Nintendo Investor Meeting

Yesterday Nintendo held one of their investor briefings. Apart from new numbers of sold Wii-Us and 3DS, we also got some very interesting news for the future of the company. But first let us start with some information on sales.

In the first half of this fiscal year (01. April 2015 – 30. September 2015) Nintendo made 86.18 Million Euros (95.22 Million Dollars) in profits.

They also sold 1.19 Million Wii-U consoles (a slight increase over last year with 1.12 Million), bringing the console up to 10.73 Million sold world wide.

The 3DS family sold 2.28 Million consoles in the same time frame, bringing them to a total of 54.34 Million Units sold.

Nintendo also announced that so far 21.1 Million Amiibo have been shipped to retailers. This, together with 8.6 Million Amiibo cards shipped, establishes the figurines as a strong source of income in Nintendos portfolio.

But we're not here to just talk about numbers, because they also announced two important bits of information.

MyNintendo:

Now we finally know what the successor to Club Nintendo is like. The new system will be simply called My Nintendo. With this the company finally fully arrives in the modern era. My Nintendo will work with the new Nintendo Account system, which makes it easier than ever to connect with the world of Nintendo. This account can be connected to your Nintendo ID, Facebook, Twitter, etc. The goal is to make it simple and easy. The Nintendo account will then allow you to make global friend lists, buy games, take a look at your purchase history and save your progress and scores to the cloud. It can be accessed from your tablet, PC, phone and of course your Nintendo consoles.

MyNintendo will work similar to the old club Nintendo. You still earn points for games you bought, but also for playing them. With these points you then can buy various things, ranging from digital content like 3DS Themes or costumes to actual physical goodies. Just like in the old Club Nintendo.

For now that is all the news we got on MyNintendo, but it sounds very promising. The Nintendo account was long overdue. Transferring savegames into the cloud is a standard practice for PS and X-Box users already. As is a account bound purchase history. No more hardware bound digital purchases. They didn't announce any kind of cross buy feature, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did so in the future. All in all the Nintendo account is a long overdue step into the right direction.

When the club Nintendo shut down, everyone was wondering what would come next. MyNintendo feels like a evolution of the old concept. It provides the charm of the old Club Nintendo, with the ability to still buy physical collectibles, but moves it fully to the digital age. I'm very intrigued about the possibility to earn points by playing games. Maybe this ties into some sort of achievment system. Looking at the X-Box and PlayStation we can see that a Trophy System or GamerScore provides a strong motivation to play, and by that extension, buy games. Some people buy games only to increase their GamerScore. And whether you find this sad or it doesn't concern you, as a company Nintendo should take a good look at this customers. Providing an actual use for the accumulated points most certainly will increase the appeal, and in turn lead to more people buying games. You shouldn't underestimate the greed of the common man, when there is a possibility to save money.

Being able to buy DLC with these points is a win-win situation for everyone. People, who wouldn't take a look at it otherwise, get the chance to play the DLC, while others, who don't have the patience, can still simply buy it. Meanwhile Nintendo increases the people, who own the DLC, binding them to their game and system longer.

Now all they have to do is not fall into the trap of locking more and more content behind an arbitrary ''Point Wall''.

Miitomo:

The news about MyNintendo weren't the only ones we got. Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima also announced their first smart phone game. Miitomo will launch in March 2016 and is more of an application than a game. It allows your Mii to connect with other Miis. The goal of Miitomo is to connect people and help shy persons come out of their shell a little. You'll send your Mii out to meet other Miis and talk about various topics, and maybe you meet some person this way.

Now many where disappointed with this announcement. They expected something Mario or Zelda like, but if you think about it, Miitomo makes perfect sense. Nintendo always said that their Smartphone games will not compete with their traditional consoles. Secondly they still work on their Quality of life project. And thirdly... Japan.

Miitomo is a very Japanese app. This country is dealing with the problem of more and more people becoming shut in. Especially young males. They just remove themselves from society. Miitomos Goal is to help these people connect and hopefully take part in the real world again. I wouldn't be surprised if Miitomo will integrate itself into the Quality of Life Project in the future.

We also got the news that Miitomo is free to play and will contain Micro Transactions, but it will be the only Nintendo Smartphone game using this business model. The other four games that will be available till March 2017 will be sold in a classic sense.

For me Miitomo doesn't sound appealing, but I'm also completely uninterested in any kind of Smartphone game.

In the end this was one of the more interesting Investor Meetings. We got a glimpse into Nintendos future plans, and for everyone waiting for more Game centric News, we still got a new Nintendo Direct planned for this year. So you can look forward to that.

What were your thoughts about the Meeting? Are you looking forward to MyNintendo? Does Miitomo catch your interest? Let me know.

And as always

thanks for reading

Source for all pictures: Nintendo

Nintendo NX

I haven't talked about the Nintendo NX so far, because there isn't too much to talk about. Still I wanted to get this out, before we get any substantial info in 2016, for the slim chance of a ''Hah! Told you so.''

The late Satoru Iwata announced this next Nintendo Hardware this March, but apart from that we know hardly anything about it. This is all the information we got so far.

Of course this means that everything I write from here on is pure speculation. So with this in mind let's talk about two patents Nintendo filed earlier this year. Now one important thing to keep in mind is, that a filing a patent doesn't necessarily mean that Nintendo will use it. I'm looking at you Vitality Sensor, but it can give us a small glimpse at Nintendos thought process. At least the deemed the idea important enough to protect it via Patent.

