Part of Nintendo's recent meeting.
About 3DS
- For the time being, we are concentrating on our new hardware, Nintendo 3DS, because it is very important to make Nintendo 3DS as popular as, or to make it more popular than, Nintendo DS which has been appreciated by so many people around the world. Of course, we are not focusing on just the new product that we have announced. For Nintendo DS and Wii which already have well-established installed bases, we are aware of the significance of developing quality software to continue to enhance their popularity.
About Wii 2
- Speaking of other products, we are of course studying and developing the next console to Wii. However, there is a big difference between studying a product and announcing what it is and when we will release it. I am afraid to say that the history of entertainment is also the history of imitation. A great idea will promptly be copied unless protected through patents. At the same time, it is really important for our business to positively surprise people. Will you be surprised by our completed product if we told you how it is surprising three years in advance?
Rivals
- Talking about rivals in general, we used to be interviewed by the media about the competition with Sony and Microsoft. Recently, media reporters have often interviewed me with their own belief that Apple is Nintendo's rival and have written articles accordingly. On the contrary, we ourselves, assume that our rival is everything consuming people's interest, time and energy. ................... Instead, we should develop what is beyond their imagination and let them say, "This is unexpectedly interesting," or "This is the very thing I have been wanting." We can say that our business is very unique.
Weather ..... or something.
Specifically about the "Cloud Computing" that you referred to, the term is often seen in the newspapers these days. Please let me briefly explain about the term first. Now that the Internet and other telecommunication networks have been highly developed, you can have computers process complex transactions online and return the results quickly through fixed-lines and cell-phones. The cluster of computers online is called the "Cloud." With the Cloud, you do not need an expensive computer on hand anymore even for the most complicated information processing. All you need is an input and display device. This is the concept of Cloud Computing. One of the advantages of Cloud Computing is the flexibility of the allocation of computers installed. It is said to be a very efficient technology for a business with volatile demand, for example, the demand of a service increasing ten times suddenly in a day and decreasing to only a fraction in three months again. On the other hand, in the world of (interactive) entertainment that we create, it is pretty true that what comes first is a quick response to players from the computer. The technologies we use in our video game consoles actually include some elements which are very suitable but others which will never be suited to Cloud Computing. With Cloud Computing, for example, customers would be irritated even by a slight delay in response after pressing a button. So, for what is suitable for Cloud Computing, we will take advantage of the technology in the future. It is also natural that we will align with a service provider of Cloud Computing, and not going through the trouble to develop our own facilities. Having said that, however, Cloud Computing would not conquer every field of entertainment because present telecommunication technologies inevitably involve a certain delay and limitation of transmission speed. We would employ Cloud Computing as far as it is useful.
Gaming in Japan
The gaming population once peaked at 57%, but then showed a slightly downward trend in Japan. However, this trend seems to have recovered again since our New Super Mario Bros. Wii became a huge hit - like a social phenomenon - at the end of last year. It was very tough for us to develop a method to gather precise data in the U.S. In Japan, we could obtain data representing almost all Japanese people by conducting a study only in Tokyo and Osaka. But in the U.S., the regional or income differences are larger than those of Japan, and therefore, it took a long time for us to settle on the research methodology. We have been able to obtain acceptable data since the end of 2007.
Diware / Wiiware
- Please let me start with some supplementary information about DSiWare and WiiWare as there might be shareholders who do not know much about them. For Nintendo DSi and Wii, there are software titles which can be bought through the Internet. These titles are comparatively small-scale and less expensive. As the physical, packaged software titles which are sold at the retail outlets today are comparatively more expensive and they are meant to be sold in large volumes, the publishers invest large amounts of money in the development and the advertising. Under this business model, it is difficult to develop small but interesting products. Therefore, we started the DSiWare and WiiWare system as an alternative method for selling the small-scale products with unique ideas, while we continue to sell the large-scale software in stores.
