Overall it got us some pretty good
news. Well not so great for the company itself, because Nintendo
failed to meet it's goals, but the news about MyNintendo are quite
interesting. But let's start with the boring numbers first.
Overall Nintendo managed to generate
221.5 billion Yen (1.7 billion €) in revenue and a profit of 29.1
billion Yen (220 Million €). This is lower than they projected, but
a profit is still a profit. So there is that.
3DS:
The 3DS keeps selling rather well,
thanks to the Japanese market and the vigor the New 3DS brought.
In the last three months of 2015 3.6 Million 3DS consoles were sold,
thanks greatly to the immense success of Monster Hunter X in Japan.
Still the decline of the console is more then obvious. After five
years on the market the 3DS still sells decent, but far from great.
It's yearly sales are down in each territory and most, if not all, of
Nintendos heavy hitters for the console have already been released.
This also becomes clear, when listening to Nintendos future plans for
their handheld. Re-emphasizing the appeal of evergreen titles is a
clear indication that the 3DS is on it's way out. If he get's
replaced this year or next is still up to debate, but I'm fairly
certain that it will be sooner than later.
Also here's a list of Nintendo
published games, that sold the best on the system:
- PokemonX/Y 14.46 Million
- Mario Kart 7 13.03 Million
- Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Saphire 11.46 Million
- Super Mario 3D Land 10.63 Million
- New Super Mario Bros. 2 10.04 Million
- Animal Crossing: New Leaf 9.86 Million
- Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS 7.92 Million
- Tomodachi Life 4.89 Million
- Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon 4.75 Million
- nintendogs+cats 3.96 Million
Wii-U:
Nintendos struggling home console is,
as always, a place of deep shadows, with several rays of light
breaking through. While Nintendo once again failed to meet their
hardware sales expectations, they managed to exceed them with
Splatoon. The colorful shooter is the sensation of 2015. This and
Super Mario Maker have been the main driving force in an otherwise
pretty barren year. There weren't many words on the future of the
console, only the usual talk of supporting the system until the
customers are satisfied. So nothing excitingly new on this front.
The list of Wii-U Million sellers got
expanded though:
- Mario Kart 8 7.24 Million
- New Super Mario Bros. U 5.08 Million
- Nintendo Land 5.02 Million
- Super Mario 3D World 4.63 Million
- Super Smash Bros. for Wii U 4.61 Million
- Splatoon 4.06 Million
- Super Mario Maker 3.34 Million
- New Super Luigi U 2.42 Million
- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD 1.69 Million
- Mario Party 10 1.65 Million
Amiibo:
Amiibo keeps on proving that it's an
unstoppable juggernaut. 31 Million of them have been sold so far,
since release at the end of 2014. And with already over 80 different
Amiibos and 25 compatible game it doesn't seem like the train will
slow down in the near future. With the struggling Wii-U, the
declining sales of the 3DS and the research and development costs of
the NX, it's pretty clear that Amiibo is the main thing keeping the
company afloat at this time. This also means, that we will see even
more Amiibos and Amiibo compatible games. If this a good or bad thing
remains to be seen, but for now you shouldn't count on an Amiiob free
future.
Download Sales:
Download sales have increased over the
last year and remain a growing part of Nintendos business. While the
raw numbers may not sound all to interesting, this and MyNintendo
give us a first glance of Nintendos digital plans for the future and
I think it's safe to say that the NX will have a much bigger hard
drive than the Wii-U.
Quality of Life:
Nintendo Presidint Tatsumi Kimishima
confirmed that currently the company doesn't plan to release their
efforts in the field, because they don't live up to Nintendos quality
standards. This seems to prove rumors, that QoL was mostly a
initiative of former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, right. While
Kimishima made clear that this doesn't mean the end of the initiative
and they are still going to work on it, it's pretty sure that we
won't hear anything from this in the near future. For reference, the
work on the Wii Vitality Sensor was also never officially
discontinued.
Theme Park Initiative:
The cooperation with Universal
Themeparks, to build Nintendo themed attractions, has been expanded
to include Japan.
MyNintendo:
Nintendo finally unveiled their new
membership service and it's mostly what one could expect. There are
several key points encompassing this new program. The ''Just for
you'' service offers players, who have played certain games,
personalized recommendations for future purchases, along with a
''Just for you'' discount. Members will also offered a ''Birthday
Special Discount.'' The goal here is to increase the satisfaction of
consumers, and to me it sounds like a very good idea.
Another key feature of the service is
already in place. The ability to purchase software titles with your
smart phone or on Nintendos Website, and the automatic download of
the game directly afterward.
There will also a new point programm,
which will, in Nintendos words, serve as bridge between smart devices
and their dedicated video game devices. These new points come in two
versions:
Platinum Points: Earned when playing smart device apps, visiting the eShop or wen certain conditions are met. These points can be exchanged for digital content and maybe more in the future.
- Gold Points: Earned for digital purchases of Wii U and Nintendo 3DS games. These can be used to purchase ''coupons'', which will offer discounts for further online purchases. Pretty much like the ''Deluxe Digital Promotion'' for the Wii U.
These are the core features that
Nintendo has planned for the release of MyNintendo, which is
scheduled for March 2016. But of course they plan to add features,
like an unified friends list, cloud saves and even discounts for
retail games in the future.
Right now MyNintendo sounds like an
extended Club Nintendo, but hopefully sooner than later it should be
a full fledged membership service. One could criticize that features
like cloud saves aren't available at the start, and one would be
right to do so, but at least it shows the dedication of Nintendo to
step up it's digital game. At least the membership is free.
Miitomo:
Nintendos first smart phone app will
release alongside of MyNintendo and aims to transform the
communication between friends and strangers alike into a form of
play. In true Nintendo fashion it aims to be something ''that has
never been done before.''
All in all I'm still not a big fan of
Nintendos smart phone endeavors, but at least they are doing it their
way instead of simply copying Candy Crush. As a positive point, you
don't have to register for a MyNintendo account to play Nintendos
smart phone apps.
NX:
Nothing...
All in all it was a interesting
Investors meeting. We got some new information about Nintendos
digital plans and MyNintendo sounds like a good replacement for Club
Nintendo. Maybe some of you are disappointed because we got no
information about the NX or a new game, but an investors meeting is
definitely not the place for such things. This is a more number
driven event, that allows us a brief glance into Nintendos corporate
structure and plans for the near future. I don't expect to hear
anything about the NX before e3 in June.
And as always
thanks for reading
Source: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/
No comments:
Post a Comment