6. Building “Theater no Ma”

Iwata - These different people, having been brought together by curious fate, finally launched “Wii no Ma” at midnight on May 1, 2009 - and as of November 21 it will actually be updated. Would you please explain what we can expect from the update?

Tony - Is it ok if I go first?

Iwata - Sure Tony, go ahead.

Tony - I’ve mainly dealt with the calendar editor and negotiations for purchasing the video content that will be available starting with version two in “Theater no Ma.” Starting off with the calendar, I can tell you that more still pictures will now be possible.

Iwata - Up until now it was just four frames, right?

Tony - Right. Now that max is 50 frames.

Iwata - 50 frames means the variation now possible is a completely different world.

Tony - Exactly. In some ways, when I first started working with the calendar I couldn’t believe that such hard to use media even existed. Four frames that disappear in three seconds! But as I used it I started to feel just how effective it could be.

Iwata - Just like someone who’s learned to appreciate four panel comics for the first time.

Tony - It’s true. That’s why you absolutely need to end on your punchline in that fourth frame. But because you’re limited to such a small number, the most meaning you can get out of it is to peak someone’s interest or just provide some kind of hint. But now you can use up to 50 frames, so for instance instead of just providing some kind of quick recipe tips, now you can provide some real information.

Iwata - I see.

Tony - And then we’ve expanded the floor plan with “Theater no Ma.”

Beppu - Now you’re able to travel to “Theater no Ma” from that place where you can kind of see the stairs. It’s a room with a rather peculiar atmosphere.

Tony - In this room you can pay to watch or rent premiere movies. It seemed wrong making you watch that kind of premium paid content at the tea table.

Beppu - So we decided to have the customer sit at the sofa in “Theater no Ma.” (laughs)

Iwata - (laughs). Are you able to watch this movie content as many times as you’d like?

Tony - Rental is only for a limited time, but you can watch as much as you’d like within that period, and if you purchase the content you can watch as many times as you’d like forever. We’ve also upgraded the search functionality. For instance, you’re able to search by age group, to find out what’s popular with 20-somethings, or even within that find out what people want to watch by blood type.

Yukawa - Ok, I’ll talk about “Various Ma” then.

Iwata - “Company no Ma” changes to “Various Ma” then, does it?

Yukawa - Correct. Up until now we made our focus on introducing companies and products, but we thought that categories other than companies might be valuable as well, so we changed the name to “Various Ma.”

Iwata - But of course you’ll still have the company category?

Yukawa - Yes. And as Tony said, we’ve increased the number of still pictures you can use in “Various Ma” to 50. Up until now we made introductions using video, but that can make production costs rather high.

Iwata - So there are some companies that want to get their voice heard on “Wii no Ma,” but just can’t bare the brunt of video production costs.

Yukawa - But with still images you can really reduce that load. Furthermore, there are some customers that would prefer that you get to the point right off the bat. With still images you can turn the pages as fast as you’d like, or even easily go back if you’d like. There’s also quite a large impact you can get from seeing still images in the living room.

Iwata - There are different things you can do in that format that you can’t do with video.

Yukawa - Right. Also, up until now we had twelve screens, the standard being that you’d have to rotate up to 360 degrees to see them all. And it was a tall order for some companies to fill up all twelve screens, so in version two you can even do six or less, and even view a list of them without turning around.

Iwata - Prior to beginning I thought that it would be better to have more windows, but then we found out that it’s hard for some companies to fill all twelve.

Yukawa - Right. For some companies two or three is plenty for what they want to get across.

Iwata - In fact, in some cases it’s clearer to indicate, “This is specifically what I want you to see.”

Yukawa - Yes. So while increasing the still photo function, we’ve continued to make full use of the “View Movie,” “Coupon,” “Delivery” and “Questionnaire” features from Version one, and we’re hoping that people will also enjoy “Various Ma.”

Beppu - And video evaluation has changed a bit. In version one you chose from “O” “△” and “X,” but Iwata-san suggested that “Wouldn’t it be nice to also have a double circle?”

Iwata - Right, right (laughs). I felt that, every now and then when I found a video that I thought was really wonderful, “O” just wasn’t enough - I wished there was something I could do to get across that feeling of just how great it was! I had explained that to Beppu-san.

Beppu - I thought, “I see,” and so we’ve made it so that you can now use “◎O△X” in version two.

Suzuki - Well then, I’ll talk about “Wii no Ma TV,” where you can watch free video. For the video content lineup of version two we aren’t planning on changing things much. One of the two big things we changed was how the Concierge Miis enter. For instance have you ever gotten one Concierge Mii to come visit you, but you were really hoping for another?

Iwata - I’ve asked that very thing before. Apparently some customers sit there and just wait until the next Concierge Mii visits.

Suzuki - Right. I’ve actually tried it before, waiting for the next one. It took 22 minutes (laughs).

Iwata - (laughs)

Suzuki - It’s a shame making people wait that long, so we’ve made it so that, when the first Concierge Mii leaves they’ll ask, “Should I call in the next person?”

Iwata - So now you don’t have to sit and wait in front of your TV.

Suzuki - Right (laughs).