Nintendo is also considering increasing production for both Wii hardware and software, and sets a date, sort of, for the Western release of million-seller Wii Fit.
Nintendo recently held a press conference in Tokyo to go over their recent third quarter financial results, and during the Q&A session they fielded questions about the company's future plans regarding their successful Nintendo Wii and DS gaming systems.
Nintendo said that while their internal development resources had not changed drastically, they were ramping up Wii development and decreasing DS development. Answering a follow-up question on the performance of third party software on the Wii, Nintendo felt confident that the situation on the Wii would improve just as it did with the Nintendo DS.
They pointed out that while 11 out of 14 million-selling titles for the Wii were from Nintendo themselves, this was not dissimilar to the situation of the DS early in its life. Nintendo pointed out that currently only 28 of the 50 million-selling titles for the DS are first party, so they believe that the ratio of successful first party to third party software will get better as time goes on.
When asked about continued production of the perennially sold-out Wii hardware, Nintendo stated that they were continuing at full production of 1.8 million units a month. They also admitted to a temporary production delay last year in manufacturing Wii software. Nintendo was examining the possibility of increasing production of both Wii software and hardware.
Finally, Nintendo provided a rough target for the release of Wii Fit in the west. The fitness-themed title has been a big hit in Japan, and has already sold more than a million copies in its home market. For America and Europe, Nintendo is thinking of releasing Wii Fit anywhere from April to June of this year.