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Iwata Talks About Wii Sports Resort, DSi, and Not Slashing Prices

by Jared Rosenberg - April 9, 2009, 6:37 am EDT
Total comments: 49 Source: The Associated Press

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata reveals a July release date for Wii Sports Resort, robust sales for the DSi in Europe and North America, and a desire to refrain from price cuts for the Wii.

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto discussed Nintendo's upcoming strategy while speaking at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo yesterday.

After months of speculation, Iwata officially announced the release window for Wii Sports Resort. The game and Wii Motion Plus will debut first in Japan this June followed by an overseas release in July. In recent months, demand for the Wii has dropped in Japan and Iwata hopes that games like Wii Sports Resort will drive up interest in the console.

Regardless of the small slip in sales, Nintendo does not anticipate a price cut anytime in the near future for the Wii. "A price cut in a difficult economy cannot really excite the market and drive up sales," claims Iwata. Instead, he believes "it is more effective to work on ... [becoming] No. 1 on the wish list." According to Iwata, consumers are always willing to buy products that top their wishlist.

Iwata also touched upon the sales success of the DSi in Western markets. He said that Nintendo had sold 300,000 DSi systems in both Europe and North America during the system's first two days of availability. Late last month Nintendo sold their 2 millionth DSi in Japan and is now rapidly approaching a worldwide installed base of 3 million units.

Shigeru Miyamoto spoke about some of non-gaming applications Nintendo has in development for the DS. Nintendo is preparing ways for DS units to receive maps, coupons, and aural directions at different locations such as a shopping plaza. In addition, Nintendo is developing programming tools for Japanese schools that may make it possible for students to throw away their No.2 pencils and instead take a test on their DS. "Convenience in life will be enhanced by having a DS," stated Miyamoto.

Talkback

UltimatePartyBearApril 09, 2009

When Kutaragi was hyping up the PS3, he said he wanted "for consumers to think to themselves 'I will work more hours to buy one'. We want people to feel that they want it, irrespective of anything else."  Iwata just demonstrated how to communicate that idea without looking like a total jerk.

Ian SaneApril 09, 2009

I still find Nintendo's insistence on revealing publicly that they have no plans for a price cut insulting and arrogant.  Yeah Iwata says it much nicer than Kutaragi but the message is still largely the same.  They don't have to slash prices but I'd prefer that their decision to do that remain private.  I suspect every company is trying to bleed every last dime out of their customers but I'd rather just assume they're doing that behind closed doors and not have them tell it to me outright.

StogiApril 09, 2009

WHEN WILL HE TALK ABOUT COLORS! COLORS DAMN YOU!

Flames_of_chaosLukasz Balicki, Staff AlumnusApril 09, 2009

They don't need to cut prices because sales aren't slowing down in any region for both the DS and Wii. Same reason why there isn't a PSP price drop, PSP sales are still healthy and Sony always releases a new 200 dollar bundle which people gobble up.

Microsoft dropped the 360 price because they wanted to try to get a bigger chunk of the market, this strategy failed in Japan, didn't have much of an impact of Europe and America for the most part. The only console that really needs a price drop is the PS3, the best time to do that will be when Sony launches God Of War 3 because no matter how you look at it, God Of War is a system seller, another good option for Sony is making a PS3 GoW bundle which they most certainly will.

TJ SpykeApril 09, 2009

Quote from: Flames_of_chaos

God Of War is a system seller, another good option for Sony is making a PS3 GoW bundle which they most certainly will.

Sony fanboys have made that same claim about many games, including Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Resistance 2. The only game that really boosted PS3 sales was Metal Gear Solid 4, and that effect only lasted for about a month. Sony is still losing money now on the PS3, I don't see them dropping the price when the company is struggling overall.

UltimatePartyBearApril 09, 2009

Quote from: Ian

I still find Nintendo's insistence on revealing publicly that they have no plans for a price cut insulting and arrogant.

