launch."The business model doesn't change dramatically," said Fils-Aime. "In that as soon as we get the consumer to buy one piece of software, then that entire transaction becomes profit positive. In the end, the business model is still to drive the install base of hardware, and then to drive a strong tie ratio with all of the other software and experiences for the consumer. And if we're able to do that, then we will create significant profit for the company."The Wii U is doing a bit better than the 1:1 attach rate required for profit, at least based on reported GameStop pre-orders. The retailer says it took 1.2 million Wii U game pre-orders for 500,000 systems at launch, coming to an attach rate of 2.4 to 1.
Nintendo Wii U gamepad not for sale separately in US until games support multiple controllers
Nintendo's Wii U gamepad may be the star of the Wii U show, but it won't be available as a standalone at launch. It will, however, be available when games that function with more than one WiiPad become available, according to Nintendo America CEO and prez Reggie Fils-Aime. "Through the launch window, there are no games that leverage a second controller. And so, during the launch window here in NOA [Nintendo of America] territories, we will not be selling at retail a second gamepad," he told investors during a Q&A this afternoon. "But certainly, when the games come out, we'll be making that accessory available," he added. As for when games will take advantage of a second WiiPad is another question altogether, and one that Nintendo isn't willing to answer just yet. Initially, the Wii U only supported one WiiPad per game, with additional control handled via the Pro controller or Wii remotes. Nintendo changed its tune, though, following public outcry for multiple WiiPad support.
Fils-Aime: Wii up to 40 million units in US, Nintendo won't abandon it
The Wii has sold 40 million units in the US, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime told investors after the Nintendo Direct Wii U conference today.Even though the Wii U is set in holiday stone with a launch on November 18, Nintendo isn't losing sight of the Wii."We will continue to sell the Wii," Fils-Aime said. "As we sit here today, in the US the Wii has sold about 40 million units. We believe that there continues to be an opportunity with Wii. Yes, these are late, late adopters. And yes, price points are important. But we do believe there's still opportunity for the Wii, and we will continue to sell Wii side-by-side for some period of time."Many Wii games and all Wii accessories are backward-compatible with the Wii U, which Fils-Aime called a "one-two punch in our home console business between Wii U and Wii."Besides, the US isn't the only market for the Wii. "I'm responsible for Canada and Latin America as well," Fils-Aime said. "We think there's opportunity in both of those markets, especially Latin America. You can reach price points, you can reach consumers that candidly we won't be able to reach with the Wii U. That's gonna continue to be an opportunity."Lastly, on the global base, certainly there are markets in Eastern Europe. There are a number of other markets where if Wii has an attractive price point, it'll do well. So, we will continue to be in the Wii business for quite some time."
Nintendo sees next opportunity for Wii success in Latin America, Eastern Europe
"We will continue to sell the Wii," Nintendo America president and CEO Reggie Fils-Aime told investors today in a Q&A followup to the company's big Wii U event in New York City. "In the US, the Wii has sold about 40 million units. We believe that there continues to be an opportunity with the Wii." However, where Fils-Aime sees the most opportunity may not be where you expect. "I'm responsible for Canada, and Latin America as well," he said. "We think there's opportunity in both of those markets, especially Latin America." The Wii is currently offered by Nintendo in North America, Asia, Australia, and Europe, but not Latin America. The Wii ranges from $140 to $250, depending on what it comes with. "You can reach price points, you can reach consumers that, candidly, we won't be able to reach with the Wii U. That's gonna continue to be an opportunity," he said. Fils-Aime and Nintendo also have their eyes on Eastern Europe. "On a global base, certainly there are markets in Eastern Europe. There are a number of other markets where if Wii has an attractive price point, it'll do well." He also stood behind the console continuing to sell in its currently available markets alongside the Wii U after the new console launches this November. "We do believe there's still opportunity for the Wii, and we will continue to sell the Wii side-by-side for some period of time." Unsurprisingly, he didn't say exactly how long Nintendo is planning that support, nor would he say if we should expect a price drop for the aging console, but if we had to guess, we'd say "The Wii will drop in price" and "soon."
