It’s time, once again, to go into the Corporate Briefing of Nintendo (Oct. 29, 2010).
First, about the Nintendo 3DS software, you asked what the basis for our unit shipment forecast is. Please note that this forecast is Nintendo’s shipment number, so not all the 4 million hardware units and the 15 million software units are expected to reach consumers’ hands.
This is a message to the journalists: shipment forecast does not equal sales forecast. It is about shipping this number to retailers. It is not a forecast on how many those retailers will sell.
But watch journalists get this wrong when they say, “The NPD sales do not match the shipment forecast! Oh noes!”
So, we asked Mr. Shigesato Itoi to do “Shigesato Itoi Asks in Place of Iwata.” The subject of Mr. Miyamoto’s involvement with his neighborhood association happened to be included in this interview article.
Iwata is confirming that Miyamoto’s new hobby is ‘neighborhood associations’ and is leading people to the interview!
Here, Miyamoto says…
Also, we have just developed new software, which even individuals can make use of it. For example, neighborhoods in our community won’t have to face so much trouble when they make and send out messages (for example, to make a message for neighbors to enjoy a stamp-rally event). We are planning to make this software available as one of the downloadable Nintendo DSiWare titles next month (November). Utilizing Nintendo DSi (it’s camera and microphone), you can insert some simple sounds and pictures. Then, people who visit your place with their Nintendo DS can receive and enjoy that data. If an owner of a cafe in a neighborhood shopping arcade happens to like this kind of technology, he or she can make it so that the customers can open their Nintendo DS device to see the restaurant’s menu and other things like a detailed introduction of the restaurant. Shop owners can also make it so that the customers at the tables can push a number on the screen to listen to some audio messages, just like the visitors to the museums can receive the audio guidance. We will soon make this software downloadable. This will not directly contribute to our sales, but we are hopeful that this type of service will greatly contribute to encouraging people to use and bring their Nintendo DS devices wherever they are and wherever they go, just like Mr. Iwata mentioned before (during his presentation). Overall, I do not have any new hobbies that I can disclose now.
So Miyamoto tells us how that hobby led to that particular software.
The last line isn’t that Miyamoto doesn’t have new hobbies. It is that he doesn’t have any new hobbies he can disclose now. Apparently, Mr. Miyamoto will only tell us his hobbies when the game is about to come out!
I explained this at Nintendo Conference 2010 a month ago, but I myself believe that the communication capability is one of the large strengths of Nintendo 3DS in addition to its ability to show 3D images without the need for special glasses.
Iwata is saying that a big feature of the 3DS is its internet capabilities. Iwata also says how he does not believe in a subscription fee.
I don’t think there has been too much detailed on the 3DS internet capabilities? The DS had wi-fi but no one knew it because software utilizing it didn’t appear until 2005 with Mario Kart DS. (Not even the Xbox 360 had built in wifi. DS > Xbox 360)
I still think the best thing about the DS wasn’t the touch screen or other features. It was the wireless connectivity with other DS systems (which allowed people to play games multiplayer lounging around or in different moving vehicles [I’ve tried this, it is fun to play bomberman going 80 miles per hour down a freeway via different cars] and makes it very easy to get into a game without connecting a wire). But there was also the wireless download that allowed a single cartridge to be played mutliplayer.
This DS download reminded me of Warcraft 2’s ‘spawning’ that allowed a company no one heard of, Blizzard, to suddenly be everywhere because everyone could play multiplayer games with one disc. Early DS games embraced this. There was nothing like being able to play 8 player Bomberman DS with a group of people.
The mistake many DS game makers made was to not allow full multiplayer with one cartridge or allow only a dumbed down multiplayer. They foolishly believed they would be losing money. In order to make game customers, you must get game players. The best way to get people to play your game is through people showing it to other people.
Think about board games. People will play them with their friends. If the friend likes the game, they will likely buy it for themselves so they can play it with their friends. And their friends do the same. Imagine if board games had to be bought by every single player in order to be played multiplayer.
A big problem with home console games is the lack of local multiplayer. Local multiplayer is what traditionally always led to increased sales. People would play the game with their friend, like it, and buy it themselves. Wii Sports is an example of this phenomenon on steroids.
I haven’t heard about any information on 3DS game download or multiplayer from one cartridge. Since later DS games didn’t incorporate it, and since 3DS sounds ‘too much’ data to transfer over, I suppose I should assume this DS feature will not be present in 3DS.
A shame. I bought a second DS just to hand to people I knew to play multiplayer DS games (from a single cartridge). I imagine I’m not the only one.
You told us (in your presentation) that the company is expecting the evergreen titles to sell on Wii during the upcoming year-end sales season, and I understand that you are deploying the Super Mario 25th Anniversary Campaign as one of such attempts. But you also told us that your consumers are patiently waiting for more attractive offers to come from the market. Will such patient consumers move only with such efforts from you? Or, will you run some special campaigns or sales promotions depending on how the actual market situation unfolds? Also, your need to rely upon evergreen titles sounds like you are having hard time bringing out unique, brand-new titles. For that matter, you have not discussed “Wii Vitality Sensor” lately. Will you still be able to launch noble new software for Wii? Do you still have new ideas? Are you already considering an exit strategy for Wii, or are there unique titles still to come on Wii?
This is one of the questions. But look at it! How many questions were asked in this one question? Let me count them…
1) Will such patient consumers move only with such efforts from you?
2) Or, will you run some special campaigns or sales promotions depending on how the actual market situation unfolds?
3) For that matter, you have not discussed “Wii Vitality Sensor” lately. (i.e. what is up with the Vitality Sensor?)
4) Will you still be able to launch noble new software for Wii? (Noble new software? Oh my!)
5) Do you still have new ideas?
6) Are you already considering an exit strategy for Wii, or
7) are there unique titles still to come on Wii?