I thought you felt that way about their policy on game prices.  This is about the price of the console, and announcing that there's no price cut coming does serve a purpose.  It tells anyone on the fence about buying a Wii because they think a price drop should be coming soon that they're wasting time.

Ian SaneApril 09, 2009

Quote:

I thought you felt that way about their policy on game prices.

Just prices in general.  We all know they won't drop the price if they feel they don't have to.  But I prefer when a company keeps that to themselves.  At my job we'll talk in meetings about how we can get the most profit out of our clients.  And it isn't even dirty, it's just business.  But we don't then inform the clients of this.  I don't call them up and say "We don't have to charge this much to stay in business but we feel we can get away with it so we will."

AVApril 09, 2009

i don't really see why we have to wait a month for Wiisports resort. The text in the menu's will be minimal

NinGurl69 *hugglesApril 09, 2009

Ok we can make Japan wait till July with the rest of us.  Happy?

BlackNMild2k1April 09, 2009

Quote from: Mr.

i don't really see why we have to wait a month for Wiisports resort. The text in the menu's will be minimal

It could be a M+ supply issue

Flames_of_chaosLukasz Balicki, Staff AlumnusApril 09, 2009

Quote from: TJ

Quote from: Flames_of_chaos

God Of War is a system seller, another good option for Sony is making a PS3 GoW bundle which they most certainly will.

Sony fanboys have made that same claim about many games, including Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Resistance 2. The only game that really boosted PS3 sales was Metal Gear Solid 4, and that effect only lasted for about a month. Sony is still losing money now on the PS3, I don't see them dropping the price when the company is struggling overall.

To be fair Uncharted is a new franchise and Resistance 2 came out at a time when there were a lot of shooters coming out. God of War has always been a popular game.

TJ SpykeApril 09, 2009

Watch Sony do something stupid though and release it in December with a bunch of other big name games. I hope you got my general point though, Sony fans keep pointing to a game and calling it a "system seller" and then moving on to the next game when the previous one didn't do much. I see God of War III mainly selling to current PS3 owners rather than getting people to buy the system just for it.

UncleBobRichard Cook, Guest ContributorApril 09, 2009

Quote from: Ian

I still find Nintendo's insistence on revealing publicly that they have no plans for a price cut insulting and arrogant.

To be fair, pretty much every company is like this - regardless they're not actually planning a price cut or if they're going to announce one tomorrow.

GoldenPhoenixApril 09, 2009

I don't see how answering concerns about a price drop is arrogant. Heck people keep on repeating the question. Not only that but it is for reference purposes for the shareholders, along with people (like stated before) who are on the fence about buying one waiting for a price drop.

DeguelloJeff Shirley, Staff AlumnusApril 09, 2009

God of War's depends on the threshold needed to cross to be considered "popular."  I suppose it's popular in the same way Metroid is popular, as in, people remember it and count it among their favorites, despite not actually doing as well as they remember. So much in Metroid's case that Metroid Prime 3, despite being criticized for doing "poorly," actually outperformed Super Metroid.

IF you want actual, raw popularity, God of War ranks in behind Cooking Mama and God of War 2 ranks in behind Professor Layton.  This of course, is sourced by the controversial VGChartz.

Of the games "system seller" status... eh... call me skeptical.  The current status of the franchise rests on God of War 2's 2.5 million sales on the PS2 (if you don't want to count the PSP version's 1.7 million, which for the sake of artificially pumping it up, I won't) and that's about the same as the ever controversial Wii Music.  To see a "system seller" in action, one has to look at Mario Kart, and how it seems to be still selling DSs and Wiis, to which each game has enjoyed record sales (with Mario Kart Wii now being the highest selling racing game of all time.)  And besides I'm sure anybody who cares about God of War already has a PS3.

TL:DR: God of War may be popular among Sony fans, but that doesn't mean it's popular in general, nor does it make it a system seller.

