Topic: Iwata Talks About Wii Sports Resort, DSi, and Not Slashing Prices

[Penguin_Of_Thyme]

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata reveals a July release date for Wii Sports Resort, robust sales for the DSi in Europe and North America, and a desire to refrain from price cuts for the Wii.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=18158

 Nintendo President Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto discussed Nintendo's upcoming strategy while speaking at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo yesterday.    

After months of speculation, Iwata officially announced the release window for Wii Sports Resort. The game and Wii Motion Plus will debut first in Japan this June followed by an overseas release in July. In recent months, demand for the Wii has dropped in Japan and Iwata hopes that games like Wii Sports Resort will drive up interest in the console.    

Regardless of the small slip in sales, Nintendo does not anticipate a price cut anytime in the near future for the Wii. "A price cut in a difficult economy cannot really excite the market and drive up sales," http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/technology/04/09/09/nintendo-says-wii-losing-luster-no-price-cut">claims Iwata. Instead, he believes "it is more effective to work on ... [becoming] No. 1 on the wish list." According to Iwata, consumers are always willing to buy products that top their wishlist.    

Iwata also touched upon the sales success of the DSi in Western markets. He said that Nintendo had sold 300,000 DSi systems in both Europe and North America during the system's first two days of availability. Late last month Nintendo sold their 2 millionth DSi in Japan and is now rapidly approaching a worldwide installed base of 3 million units.    

Shigeru Miyamoto spoke about some of non-gaming applications Nintendo has in development for the DS. Nintendo is preparing ways for DS units to receive maps, coupons, and aural directions at different locations such as a shopping plaza. In addition, Nintendo is developing programming tools for Japanese schools that may make it possible for students to throw away their No.2 pencils and instead take a test on their DS. "Convenience in life will be enhanced by having a DS," stated Miyamoto.

[UltimatePartyBear]

When Kutaragi was hyping up the PS3, he said he wanted "for consumers to think to themselves 'I will work more hours to buy one'. We want people to feel that they want it, irrespective of anything else."  Iwata just demonstrated how to communicate that idea without looking like a total jerk.

[Ian Sane]

I still find Nintendo's insistence on revealing publicly that they have no plans for a price cut insulting and arrogant.  Yeah Iwata says it much nicer than Kutaragi but the message is still largely the same.  They don't have to slash prices but I'd prefer that their decision to do that remain private.  I suspect every company is trying to bleed every last dime out of their customers but I'd rather just assume they're doing that behind closed doors and not have them tell it to me outright.

[Stogi]

WHEN WILL HE TALK ABOUT COLORS! COLORS DAMN YOU!

[Flames_of_chaos]

They don't need to cut prices because sales aren't slowing down in any region for both the DS and Wii. Same reason why there isn't a PSP price drop, PSP sales are still healthy and Sony always releases a new 200 dollar bundle which people gobble up.

Microsoft dropped the 360 price because they wanted to try to get a bigger chunk of the market, this strategy failed in Japan, didn't have much of an impact of Europe and America for the most part. The only console that really needs a price drop is the PS3, the best time to do that will be when Sony launches God Of War 3 because no matter how you look at it, God Of War is a system seller, another good option for Sony is making a PS3 GoW bundle which they most certainly will.

[TJ Spyke]

God Of War is a system seller, another good option for Sony is making a PS3 GoW bundle which they most certainly will.

Sony fanboys have made that same claim about many games, including Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Resistance 2. The only game that really boosted PS3 sales was Metal Gear Solid 4, and that effect only lasted for about a month. Sony is still losing money now on the PS3, I don't see them dropping the price when the company is struggling overall.

[UltimatePartyBear]

I still find Nintendo's insistence on revealing publicly that they have no plans for a price cut insulting and arrogant.

I thought you felt that way about their policy on game prices.  This is about the price of the console, and announcing that there's no price cut coming does serve a purpose.  It tells anyone on the fence about buying a Wii because they think a price drop should be coming soon that they're wasting time.

[Ian Sane]

I thought you felt that way about their policy on game prices.

Just prices in general.  We all know they won't drop the price if they feel they don't have to.  But I prefer when a company keeps that to themselves.  At my job we'll talk in meetings about how we can get the most profit out of our clients.  And it isn't even dirty, it's just business.  But we don't then inform the clients of this.  I don't call them up and say "We don't have to charge this much to stay in business but we feel we can get away with it so we will."

[AV]

i don't really see why we have to wait a month for Wiisports resort. The text in the menu's will be minimal

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Ok we can make Japan wait till July with the rest of us.  Happy?

[BlackNMild2k1]

i don't really see why we have to wait a month for Wiisports resort. The text in the menu's will be minimal

It could be a M+ supply issue

[Flames_of_chaos]

God Of War is a system seller, another good option for Sony is making a PS3 GoW bundle which they most certainly will.

Sony fanboys have made that same claim about many games, including Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Resistance 2. The only game that really boosted PS3 sales was Metal Gear Solid 4, and that effect only lasted for about a month. Sony is still losing money now on the PS3, I don't see them dropping the price when the company is struggling overall.

To be fair Uncharted is a new franchise and Resistance 2 came out at a time when there were a lot of shooters coming out. God of War has always been a popular game.

[TJ Spyke]

Watch Sony do something stupid though and release it in December with a bunch of other big name games. I hope you got my general point though, Sony fans keep pointing to a game and calling it a "system seller" and then moving on to the next game when the previous one didn't do much. I see God of War III mainly selling to current PS3 owners rather than getting people to buy the system just for it.

