The headlines for Nintendo have been bleak recently, with a dismal earnings report that came out last Thursday, a sluggish start to the Nintendo 3DS and now Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has confirmed that Nintendo won’t be showing any of its Wii U console until E3 2012.
So why the Wii U news draught? Iwata refers to the shaky launch of the 3DS as a reason not to jump head-first into the Wii U. Iwata had this to say after the previously mentioned earnings report.
“As we learned a bitter lesson with the launch of the Nintendo 3DS, we are trying to take every possible measure so that the Wii U will have a successful launch,â€
To put the negative earnings report in perspective for you, Nintendo forecasted the first loss in 30 years. There are many factors to consider with this negative forecast; the economy, competition, currency exchange rates but most analyst will agree the 3DS launch failed due to the high price point and poor game selection at launch.
Nintendo’s innovation also hinders its abilities to work quickly with third-party developers. Leading any field in technology when you rely on third-party support is a daunting task, and it’s one that Nintendo takes on repeatedly.
Though they had tremendous success introducing motion gaming to a receptive audience, the 3DS with its “no glasses” 3D technology, proved to be a more difficult challenge for developers. This pushed back released dates on games, that ultimately led to the week selection at launch. That lineup is slated to change in the coming months however, with Nintendo vastly improving their 3DS selection over the coming holiday season.
Nintendo will have to learn how to better handle these third-party setbacks before releasing the Wii U. A fact that no doubt lingers on the mind of Iwata the closer we get to E3. The new tablet-based controller could rejuvenate Nintendo sales and become the next mega-hit for the company, or it could be another expensive mistake. Game developers for most standard consoles will have to learn how to best use the extra screen and functions of the device, something that they have not had to do in the past.
SOURCE | NINTENDO