Seven questions in one question! Let us see how Iwata responds…
One reason why we are able to count on the year-end sales while the sales so far in this calendar year have not been so good is our review of the most recent situation. In October, certain retailers usually start their own, limited weekly-offer type of sales promotions, and they are starting such promotions in the U.S. and in Europe. Whether the consumers actually react to such limited weekly offers or not can tell us a lot and can be our sales indicator for the year-end. If they do not react with significant purchases, we will have to think that Wii and Nintendo DS have little more demand. On the other hand, if three times or even five times as much as the previous week’s sales are made as a result of such limited offers, we can conclude that our consumers are actually waiting for some incentives.
Iwata is saying retailers expect Wii and DS sales to be seasonal meaning everyone will buy them for the holidays. While every game console goes up in sales during the holidays, I think retailers are falling for the ‘common wisdom’. Who came up with the ‘common wisdom’? Our good friends the video game analysts! In 2006, 2007, and 2008 holiday seasons were demand still outstripping supply. In 2009, it clearly was Mario 5 catapulting the Wii up. 2010 will be the shakiest Wii holiday yet. There is only one Wii game that will cause hardware sales to go up and that is Donkey Kong Country Returns. And that is ‘if’. Many people who want DKC Returns may have already bought the Wii for Mario 5.
By now, we have come to notice that such special offers from retailers have prompted significant increases in the weekly sales, so we are interpreting the current situation as our consumers are patiently waiting, instead of interpreting it as diminishing demand (for Wii and Nintendo DS)
DS and Wii aren’t losing demand! No, customers are just waiting for the holidays!
I would not bet money on that.
When we tackle with the actual development, many issues arise, which adds to the total development period. Also, when the software is unique, it is more challenging for us to communicate its appeal to consumers. Actually, the initial reaction to such titles should be, “Will it be really fun at all?” or “I just don’t get it.” So, we cannot afford to make the software too unique. Such titles as “nintendogs,” “Brain Training,” “Wii Fit” and “Wii Sports” were able to cross that hurdle in a short period of time.
I wouldn’t say any of those titles were ‘unique’ as there is similar software to them in the past. Wii Sports is reminiscent of the NES sports games. Nintendogs is reminiscent of Tomogotchis. Brain Training is Sudoku with some ‘brain fitness’ tests like basic arithmetic. Wii Fit is a fitness game which there have been tons of fitness games in the past.
The only one I find ‘unique’ is Wii Fit in the sense of how it was used with such unique hardware as a daily trainer.
I will tell you what is unique software.
Super Mario Brothers.
Legend of Zelda.
Metroid.
Tetris (that Nintendo published)
Super Mario Kart (still so awesome)
Pilotwings (sorta)
Super Smash Brothers (sorta)
Animal Crossing (love that time based gameplay)
This is the unique Nintendo software. Ever since then, most Nintendo software has been ramming a hardware’s features into a game series. Hardware has a touch screen? Then Zelda must be touch screen based. Hardware has 3d? Then Zelda must be 3d. You get the picture.
Nintendo software is actually extremely stale. Aside from incorporating the new hardware features into the game, there is no real evolving or change in the series. And if there is, it is only toward more cinematic cutscenes (which isn’t what we want).
At Nintendo, we have not come to the stage where we need to give up on the developments of such unique titles at all. We do not feel that Wii has come to its limit.
We’ll see.
More specifically, when we developed Nintendo DS and Wii, we prioritized on points other than the most gorgeous-looking graphics or the highest possible processing power, so these systems were not able to fully cater to the needs of the consumers who had been looking for more beautiful graphics and more processing capability.
Who cares!? These gamers clearly are not the ‘masses’. In fact, these gamers are responsible for gaming’s decline. Catering to a vocal minority who only can see progress in gaming through visuals means that increase in visuals will outpace the majority of consumers out there.
Also, this statement conflicts with Iwata’s earlier statements back in 2005 and 2006 where he said that gaming cannot grow if the focus is on greater visuals and processing power.
Now, I know the real reasons why Nintendo is doing this.
For the sound growth of the video game industry, it is important for new consumers to enter into the market one after another. Because each consumer has his or her own taste, and the time and the energy one can spend on any one form of entertainment varies, we think it would be ideal if we could offer an entertainment system that could be enjoyed by each and every different consumer in his or her own way according to individual needs. However, when different platforms are needed to cater to different gaming needs, it becomes difficult to create a healthy cycle.
OK Iwata. I want to play my 2d Mario. So in order to do so, I am going to have to use an analog stick, which has never been done in the history of Super Mario Brothers games, AND I am going to have to pay at least an additional $100 for the price of a 3d screen that I will never use (because it will be turned off). How is any of this fitting my gaming needs? And who do you think is the masses? People like me or people who complained that the DS didn’t have ‘good enough graphics and processing power’?
For this issue, Nintendo’s people in the Licensing Department and other relevant departments have listened to many comments from our publishers and developers, such as, “While the sheer installed base of Nintendo DS is attractive, with the specs as they are, we can’t make the software that we really want to make.” We developed Nintendo 3DS in order to respond to these needs of the developers and, at the same time, to make it so that this device can offer something attractive even to those consumers who have never played video games before.
This isn’t the real reason. Take Iwata’s statement here seriously. What Iwata is saying is that game developers refused to make software for the DS because… the DS doesn’t have the visuals or processor speed. Considering that the only competition is the PSP (whose sales have collapsed in America) or iPhone (whose games are ‘PC’ in quality and only a few bucks if that), this statement by Iwata makes no sense. And besides, DS had no problem getting third party games.
The REAL reason is because Nintendo developers demand and insist on more graphics and greater processor speeds. Most people within Nintendo were opposed to the direction the Wii and DS took. Remember when the DS was referred to as the Third Pillar and wasn’t said that it was the successor to the Gameboy (until Iwata declared it after the DS began selling very well)?
Make no mistake, it is Nintendo software developers that are behind the direction of the 3DS. Want proof? Remember when they kept talking about 3d technology back with making Luigi’s Mansion and putting up different screens on the TV? Remember how during the unveiling of 3DS Nintendo kept waxing nostalgic about all their experiments of 3d output? When Nintendo allowed Capcom to design the controller for Monster Hunter Tri, Nintendo developers were unhappy with outsiders designing the hardware. It is very unlikely that outsiders are determining the hardware direction of the 3DS. This isn’t a direction other publishers want. This isn’t a direction gamers want. But it is a direction Nintendo developers want and have always wanted for decades. 3DS is kind of their dream come true.
