Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata has said that one big hit could still be enough to cause Wii U sales to rocket.
“Following the generally accepted theory on platform lifecycles, it is natural for you to presume that the sales of Nintendo 3DS will drop X per cent each year or we cannot expect a huge increase in Wii U sales,” he told investors in a now translated Q&A. “On another front, we have witnessed one single software title completely change the entire picture of our business many times.”
Iwata cited the example of the Game Boy, whose sales spiked well into its life cycle following the debut of Pokemon.
The Nintendo president also returned to the ever-looming prospect of Nintendo games on smartphones.
“We recognise that we need to make changes in various areas, and consider how we can take advantage of smart devices and more actively use our character IP,” he explained. “Please do not take it the wrong way. It does not mean that we are going to proactively utilise smart devices and character IP because we are not making enough profits from our dedicated video game platforms.
“We are willing to do so for that will create a synergy effect to expand our dedicated video game platform business. Of course, we will probably make profits from our character IP business, and Amiibo is already having a positive impact in its initial phase of business. Still, it is obvious that we cannot easily achieve the same sales and profit level only with Amiibo as the peak times for our dedicated video game platform business. Therefore, we should consider how we can boost our core business, that is the dedicated video game platform and software business.”

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