Through the operation of these services, we are now sharply feeling the difficulty of encouraging customers to move proactively. "Moving proactively" means that customers voluntarily start up the software called DSi Shop for Nintendo DSi or Wii Shopping Channel for Wii, then check the list of available titles, and finally choose the desired software from among a list. It is very hard to make customers complete this process willingly. As I have explained during a Q&A session on another occasion previously, the current system of DSi Shop or Wii Shopping Channel is a kind of "nomination buying" where customers, who already have enough knowledge about the product, directly seek out what they want and bring it to the cash register immediately. We feel that such a system does not capture any of the excitement of shopping at all. These services will not succeed unless customers have an enjoyable shopping experience. Another challenge is that customers may not access DSi Shop or Wii Shopping Channel even if it is enjoyable. I mean, if customers do not know about the release of new software unless they access DSi Shop or Wii Shopping Channel, do you think they would access it repeatedly if there was no new software when they visited? It is just not realistic.
- We think that our explanation regarding "Issues to be addressed" will respond to your first comment of unpleasant feelings at home. I mean, we are aiming to improve the social acceptance of video game, and consequently, expand the gaming population. Encouraging all family members to view video games positively is a very important mid-and-long term issue for us.
Pokemon on hanhelds (so yes no Pokemon MMORPG for your console/PC)
Regarding our character business, please let us explain the reason why Pokémon is handled differently. There is a company called The Pokémon Company, which specializes in the management and promotion of Pokémon characters. Pokémon became a major boom in Japan, the U.S. and Europe from the end of the 1990s to around 2000. Maintaining a character business is relatively easy when we just intend to gain short-term prosperity. However, there are remarkably few character businesses prospering in the long term. That is because many character businesses are operated in a manner that people consume the value of characters and when all the values are exhausted, another character is prepared alternatively. Naturally, there are a few exceptions of very long and valuable character businesses, but they are still the minority. We once felt a sense of crisis that Pokémon's value would be diminished shortly if we continued the then-ongoing strategy at that time. Therefore, we established The Pokémon Company for the purpose of managing all associated character licenses, with its definitive role of considering Pokémon's mid-and-long term future. I do not believe that Pokémon's value would remain at such a high level if it had not been for those decisions we made ten years ago. It was fortunate that there was a suitable person who was able to manage the Pokémon character business.
Regarding the other Nintendo characters, of course we have to seek several possibilities and make operational decisions. One alternative is that Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto, who has developed a lot of software featuring Nintendo characters like Mario, become responsible for planning the other characters' business promotion. In that case, however, he would not be able to spare as much energy as now for the development of video games. In the case of Pokémon, we could allot responsibilities well because the development of video games and the character business were incidentally handled by different people. When it comes to Mario, we do not believe that we could do it as well as this. If you thought that Nintendo has been keen on promoting characters of Pokémon but nothing else, this is one of the backgrounds of our attitudinal differences. Becoming more active in the character business is one of the future possibilities for us. But if we make mistakes in the character business, the value of the characters itself can be damaged. We believe that Mario's value will be kept in a high level by letting him continue starring in the latest, most interesting video game every time. As for the other characters too, we think the most important thing is to determine their roles and let them shine in the world of video games first and foremost. We will operate a character business only after we are convinced that the value of our characters will never be damaged. In addition, we do not believe that it would be beneficial for Nintendo if Mr. Miyamoto used his energy for any other purposes than video games.
Theme Park
Regarding a theme park, we do not have any specific plans although it sometimes becomes a target of discussion, news or rumor. If we had a plan, it would be different to existing theme parks. If a method was invented to realize our unique and original park, utilizing our advantages in the video game field, it may be possible in the future. In other words, Nintendo has not ruled it out. However, please understand that it would not be always beneficial for Nintendo, as a whole company, to make a theme park which is similar to the existing ones, and only uses Nintendo's characters.
About Nintendo games on iPods and other devices
- We have often been asked if we intend to provide Nintendo's software for other companies' hardware, and have sometimes received such kinds of offers. We really appreciate it because it is evidence that Nintendo's software is highly evaluated. On the other hand, when we think about the reason why Nintendo has been able to receive a good reputation in this entertainment and video game field, it must be because we have both engineers for hardware and developers for software communicating with each other in the same building. Our software developers often make proposals of new hardware to the hardware engineers, and they continue to play a type of "idea catch ball", which has resulted in unique and original proposals that only this company can make to the public, at higher frequencies than the norm. While the entertainment business is driven by software, ours is based on the integration of both hardware and software. The other companies' devices often have characteristics which Nintendo will never adopt.
Full interview
http://www.gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=131909
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/meeting/100629qa/06.html