Nintendo developers are OBSESSED with 3d technology. Unhealthily obsessed. They have been so focused on 3d technology for the past decade that they have forgotten that they are supposed to make games. It is like George Lucas who is obsessed with special effects but forgot about other things like the fundamentals of movie making like good directing and good acting. Nintendo developers have been so caught up with this 3d technology that they have forgotten many of the fundamentals that make up a game. This is why when people describe a Nintendo franchise or Nintendo consoles in general, it is summarized with one word: decline. (And when they weren’t focusing on 3d were the salad days of the DS and Wii.)
Iwata is not being forthcoming to investors here. Every element of the 3DS, including the massively increased cost because of the screen (which ironically is making the 3DS unsymmetrical with the top screen being fatter than the lower one) and the analog stick, is creating more barriers between the masses and gaming, not less. You can give grandma a DS. But I can’t imagine someone giving grandma a 3DS. What is she going to do with it? Play Ocarina of Time in 3d!?
And, you said that you are yet to see the software lineup for Nintendo 3DS which can be compared to representative titles for Nintendo DS such as “nintendogs” and “Brain Training” that were announced around the time of the launch of Nintendo DS, which were originally not conceived as games.
Fair enough. So what type of new software will there be for the 3DS?
Iwata answers:
In fact, however, I think that we have already shown you a glimpse. For example, “AR Games” (temp; direct translation from the Japanese) that we showcased at Nintendo Conference 2010 is one of our new trials in such endeavors. How such new trials shall be materialized in the form of packaged software is something which will become important in the second phase of Nintendo 3DS proliferation.
Bahahahaha! Augmented Reality!? Hahahahaha. Yeah, that will make grandma buy the 3DS!!!
I remember Sony talking wildly about AR for the PS3 during E3 2006. What was that game called? Eye of Judgment? And it FLOPPED. Why is Nintendo following Sony’s mistakes? What is next? Will 3DS play Blu-Ray movies?
By now, because more Nintendo 3DS software which will cater to the needs of avid game fans has had a lot of public exposure, you may hold the impression that our Nintendo 3DS software lineup currently lacks such software (which has the potential to change the definition of video games).
Well, Iwata, what other impression are we supposed to take? We can only judge a system’s direction based on the software that is shown. If such software is not shown, we can only rightfully assume the system is not going in that direction.
On the other hand, for those who seldom play video games, the fact that they can see 3D moving images on Nintendo 3DS itself must have a tremendous impact.
Does Iwata really believe what he’s saying? I am sure Grandma really values being able to see 3d moving images.
I’ll tell you how the masses will interpret this. They will see it as nothing more than ‘special effects’. The only people who value ‘special effects’ are geeks and young people. Geeks value it because they are fascinated by the engineering. Young people are fascinated by it because they haven’t seen stuff like that before. But those of us that are older remember Buck Rogers in the 24th Century. We’ve seen all the smoke and mirrors.
Above: Erin Gray is my idea of ‘special effects’. WOOt! WOOt!
The reason why the DS and Wii appealed to this group is because we are tired of seeing only graphical facelifts to video games. When are video games going to expand? We are sick of playing the same exact games but with a visual upgrade. With 3DS, Nintendo is making the signal that it expects us to play the same exact games but in ‘3d’. Nintendo has even gone so far to re-release old games like Ocarina of Time. Why should I buy this game? “Because it is in 3d now Malstrom! Ooohhh! 3D!” With games like Pilotwings on the 3DS, they expect the experience of 3d to be satisfying. It won’t. That is a technological experience, not a gaming experience.
Notice how gaming was in decline when changes on consoles upgraded the OUTPUT but kept the input the same. (PlayStation consoles still use the same exact controller.) And note the explosion with the DS and Wii when the INPUT received a huge upgrade. People couldn’t wait to get a Wii! And even the DS sold out in Japan.
Why did consumers respond so strongly to upgrades to the input? A game, by its definition, means different options to the player. Increasing the input allows greater options in games, it allows a player to be more of a player. It is like a card game introducing new cards which allows expansion of the player’s moves. Just upgrading the output is like making the cards all shiny and sparkly. It’s still the same exact game.
I understand that those who have had hands-on experience feel the same way.
Watch what happens when they have the 3DS for more than five minutes. Also watch what happens when a hot babe isn’t chained to a 3DS.
And now Miyamoto talks here about 2d Mario and 3d Mario:
This is not confined to Mario games, but when a game is made in 3D, we can make the players feel that the game is more alive, and the developers are able to incorporate more tricks for the players to enjoy.
Something must be wrong with the translation. Instead of ‘tricks’, I think Miyamoto meant ‘puzzles’.
Actually, gamers do not care whether a game is in 2d or 3d. They only care about the game. People only care about 2d Mario and 3d Mario because 3d Mario is a radical change of gameplay from 2d Mario.
So who cares so much about a game being 2d or 3d? It is the developers. Seriously, developers love 3d because they can ‘walk around their own creation’ and ‘be in awe’ of ‘what they made’. They will even call what they made ‘beautiful’. They hate 2d because they cannot do that.
In the fourth season finale of the sci-fi series Babylon 5, the episode consisted of nothing more than video recordings spread out through time (such as a news show for one segment, a documentary for another segment, etc.). JMS revealed that the director was going mad because he was not allowed to move the camera. In the same way, perhaps most of the hostility of developers toward 2d games is because of the fixed camera of 2d. 3D games always have a ‘floating camera’ which has somehow turns every game developer into a wannabe movie director.
For example, in Mario Galaxy there are countless examples when Mario is ‘flying’ and the camera is swinging around to get ‘money shots’ such as Mario flying with a volcano in the background that explodes. This is what Nintendo developers believe is gaming. And they are so wrong. It is a reason why Mario Galaxy never sold anything like their expectations.
