Iwata started off the conference by challenging the assertion that the DS sales had saturated and proclaims the DSi will expand the audience further. We must note what Iwata did NOT say.
-Iwata did not say the DSi is to compete against PSP.
-Iwata did not say the DSi is to compete against Apple iPhone.
-Iwata did not say the DSi is to compete against other cell phones and their functionalities.
Since day one, the DS has always been about expanding its audience. We have seen Brain Age, Nintendogs, and other education games. We have seen the DS Lite (which was released before the Wii even came out. How time flies).
How do you expand the audience further? This answer was given by myself prior to the conference by simply citing the next stage in the Blue Ocean strategy which is ‘distant users’. I always thought the DS Three would be more of a ‘tool’ and would have a revamped firmware that would make it more like the Wii (as in an equivalent for the DS as what Wii has in photo channel, shop channel, etc.) A pleasant surprise is the DS Ware and legacy softare downloads. DSi has a camera, can play music, and both screens are touch screen.
Is Nintendo splitting up its userbase? No! All these functions, such as the camera and the two touch screens, are to make the DSi more of a tool than a pure game machine. This is to attract customers in markets entirely distant to video games.
Nintendo is giving out free Nintendo points (which is a surprise as Nintendo never gives anything away for free). This, and the next phase for the DS internet centers, illustrate that Nintendo is pushing the Internet side hard. This further confirms the third motivation (i.e. shield) for Nintendo being to change the relationship between gaming and the Internet (rather than slapping PC gaming online onto it). All of this will make DSi further into a ‘tool’.
Behind the scenes, in investor chatter to one another, the DSi was supposed to be at E3 2008 but apparently either a delay or something occurred where DSi was pushed back. But it was defintely in the channels. Many people are saying, “Why couldn’t E3 2008 have been like this?” The reason is because the DSi itself demanded a ‘mini hardware launch’.
Iwata called the DSi a third platform which is interesting and we’ll explore that more soon. But in this industry, new hardware is extroardinarily difficult to launch. It is extremely expensive. This is why new hardware is released right during the holiday season so the hardware gains the momentum it needs. Most updates to Nintendo hardware, such as the DS Lite, occurred after the holidays where Nintendo can quietly release it after maximizing sales of the older model. But DSi isn’t a mere update. It is a platform and so it is released before the holidays in Japan. (Interestingly, Nintendo may use 2008 holidays as to maximize sales of DS Lite for one last time before DSi appears in other markets). Much of the DS software such as Dragon Quest IX was likely saved for this event to add even further excitement around the DS.
As for the Wii storage news and other games, these likely were recently made and weren’t available to show at E3 2008. Also, I am not sure whether Nintendo is releasing the old Gamecube games for Wii outside of Japan. It is Japan that Wii is the most sluggish so such gamecube games isn’t going to hurt. I am surprised that no new colors for the Wii were announced for Japan. Iwata hinted at this with investors after E3 2008.
There is significant amount of ‘meat’ in this conference and people should find something for everyone… even the hardcore found games to be excited over. And the hardcore are rarely happy these days.
Details are still coming out, as is the case of events like these, so I’m going to wait for everything to get settled and see if NOA has anything additional to announce. I’ll view the conference video when it comes available as that is where Iwata tells investors what is going on with Nintendo (which is ignored by the gaming media who report only on the game announcements).
BTW, I wonder what the reaction of the guys behind Guitar Hero for DS are with the news of no more GBA slot? Oh, they will make a fun interview in the upcoming days!
-Update: There is only ONE touch screen in the DSi just like the other models. That makes sense seeing how the upper screen would snap the hinges if it were used as a touch screen.
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