During a recent Q&A for Nintendo’s financial results briefing, president and CEO Satoru Iwata addressed the vision he has for the gaming company, including their plan for the state of the Wii U and 3DS.
Iwata stressed that the current sales for the Wii U and any expected sales drops for the 3DS as its lifecycle grows do not plague the systems as many may assume. He emphasized the power that one game can have on a system.
“We have witnessed one single software title completely change the entire picture of our business many times. I believe one of the most impressive stories was the time when people thought the Game Boy platform was virtually over” Iwata said. “However, a software title called “Pokémon” turned things around for the platform and ended up creating the biggest annual sales for Game Boy in the latter half of the platform’s eventual lifecycle. Therefore, we do not believe that the situation so far means that there will not be a bright future.”
Iwata also said the company recognizes they “need to make changes in various areas,” while stating they are looking to “take advantage of smart devices” (perhaps through a mii-related app?)
It wouldn’t be a Nintendo interview anymore without amiibo talk, and Iwata stated the success of amiibo can be attributed to the popularity of “Skylanders” and “Disney Infinity” that came before it, but also adding that amiibo may have an increased value to consumers.
“…The way consumers use the figures for Activision’s “Skylanders” game or Disney’s “Disney Infinity” game is not exactly the same as the way they use amiibo” he said. “Now that there is a certain level of awareness that amiibo figures can be used with multiple software titles, we believe we will be able to dramatically improve the situation for amiibo by increasing the number of amiibo compatible software titles.”
Iwata says Nintendo has plans to further the consumer’s ability to utilize amiibo, and reiterated that new forms of the plastic figurines are on their way.
“By taking advantage of the shorter delivery time and lower productions costs for card products, we would like to further expand how amiibo can be used in yet more play styles. In addition, our development team has been testing various forms of amiibo other than plastic figures. We hope we can propose amiibo products in various forms in the future.”