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.