Iwata on Wii U launch strategy, new IP, tablet and smartphone impact
During the Q&A following Nintendo's latest earnings presentation, president Satoru Iwata addressed several topics, including Wii U marketing strategy, the difficulty of selling games based on new IP and the impact of smartphones and tablets on the video game industry. Concerning the Wii U, Iwata noted that one of Nintendo's mistakes in previous launches was releasing too many games alongside new hardware.
"Nintendo tends to release too many titles at the launch of a hardware system and as a result suffers a drop in new games for quite some time after launch, and for the Wii U launch, we are being very careful not to let it happen," said Iwata. Furthermore, a hefty third-party lineup has enabled Nintendo to delay the release of certain games until next year, though they were originally planned to launch with the Wii U.
One questioner pointed out that Nintendo's sales seem to be dominated by well-known franchises such as Mario and Pokemon, while new IPs "seem to have little presence." Iwata acknowledged that consumers tend to stick to established brands, but noted that digital sales have the potential to help move new IPs. He cited Art Academy as an example, noting that it began life as a digital product on DSiWare. Art Academy was well-received and "we therefore recreated it as packaged software and it eventually became a million-unit selling title worldwide." Iwata said he'd like to see more "positive outcomes" arise from similar strategies.
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/10/29/iw...smartphone-im/