Mop it upApril 10, 2009

The Wii sales are slowing because there hasn't been much being released that's really worth buying a new system for, so a price drop probably wouldn't help much. Just wait until Wii Sports Resort is released, that should spur sales. If it doesn't... then maybe a price drop is in order.

GoldenPhoenixApril 10, 2009

Quote from: Mop_it_up

The Wii sales are slowing because there hasn't been much being released that's really worth buying a new system for, so a price drop probably wouldn't help much. Just wait until Wii Sports Resort is released, that should spur sales. If it doesn't... then maybe a price drop is in order.

I wonder if Punch-OUt will do anything for sales. Regardless, just wait until Monster Hunter 3 now THAT will spur sales in Japan.

Mop it upApril 10, 2009

I could see Punch-Out!! perhaps having some impact in North America, but I don't know about Japan. It's one of those games where I'm just not sure who it appeals to. It's an old series so I'm sure longtime fans will take notice, though I can't decide if its style gives it mainstream appeal or not. I've never been a good judge of this type of thing.

When is Monster Hunter 3 being released? I thought that was after Wii Sports Resort but I don't know for sure.

GoldenPhoenixApril 10, 2009

Quote from: Mop_it_up

I could see Punch-Out!! perhaps having some impact in North America, but I don't know about Japan. It's one of those games where I'm just not sure who it appeals to. It's an old series so I'm sure longtime fans will take notice, though I can't decide if its style gives it mainstream appeal or not. I've never been a good judge of this type of thing.

When is Monster Hunter 3 being released? I thought that was after Wii Sports Resort but I don't know for sure.

Summer I think. Not sure if there has been an official date.

BlackNMild2k1April 10, 2009

There will be NEW COLORS before there is a price drop (Wii want a Black Wii)
If they release Black & Pink Wii sales will sky rocket. They should just start releasing new colors every 6 months starting this June.

GoldenPhoenixApril 10, 2009

Quote from: BlackNMild2k1

There will be NEW COLORS before there is a price drop (Wii want a Black Wii)
If they release Black & Pink Wii sales will sky rocket. They should just start releasing new colors every 6 months starting this June.

I think you are probably right. They still have the color craze to tap into before "drastic" measures need to be taken on their 40% reduced cost since launch Wii. ;)

Got to love it though. It is unprecedented for the price to stay the same for well over 2 years, especially when the competition has a unit for sale that is not only VASTLY more powerful but $50 cheaper.

Flames_of_chaosLukasz Balicki, Staff AlumnusApril 10, 2009

Quote from: Mop_it_up

The Wii sales are slowing because there hasn't been much being released that's really worth buying a new system for, so a price drop probably wouldn't help much. Just wait until Wii Sports Resort is released, that should spur sales. If it doesn't... then maybe a price drop is in order.

Quote from: GoldenPhoenix

Quote from: Mop_it_up

The Wii sales are slowing because there hasn't been much being released that's really worth buying a new system for, so a price drop probably wouldn't help much. Just wait until Wii Sports Resort is released, that should spur sales. If it doesn't... then maybe a price drop is in order.

I wonder if Punch-OUt will do anything for sales. Regardless, just wait until Monster Hunter 3 now THAT will spur sales in Japan.

Actually Monster Hunter G comes out in Japan at the end of April which includes a demo of Monster Hunter 3 now that will cause a huge boom.

TJ SpykeApril 10, 2009

Quote from: GoldenPhoenix

Got to love it though. It is unprecedented for the price to stay the same for well over 2 years, especially when the competition has a unit for sale that is not only VASTLY more powerful but $50 cheaper.

For the first price drop, maybe. The PS2 was at $130 for almost 3 years (it dropped to $130 in late April 2006 and finally dropped to $100 on April 1 of this month).

As for the second comment, are you really comparing the Wii to the tard pack that most people don't want?