Nintendo TVii supported by 'all' major US and Canadian cable companies, dish services
Nintendo TVii will support "all" cable and dish carriers in the US and Canada, Nintendo director of strategic partnership Zach Fountain told Engadget this afternoon. He said that no major carriers are excluded, and the only requirement for signing up is inputting your cable company's account information to the Wii U. DVR and TiVO functionality are plugged in similarly, where users input information via web, and services resultantly pop up on the Wii U. Nintendo TVii launches with the Wii U on November 18 in the US and Canada for free, and remains exclusive to North America for the time being.
Wii U price and release date to be announced tomorrow [update: Reggie's invitation]
Nintendo is revealing the Wii U's price and release date during its Direct presentation tomorrow, Thursday, September 13. Nintendo announced the news on its Japanese Twitter feed, setting a time of 3AM Eastern (Midnight Pacific, 8AM Brit-time) for company president Satoru Iwata to reveal the core launch details about the console. The translated tweet reads:"Good evening, it's Iwata from Nintendo. Tomorrow at 4pm [Japanese time] we'll broadcast online the Wii U's sale information. We'll tell you when the Wii U will launch and how much for."Nintendo is streaming the presentation on its website tomorrow, and we'll have coverage of all the reveals as they happen. We figure it's worth staying up for – for us, not for you, you look prettier with a full eight hours rest. At 10AM Eastern Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime will host a Wii U event in New York City, where we presume he'll reveal the US price and release date. There's a European Nintendo Direct scheduled for the same time.Update: Reggie pops in to let us know there'll be a stream of his NYC event on the Wii U Facebook page. We'll be covering what he has to say right here.
Watch Reggie Fils-Aime zombify Jimmy Fallon with the Wii U
Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to demo the upcoming Wii U console Friday. Fils-Aime turned Fallon into a zombie (without biting!) in ZombiU and played Takamaru's Ninja Castle from Nintendo Land.
Dual GamePad support won't be coming to Nintendo Wii U until 'well after launch'
Contrary to what we'd heard, it seems as if you and your friends won't be able to enjoy some of that dual GamePad play on Nintendo's upcoming Wii U -- at least not until some time after the novel gaming console launches later "this holiday." During an interview with Gamasutra, Reggie Fils-Aime (Nintendo of America President) said, "Games need to be built that can take advantage of the two GamePad controllers" and that "it's going to be well after launch for those game experiences to come to life." According to Fils-Aine, developers will have to first place all their focus on "asymetric gameplay," before eventually adding support for two GamePads on their titles. Notably, the revelation comes shortly after he himself confirmed the Wii U GamePad won't be featuring any multi-touch capabilities. Not all is lost, however, you'll just have to wait it out a little longer than expected, or make due with one of those Wii remotes you have laying around in the meantime.
Wii U games won't support two WiiPads at launch
At Nintendo's E3 press conference last week, the house of Mario showed its upcoming Wii U console could support two WiiPads at once. However, that doesn't mean any launch titles will support the functionality at the console's launch. In fact, they won't."It's going to be well after launch for those game experiences to come to life," Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told Gamasutra. He explained that developers would need to figure out how to use a second screen on the WiiPad before incorporating a third. If only there were an example from days of future's past to reference.Fils-Aime said the "next major step forward" is learning asymmetric gameplay for the Wii U, like active play was for the Wii. After that "there will be multiple experiences that have two" WiiPads.
Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime: Wii U GamePad won't feature multi-touch
The Wii U's 6.2-inch killer feature might look a whole lot like a tablet, but prospective buyers shouldn't expect it to function like one at all. In a recent interview with Kotaku, NOA prexy Reggie Fils-Aime confirmed that multi-touch capabilities will indeed be purposefully absent from the upcoming GamePad. It's a puzzling omission for sure, but not one made lightly on Nintendo's part. According to Fils-Aime, the existence of hardware buttons on the controller itself render that full-blown slate functionality redundant, not to mention cost-prohibitive and "unwieldy." So you see, the Big N giveth and the Big N taketh away, but all in the name of user convenience. You can check out the full blow-by-blow with the House that Mario built's American keeper at the source link below.
