Nintendo has made a rare trip to Tokyo to update investors on its strategy (the session is timed, in what is becoming a Nintendo routine, to clash with Sony’s first half results briefing). From the investors and analysts I recognise here at the Imperial Hotel, it looks like Nintendo remains the greater draw, despite their weaker results yesterday.
Nintendo’s new DSi LL is available to play with in the foyer. My first impressions are that it is chunky – I wouldn’t chose one for the subway – but not all that heavy. The bigger, 4.25″ screens were a bit of a disappointment to me, because with the same resolution as the smaller DSi, it does not look very pretty. The new, full-size stylus pen is lovely though.
All in all, I doubt many DS owners will upgrade to the DSi LL, although Nintendo may manage to find some new buyers in older demographics and keep up consumer interest in the DSi.
So far at the briefing, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has been going through the results, and there has not been a huge amount of new information. It’s in Japanese only, so please consider any direct translation to be provisional, but I will update this post if analyst questions produce interesting answers.
1555 The first question is straight to Nintendo games guru Shigeru Miyamoto. Tell us about games. Mr Miyamoto tells us about New Super Mario Brothers Wii. It’s a multiplayer platform game, and the screen zooms in or out if the players are seperated, so all remain in view. Fun for beginners as well as experts. I think we knew all that.
Here’s something I didn’t know: Mr Miyamoto has bought a cat! (It’s a running joke that Iwata won’t let Miyamoto talk about his hobbies in case it gives people clues about his future games…)
1605 On the spread of digital distribution of games, Mr Iwata says, “I think it will take quite a long time.” This is a central issue for Nintendo, given that the iPhone gets all of its games via digital download, and Sony has recently launched the download only PSP Go handheld.
1616 A question about the infamous Wii Vitality Sensor (an upcoming Wii add-on that measures the user’s pulse). It’s not just about measuring your pulse, Mr Iwata insists, it will tell you other things. Fun software is in store using it next year, he says. Mr Miyamoto was previously talking about doing more with the Wii Motion Plus add on.
1623 A question about high-definition (a high-definition Wii has been rumoured almost since the original came out in 2006). Nothing has been decided, says hardware chief Mr Takeda, but if all TVs become HD it will be natural to produce something that shows HD, in his opinion.
1635 My laptop’s battery life means this will be the last update for now, but I’ll add anything further that is said in an hour or so, when I’m back in the office.
ADDED LATER:
1637 A more material question about the struggles of the Wii. Mr Iwata says that, had titles released last year such as Wii Music turned into long-sellers like previous hit titles for the Wii, people would not say that the Wii had a software shortage now. It takes time to turn the situation around but he is confident about titles such as Wii Sports Resort.
1645 Is this a turning point for Nintendo, given the changes in the competitive environment such as the iPhone, and the Wii’s slowdown asks Yuta Sakurai of Nomura Securities, one of the sector’s leading analysts.
Mr Iwata draws attention to the hit driven nature of the games business. “Who thought that Pokemon would sell around the world? Who expected Brain Training to be a hit?” Mr Iwata asks. We can’t calculate everything and make a hit, he says.
The implication is that Nintendo has lots of ideas and at some point something will take off.
Time not noted An open-ended question about Nintendo’s attitude to wireless connections in light of the iPhone and Amazon’s Kindle. Mr Iwata gives an interesting answer: he’s more interested in the Kindle than the iPhone because it’s a business model in which the user does not pay monthly fees.
A Kindle-style 3G connection bundled in the initial price of a device is one option for the future, Mr Iwata says, but he notes several problems such as the increased cost and whether Japanese mobile phone carriers would support it.
Time not noted David Gibson of Macquarie Securities asks about the outlook for next year. Mr Iwata declines to go into detail but says he doesn’t think Nintendo has passed a cyclical peak.
That’s about it except for one more thing. I joined the scrum around Nintendo’s executives at the end of the session and asked Mr Miyamoto the vital question: what is the name of your cat? The answer is ‘Capo’, as in the device you attach to a guitar. FT editors, please don’t fire me.