It is unfortunate that the discussion has revolved around 2d and 3d. In reality, all games are 3d these days. Everything is developed in 3d. So there is no such thing as ‘2d games’ anymore.
No, the difference between 2d and 3d is really between a fixed camera and a manipulative camera. While having to move a camera around adds a barrier to the game, that is not the true reason why gamers do not like so-called “3d games”. The real reason is that it doesn’t play like the 2d game. And why is that?
I believe the reason why Nintendo developers are so hostile to ‘fixed camera’ games is because it removes any opportunity to play movie director and create ‘amazing plots!’ and ‘ZOMG character scenes!’. Before you email me demanding how this can be so, let me refresh your memory.
Remember how Nintendo developers would keep injecting story into the Mario games until Miyamoto told them to stop? And even with Miyamoto telling them to stop, they would put in the story anyway?
Remember the horrific ‘cutscenes’ of games like Twilight Princess or the atrocious dialogue ‘story scenes’ of games like Spirit Tracks?
Remember Metroid: Other M?
The so-called “2d game” would instantly shut down all attempts of trying to make ‘cut-scenes’ and ‘movies’.
At the heart of this issue is a serious divide between the gamer and the developer. The gamer does NOT CARE about the digital world. AT ALL. The only thing the gamer cares about is how he can interact with it, what he can do. The developer, however, has created this digital world so he is very much proud of what is there. So anything that shows off this digital world is always encouraged by the developer. In almost all games, the camera swirls around showcasing us their “beautiful” digital world. The gamer, however, doesn’t give a damn what type of trees the developers placed or whether or not blades of grass flow in the wind. The gamer only cares about what HE can do. No one cares what the developer did.
3D cameras are being abused to exercise developers’ vanity. But there is only one person allowed to indulge in his vanity: the player. Games should be designed to make players feel awesome, not make developers feel awesome. If you disagree with this, then why stop at developers? Why not design games to make marketers feel awesome? (which has been done.) Why not design games to make company CEOs feel awesome? Let’s make everyone feel awesome except the player!
For its ability to provide the players with more choices or freedom in the gaming world, 3D is more suited.
This is nonsense talk. What Miyamoto really said is that it provides DEVELOPERS with more choices or freedom in the gaming world, 3d is more suited. This is because “3d games” have a free camera where developers can indulge in their vanity of their ‘special digital world’ they made.
“3d games” have decreased freedom and made game worlds smaller. Woe to Ultima 9!
On the other hand, there are also people who can’t stand even the slightly more complicated looks of 3D.
No. They can’t stand developers going wild with the camera.
Note how there is no complaint where the camera is fixed. In racing games, the camera is fixed on the car. No one complains. In First Person Shooters, the camera is fixed to the direction the player is looking. No one complains. In RTS games, the camera is fixed overhead. No one complains.
When the camera is not fixed, people complain. And why isn’t it fixed? It is because of developer vanity. They want to show off their crappy digital world.
In fact, with 3D games, game-play control has to become more complex.
Whose fault is that?
When the developers include all the functions in order to cater to the anticipated demands from the players who, as they gradually progress deeper into the 3D world, will want to do more and more, the game in the end inevitably will look extremely complex for the novice players.
It’s the players’ fault! Oh, those awful players. If only those players didn’t have such ‘demands’, then developers wouldn’t have made the game so complex!
With as much voice possible, I strongly disagree with Miyamoto’s assertion that people do not play these 3d games because they are ‘complex’. The reason why they do not play these games is because they are not fun.
Nintendo is in deep denial if they continue to believe people do not buy 3d Mario because they think it is ‘too complex’. The game just isn’t fun for them. After all, what exactly is entertaining about collecting a star and then going through the same exact level again to get a star in another way? Mario gameplay is not about an obstacle course to get a star, it is about platforming. 2D Mario has emergent gameplay. 3D Mario does not. In 2d Mario, the surprise comes from the player’s action and skill. In 3d Mario, the surprise is always scripted from the digital world and gets old fast.
I mean, even though players will realize that the games are not complex when they actually play them, 3D games look complicated for those who see them for the first time.
This is deep denial. Miyamoto believes people do not like 3d Mario because it “looks” complicated. Why is the possibility never raised that people do not like 3d Mario’s gameplay? It is radically different than 2d Mario’s gameplay.
From that perspective, as you indicated in your question, the consumer base of the “Super Mario” series has narrowed from when we launched “Super Mario 64.”
So that would mean Super Mario 64 was a failure of a Mario game.
However, we’ve been striving to make 3D games which can enable you to have the “I’m actually in the game field now” feeling and which can provide you with more fun options to choose from in the game field and, at the same time, which can be played by anyone.
This is Miyamoto telling 2d Mario fans to go to hell. Who cares what they want? It is all about what Nintendo developers want. Nintendo developers know better than their own customers!
Mario 64 tried to sell the 3d experience to 2d Mario people and failed.
Mario Sunshine failed.
Mario Galaxy failed.
Mario Galaxy 2 failed.
If one, two, three, four 3d Mario games failed, why should we expect five, six, seven, and eight 3d Mario games to be any different? This has been going on over a decade and the results have not changed.
What is doing the same thing over and over again hoping for a different result? Insanity.
We’ve been developing the “Super Mario Galaxy” series with such a mission in mind.
Many people didn’t believe me when I said Mario Galaxy was made to convert those backward philistine barbaric folk called ‘2d Mario fans’ to the ‘joy’, ‘wonder’, and ‘glory’ that is 3d Mario.
People keep wondering why I keep going on and on about 2d Mario / 3d Mario. The reason why is because it is not just that Nintendo has refused to make 2d Mario for 18 years. The reason is that I find it offensive that Miyamoto wants to ‘convert’ me to 3d Mario. Who the hell is he to say what I like to play? He either makes the games I want to play or he doesn’t get my money. If he keeps refusing to do it, hire someone else to do it and take the Mario franchise away from Miyamoto.
By launching “Super Mario Galaxy 2,” we have invited a number of people who didn’t use to play any 3D games to the world of 3D Mario, I think.