Wii U achievements not mandatory for devs, friend codes to change for the better
There won't be a pervasive "achievement" system on Wii U, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime suggested to Kotaku. Referring to the 3DS's system-specific achievements, which honor StreetPass-based activities in the system software, "We will have that," Fils-Aime said. "Once you start getting into game-specific [Achievements] that's developer driven."Fils-Aime hinted at changes to the friend code system for connecting to online friends, calling the new system "friend codes, but it's not the existing friend code system." He added, "you will be able to identify people as friends and have a certain level of interaction versus a different level of interaction for the more general population. The method by which you identify someone as a friend is a lot simpler than what's happening today with Friend Codes." However, he didn't go into detail.Fils-Aime also had good news regarding the announced content filtering system. It turns out that messages that aren't flagged by an automatic scan won't be subject to manual scanning. If a message is flagged by that, and then by the community, then Nintendo steps in.
Sing announced for the Wii U, by DJ Hero devs
Reggie Fils-Aime just announced a music game called Sing for the Wii U. Developed by Freestyle Games, the developers behind DJ Hero, Sing will combine karaoke singing with lyrics on the Wii Pad with a dance running game on your television. The only track released for the game so far is Carly Rae Jepsen's shiny pop hit, "Call Me Maybe," but we'll wait for more info on the game later this week.
Hulu Plus, Netflix, YouTube and Amazon Instant Video coming to the WiiU
It's not all that surprising, considering that most of these video streaming services run on anything with a computer chip in it these days. But Reggie Fils-Aime has confirmed at Nintendo's E3 press conference that the WiiU will be compatible with the usual streaming hookups, including Netflix, Hulu Plus, YouTube, and Amazon's Instant Video service.Of course, the Wii Pad should make for some interesting setups around watching video – will we be able to stream video from the console to the pad itself? Stay tuned, we'll be sure to ask as we get our hands on the new system this week here at the show.
A Reggie Mii comes bearing gifts for 3DS' first birthday [update: Iwata too!]
The 3DS is one year old in North America today, and Nintendo's North American emissary, Reggie Fils-Aime, has embarked on a journey to give each and every 3DS owner some special gifts. Or, rather, his Mii is. North American 3DS owners who check out their Mii Plaza today will find a new guest has arrived: none other than Reggie himself. Surprise! He's been playing Kid Icarus: Uprising lately.In addition to bringing his imposing mug to your Mii Plaza, Reggie also has a puzzle piece for Puzzle Swap and can be used as a level 5 hero in Find Mii. This probably goes without saying, but his character kicks ass. See him in action after the break.Update: Joystiq reader Staeton notes that Reggie isn't the only special Mii floating around. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata is making the rounds as well.
'Nintendo Direct' presentations in Japan and America tomorrow
We just received the first-ever Swapnote press release -- a note from Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime inviting us to a Nintendo Direct video tomorrow, February 22, at 9AM EST, at this URL. There wasn't much indication in the handwritten note as to what it was about; Reggie only said he was "looking forward to sharing some news."A few hours before that video, Nintendo of Japan will have its own Nintendo Direct hosted by Satoru Iwata, at 6AM EST. This one specifies that it will have some Wii and 3DS news.
