Nintendo going all out on the digital and online front
Iwata details Wii U and 3DS plans for digital content going forward .
Nintendo and online, it’s a touchy subject. They’re behind, they know it and now it looks they’re going to step up to the digital and online plate with the Wii U. 3DS owners don’t feel bad though, this concerns you too.
At an Investor Meeting today, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has said that the company is still considering DLC (downloadable content) for their own software. However they’ll never do DLC that make the customer think they have bought an incomplete game. Iwata told investors that “Nintendo believes that its packaged software should be sold to our consumers in a form so that the consumers will know in advance that they can enjoy playing the software they purchased just as it is.” Any download content that Nintendo do provide will add “additional structure in which those who love the game will be able to enjoy it in a deeper way for a prolonged play time”. He uses the example of Super Mario, in that if people get bored of a Mario game, Nintendo could offer extra stages in the meantime between releases. They plan to do this with all games though so that there is no stagnation periods between launches. Something we all have experienced.
Nintendo is also planning to open up more sharing on Nintendo platforms. Iwata doesn’t have specifics, but this may include more social network integration or more programs like Swapnote (Nintendo Letterbox). Nintendo is impressed with the success of Swapnote and are considering more ’strategies to benefit from this social behavior. In other words, the more people talk and share on Nintendo systems, the better. However only about 60% of 3DS consoles are connected to the internet so far, which is a bit of a shame because they really should be playing Pullblox.
Retail titles for download are also on the cards for the 3DS and Wii U however they’re not sure how to implement them yet as it does conflict with their main business of selling ’boxed’ retail games.
Nintendo is also working with third parties and online, they’ll be allowed to sell items that cost to unlock on the disk. Nintendo doesn’t want to do it but won’t stop third parties.
This may be Nintendo’s worst financial year but when you put Nintendo in a corner it comes back fighting, there’s some great potential above let’s hope Nintendo follow it up.
