Investors Meeting: Q&A transcript now available in English (Q3 2015-16)
Last week, Nintendo had its usual meeting with investors, which always follows the release of the latest financials. The transcript was posted in Japanese last week, but it’s now available with an official English translation on Nintendo’s website.
Here’s the various questions asked by investors:
Q1: What IP will be used for the four next mobile games?
Q2: Synergy between mobile apps and the NX platform
Tatsumi Kimishima explained that Nintendo was considering ways to link mobile apps with games on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. He didn’t say anything about the NX platform (which is something he warned investors of beforehand).
Q3: In which area is Nintendo sure to reach Nintendo-like profits?
Tatsumi Kimishima explained that the past and current Fiscal Years were year of preparation for various endeavours (NX development, development for smart devices and business using our character IP, etc.). Those new businesses will need promoting, which will have a cost. Kimishima believes that mobile apps and the NX platforms are the two areas Nintendo is sure to reach Nintendo-like profits.
Q4: Question about Nintendo’s progress with its new ventures
Tatsumi Kimishima talked about the various corporate structure changes (such as the unification of the handheld / home console divisions), and more. He also said the following about the NX and the mobile apps:
To achieve Nintendo-like profits, one important factor will be establishing a solid launch for our NX and smart device businesses. I believe the key to doing this is to allocate our resources appropriately to proceed with hardware and software development on schedule and deliver our products to our consumers in a timely manner.
Q5: Question about increase the amount of people who have access to Nintendo IP
One quote in particular stands out:
The policy I have discussed (in the “Message from the President” on the Nintendo website as well as in the Corporate Management Policy Briefing in October 2015) is our mission to increase the number of people who have access to Nintendo IP. For example, due to changes in our industry, the proportion of young consumers who are first experiencing games on our systems has been falling. We want to have everyone become familiar with our IP by reaching as many people as possible from an early age within their daily lives. Our long-term strategy is to spark our consumers’ interest in playing Nintendo game systems and encouraging continued growth of our games business.
Q6: Kimishima’s plans for the company, letting younger generations take care of the company’s strategy
Tatsumi Kimishima explains that younger staff is pretty important for the company, and that in fact, several changes have already made inside so that they can take active roles:
The ideas of our young employees are also key to our ability to transition to the next generation and to continue to produce exciting ideas. It is important to structure our organization so that these young people can take active roles. We have worked to establish such an organization; one that will allow our employees to reach their full potential in many different areas. It may be difficult to see from outside of the company, but we have made major changes to our organization. For example, our game developers have not had much of a public presence in the past, but we would like to create more and more opportunities for you to get to know them in the future.
He also mentioned the QoL platform, which was delayed:
I would also like to touch on the QOL (Quality of Life) program today. We do not feel that we are currently at a stage where we can commercialize a product that deals with sleep and fatigue, so we are not planning to launch any products in this area in the fiscal year ending in March 2016. However, we do believe there is potential in the QOL sector, so we will continue to consider further development in this area.
Tatsumi Kimishima explained that they were not quite done with the Nintendo 3DS, which will still contribute to Nintendo’s profits during the next fiscal year. Some games are in development, including major unannounced titles:
We have not yet announced all of the Nintendo 3DS software for the next fiscal year, but we are proceeding with development, including major titles. The Nintendo 3DS will continue to be a major pillar of our business in the coming fiscal year.
As for the Wii U, Tatsumi Kimishima hopes to release titles that would get a positive reception, like Super Mario Maker and Splatoon:
We have received a great response for titles such as Splatoon and Super Mario Maker, and we would like to continue to release titles we expect to be received positively in the next fiscal year.
Q8: Why were Nintendo 3DS Software sales lower than expected?
For Tatsumi Kimishima, sales were lower than expected because the titles released didn’t have the same impact as titles such as Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Pokémon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphir last year.
For him, there’s two approaches to improve the situation:
The first is to release software that makes people want to play, and the other is to create an environment where people around you are playing. These approaches will spur people who have not played games recently to jump into our games again, and help our software drive hardware sales. For the next fiscal year, it will be important to release titles that are different from the ones we have released this fiscal year, so we will make efforts to provide a strong lineup.
Source: Nintendo