The first one is about a console without any optical disc drive. Does this mean that the NX will be a digital only console? Honestly I think the chances for that are rather slim. For this to work the console would need to have a massive build in memory. Also physical copies are still to relevant. Looking at how conservative Nintendo was with internal safe space so far, I don't see them going full on digital. The only use I can see for this is an alternative Version of the NX or even the Wii-U, which is cheaper than the console with a disc drive and comes with a bigger internal memory to save digital games.

http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=20150231511&OS=20150231511&RS=20150231511

The other Patent talks about a new controller concept. By the looks of it, it's still a rather rough sketch. It's just a Wii-U gamepad with some missing buttons. The new feature, and the reason why the controller was filed as Patent, are the shoulder buttons. These would be replaced by wheels, which can be used to scroll through menus or something similar.

Of course this Patents rekindled the flame of speculation, but honestly they don't tell us anything worthwhile. But now with all the sparse facts on the table, we can head into deep speculation territory.

The NX as fusion concept:

Probably the most well known speculation about the NX and also the one I think is pretty likely. The NX is not a single console, but a product consisting of a portable and stationary device. While you are at home you can enjoy games in high definition, and when you leave the house you can continue your play session on the fly. This would also fit Iwatas vision of Nintendo products growing together. Also, if this is true, it would also explain the New Nintendo 3DS. The N3DS was much more than a simple hardware revision, like the Nintendo 3DS XL, but more like a step in between different handheld generations. Of course the reason for this was to increase the life span of the 3DS. And when we think about the NX as a fusion concept it makes sense. Normally we would at least heard about a successor to the 3DS, but if they intent to make the NX a fusion console, they need to squeeze some more years out of their handheld, while the phase out the Wii-U and replace both with the NX. I personally see the New 3DS as biggest reason to believe in the NX as fusion type console.

The fusion concept with both devices as part of a single console, would make sense if Nintendo intends to leave 3^rd Parties truly behind. They have problems sustaining two platforms, but with only one, they could manage it. This would also mean that their teams probably would have more time for new IP, as they only need to create one Mario Kart, etc, each console cycle instead of two.

Still it also poses some problems, like a possible high price for the starter pack, containing two consoles, and turning the NX truly into a Nintendo only machine. Also it would limit the game design. Games on handheld platforms mostly are designed with the aspect of short play sessions in mind. Also it would limit the possibilities of the console games, because they also need to work on the handheld device. This would lead to most people only buying the handheld version of the NX, making the stationary irrelevant.

These are some of the reasons why I don't think that the Handheld NX and Console NX will be one system. I still believe in the fusion concept, but more as two deeply connected consoles, that still work on their own. The consoles will still release at the same time, and maybe there will an expensive package containing both of them, but they won't be the same console, but more like twin brothers. Complementing eachother, while still remaining individuals. There probably will be some games that release on both systems, and I cross buy and cross save will work, but still both consoles will receive their own unique games. Maybe there will be a feature where you can upscale the portable games to the big screen.

While near the console NX the handheld version could act as a sort of Wii-U Gamepad. This would allow Off-TV play and also backwards compatibility. They could also expand on the potential of their Multiplayer games. With several handheld systems, each player has his own screen. This coupled with each ''controller'' possessing processing power, enables countless possibilities.

The NX controller:

The second thing I want to talk about is the controller of the new console. For this I want to take a look at the Wii-Mote and the Wii-U Gamepad and why one worked, while the other failed. Let's start with the failure.

The Wii-U Gamepad is great. That is my personal opinion about it. But even I have to admit, that it looks clunky and uncomfortable at first sight. It's a normal controller with a tablet shoved inbetween. It also doesn't give immediate feedback about it's added value. Let me explain this with an example. You start a game. Most of the time the Gamepad screen and the TV will show the same image. Most of the time this will remain so throughout the game, because Off-TV is the only Gamepad feature. And even if not than you need to learn what the Gamepad does in that specific game. Is it just a map? Used for puzzles, by providing a different perspective? The game needs you to teach the use of the Gamepad. This feels just as clunky as the looks of the controler.

Now let's look at the Wii-Mote. Right of the bat it's something everyone recognizes. A TV-Remote. You start the console and, like most people do with remotes, point it at the screen. You see the pointer and immediately recognize it reacting to your movement with the Wii-Mote. Also inside a game most of the commands with the Wii-Mote feel natural. You point at the screen to aim or strike to use your sword. Also the Wii-Mote provide direct feedback. Shake it and Mario uses his spin ability.

The NX controller should strive for the same natural feeling like the Wii-Mote, if Nintendo intends to make a special control scheme for their new console. Something easy to grasp, providing direct, visible feedback to your actions. Or they should just stick to a regular controller design, like an improved Pro-Controller.

Marketing and Name:

For gods sake let's hope they finally get their marketing right again. The Wii-U is a textbook example of how not to do it. I'm still convinced that most of the Wii-Us failure can be attributed to it's name and abysmal marketing. With the NX they should position them firmly and communicate what this new console is all about. Sony did this perfectly with their ''This is for the players'' campaign. Meanwhile the Wii-U wasn't sure if they wanted to catch the hardcore crowd or try not to lose the Casual market, causing both to fail. For the NX look for a name, that clearly distinguishes the console from it's predecessor, and shows that this is the next big step for Nintendo. And then market the shit out of it.

In the end we don't know anything substantial about the NX so far, but the amount of speculation clearly shows that there is still an interest in Nintendo hardware. They should use this possibility as a blank slate to start over and recapture their leading position in the Industry.

As for now I'm happy with my Wii-U, but can't help but wonder about the future. In any case we'll hopefully know more at E3 2016.

and as always

thanks for reading

Source of Pictures: Nintendo