Wired.com: Wii sales are slowing down. Do you feel it’s due to the economy? What’s Nintendo’s sales strategy moving forward?
Kaigler: There are a lot of factors when sales go either up or down. And it’s hard to point to any one particular factor. I’ve read reports from analysts that point to any number of factors. What I can say is our launch calendar is very different from 2008 versus 2009, as you know. Last year we had three powerful titles, with Super Smash Bros. Brawl in March, Mario Kart in April and Wii Fit in May. I mean, those are blockbuster titles.
So we had a strong title launch in the first half of 2008, and we have a strong title launch in the second half of 2009. Wii Sports Resort really kicks off the back half of our launch calendar. Like you saw at E3, we have New Super Mario Bros. Wii launching this year and we have Wii Fit Plus launching this year. So with Wii Sports Resort, New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Wii Fit Plus in the back half, that shows that we’ve just got a different launch of what we hope will be blockbuster titles.
Wired.com: So besides a price drop, what do you think will make this the best holiday ever for Nintendo?
Kaigler: We want every holiday to be the best ever for consumers. As I mentioned, we feel good about our back half launch line-up and feel good about some of the key titles. And what Nintendo stands for is making games for everybody. We want casual gamers and core gamers to be satisfied and happy with our titles. It’s our goal to do that, to put titles on the market that appeal to all kinds of gamers of all ages and gaming experience.
Wired.com: Speaking of the hardcore, the sales of hardcore-focused, third-party games — like MadWorld and The Conduit – have had critical acclaim but disappointing sales. Why do you think that is?
Kaigler: You know, I don’t know. It’s hard to say. It could be titles have the same type of sales curve that a lot of Nintendo titles have. A lot of Nintendo titles don’t follow that traditional sales curve where they launch big and then that’s it. Our titles have a long tail. They build in popularity, and this could be the case with, as you mentioned, MadWorld and The Conduit. I’ve played both. I’m not a core gamer, and I found that they were challenging and fun. We’re hopeful that the titles will catch on and that consumers who already have those games will spread the word and others will follow suit there. They’re deep experiences, and they’re very challenging titles, and we certainly like them. But it’s our hope that the games will pick up in popularity and they’ll continue to sell.
Full interview:http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/07/denise-kaigler-interview/
Do you think she finished The Conduit or MadWorld? 
