- Wii U’s software sales in Japan, US, Europe and Australia, from April to September, increased by over 200 percent from the same period last year
- factors leading to this were Mario Kart 8 in May and E3 2014 in June
- increase is especially high in Australia, which is due to their “Toy Catalog Season” in June-July
- Hardware sales in the same regions saw huge increases as well
- New 3DS XL in US and Europe sold over three times as much as the original 3DS XL did
- amiibo worldwide shipments at 5.7 million by the end of 2014
- normally sales of items such as these would drop after the holiday seasons
- the release of new waves of Amiibo, as well titles such as Mario Party 10 will hopefully keep the momentum
- Nintendo plans on making a finite number of certain Amiibo and letting them sell out
- shortages were caused by the figurines being produced and released in such a short period of time
- continued shipping of these types would be difficult due to certain constraints
- download sales of digital titles reached 21.1 billion yen by the end of Q3
- this is a 17 percent increase from last year
- Nintendo has seen huge increases in digital sales, with a significant spike in the US
Nintendo confirms single-run, limited edition amiibo
Iwata says more Wii U games to announce for 2015, focus on utilization of GamePad features
This slide shows the Wii U titles that have already been announced for release in 2015. Even though there are more to announce, this slide contains many titles which fully utilize the GamePad. In addition to Mr. Miyamoto’s GamePad Utilization Project, UGC (User-Generated Content), where players can enjoy other players’ creations, is possible in titles such as "Mario Maker" (temp.). Gameplay that utilizes the GamePad possesses a large amount of potential, and it can further expand the way parents and children have fun together.
Iwata shares plans to expand local multiplayer use overseas
We are also planning to further promote multiplayer Local Play in order to further accelerate the expansion of Nintendo 3DS in overseas markets.
During the popularization process of handheld gaming systems in Japan, multiplayer Local Play has contributed greatly to the "Pokémon," "Monster Hunter" and "YOKAI WATCH" franchises.
We believe that multiplayer Local Play has played such a significant role in the expansion of handheld gaming systems for a variety of reasons: it creates a fun environment where users teach one another, games that are actually really fun to play tend to spread by word-of-mouth and for the experience of the super-stable 3D feature of New Nintendo 3DS, seeing is truly believing.
Iwata says more unannounced third party 3DS games coming
In addition, in the domestic market, third-party software developers continue to be highly motivated to create software for Nintendo 3DS. As I said just a moment ago, some hit software titles from third parties have become double-million sellers, and there has been a constant stream of small-to-medium hit third-party software.
As you can see, many titles that have already been announced are set for release and I have heard about the development plans for many more titles that have not been announced and hence are not shown here. I also think that assisting Japanese software publishers that have had success in the domestic market to promote their games overseas will create new possibilities.
First of all, allow me to use this occasion to apologize that, although this Financial Results Briefing was originally scheduled for January 29, we had to contact you on that very morning to postpone it until today because I suffered from a sudden and very high fever from the early morning of that day. I am very sorry for the inconvenience that I caused all of you.
Today, since this is not a Corporate Management Policy Briefing but a Financial Results Briefing after the year-end sales season, which is the biggest sales season of the year, please allow me to focus on the results of the sales season and update you on our most recent business status. While we will further our endeavors to increase our Nintendo 3DS and Wii U businesses in the next fiscal year, we intend to simultaneously challenge ourselves with new endeavors which include our plan to take advantage of smart devices, more aggressive use of Nintendo’s character IP and our new QOL improvement platform business. I am limited in what I can discuss about these efforts now, and I do not think I can successfully convey a big and comprehensive picture of our projects just by sharing with you some fragmented information on these multiple challenges. At the time when we hold the next Financial Results Briefing to discuss the annual results of the current fiscal year, I am hopeful that I will be able to share with you any relevant information, as well as about our financial forecasts, in as much detail as I can. Accordingly, please note that this information is not included in my presentation today. - Satoru Iwata