Nintendo FY2014 briefing - details

Here are the details.

- Iwata saying Nintendo 3DS has hit 43 million, so it is time to reap the results
- Pokemon is helping a lot too
- Tomodachi Life in June internationally
- Nintendo 3DS 3rd party titles to come include MH4G and Yokai Watch 2 in Japan
- With Wii U, Nintendo wants to regain momentum with two signature titles, which are Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
- System update is planned for June and this will speed up start up by 20 seconds
- First smart device app will by the end of the fiscal year



- App is called Mario Kart TV, which will enable the sharing of game movies and rankings
- Starting June, Japanese users will be able to use SUICA transport cards for payments on Wii U using NFC
- On IP licensing, there is nothing to announce today but looking at joint agreement
- Limited profit in this space, so looking at non-games usage
- Will launch figurine business called NFP (NFC featured platform)



- Showed Mario figure across many games being used including saves
- NFP game and figures will be shown at this year's E3



- Nintendo 3DS will also get IR NFP reader, so figures can be used across Wii U and 3DS
- That is the end of the formal Iwata talk and there is now room for a Q&A
- Wii U target of 3.6 million units will need more manufactured than in current inventory
- There is no loss from the hardware any more and more games will be at E3
- NFP in development since last year
- They rather make not just a figurine, so it does more
- They hope to show related games in development at E3
- Iwata saying this fiscal year is to increase profits- 3/15, not grow dramatically in 3/16 but develop pillar for growth with growth in 3/17
- Pillar is around the QOL announced in January
- Iwata: we are preparing for next generation hardware as we are always doing. When are we release? Difficult to declare...
- Iwata: Not hopeless or at a loss in coming up with something new, but unless existing users are satisfied we cannot release our next hardware
- For QOL, does not think too narrow of Nintendo. ''We can make things fun, health services. We know how to get people hooked.''
- Iwata: Developers will move into the new building in Kyoto around E3, currently teams are separate so they will share more.
- They have established Business Development department with outputs like NFP, entering into new markets, use smart phone platforms etc
- Not pessimistic on games, but want other pillars as safety net for games business
- They are more of entertainment company
- Iwata: Need something special for emerging markets to reach mass market
- Not about localising existing products which have higher price
- Iwata: For emerging markets $30-60 game prices are difficult. Need something new, but won't be this fiscal year
- They are studying the changes in China
- Iwata: The WiiU forecast of 3.6 million is not the peak. Wanted to be more conservative this year.

Meeting has concluded.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/140508/index.html

I don't quite understand what the NFP does with the saves but, will know more about them in about a 32 days. Also seating the Wii U sales numbers to just 3.6 million is a smart move.

It's good to hear the 3DS is selling well even if not quite as well as they'd hoped. I hope the NFP thing is more than just pointless figures that keep saves and maybe put a character in the game or something like that. But he did say there would be more to it, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

I'm glad they still believe in the games business. Hopefully it'll still do well though...

NFP better be better than the system used in Skylanders. That was just a literal "trading figure" game.

The Skylanders figurine stuff must be incorporated into a pokemon game of some sort. Surely. It's so goddamn obvious. If Nintendo don't work the toy market into a pokemon game, or some kind of free to play app, something at a fairly low barrier of entry but pricy enough accessories and toys. If they don't, they're just burning money, and they complain about consumers not "getting" the Wii U. It's got to happen surely.

^ Yes, I agree it's an obvious game idea to use. But I feel like that's the reason why Nintendo may not do it. They (for the most part) try to use creative ideas nobody would have seen coming. Although with all the requests for it I wouldn't be surprised if they did do that.

What I wonder is how they could each be used in multiple games though. I can't really think of a way that would work.