[UncleBob]

I still find Nintendo's insistence on revealing publicly that they have no plans for a price cut insulting and arrogant.

To be fair, pretty much every company is like this - regardless they're not actually planning a price cut or if they're going to announce one tomorrow.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I don't see how answering concerns about a price drop is arrogant. Heck people keep on repeating the question. Not only that but it is for reference purposes for the shareholders, along with people (like stated before) who are on the fence about buying one waiting for a price drop.

[Deguello]

God of War's depends on the threshold needed to cross to be considered "popular."  I suppose it's popular in the same way Metroid is popular, as in, people remember it and count it among their favorites, despite not actually doing as well as they remember. So much in Metroid's case that Metroid Prime 3, despite being criticized for doing "poorly," actually outperformed Super Metroid.

IF you want actual, raw popularity, God of War ranks in behind Cooking Mama and God of War 2 ranks in behind Professor Layton.  This of course, is sourced by the controversial VGChartz.

Of the games "system seller" status... eh... call me skeptical.  The current status of the franchise rests on God of War 2's 2.5 million sales on the PS2 (if you don't want to count the PSP version's 1.7 million, which for the sake of artificially pumping it up, I won't) and that's about the same as the ever controversial Wii Music.  To see a "system seller" in action, one has to look at Mario Kart, and how it seems to be still selling DSs and Wiis, to which each game has enjoyed record sales (with Mario Kart Wii now being the highest selling racing game of all time.)  And besides I'm sure anybody who cares about God of War already has a PS3.

TL:DR: God of War may be popular among Sony fans, but that doesn't mean it's popular in general, nor does it make it a system seller.

[Mop it up]

The Wii sales are slowing because there hasn't been much being released that's really worth buying a new system for, so a price drop probably wouldn't help much. Just wait until Wii Sports Resort is released, that should spur sales. If it doesn't... then maybe a price drop is in order.

[GoldenPhoenix]

The Wii sales are slowing because there hasn't been much being released that's really worth buying a new system for, so a price drop probably wouldn't help much. Just wait until Wii Sports Resort is released, that should spur sales. If it doesn't... then maybe a price drop is in order.

I wonder if Punch-OUt will do anything for sales. Regardless, just wait until Monster Hunter 3 now THAT will spur sales in Japan.

[Mop it up]

I could see Punch-Out!! perhaps having some impact in North America, but I don't know about Japan. It's one of those games where I'm just not sure who it appeals to. It's an old series so I'm sure longtime fans will take notice, though I can't decide if its style gives it mainstream appeal or not. I've never been a good judge of this type of thing.

When is Monster Hunter 3 being released? I thought that was after Wii Sports Resort but I don't know for sure.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I could see Punch-Out!! perhaps having some impact in North America, but I don't know about Japan. It's one of those games where I'm just not sure who it appeals to. It's an old series so I'm sure longtime fans will take notice, though I can't decide if its style gives it mainstream appeal or not. I've never been a good judge of this type of thing.

When is Monster Hunter 3 being released? I thought that was after Wii Sports Resort but I don't know for sure.

Summer I think. Not sure if there has been an official date.

[BlackNMild2k1]

There will be NEW COLORS before there is a price drop (Wii want a Black Wii)
If they release Black & Pink Wii sales will sky rocket. They should just start releasing new colors every 6 months starting this June.

[GoldenPhoenix]

There will be NEW COLORS before there is a price drop (Wii want a Black Wii)
If they release Black & Pink Wii sales will sky rocket. They should just start releasing new colors every 6 months starting this June.

I think you are probably right. They still have the color craze to tap into before "drastic" measures need to be taken on their 40% reduced cost since launch Wii.

Got to love it though. It is unprecedented for the price to stay the same for well over 2 years, especially when the competition has a unit for sale that is not only VASTLY more powerful but $50 cheaper.

[Flames_of_chaos]

The Wii sales are slowing because there hasn't been much being released that's really worth buying a new system for, so a price drop probably wouldn't help much. Just wait until Wii Sports Resort is released, that should spur sales. If it doesn't... then maybe a price drop is in order.

The Wii sales are slowing because there hasn't been much being released that's really worth buying a new system for, so a price drop probably wouldn't help much. Just wait until Wii Sports Resort is released, that should spur sales. If it doesn't... then maybe a price drop is in order.

I wonder if Punch-OUt will do anything for sales. Regardless, just wait until Monster Hunter 3 now THAT will spur sales in Japan.

Actually Monster Hunter G comes out in Japan at the end of April which includes a demo of Monster Hunter 3 now that will cause a huge boom.

[TJ Spyke]

Got to love it though. It is unprecedented for the price to stay the same for well over 2 years, especially when the competition has a unit for sale that is not only VASTLY more powerful but $50 cheaper.

For the first price drop, maybe. The PS2 was at $130 for almost 3 years (it dropped to $130 in late April 2006 and finally dropped to $100 on April 1 of this month).

As for the second comment, are you really comparing the Wii to the tard pack that most people don't want?

[UncleBob]

As for the second comment, are you really comparing the Wii to the tard pack that most people don't want?

To be fair, we sell more Arcades that Pros/Elites combined.
Of course, we're in the middle of the boonies without a high level of broadband internet.