| OfficerRaichu15 said: Copied Most Interesting sections What’s different or unique about the Canadian market, either in terms of how you sell into it or from the consumption side? How do Canadian gamers react toward Nintendo that’s different? I get asked that a lot because I spent time in both countries. On the consumer front, Canadians seem to prefer console gaming to portable gaming compared to the U.S., and very much so compared to other markets like Japan, where portable gaming is much bigger. Our Wii U momentum in Canada is slightly better (than the U.S.). Canadian gamers love getting together in the living room. My hypothesis to explain this is there are more parents in Canada buying consoles and thinking of their kids as a priority, versus thinking of a console purchase as one for the adult gamer in the house. The reverse side of it is that we struggle a bit with portable gaming. Another factor I’ve called out is that our Nintendo fans are louder and there are more of them on a per capita basis. We have an amazing fan base here that the team has managed to build. Call them info-seeking die-hard fans who have been playing for a long time, they’re really passionate. With traditional franchises like Zelda, Nintendo Canada seems to outperform versus other markets. Also, consumers are more value conscious than in other markets. They’re a lot more price sensitive so when we work with our retail partners and put in price promotions, they react more in Canada than in other markets.
 Nintendo has bounced back from a few years of losses. What do you attribute it to? Amiibo was one of the factors, it certainly surprised us how enthusiastic our fans embraced it to the the degree where we’re still struggling to catch up to demand in some cases. Beyond that, Wii U – which struggled for many years, and to be honest, we’re still not completely satisfied with where it is – had its best year in 2014. This year so far in Canada, Wii U is up 19 per cent based on NPD numbers. Last year was a huge growth year with big launches like Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. Why the turnaround? I’m a gamer and I’d say it’s because we’re delivering the fun. When great games come out and they’re well reviewed… if you look at our Metacritic scores over the past few years have been great and positive. Our games are being enjoyed and they’re very high quality games. It’s a unique formula of Nintendo fun. It’s bright, primary colours, it’s very welcoming and fairly easy to jump into. It’s a family or friends get-together experience. That formula seems to be catching on and driving the Wii U business. On the 3DS side, it’s doing even better. It’s up 38 per cent based on NPD so far this year, mostly driven by the new 3DS XL launch back in February. 
Splatoon is Nintendo’s newest hit title. What’s the feeling internally on Splatoon? Our presale numbers were amazing, close to Mario Kart 8 numbers a year ago, which is amazing because Mario Kart is an established franchise. Splatoon’s challenge is that a few months ago, nobody had ever heard of it. I love that as a dad it’s something I can play with my seven-year-old. It’s a complete revolution on what a shooter can be. We’re looking at first weekend sales of about half of where Mario Kart 8 was. Given that Mario Kart 8 was one of the best-selling games last year, that’s extraordinary for a brand new IP like this. So having third-party developers is a nice-to-have but not a have-to-have?
We would love to have [them] and you’ll hear in a few weeks about some interesting partnerships. We’ve already over the past year opened up and aggressively sought licensing deals in lots of different areas. In the video game space you’ve seen Nintendo characters appear in other game worlds. It’s also happening outside the game world, with the Universal Studios partnership that will bring Nintendo to fans and families through theme parks. |
it mentioned about collaboration with other developers. hope we can see what are those IPs in E3.
