Investor Briefing Q&A (Oct. 2016): Switch not sold at a loss, release order for mobile games changed
On Thursday, Nintendo met investors during the usual briefing that follows the presentation of the latest financial results of the company. We already covered in previous posts (click here to check them all out), and today, Nintendo finally posted the full transcript of the Q&A session… in Japanese. But as usual, we can count on Cheesemeister for a translation of the most important questions!
This allows us to get some (more or less) new tidbits, starting right away with the price of the Nintendo Switch. Of course, Tatsumi Kimishima didn’t share anything on that matter (that’s for January 12th/13th), but he did explain they would keep in mind two things when chosing it:
- they will not sell the console at a loss
- they want people of all ages to play it, so they’re going to take customers’ valuation of their product into account
Next, third-party developers/publishers. With the exception of indies, most of them completely shunned the Wii U. Those who didn’t at the beginning quickly gave up. But it doesn’t look like the Nintendo Switch will share the same fate as its predecessor.
According to Kimishima, many third-party developers/publishers have indicated they would be actively supporting the platform. After the preview trailer went live, even more of them expressed interest for the platform (something Kimishima found really encouraging).
When asked about what was new about the Nintendo Switch exactly, Kimishima explained that the company had plans for things not shown in the video, including the Software line-up.
He also explained that he himself was part of an older generation of players, and that’s it’s hard to offer games that satisfies his generation. For him, it’s only when people can finally try out the Nintendo Switch that they will be able to see that it appeals to all kind of players, of all ages.
Next, he talked about the mobile games. Originally, Nintendo announced that 5 games would be released before the end of the current Fiscal Year (in April), with Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem out this Fall. But in the end, those two games were moved to Q1 2017, and an unannounced game will be released in December: Super Mario Run.
But they actually ended up reconsidering the release order because of one… Pokémon GO. Since that game is enjoyed by many players around the world, it looks like Nintendo wanted to strike the iron while it was hot, and decided it might be better to release Super Mario Run before the others.
Speaking of Pokémon GO, Tatsumi Kimishima found pretty encouraging that it was able to provide the very syngery with packaged Software that they had been talking about from the very beginning. The Nintendo 2DS bundle for New Super Mario Bros. 2, announced today for Japan, clearly shows that they’re expecting the same thing to happen with Super Mario Run.
It’s especially important for Nintendo, as the mobile game market is filled with uncertainties, and there was a big unknown as to how the smart device business would impact the existing businesses. As a result of Pokémon GO succeeding in providing synergy with packaged Software, Nintendo wants to “strengthen” how games for smart devices are developed.
The full and official translation of the Q&A session should be available within the next few days. Stay tuned!
Source: Nintendo
Translation by: Cheesemeister
