Nintendo dismisses the importance of being the first to the market – Video Games Update
The president of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, believes that being the first console in the market is not that important but the support that follows after the console launch is.
Many people will argue that the reason why the Xbox 360 is so well established in the market is because it was the first console out this generation and managed to get a significant lead over the Playstation 3 causing many third-party Playstation exclusive
intellectual properties to go multiplatform.
This did not however affect the Wii as Nintendo’s console outsold the Xbox 360 even though it was launched a year later. The Wii’s success was due to its low price point and the casual crowd the console was targeting.
Iwata believes that it might be the same case with the Wii-U as Nintendo is not releasing the console because it wants to be the first on in the market but because the original Wii has aged badly and it’s time Nintendo brings out a console which is capable
of high definition (HD) graphics.
Iwata explained the reason behind the original Wii being underpowered graphically and stated that during 2006, HD Televisions (HDTV) were not that common so the company decided to focus on the majority of gamers with Standard Definition televisions (SDTV)
while keeping the price of the console low.
"The pricing of Wii U is going to be one of the most important elements when it is going to be launched. The environment is different. Wii U is going to be launching in a different environment than when the Wii was launched. Also, the involvement surrounding
[mobile and social] businesses is different than several years ago," said Iwata while explaining that the market has evolved and it is now necessary for Nintendo to put out a new console.
Iwata also explained the reason behind the company’s losses as he explained that Nintendo suffered this year because of the poor Nintendo 3DS sales following the shaky handheld launch. However, they have picked up now as the 3DS continues to dominate the
Playstation Vita worldwide. Nintendo is confident that they will soon become profitable again based on their schedule and estimates.
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