They are Japanese.
The Japanese are internationally known to low ball estimates and makes things appear graver than the reality is.
How investors are acting poorly to all this makes me think they don't understand international differences in culture.
I'm predicting their stock will shoot up around e3 and rise steadily through wiiu launch.

^Prof, your stock predictions could not be closer to the truth.

Ohhhh My gaaawd!!!

^At 1:29 hahahah, I just heard it

I really like how Iwata mans up and openly admits they failed with their 3DS software lineup. Hopefully, they will have learned from those errors and have truly killer titles for Wii U's launch.

I'm not sure where the problem is here. So long as it has a good title of strong games at launch (which has already been suggested, again at here), I don't care if they're evergreen or not.

Heck, it could mean a Mario Kart/ Mario/ Zelda/ Monster Hunter or something. That's good, right?

A lot of companies do that though.  Most companies under report their projected earnings so they can get a little bump when they outperform their under-projected earnings.

I think he was mostly criticising the american investors than the Japanese way to do business. I think he understands the reason behind it.

If they pack-in 'Wii U Sports', and launch with NSMBMii, Pikmin 3, and Retro's game (whether it's DKCR 2 or Metroid Prime 4), they'll be more than fine. It'll sell like hotcakes.

But a lot of people forget, though... Wii originally started with a bang not because everyone really wanted to play Wii Sports, but because it launched with Twilight Princess. TP sold like 1:1 with Wii at launch in 2006. So, while an evergreen casual-focused game like Wii Sports 2 or whatever is a good idea for long-tail sales, they NEED a big AAA game from at least one of their franchises, otherwise it will be 3DS launch all over again.

Is DCKR counted in that 10m figure?  That seems awfully low.  But Flanneryaug is right, though.  Retro is an insanely good studio.  They've proven twice now that they can ressurect old, stale franchises that NCL has left to die, and breathe new life into them, making them into global hits that rival EAD's quality level.

Also, you should consider all the contracting out that NCL does with western studios that they don't own.  Next Level is a perfect example.  They proved themselves with Strikers and Punch-Out, so now Miyamoto himself is personally overseeing Luigi's Mansion 2 with them.   I bet if LM2 sells big this holiday, Nintendo buys a majority stake, and it turns into their second big North American first-party studio.