The Wii U brand is a bit underwhelming. At best it builds upon a very successive product. But at worst the name suggests its simply an add-on rather than a completely revamped system. A new report just surfaced that sources a Nintendo insider stating the company is considering renaming the next-gen Wii.
Nintendo is quickly spiraling down. The Wii U — or whatever it’s to be called — needs to be a hit. Nintendo cannot misplace another piece in Tetris. → Read More
3DS sales have picked up lately, but Nintendo‘s financial numbers are still weak. Big N today released [PDF] another set of disappointing results for the first nine months of its fiscal year (April to December 2011). The company lost a whopping US$630 million, compared with a profit of US$635 million in the same time frame last fiscal.
Sales were down 31.2% year-on-year to US$7.2 billion. → Read More
Resident Evil isn’t the only big video game series that made the news in Nippon today: Konami announced [JP] the so-called METAL GEAR SOLID SNAKE EATER 3D PREMIUM PACKAGE for the Japanese market. The set includes a special 3DS system, a copy of Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D, and two clear files in MGS design. Here’s the so-called “Snake Camouflage”-style 3DS: → Read More
One of the first things I was told when I ducked into one of Nintendo’s suites to play with the Wii U was what they wouldn’t tell me. Price, release date, technical specs, games in development — all of these were taboo topics that would be (and were) met with a gentle dismissal if I broached the subject.
Great. With that load lifted, I picked up the Wii U controller and dove in. → Read More
Japan’s video game industry is the world’s second biggest (after the US), but it’s on a downward streak for the fifth consecutive year. Based on sales, the country’s video game industry has contracted by as much as 8% year-on-year, Japan’s biggest gaming magazine Famitsu is reporting [JP].
Between December 27, 2010 and December 25, 2011, Japanese game companies generated US$5.9 billion in sales. The Famitsu says that sales from hardware makers actually went up 2.4% (thanks to the launch of the 3DS and PlayStation Vita) to reach US$2.3 billion. Software revenues in Japan dropped 13.7% to US$3.6 billion last year. → Read More
Nintendo is really lucky to own the Super Mario brand: after the bumpy, Mario-less launch of the 3DS in Japan back in February, big N is seeing record sales for its portable console. As predicted, sales in Japan for the 3DS crossed the four million unit mark before the end of the year, namely sometime between December 19 and 25.
That’s the week Nintendo sold 510,629 units 3DS systems, according to Japan’s biggest video game magazine Famitsu [JP]. In total, the company has shifted 4,135,739 units in the country since the launch on February 26. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata earlier predicted the 3DS will find 4 million Japanese buyers sometimes in February next year. → Read More
They have been fighting against the concept of making customers pay for extra game content for years, but as previously reported, Nintendo has now changed its strategy. According to a report by Japanese business daily The Nikkei, Nintendo has chosen Fire Emblem as the first game on the 3DS to offer paid download content.
Fire Emblem: Kakusei, the latest title in the classic RPG series, is scheduled for release in Japan in spring 2012 (it has been announced earlier this year).
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It’s a common platitude in the gaming industry: it’s the killer titles that make or break a video game system. One case in point is Nintendo whose 3DS sales in Japan, one of the biggest video game markets in the world, are expected to cross the four million mark two months earlier than expected.
Just two weeks ago, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said this will happen “in February next year”, but Japanese business daily The Nikkei is now reporting that cumulative domestic sales of the 3DS will reach four million before year-end. The newspaper is referring to stats from Tokyo-based market research company Enterbrain, which says Nintendo managed to sell a weekly record of 390,000 systems between December 12-18 (and 380,000 units between December 5 and 11). → Read More
It’s now video game history: after the 3DS didn’t sell as well as expected, Nintendo decided to go for a sudden, massive price drop for its portable console worldwide. In Japan, for example, the price fell by 40% from 25,000 yen to 15,000 yen. Later, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata apologized to buyers and promised a bunch of free games for early adopters, no matter where the device was bought.
It took them a while, but Nintendo finally sent out an email to users in Japan that contains all ten Gameboy Advance titles that are part of the so-called “3DS Ambassador Program” (which is to make up for the price cut). → Read More
The 3DS sure had a bumpy start, but it seems Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata’s hunch that sales will pick up (we reported last week) is right. According to Japan’s biggest video game magazine Famitsu, the 3DS sold a solid 378,114 units between December 5 and 11. Nintendo reported 371,326 units sold in the first two days after launch in Japan, but the last week was the most successful one for big N after initial interest got weaker (see graph below).
Apart from the general boost for the video game market as a whole observed every holiday season, there is one specific reason for the spike the 3DS has seen last week: Capcom’s Monster Hunter 3G, which went on sale in Japan on December 10, and apparently made many new players buy the system. → Read More
The 3DS is finally get a shot of games. Nintendo’s next-gen 3D gaming handheld has so far not seen the sort of success as its predecessors. It’s not a mystery why, though. There aren’t many games worth buying. But that’s sort of slated to change early next year.