Where? In fantasy-land?
Galaxy 2 didn’t sell any differently than Galaxy 1. However, this won’t stop Miyamoto. He will keep making 3d Mario after 3d Mario until 2d Mario people buy it. But the rub is that 2d Mario will never buy it. If he hasn’t gotten this message over the past fifteen years, then he will continue on this ridiculous quest.
Simultaneously, we have been making 2D games because leveraging upon and making improvements on 3D games alone cannot satisfy all the game players.
That certainly didn’t stop Nintendo for just making 3d games for the past decade for home consoles with no 2d at all. You’d think they would have gotten the message back during the N64 days but no.
What Miyamoto is really saying here is that they must keep making 2d games because they haven’t figured out how to get 3d games to sell to everyone. Do NOT misinterpret this to mean that Nintendo wants to make the games for people like me. The focus is still to convert us ‘backwards gamers’ (because that is how they look at us because we reject their stupid vanity cutscenes and story) to 3d gaming.
We have made “New Super Mario Bros.” for Nintendo DS and “New Super Mario Bros. Wii” with such an objective.
I don’t think this is true. NSMB DS was made because PSP was eating the DS’s lunch by soundly outselling it. NSMB Wii was made because NSMB DS sold more than almost any game ever made. When NSMB Wii was announced at E3 2009, the sales number for NSMB DS were mentioned which indicates that NSMB Wii was made due to the mass success of NSMB DS.
These 2D games are easy to understand and accessible to anyone. Even if the players only play for a short time, they can feel satisfied. After all, video games are not only about conquering all the stages. What is more important is the fun the players can feel as a result of the play. The 2D games have the advantage of delivering that sensation more easily to the players.
Accessibility is not the ‘big picture’ why the masses prefer 2d Mario.
As for Nintendo 3DS, of course, we’ll be making both types of games. It’s not the issue of which is more attractive because each one has its own appeal.
In Nintendo’s mind, this is only temporary until they can figure out how to get 2d Mario people to buy 3d Mario. Then they can completely stop making 2d Mario (as they had for two decades).
In the past 3D “Mario” games, and 3D “Zelda” games for that matter, if there were several floors at the same height, it was hard for the players to tell if each one of them was located with the same distance between them or if just one was further away and higher than the other floors. On Nintendo 3DS, you can readily understand the height and distance of the next floor in front of you. You can feel the difference by switching between the 2D and 3D modes. You might have had a hard time trying to jump on a stump or to hit a floating question-mark block in 3D Mario until now, but you will be able to do so easily on Nintendo 3DS.
You have to laugh at Miyamoto trying to make this game even more accessible than Galaxy 2. Does he actually believe accessibility is the reason why 3d Mario doesn’t sell like 2d Mario? It would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic.
In addition, Mario and Link will both have more vivid presences. When I make games, I take great care of such details as the body weights of the players’ characters. When the character jumps, can the player feel the weight? When the character lands, does the land feel like it is acting as a cushion? How long should the character stand still in order for the player to feel the weight of the character’s body? I think about a number of such details. By making 3D games on Nintendo 3DS, such minute details can be felt, and the players can feel as if the world exists.
Uh. Sure. *whistles by the graveyard*
Talking about 2D games on Nintendo 3DS, those who have played 2D Mario so far can understand that the developers were unable to do a lot of tricks which made use of the depth of the screen. For example, when “Wiggler” or “Bullet Bill” fly towards you from a distance, if the developers try to incorporate the depth of the screen, you cannot tell if and when these characters hit you. But such tricks shall be available on Nintendo 3DS.
This is a signal that 2d Mario on 3DS will be about 3d effects.
Here is what is going on.
After making Super Mario Brothers (let us skip SMB 2 for the obvious reason), Miyamoto comes to Super Mario Brothers 3.
“I made this drawing of Yoshi! Let us put in Yoshi!”
“But Miyamoto, the NES cannot handle Yoshi.”
“Drat! Well, we have to put in something.”
“I will make up some weird power-ups. How about Hammer Brother suit? Frog suit? How about a raccoon tail? It would be like swimming mechanic but in air with greater pull down.”
“Whatever. Just do it. Let us work on Super Mario Brothers 4 then where we can put in Yoshi. In fact, let us not call it Super Mario Brothers 4. This is the culmination of all I wish to do. So we will call it Super Mario World.”
Super Mario World is completed.
“Now what, Miyamoto?”
“Now we never make another 2d Mario game again!”
Super Mario 64 is released.
Nintendo congratulates itself on being awesome. “We are so awesome!”
However, sales of the N64 were not good outside America. Why was this?
Nintendo developers: “It is because of the awful business side! If we released our console earlier, if we got third parties on board, man oh man would our console sell everywhere. One thing we know, our games are sooo awesome. That Mario 64 is the bee’s knees.”
Miyamoto then goes to work on Mario for the Gamecube. “It is time for more innovation,” he declares. “The next great advance for Mario is to use analog shoulder buttons!”
Super Mario Sunshine is released.
Nintendo is aware it is not as well received. “Perhaps we need to return to the Mushroom Kingdom. Make it more like Mario 64.”
“But PSP is outselling the DS! Red Alert! Red Alert! Scramble! Scramble! Make a 2d Mario for the DS immediately!”
NSMB DS is released.
“Wow! That game is selling huge!”
Miyamoto nodded. “We must get 3d Mario to sell like 2d Mario. So with Mario Galaxy, I will add a fish eye lens to make it easier to see around corners. I will flip the camera so the game becomes 2d Mario often. This will excite the 2d Mario people!”
Super Mario Galaxy is released. It is a dud in Japan. Meanwhile, the business side forces Miyamoto to make a 2d Mario game for Wii since NSMB DS has sold better than almost any video game ever made.
“Fine! Fine! I will give them their 2d Mario! But I will make another 3d Mario at the same time. With Mario Galaxy 2, I will focus entirely on accessibility. I will replace the hub with the 2d Mario map screen. Since Galaxy was in space, there wasn’t any opportunity to show off the ‘blue sky’ that was so dominant in the original Super Mario Brothers. So Galaxy 2 will have tons of ‘blue sky’ and it will have blue sky on the box! The mission is to make Mario Galaxy 2 sell like 2d Mario.”
