http://wiiudaily.com/2014/05/iwata-investor-q-a/

Nintendo released their annual financial report last week and we’ve seen some major shifts in the company. Iwata is no longer predicting a massive amount of units to be sold for the 2014 fiscal year, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have faith in the Wii U as a product. Even though Iwata did finally admit that the Wii U has been a financial burden for the company so far, he told investors that the company will continue support for the game system as a single game could help turn the tide.

During an investor Q&A session, Iwata spoke briefly about how this has been true for a previous Nintendo system.

“Before the release of the Pokemon game, Game Boy had been showing slow growth, and many people wondered whether it was the end of Game Boy.”

What does this mean? It just means that the Wii U has to find its Pokemon game. Something that is so successful everyone will want it. Perhaps Nintendo’s attempt at aSkylander-like experience with their bevvy of characters will ultimately be what turns the tide in favor of the Wii U.

Here's the whole quote:

As for Wii U, we estimated 9.00 million units of hardware in sales in the last fiscal year, but many of you must be aware of the actual results, and the Wii U market has experienced a sharp downturn. In order to recreate momentum and sell 5.00 million or 10.00 million units of hardware annually, there are indeed challenges that we must overcome. And in the face of these challenges, announcing more optimistic figures before we actually release the Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. titles to consumers, would not be compatible with our original stance to provide rather conservative figures, so once again we set our estimates by considering how much we could realistically hope to achieve with our software lineup. The fate of a video game system is often influenced greatly by the introduction of a single title. As many of you probably remember, before the release of the Pokémon game, Game Boy had been showing slow growth, and many people wondered whether it was the end of Game Boy. But the Pokémon game singlehandedly changed the landscape of the system, which then started to show the strongest sales in the lifecycle of the system. As I explained back in January, it is true that we cannot draw up a good business plan for Wii U by assuming that Wii U will sell more than Wii did. Therefore, we will need to think very carefully about the balance of revenue and expenses and try to operate by controlling overall costs. On the other hand, we do not believe that this year’s estimate of 3.60 million units of Wii U hardware will be the peak of its lifecycle, and we would like to work hard to make sure that we give sufficient momentum to the system so that we can expect good results in and after the next fiscal year, too. However, as for this fiscal year, as I explained before, the figures you see have been determined by rather conservative estimates.

Or you know... they could make a Pokemon game for the wiiU... Like a good one...

So hes betting the house on finding that 1 game, Shareholders need to get him out asap.

Well, I'm afraid on this occasion Iwata is wrong. Wii U needs much more than one title to save it. Times have changed.

that just kind of shows why he is a terrible CEO. He is blindly trying to throw darts at a dart board, hoping to get a bulls eye instead of creating a comprehensive strategy that will appeal to lots of different markets.

The thing is these types of titles are almost always new or relatively lesser known IP that break out and become phenoms -- Brain Training "changed" the DS' trajectory. Monster Hunter did the same for PSP. Pokemon for the Game Boy. The original Super Mario Bros. for the Famicom/NES.

Not Mario Kart 8 or Smash Brothers 5. That's kind of the problem with Nintendo's approach is where is this fabled "break out" title? I don't see anything comparable to a Brain Training or Pokemon for Wii U. Iwata's said this for a few years now and it's mostly just talk.

Well I hope this means they will support it for years but unfortunately the Wii U will never find its pokemon game.

A fully open world 3D Pokemon RPG would drive sales up exponentially. It would be THE game changer.

I would say yes.... a definitive game that would pull a big amount of player from there they would experience other games.... and the chain go on... it is amazing how people would say vita needs a killer app or game that would making it a money printer but it is not applicable to wii u.

The full question he asked (should be in the OP):


Q: My question is on the Wii U business and the Nintendo 3DS business. According to this fiscal year’s forecasts, Nintendo 3DS sales are projected to fall slightly from last year. With regard to Wii U, I understand that its forecast reflects the minimum level of sales that Nintendo wants to achieve with titles such as “Mario Kart 8,” but looking at the unit shipment estimate of 3.60 million in its third year, it is difficult to imagine that sales will grow to, for example, 5.00 or 10.00 million units in the following fiscal years. Do you think that Nintendo will have to simply persevere by setting lower targets and reducing expenses and manufacturing costs, until the transition to a new business or a new system takes place? Or do you think that, depending on future titles, Nintendo will be able to realistically aim to achieve unit shipment estimates of, say, 10.00 million units in the next or the following fiscal years?

Iwata: In setting our financial targets for this fiscal year, we have taken into account the fact that in the last fiscal year, we established a target of 100.0 billion yen in operating profit and set sales forecasts to achieve Nintendo-like profits, but we failed to show the results despite having worked hard to meet these goals, and Nintendo has now failed to meet its own financial forecasts for a few terms in a row, and in this sense, by trying to set rather conservative goals we are perhaps using conservative estimates about our unit sales. This does not mean that Nintendo 3DS sales will definitely fall this fiscal year when compared with the previous fiscal year. We have set our estimates for this fiscal year by considering the amount that we are confident we can reach, so it is my hope that we will also do our best with regard to Nintendo 3DS, too, and exceed its sales estimate. In order to show that Nintendo 3DS sales have not yet peaked out and are not to simply decline in the future, we want to exceed last fiscal year’s figures.

As for Wii U, we estimated 9.00 million units of hardware in sales in the last fiscal year, but many of you must be aware of the actual results, and the Wii U market has experienced a sharp downturn. In order to recreate momentum and sell 5.00 million or 10.00 million units of hardware annually, there are indeed challenges that we must overcome. And in the face of these challenges, announcing more optimistic figures before we actually release the Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. titles to consumers, would not be compatible with our original stance to provide rather conservative figures, so once again we set our estimates by considering how much we could realistically hope to achieve with our software lineup. The fate of a video game system is often influenced greatly by the introduction of a single title. As many of you probably remember, before the release of the Pokémon game, Game Boy had been showing slow growth, and many people wondered whether it was the end of Game Boy. But the Pokémon game singlehandedly changed the landscape of the system, which then started to show the strongest sales in the lifecycle of the system. As I explained back in January, it is true that we cannot draw up a good business plan for Wii U by assuming that Wii U will sell more than Wii did. Therefore, we will need to think very carefully about the balance of revenue and expenses and try to operate by controlling overall costs. On the other hand, we do not believe that this year’s estimate of 3.60 million units of Wii U hardware will be the peak of its lifecycle, and we would like to work hard to make sure that we give sufficient momentum to the system so that we can expect good results in and after the next fiscal year, too. However, as for this fiscal year, as I explained before, the figures you see have been determined by rather conservative estimates.