UncleBobRichard Cook, Guest ContributorApril 10, 2009

Quote from: TJ

As for the second comment, are you really comparing the Wii to the tard pack that most people don't want?

To be fair, we sell more Arcades that Pros/Elites combined.
Of course, we're in the middle of the boonies without a high level of broadband internet.

Flames_of_chaosLukasz Balicki, Staff AlumnusApril 10, 2009

I'd never buy an arcade considering how much Microsoft charges for a memory card or hard drive. 50 bucks for a 512MB memory card, or 100 for a 60GB harddrive, meh too expensive.

GoldenPhoenixApril 10, 2009

Quote from: TJ

Quote from: GoldenPhoenix

Got to love it though. It is unprecedented for the price to stay the same for well over 2 years, especially when the competition has a unit for sale that is not only VASTLY more powerful but $50 cheaper.

For the first price drop, maybe. The PS2 was at $130 for almost 3 years (it dropped to $130 in late April 2006 and finally dropped to $100 on April 1 of this month).

As for the second comment, are you really comparing the Wii to the tard pack that most people don't want?

Yes I'm talking about the first price drop. Didn't say it wasn't a tard pack,  but still it is much more expensive to produce then the Wii is now.

IceColdApril 11, 2009

I remember discussing the price cut issue with couchmonkey (where is that guy?) years ago and he was arguing that if Nintendo ever regained the top spot they would basically stop "Player's Choice" budget games. I argued long and hard about how that would never happen and it was bad business sense.

I guess he was right.

IceColdApril 11, 2009

Found it!

Quote:

Couch, I think Player's Choice will still be there, and we'll still get the deals regardless of whether Nintendo is the market leader or not.. When a game is released, and its sales are stagnant for a while after the initial release, it just makes good business sense to have a pricecut to stimulate more sales. For example, it's better to sell 10 copies at $30 rather than 4 copies at $60. ALSO, bargain games are always a selling point to late adopters (and definitely casual/nongamers in this case), and Nintendo wants to ensure that 2 or 3 years after launch, there's a good range of games for that type of customer. It would ensure that consoles keep getting sold at a constant rate. And FINALLY, more games equals a better software tie-in ratio. It may be somewhat artificial since they were sold at a lower price, but developers always look at the tie-in ratio when they decide whether to support a console or not. Regarding why they didn't have Player's Choice for earlier consoles, I'll chalk it up to the Yamauchi era..

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=17816.msg274146#msg274146

Yup, looks like Couchmonkey was right. Iwata's stance right there is that late adopters will buy Nintendo games even if the price is $50. *looks at Wii Fit* ...or more.

IceColdApril 11, 2009

Yeah I think we all underestimated the long legs of this new breed of games..

PlugabugzApril 11, 2009

I honestly believe its less about the "long legs" of games now but the higher price tolerance of people who wants to pay for them. If Nintendo could charge double for everything (Wii Fit at $150?), they would.

NinGurl69 *hugglesApril 12, 2009

As time goes on, the fence approaches you.  Eventually, you'll have to cross it or get impaled by its spikes.  But it's slow enough to allow climbing the spikes.

Mop it upApril 12, 2009

Never having a price drop seems to encourage used game sales though. I bought Super Mario Galaxy used because I refuse to pay full price for a game that's over a year old.

UncleBobRichard Cook, Guest ContributorApril 13, 2009

Someone who's going to buy used to save $5 now is likely going to buy used to save $5 a year later...

NinGurl69 *hugglesApril 13, 2009

Oh waow, big savings there.

Buying used isn't what made Mario Kart Wii the best selling racing game of all time.

Mop it upApril 13, 2009

Quote from: UncleBob

Someone who's going to buy used to save $5 now is likely going to buy used to save $5 a year later...

Yeah if they are lazy and use GameStop. eBay is where it's at, much better deals on there.

