Nintendo's Iwata Answers some Wii Questions
We all know how secretive Nintendo has gotten lately so when Its president sits down to talk everybody listens, and thankfully Satoru Iwata is a pretty open, honest guy. Here in their financial briefing Iwata talks about a lot of stuff and hits on some issues Wii gamers have been wondering about.
On a Wii price cut:
We have not made our financial forecast with the premise of a hardware price cut. Also, we are not foreseeing the necessity for us to do a price cut in this fiscal year.
On Wiiware:
As to the number of software developers entering the WiiWare market, I have the impression that it is gradually increasing. As for the initial reactions from software developers who have already started selling their software, some of them have already started working on their second titles because the initial download sales so far in Japan alone where service is available has been relatively good, and global sales can be expected to be several times as much as the Japanese sales. They are thinking that "We definitely want to work on the next title now that we know what to expect with Japan sales alone."
It is possible that companies from completely different industry may start an unprecedented service on WiiWare. As this should be something our partner corporations should announce, I cannot identify their names today, but in Japan for example, we have already received a proposal from a company which has nothing to do with the video game industry for WiiWare software that looks exactly like a Wii Channel. I think there will possibly be WiiWare software that people cannot think as video games at all when they are publicly announced.
On Nintendo's secrecy:
Of course, we are preparing for a variety of software for the latter half of this year. However, we are now feeling that the speed at which new information is consumed and made obsolete has become quicker than ever. When I think of today’s situation as a consumer, when I am exposed to new information too early on, I find that I am already tired of it when the product is launched. This is one of the reasons why we would like to keep news at bay until we really have to disclose them.
Rest assured that we are preparing for a variety of products for the latter half of this year and early next year. Also, you will begin to see the many results of our third party partners, who have since recognized that Wii will be a platform for their success.
On a Wii hard drive:
Statistically speaking, it is true that there are a small number of customers who feel that the flash memory is too small, while many others find that they have plenty of memory. However, because this small number of people are none other than the most avid players, we know we have to review the best possible solution to eliminate their inconvenience.
There you have it folks. I don't necessarily like all of his answers, especially about all the secrecy, but I have to respect his honesty and straight talk. I liked his answer to the hard drive the best as it really put all those whiny gamers who refuse to delete their games in their place by pointing out that they are in the minority. Still he is nice enough to cater to them even though there probably is no plan to release alternative storage on the Wii. In any case check out the full interview. It is very interesting.
