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Iwata Asks: In Commemoration, Part 5 - The Wii/DS Software Search Guide

Part 5- Searching for Recommendations by Age and Gender

by the NWR Staff - August 1, 2016, 6:16 am EDT

Part 5 of the Wii/DS Software Search Station

5. Searching for Recommendations by Age and Gender

Iwata - Well then, for all of you who have no development experience, where did you begin with creating the “Search Guide”?

Sakai - We began with having meetings and writing on paper just what the search tool should do.

Takeuchi - We also drew mock-ups of what the screens should look like.

Oda - I had actually stood at the stores as a concierge and had seen with my own eyes just what products customers were looking for.

Iwata - And that experience standing on the retail floor was reflected in the search tool, wasn’t it? The search UI begins with “Search from new releases”, “Search from TV commercials”, “Search from everyone’s recommended software”, “Search from best sellers”…

Oda - Also “Advanced search” and “Keyword search”. I already had an idea of what should be included in the search tool having heard the voices of the customers. But the one thing I had been constantly puzzled with was just what kind of interface we should utilize for the best ease of use. Originally I thought that maybe the interface should start with “People with/without a particular piece of software in mind.”

Iwata - I see.

Oda - But I figured that people would still look at the new releases, whether there was something they specifically came for not not, so maybe that wasn’t the best way to begin. Or better yet - why not have six different ways to begin from the top screen. And we had discussed doing some test runs first, so we could see which options were most selected and course correct based on those results. For the software information presented we took full advantage of what the “Everyone’s Nintendo Channel” had on offer, so that even all of the video for each piece of software was available, but I think that the really innovative part, as far as information being available at retailers, was “Everyone’s recommendations”.

Sakai - Because it’s not Nintendo’s recommendations, but those of players who have actually played the games and voted the data is objective, and therefore quite useful.

Iwata - Customers would be able to see a list of results divided by age and gender, based on votes from players who have actually played the game for an hour or more, one vote per person. So you can easily see how each piece of software is received by what kind of people.

Sakai - You can also see “Recommendation rankings” by gender and age on the “Everyone’s Nintendo Channel”, but if you wanted to see “Males 25-34” you’d have to set each parameter in the advanced search, and it doesn’t all show up on one results list. When we first started developing the “Everyone’s Nintendo Channel” we figured that would be more than enough, but after actually using it it occurred to us that it would be nice to be able to be able to display a list. We were able to achieve that in this “Search Guide”, and I think it’s going to be a big help in many different cases - being able to use it at retail, obviously for yourself, or your kids or your family, but even for finding presents for your boyfriend or girlfriend, for instance.

Iwata - Furthermore, it’s interesting to see what software is popular with what groups, and comparing different titles.

Hatano - Developers might see this and think “OH… is that right?”, which might really make them think - in both good and bad ways (laughs).

Iwata - Indeed, this is packed with information that the dev side would love to find out, and although it may be out of place for me to say, but I think it’s kind of revolutionary for people to be able to see “Everyone’s recommendations” right there, at retail.

Hatano - Of course, I think that “Everyone’s recommendations” is revolutionary both for makers and customers, but at the same time I think it’s also an incredibly helpful mechanism for sales associates on the floor. It can be used to help people better understand the software, so it should be quite an effective tool while interacting with customers.

Iwata - As such, in addition to putting the “Search Guide” there on the floor for customers to use as they please, you’re also envisioning use cases where retail associates can use it when they get questions from customers and show them the information that comes up. Because of that you have two different types - the kind that you have placed at the counter, and those that are part of a demo unit, like the DS Stations.

Takeuchi - Right. We’ve heard through sales that some clerks don’t really have any source of information and were bothered by it.

Iwata - When you say “don’t really have any source of information”?

Takeuchi - They only really have access to so-called game mags and the internet, so they’re well aware of software release dates, but they really had to just go on their own opinions regarding what each separate title was about, or who that title could be recommended to.

Iwata - In other words, there aren’t a small number of people who may have their own personal experience selling specific titles and knowing who they sold to, but are unsure regarding titles that they don’t personally have experience with.

Takeuchi - So because of that they can’t properly answer customers who ask about those titles. But with a tool like the “Search Guide” you can find out about software from various different angles, and we thought that would make a lot of sense for the clerks as well.

Sakai - I think that “Search from best sellers” is the prime example of that.

Takeuchi - Right. The concierge report did indicate that one of the most asked questions is “what’s popular?”

Sakai - The clerks know what’s selling at their particular store, but to find out how that title is doing throughout the market as a whole they have no choice but to read the data in magazines. That being said, even if they can find that week’s sales numbers, finding out how something sold in the past is no easy task.

Iwata - But with this search tool you can even find out how a piece of software has sold accumulatively.

Sakai - Yes.

Hatano - Furthermore, in response to “what’s currently popular?” being able to look up “Tomodachi Collection”(※6)and then have a video display right there really helps with the explanation.

※6 “Tomodachi Collection”= DS Software released in June of 2009. Software where you can enjoy your friends and family living together in a condo as their Miis and the actions they take.

Sakai - Although you have explanations on the back of the package, it’s just easier to understand video, and you can get across so much more information.

Oda - I had the opportunity to stand next to a “Search Guide” at retail during the holiday break and actually explain it to customers. There was one customer who was having trouble choosing between two pieces of software, so I had the customer watch the videos of both. At that point the customer said, “This one looks like it would easier for kids” and made a choice, right then and there. That’s when I thought that video really is quite effective.

Iwata - This includes third-party software in addition to Nintendo’s software, right?

Sakai - Right. Not every piece of software has video, but quite a high percentage does.

Iwata - Oda-san, when you were at retail explaining to customers, what question was asked the most?

Oda - Partly because it was the holidays, the questions were present related, and there were lots of cases where customers only knew a portion of the name, so they’d ask about “the Mario game”.

Iwata - And so (controlling the device) …you’d just go to “Search by keyword” and type in “Mario”.

Oda - That was pretty popular at retail. And when we’d get “what’s the new Mario game?”…

Iwata - (The Mario related software list displays) You know right away that the newest is “New Super Mario Wii”(※7).

※7 “New Super Mario Brothers Wii”=Action Game released for Wii in December 2009. Up to four players can play simultaneously.

Oda - And so you were able to figure out what product the customer was looking for right away.

Hatano - Every year 970 - 980 new titles get released in Japan. Those are numbers for all platforms, but when that many titles come out, even the retail associates can’t keep track of everything (laughs).

Iwata - It would be physically impossible to remember all of them (laughs).

Oda - As such, it’s rare to find someone who can answer the question, “What’s this game about?” right away, but the search tool really helped out on the floor, and I got to see that with my own eyes.

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