IndustryGamers - Informing the Games Industry

Nintendo's Reggie Talks 3DS, iPhone, Wii HD and More

Posted June 22, 2010 by James Brightman

IG: I’ve asked you before about the iPhone and a zillion other people have as well. The one thing I find interesting is that there seems to be maybe a different viewpoint between you and Mr. Iwata because Mr. Iwata was quoted at one point as saying Apple is “the enemy of the future” and Nintendo was looking closely at Apple…

Reggie: So let me interrupt you there…

IG: Sure.

Reggie: …because those were not attributed quotes. You know, we’ve gone back to the reporter and challenged them as to where they got this information, because they never talked to him.

IG: Ok. That’s interesting. (Laughter)

Reggie: These are reported quotes that never happened. The fact of the matter is, and Mr. Iwata and I are completely aligned on this, we compete for consumers’ time. And our challenge is to provide more compelling experiences for the consumer to invest their valuable time. And we look at it this way because every day the consumer has... every consumer has the same amount of time, and the time pressures are increasing for every consumer. To get one incremental minute of the consumer playing with the Nintendo 3DS or one incremental minute of the consumer playing with their Wii home console, that’s market share that matters, and looking at it from that way, we compete with a wide range of different companies. Not only the ones that you’ve mentioned, but we compete with magazines, we compete broadly with the internet, we compete with free games on the PC, we compete with a plethora of different experiences, and we have to be more compelling for the consumer to invest their time.

IG: So do you have any reaction to the new iPhone 4? Apple’s business has obviously done very well and they’ve introduced, similar to the 3DS, six-axis motion. Obviously, they don’t have 3D on the iPhone. What’s your general reaction to sort of the surging iPhone business? 

Reggie: You know, the fact of the matter is in this entertainment business, multiple companies can be doing well at the same time and that’s because there are a lot of different consumers out there looking to invest their entertainment time. In the end, they’ll do what they’re going to do. And, in the end, we have to continue to innovate and bring great experiences to the consumer.

IG: The one thing that a lot of people are pointing to, that Nintendo probably doesn’t do quite as well… the whole online aspect in terms of having a robust online service with all sorts of features. And on the portable side, the iPhone is an always-on, connected device, so it has that advantage, as well. Is there going to be more of an online push from Nintendo, eventually? To have a service like PSN or Xbox Live, or maybe the next iteration of the handheld can be 3G and actually be an always-on device? What kinds of things can we expect from online?

Reggie: Well, first, one of the things that I love about Nintendo is we constantly are reviewing our performance. I completely agree with you that the online… or let me state it more broadly, the digital area is an area where we can improve, and we’ve made a commitment to dramatically improve in that area. Now, what that looks like I can just about guarantee is unlike anything that our competitors have done to date. The reason for that is it wouldn’t be innovative, it wouldn’t be distinctive, and therefore, it wouldn’t be Nintendo. Our approach will be to enable the consumer to discover our digital content much more easily. Our focus will be to have a range of digital content that is compelling for the consumer. Our approach will be a digital business model where every participant is financially moving in a positive direction, and our approach will be to make the consumer say “wow” in the end. That’s what we’re trying to do.

IG: Ok, well, can’t wait to see it. (Laughter) For Sony’s press conference, one thing I think a lot of people were expecting was some sort of reinvigoration of their PSP business, which has had some struggles, and a lot of people were expecting a rumored PSP2. Obviously Nintendo’s still the dominant force in portables, but what is your take on the PSP and were you surprised that we didn’t see anything really new from the PSP?

Reggie: You know, I think to get into the PSP business, you need to talk to [SCEA CEO] Jack [Tretton]. All I can tell you is that NPD has put out data only through April so far. January through April, this year, Nintendo has growth on our DS family of products versus last year, and last year was a record year. And so, unfortunately for Jack, my priority is to dominate the handheld market, even more than we’ve done to date, and so we will continue to put pressure and drive our Nintendo DS business very aggressively because the bigger we can drive that base the even more effectively we’ll be able to launch the Nintendo 3DS.

IG: Here’s a question you probably don’t get asked too often. There are probably dozens upon dozens of people walking around the show floor who would probably love to get into the gaming industry. Maybe they’re in the press, maybe they’re on the sidelines of the industry, sort of on the periphery, and they’d like to really get involved in the games business. As someone who’s been in the business now for a long time, and has done very well at it, what is your advice to people who actually want to get into the games industry?

Reggie: Into the games industry as a developer, into the games industry as a marketer...

IG: Either, both...

Reggie: You know, my strong counsel about people wanting to get into this business is, first, they need to recognize it’s a business. What I mean about that is there are a lot of people who are passionate players of games, but maybe aren’t as knowledgeable about the business side of it. By that, I mean you make a game, you invest time, money, and resources to make it, you invest more to market it, you need to price it at a point where your returns are larger than your costs. Pretty basic philosophy, but yet how many games make money?

IG: It’s a risky proposition.

Reggie: It’s a risky proposition. Whether you’re looking at it from the marketing side, from the development side, or from the operations side, you’ve got to recognize that this is a business. You’ve got to think about it as a business and then share those thoughts. If you have compelling thoughts, come visit us in Redmond. (Laughter)

IG: I guess one last question, while we still have time... We have not heard a peep about the Vitality Sensor. What's going on with it?

Reggie: We made a conscious decision recognizing the excitement this show generates and the excitement that our product lineup generated not to show the Vitality Sensor because inherently that product is about relaxation and getting in touch with your body and, you know, to take someone like yourself who’s running from interview to interview and it gets you to relax for thirty minutes before you’re even ready to participate in the game, we just didn’t think would be a great way to show it off. The product continues very well with its development, and we will showcase it; we’ll do it at a very unique event. We just didn’t want to have it be here in an environment where it really wouldn’t be best displayed. 

IG: Do you have any news on how far along it is? Or when we can expect it?

Reggie: What I can tell you is when we’re ready to show you, we’ll show you.

IG: Ok, thank you very much.

 

James Brightman has been covering the games industry since 2003 and has been an avid gamer ever since the days of Atari and Intellivision. He was previously the EIC of GameDaily Biz.