GoldenPhoenixApril 13, 2009

I have no doubt Sony and MS would keep their game prices high if they were still selling well. I'm sorry, but it is simple supply/demand economics. Wii has been so unpredictable in its gaming sales that I think Nintendo would be stupid to lower prices on many of their games.

KDR_11kApril 13, 2009

Quote from: TJ

As for the second comment, are you really comparing the Wii to the tard pack that most people don't want?

I don't know about the US but in Europe the Pro is cheaper than the Wii.

Quote from: KDR_11k

Quote from: TJ

As for the second comment, are you really comparing the Wii to the tard pack that most people don't want?

I don't know about the US but in Europe the Pro is cheaper than the Wii.

In the US the Wii is $250, the 360 Arcade is $200 and the Pro is $300.

NinGurl69 *hugglesApril 13, 2009

So the world has shown they value VALUE over CHEAPNESS.

Wii r the champion

Quote from: NinGurl69

So the world has shown they value VALUE over CHEAPNESS.

Surprisingly enough.

UncleBobRichard Cook, Guest ContributorApril 14, 2009

Quote from: Mop_it_up

Quote from: UncleBob

Someone who's going to buy used to save $5 now is likely going to buy used to save $5 a year later...

Yeah if they are lazy and use GameStop. eBay is where it's at, much better deals on there.

I'm just saying that high new prices isn't going to *greatly* encourage used sales.  If someone's trying to save money on their purchase, then they're probably looking to buy used - period.

Quote from: GoldenPhoenix

I have no doubt Sony and MS would keep their game prices high if they were still selling well. I'm sorry, but it is simple supply/demand economics. Wii has been so unpredictable in its gaming sales that I think Nintendo would be stupid to lower prices on many of their games.

Agreed.  Maybe not quite to the extent that Nintendo does, but how long was the original Halo priced at the top tier for the original XBox?

KDR_11kApril 14, 2009

I think Halo 3 still doesn't have a pricedrop.

UncleBobRichard Cook, Guest ContributorApril 14, 2009

I think it dropped to $40 when Halo Wars came out (or around that time)...

NinGurl69 *hugglesApril 14, 2009

All territories aren't equal in pricing.

UncleBobRichard Cook, Guest ContributorApril 14, 2009

But only US pricing matters...

...just teasing. ;)

Ian SaneApril 14, 2009

As irritating as I find it, it makes sense for Nintendo to not drop prices if they don't have to.  They will lose some sales to the used market but, again, if they truly don't have to drop prices then those used sales won't seriously affect them.

The concern is if in the future the demand isn't at the same level and Nintendo can't just keep prices where they are but does anyway and suffers for that.  While Nintendo knows what's going on now they have to humble and be willing to accept that this won't last forever and be willing to acknowledge when it stops working.  I remember on the Cube Nintendo very often greatly overestimated the public's demand.  They have a history of assuming people will buy their products "because we're Nintendo".  I doubt they've learned that lesson but I HOPE they have.  If they're smart and willing to learn from their mistakes they will lower the price of the Wii and offer a Player's Choice line when it becomes clear that the demand is no longer enough to justify the price.

Nintendo ALWAYS acts like they're number one, it just now doesn't seem quite so silly since they actually are.

KDR_11kApril 14, 2009

Well, the DS never got pricedrops, it's certainly possible that they could keep the Wii at a high price and simply boost sales with new stuff when necessary instead of getting those boosts from pricedrops.

Mop it upApril 14, 2009

Quote from: UncleBob

I'm just saying that high new prices isn't going to *greatly* encourage used sales.  If someone's trying to save money on their purchase, then they're probably looking to buy used - period

If a price drop makes new as low as the used prices were, such people would definitely then buy them new over used.

Of course, the Wii breaks all kinds of logic so it is no surprise that it doesn't apply to this case either.

Quote from: KDR_11k

Well, the DS never got pricedrops

It had one $20 price drop in North America, but that was it.

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