Mario 5 and Mario Galaxy 2 comes out. Mario 5 sells strongly. Mario Galaxy 2 does not.
“OK. Here is the plan. We try to make 3d Mario on 3DS as accessible as possible with using the new 3d technology. Maybe then it will sell like 2d Mario, and I can stop making it!”
“But what about 2d Mario?”
“Iwata said we have to make it. I know! Since adding 2d Mario parts in the Galaxy games didn’t win over the 2d Mario audience, perhaps we can wean the 2d Mario audience to 3d Mario by adding 3d effects to 2d Mario! Then those backward gamers will realize the true glory and triumph that is 3d Mario and stop playing archaic 2d Mario.”
*****
Sarcasm aside, I expect 2d Mario on the 3DS to be nothing more than Nintendo developers’ attempt to shift the 2d Mario audience to 3d Mario by peppering 3d elements in 2d Mario. While any 2d Mario fan finds the idea of playing with an analog stick disgusting, Nintendo likes it because they think 2d Mario people will get used to the ‘complicated control’ and be more inclined to buy 3d Mario. It won’t happen of course.
We have tried many things, including when we made games on Virtual Boy. We have some ideas for a “Mario” game which has depth in the screen. So, for both 2D and 3D games, we are excited to be able to make new tricks on Nintendo 3DS.
The only thing worse than when Nintendo made Gamecube-esque games is Nintendo making Virtual Boy-esque games. Anytime Nintendo mentions using ideas from the Virtual Boy, the consumer should run away. Fast.
Nintendo has no business using ideas from the Virtual Boy. Because it is literally ‘no business’ with that console and its software. What is next? Using ideas from the N-Gage?
Oh, Shouldn’t I have said all of these things here? Please don’t share my answers with gaming media, then. (laughs)
This means he wants all gaming media to report it. And the gaming media dutifully did their job as stenographers.
Now Iwata talks:
Your statement is probably true that the late majority will be the core audience for our hardware during the upcoming year-end sales season. I tell you this because a significant amount of our Wii and Nintendo DS systems have already been sold around the world.
In all my life, I am always amazed how easily ‘conventional wisdom’ takes hold. Wii and DS are not and have never been seasonal products. They got their high sales by selling massively all year around. The idea that the majority of sales will now be around the holidays is standard procedure for all video game consoles.
The reason why sales of the Wii and DS are down is because of bad first party software. I’d even go far to say that Nintendo is sending very mixed signals to their customers about the direction they are going. Buying a Wii is very risky because Nintendo is all over the place in its software. One day, it is User Generated Content. The next day, it is ‘hardcore games’. The day following, it is maternal instincts in Metroid. Consumers flocked to the Wii because consumers liked the console’s mission. Unfortunately for us, Nintendo developers were not interested in that mission. After the initial Wii software sold big, Nintendo has gone back to its old ways with its Gamecube-esque direction.
The entire idea and philosophy of the 3DS came from experiments during the dark days of the N64 and Gamecube eras. Once you realize a tree is bad, it is a bad idea to consume its fruit. By Nintendo’s own admission, the N64-Gamecube direction repelled consumers. So why make a new console based on ideas from that direction?
It is just going to make the former gamers return to being former gamers again. They do not want to go on this journey.
On the other hand, I myself can relate to this sentiment, but when we do not have any particular interest in something, and if there are a number of options to choose from, it is difficult to actually select just one. It is often said in the world of behavioral economics that, with too many options, people tend not to make a selection and tend not to make a decision. For example, when we plan for a trip, as we open a travel pamphlet and notice that there are many options, it must be good for those who can afford to use sufficient energy for researching the best option, but for those who do not have time to choose, it becomes a challenge. Knowing afterward that we didn’t choose the best selection will make us feel very uncomfortable, so we cannot make an immediate decision.
Accordingly, conveying our message, “this is the software we can recommend to you,” in a way which is very easy for our potential consumers to understand, will be the key. This is not something Nintendo can achieve only by itself. Of course, Nintendo will run TV ads and encourage our consumers to recognize that we have various products for them. In addition, we must be able to advise consumers about where the product is available, and which retailers have the best offer. Going to that extent will become important. So, TV ads will be important as always, but our ability to collaborate with our retailers will be especially important.
This won’t work. This is the idea of the ‘stupid confused’ or ‘uninformed consumer’. In almost 100% of the time, the consumer who has no interest or time to research about a product relies on the passionate consumers. This means the person would ask someone who travel a ton. If such a person did not exist, the person would find them on the Internet. Who do you think writes the reviews on sites like Amazon and all? They are the ‘passionate consumers’. Reviews for video games are always written by gamers or people who do have the energy to share about the experience.
Gaming, like sports, relies entirely on passionate customers. You cannot have expansion unless some sort of bedrock of passionate consumers exist. People are attracted to video game products in great part due to other people’s passion. Passionate customers are the best salesmen of the products even though they don’t realize they are selling the product. The big, big problem with the Wii is that the original passionate customers are no longer passionate about it. This a major reason why sales have flatlined.
The type of software that is coming out (like Metroid: Other M) is driving these passionate customers away from the platform. They will not advocate the Nintendo platform if iconic franchises are treated like trash.
Still today, the fact that we definitely need a killer title, which can make our consumers feel like purchasing the hardware even only to play that title, is unchanged. However, launching such a killer title alone cannot solve all the issues today. For example, in addition to killer titles, we need to protect our hardware from illegal copies, we must prepare network services that can satisfy our consumers, and we must include some attractive features on the hardware so that consumers can enjoy the new platform even without purchasing any applicable software at all. Our consumers today have higher expectations of our new hardware and it must offer increased value for them. There is a gradual increase in the development work of things other than packaged software. About a decade ago, almost all the Nintendo development resources were spent on making killer software. Today, it is no more the case.
Well, why not? No one cares about the bloated OS features you can put on a game console. People only want cool games.