Reggie Fils-Aime doesn't think much of Zynga, but he's intrigued by free-to-play gaming
Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime is notorious for his ability to say very little with a whole lot of words, but he doesn't bother mincing words when it comes to his feelings on social gaming giant Zynga. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital blog, Fils-Aime answers a question regarding his thoughts on Zynga's recent IPO by saying, "What's the share price? It will be interesting when it breaks below $9." In case it isn't clear, that's the executive way of saying, "Your IPO ain't shit." He continues by inferring that Zynga's creating the same titles over and over, presumably referring to the company's many "Ville" games, though he seems more than okay with his own company doing as much with its recent release of the seventh Mario Kart title. As for the free-to-play business model, however, Fils-Aime is less pessimistic. While he says, "I would argue Facebook is a platform ... I wouldn't expect to see our franchises on other platforms [that aren't owned by Nintendo]," he admits that Nintendo will "certainly" be experimenting with "other forms of monetization." When we'll see that pricing experimentation remains to be seen, however, as Fils-Aime only reveals vaguely that said price "experimentation" is currently taking place across Nintendo's various internal studios. [Image credit: 'nateog']
Fils-Aime discusses 3DS DLC, says Wii and Wii U will coexist
Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime clarified the upcoming 3DS firmware update allowing "add-on content," in an interview with Games.com. "In terms of what the next system update will allow, it will allow developers to sell add-on content, and whether that's for a physical game or a digitally released game," he said. "In terms of how it will work, it's up to the developer whether they want to make it to buy new levels, new items--all of that is up to their imagination. Essentially, what we're doing is creating the framework for those transactions to happen." He said Nintendo will take part in offering DLC for its own games, but in a manner that "whatever we sell initially, we will feel that that is a complete experience. And if that's all the consumer wants to do, that they'd be satisfied." Fils-Aime also said he believed the Wii U's combination of HD and dual screens will "yet again disrupt the market the same way [Nintendo] did with DS and Wii." But it won't disrupt ... the Wii. Fils-Aime believes the Wii has "millions more systems to be sold." Even better, he said that there will "certainly" be more Wii games to look forward to. We know the three games you're all hoping for, but he'd better be talking about Rhythm Heaven.
Nintendo and West Coast Customs bring Mario Karts to life
Normally, Mario's Kart is just a bit of virtual video game magic, confined to a world where turtle shells fly and banana peels litter racetracks. But Nintendo has joined forces with auto shop West Coast Customs to produce two real life Mario Karts, currently on display at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Both Mario's main ride, above, and Luigi's Bumble V kart were made, and both are equipped with front-wheel drive, 18-inch wheels in the back, and a propeller add-on for traveling through water. Unfortunately, that propeller doesn't really work underwater (so says the press release), but the karts really do move. Their construction will be spotlighted in an upcoming episode of West Coast Customs' reality TV show. You can see more shots of the karts over on the company's site (including one of Reggie Fils-Aime himself driving).
Reggie: NOA 'watching' Xenoblade performance in Europe
Nintendo of America, the last we heard, had "no plans" to localize Xenoblade or any of the other titles for which "Operation Rainfall" is campaigning. But plans, or lack thereof, can always change in the face of enough money. NOA president Reggie Fils-Aime told IGN that the company would be paying attention to next week's European launch of Xenoblade Chronicles. "We will be watching very closely what happens in Europe," he said. "Certainly if there are business opportunities and positive consumer uptake from some of those titles, that will be great data for us to consider as we look at what to do with these titles." That's certainly not a confirmation of a North American release, but neither is it the sort of stubborn denial we've come to expect regarding these games. So that's something. If you want the opportunity to buy a copy of Xenoblade Chronicles, go buy a copy of Xenoblade Chronicles ... from Europe!
Wii U landing after April 1st 2012, may stream video to controllers
Try as you might to maintain your nonchalant demeanor, we know you're fired up about the potential of the Wii U. Well, we won't spill your secrets, but we thought you might like to know that Reggie Fils-Aime, the president of Nintendo of America, recently sat down with David M. Ewalt at Forbes to talk about the company's upcoming console. You'll find the full interview at the source but here are a few of the more interesting tidbits. As you may have guessed, the original Wii won't be disappearing immediately. The two will be sold side by side in stores for at least a little while. Interestingly, while we already knew that games will be playable entirely on the controller, turns out there is nothing technically stopping the console from streaming other media to the portable screen -- including content from your Netflix account. Sadly, you'll be waiting till at least Q2 of 2012 to pick one up -- as Fils-Aime revealed, the next-gen gaming device won't launch until "after April 1st."