Nintendo just issued a press release detailing the release schedule of upcoming 3DS games. The entire list is after the jump but Kid Icarus: Uprising is the only Nintendo title on the list. Others like Luigi’s Mansion 2 apparently isn’t ready despite being a big part of Nintendo’s showing at E3 last June. Other highlights include Resident Evil Revelations (Feb. 7), Metal Gear Solid 3D (Q1), and Tekken 3D Prime Edition (February). Will these titles cause the 3DS to instant skyrocket to success? Probably not, but gamers will finally have something other than Zelda and Mario Kart to play. → Read More
If you’re in a Boingo-equipped airport this holiday, be sure to whip out your Nintendo 3DS for some hot head-to-head gaming. The Wi-Fi provider will be free to 3DS users on December 8 and allow them to download games and videos and access the Nintendo Zone (spoooky) via Wi-Fi.
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Nintendo caused a huge splash in the video gaming world earlier this year, when it announced a drastic price cut for the 3DS (which was meant to be an answer to disappointing sales). But it looks like pushing down the price from 25,000 to 15,000 Yen helped, at least in Nintendo’s home market of Japan.
According to big N’s president Satoru Iwata, the 3DS has sold a solid 3 million times so far, a number it reached two weeks earlier than the predecessor of the console, the DS. In an interview with Japanese business daily The Nikkei, Iwata said the device has “regained its momentum” and that sales started picking up (in Japan) around October. → Read More
It’s not hard to love Mario. He’s had his ups and downs – what, for example, was the deal with Paper Mario? And Super Mario Strikers was pretty hard to love – but darn it if the little guy doesn’t keep coming back for more and keeps you, at the very least, entertained.
Super Mario 3D Land is the latest in the Mario saga. The story is fairly typical – something was stolen (a lot of leaves) and Bowser took Princess Peach. Your mission is to find the leaves (which are special and give you the Tanooki suit) and then find Peach. What you go through to find her, however, is where all of the fun comes in.
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This must be the day of Kickstarter projects. This project turns an original Gameboy into a unique music instrument complete with analog controls and a stereo/mono switch. While this may be of use only to hard core knob twiddlers, but for $174 you can get a fully modded Gameboy and 6 volt power supply so you and your band can add some boops and beeps to your latest song.
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One of the big disappointments at E3 was the news that Nintendo’s weird new console, the Wii U, would only support one of their tablet controllers at once. But recent losses have made them reconsider their situation and the opportunities presented by allowing a second controller to be used in the home — and sold at stores.
We were initially skeptical of the new system, as rumor after rumor piled up and eventually were mostly proven to be true. A six-inch touchscreen with built-in motion and traditional controls — a big gamble, but not as big as only allowing one to be used at a time. The Wii was all about being in the same room as people and flailing about like crazy. Taking that away removes the keystone from the arch and it all comes tumbling down, revealing the last-last-generation graphics and laggy controls. → Read More
Dum dum dum dummmmm. Do do do dee dee dooot! The London Philharmonic Orchestra has just released “The Greatest Video Game Music” featuring full orchestrations of all of your favorite themes including Super Mario Brothers, the Legend of Zelda, and Halo. That’s right: Angry Birds finally has its own multi-part score and trilling woodwinds.
And the cover art, featuring a soldier playing a cello, is wildly goofy.
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It seems factors like the smartphone gaming revolution, the rise of social games, and shrinking video game sales do have an impact on Nintendo’s business strategy after all. Various Japanese media, i.e. the country’s biggest business daily The Nikkei, are reporting today that Nintendo is planning to offer in-game virtual item sales for 3DS titles.
The background here is that Nintendo’s sales from its “digital” business (downloads of classic games, for example) currently account for under 5% of the total. This number is much higher for other “traditional” video game makers: Konami, for example, is now making more money with social games (which are very popular in Japan) than with packaged software. → Read More
Not too long ago, Nintendo was printing money every month after landing two hardware smash hits in a row, the Wii and the DS. But these times are now over, it seems. The company posted their financial report [PDF] for the first six months of their fiscal year (which ends in March 2012) today, and it has registered a loss of US$923 million.
To put things into perspective, the minus for the same time frame in last fiscal was just US$26 million, but the number is at least better than the US$1.3 billion The Nikkei yesterday predicted for Nintendo’s earnings call. Revenue dropped by 41% to US$2.83 billion. → Read More
There is a very special peripheral for future owners of Mario Kart 7 on the 3DS coming soon, but it’s not made by Nintendo itself: video game accessory maker Hori announced a steering wheel that’s specifically designed for the game and that’s officially licensed by big N.
The device will feature large L and R buttons for better control. → Read More