You’re in the game business, Nintendo. Resources should go to game development, not wasting millions trying to come up with some silly doodad to attach to your next hardware.
The hardware is irrelevant. We play video games, not hardware. The NES was a crappy game console when it came out. All it could do was play games. Everyone dismissed it because computers could play games and do so much more. But the NES did so well because it had amazing games like Super Mario Brothers and Legend of Zelda.
Game software is not a major thing that matters. It is the only thing. Nintendo could put out a dumb stupid looking terminal piece of crap console and no one would care if it played incredibly fun games.
Having said that, however, not all of the Nintendo titles have been created only among our own internal developers. We have actually been collaborating with a number of outside companies to attempt a variety of different projects, and the total development power has significantly expanded in comparison to the past.
This is no different than before. Nintendo ‘collaborated’ with outside developers as well such as HAL.
But outside developers cannot substitute the internal software. Software is where everything matters about a game console. By farming the most critical aspect out, it allows greater and greater mediocrity into the software line up which weakens sales overall. If anything needs to be farmed out, it is the hardware development.
I fear Nintendo developers are using the unique hardware/software union to think they are the ‘Wonder of the World’ and they must put all their energy to hardware. This is why it seems as if Nintendo hardware has interesting doodads but the software always feels stale. Their approach is always to do something like “And in this console’s Zelda, we use the hardware’s doodad to do something different.” I want games like Zelda to be expanded on as games, not as Frankensteins that combine with strange hardware doodads.
So, at a time when we need to allocate our development resources to newly emerging fields, and when the development of the software has become more complex than before, how we can tackle the increasing needs of development resources internally at Nintendo and work together with outside companies in order to launch the new hardware have become important.
But that’s just it! The games we have been asking for and demanding for over a decade are not complex to make! 2D Mario is not complex! 2D Metroid is not complex! Old school Legend of Zelda is not complex to make! It takes like around 10 to 30 people to do. Why not let the younger people at Nintendo have a crack at these titles? They want to make them and Iwata has publicly said he wondered how to teach younger developers that which older developers know? The answer is to let them make these games. We already know they will sell better than Nintendo’s ‘complex’ big budget games with symphonic orchestras like the Mario Galaxies.
We have experienced several transitions from one platform to a new generation in the past, but the speed at which such transitions were made greatly varied in different markets. Perhaps, the quickest of all the nations in this regard is Japan. In terms of speed, the U.K. is outstanding in Europe. On the contrary, Germany is very slow in this transition. In the U.S., so many people respond to new platforms quickly, but as for the entire video game market there, it appears to move rather slowly because there are also so many people who respond to new offers very slowly.
This is nonsense. America responded to the Wii faster and stronger than any territory. As for the DS, the DS did not take off in America until NSMB DS came out. And of course Nintendo refuses to launch their hardware with 2d Mario which means they are condemning the platform to slow sales until any 2d Mario and other appropriate software appears.
We experienced something like that in the transition from Game Boy Advance to Nintendo DS.
Gameboy Advance was cheaper and had plenty of 2d Mario whose GBA games were rereleased.
I just love how Mario 64 DS is not mentioned at all. When the DS launched, what the hell were people supposed to buy aside from Mario 64 DS? Feel the Magic? Get real. Software sells the hardware. What Iwata is saying here is the wrong analysis.
It has nothing to to do about transitioning to the platform. It had everything to do with lackluster launch DS software which includes Mario 64 DS. PSP had no troubles selling at first. DS even had to have a price cut.
Once better software for the DS came out did DS sales go up. All this talk of ‘transitioning between platforms’ of different countries is mumbo jumbo and hiding the true issue, the issue Nintendo has been avoiding for 15 years: 3d Mario doesn’t sell hardware.
Note that Gameboy and Gameboy Advance both launched with 2d Mario. So did the SNES. And the ‘transition’ time was extremely low.
My questions are specific to the launch of Nintendo 3DS in the U.S., where some people will buy it very quickly while many others will be slow. I recall that you cut the price of Nintendo DS at a relatively early stage of its launch there because the initial sales did not show the anticipated result. Today, you mentioned that you will hold several hands-on experience opportunities for Nintendo 3DS in Japan. In the U.S., how will you deploy your marketing strategy for the core users to start with? Please share the information you can disclose at this point in time. I also believe that how the U.S. third-party publishers will support Nintendo 3DS shall become very important. Would you give us an update on the reactions from the U.S. third parties and retailers? Finally, I think the movie playback capability of Nintendo 3DS appears to be especially appealing to casual users, and you announced your collaborations in Japan with Fuji Television and Nippon TV. If you can update us on any news, including the possible collaborations with movie production companies, please do so.
I love this question. It reveals that the DS did not start out well and needed a price cut because sales were not as expected. And what software did the DS launch with? Why, it was the ‘most amazing game ever made’ called Mario 64. 3d Mario doesn’t sell hardware. Mario 64 DS only resulted, at best, in N64 sales.
If you are going to do a port of a game, you should expect sales of hardware from what the original did. Mario 64 doomed the N64. Mario 64 DS was going to doom the DS until better software came out (like NSMB DS).
You just mentioned that Nintendo DS had a hard time in the U.S. at the beginning, and it is true. By now, the U.S. sales of Nintendo DS have been outpacing those of Game Boy Advance in the U.S., but for some time at the beginning, Nintendo DS was selling at a much slower pace than Game Boy Advance did in its initial phase on the market. In the U.S., a number of people in this industry were wondering if Nintendo DS would ever be able to spread in the U.S. market at all.
Ahh…
My recognition about the Japanese market for Nintendo DS is, approximately half a year after the launch of Nintendo DS, we launched “nintendogs” and, then, “Brain Training,” and each of the two titles needed another six months on the market to gradually increase the sales and eventually to start to show explosive sales, just in time for the 2005 year-end sales season in Japan. However, at the end of 2005, we were yet to launch “Brain Training” in the U.S., and “nintendogs” had just hit the market in fall, so Nintendo DS was not able to make explosive sales there at that time. Because the company was late in launching key titles for Nintendo DS in the U.S., we could not simultaneously reproduce the Japanese situation there. For this time, we recognize the importance of creating a sound launch for Nintendo 3DS and making quick expansion.
Sales of the DS exploded in Japan around the release of Mario Kart DS and Animal Crossing DS (among other software). Nintendogs helped but it was not the reason for the sales explosion.
In America, DS sales exploded when NSMB DS came out (which is also when the DS Lite came out).
The question is not what software made the DS sell. The question is what software did NOT make the DS sell? And that was Mario 64 DS, i.e. 3d Mario.
The Japanese equivalent of “seeing is believing” can be perfectly applied to Nintendo 3DS.
What happened to “playing is believing”? I play games. I don’t ‘see’ them.
For the sales spread of Wii, shopping mall tours worked well in the U.S. I think the expertise gained from these activities may become useful for Nintendo 3DS.
It won’t work. Wii sold because we played the game differently. All 3DS does is just output the visuals differently. This has no value to consumers. The games are exactly the same mediocre crap we’ve seen before except they are ‘3d’. This hasn’t helped the movie industry except it has an excuse to charge more for tickets.
The movie industry’s problem is its movies, not how they are presented. In the same way, the game industry’s problems are its games, not how they are presented.
I often travel abroad, so I have many opportunities to ask people in our subsidiaries about what our overseas software publishers think about Nintendo 3DS, and I know they have much stronger interest in it than when Nintendo DS was about to be launched.
This is a distortion. Third parties were not interested in the DS because their hopes was on the PSP. This time, there is no Sony competitor on the scene.
Whenever we have shown Nintendo 3DS, almost without any exceptions, people have shown strong interest in it.
I have zero interest in movies on the 3DS.
We understand that many movie theaters will be able to show 3D movies, and a considerable amount of movie content is going to be made in 3D. When it comes to the opportunity for them to be able to show 3D movies, however, people in Hollywood currently do not believe that 3D television sets will be able to spread into ordinary households with rapid speed. I have the impression that they see Nintendo 3DS as a strong candidate to become the very first 3D device to be able to spread into the mass market in massive volumes. I’d like to discuss more details at some later time, when I will be able to do so.
Translated: “Oh boy! We get to be the first home device to have 3d movies! We get to have an alliance with the movie industry! Oh boy! Oh boy! We are really a special medium now! Isn’t our company so wonderful, so sublime?”
Unfortunately, Nintendo’s business is in gaming not movies. No one is going to buy a 3DS to watch movies for the same reason no one bought a PlayStation 3 to watch Blu-Ray movies (aside from the few idiots).
This sounds like the 3DS and ‘3d movies’ is following the PS2 myth of DVD movies. This is particularly troublesome because it is a myth. The myth is that everyone bought a PS2 to play movies with its DVD drive. There is no data to support this from America, Europe, or Japan. There is tons of bloated Sony marketing huff and puff about this selling the PS2, but no actual evidence. There is evidence that gamers might have used the DVD drive to play movies. But these people were going to buy a PS2 anyway. If PS2 did not have DVD, then gamers would have bought a DVD players.
The idea of anyone buying the 3DS to watch 3d movies just has me laughing. Consumers do not value 3d in the way Nintendo thinks. The masses will just watch their movies on their handheld devices like iPhones and save the 3d, if they care about it, for the movie theater. 3D in movies is absorbed as a better theater experience and giving some consumers the reason to go to theaters again. But it is not about the 3d.
When we look back at the end of 2009, “New Super Mario Bros. Wii” greatly contributed to drive Wii hardware sales, but it was not expected before the actual year-end sales.
This was taken from a question. I love it because it shows that while software sales of Mario 5 were expected, Nintendo did not expect it to push up hardware sales the way it did. Nintendo sold out of Wii in early 2010.
Also, the investor did not say Wii Fit Plus or Wii Sports Resort or ‘price cut’ were responsible for the hardware sales explosion. Hooray for Mario 5!
We are not thinking that we will need to mark down our products by the end of this year in order to achieve our sales forecasts. Of course, I’m not saying that the company will never change the price of its products. I’m just saying that we have no such plan in the near future.
Oh! Poor analysts! Iwata knocks the idea of a soon Wii price cut!
Perhaps a big reason for no price cut is the currency being inflated in comparison to the yen.
As for your question of the expected sales level for this year-end, and first about your comment that “New Super Mario Bros. Wii” drove our 2009 sales, while I share the same impression that the title greatly contributed to our sales in Japan, when we saw the U.S. and Europe, I do not think “New Super Mario Bros. Wii” alone was driving Wii hardware sales in those regions. Actually, several different factors were intertwined, and as we were increasing the number of reasons and incentives for consumers to purchase Wii, when a certain threshold was reached, the consumers made moves. As the consumers become more patient, that threshold level increases a little too.
And what factors were these, Iwata? He doesn’t say! Hah!
It is not complicated at all. Nintendo put out a game everyone wanted and everyone bought the hardware to get that game.
It is not that Nintendo doesn’t know this. It is that they do not WANT to know this. If it is true that Mario 5 lit a rocket under the Wii in 2009, it means Nintendo has been making the wrong Mario games for over a decade. And no one wants to realize you are doing the wrong thing for over a decade.
So, Nintendo has been trying to go beyond that threshold by adding to the number of evergreen titles such new titles as “Donkey Kong Country Returns” that will be launched this year and such endeavors as our collaboration in retailers’ campaigns, not to mention the Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary Campaign and the launches of new dedicated hardware. If we can successfully pile up each one of these different incentives, the number of consumers who are willing to cross the final hurdle should be near the 2009 level even if it cannot actually reach the 2009 level. We cannot guarantee specific numbers for the future, but this is how we see the market today.
If Mario 5, a 2d platformer, wasn’t responsible for the 2009 late hardware sales, then why is Nintendo responding in 2010 by having another 2d platformer as their main holiday tent pole with re-releasing more 2d Mario?
Don’t listen to what Nintendo says. Listen to what Nintendo DOES.
Malstrom's Articles News 