Latest Wii, Nintendo DS, Game Boy, and GameCube news, screenshots, and game previews

Following Nintendo’s revision to its profit forecast, a move which some analysts are calling “too cautious“, Nintendo’s shares have since dropped by 12 per cent — the largest fall Nintendo has seen in 18 years. Company president Satoru Iwata yesterday attempted to address many concerns that the business may have peaked:

“I think it is true that new information penetrates through the Japanese market very quickly and that Japanese people tend to get tired of something new very quickly,” Iwata stated. “It is also true that the population is smaller when compared with that of other major markets, so it is inevitable that the market starts to feel saturated earlier than others.”

Citing previous hardware generations, he noted that the U.S. has twice the sales potential of Japan. Europe, where Nintendo’s marketing has improved since the GameCube days, also presents growth opportunities.

Iwata also mentioned that the Nintendo DSi was one method Nintendo used to “reactivate the Japanese DS market”. Regarding the Wii, he stated that it’s “not impossible for the Wii’s total sales to exceed the final installed base of PS2“.

Tags: Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi, Recession, Sales, Satoru Iwata, Wii

At Nintendo’s financial briefing held in Japan, company president Satoru Iwata made a comment about what to expect at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3).

What we are looking at are the cumulative Wii and DS sales through the end of 2008. Wii has been selling at industry’s record pace so far, and with new customers acquired by the gaming population expansion efforts, it is not impossible for Wii’s total sales to exceed the final install base of PS2. Wii still has much more room for expansion. We can expect more sales of software in the next fiscal year than in the current year. With what kind of software is Nintendo going to achieve this goal? Well, it will be shown at E3 to be held in the U.S. this June.

It seems Nintendo has big plans for the Wii at this year’s E3. I wonder what kind of games can we expect to see? Mario, Zelda, or perhaps Kid Icarus? Then again, Iwata could simply be referring to games we’ve already seen, such as Wii Sports Report.

Tags: E3, E3 2009, Electronic Entertainment Expo, PlayStation 2, PS2, Satoru Iwata, Wii

Satoru Iwata, the current president of Nintendo, has been announced as a keynote speaker for the 2009 Game Developers Conference. Iwata’s keynote speech, “Discovering New Development Opportunities”, is scheduled for Wednesday, March 25th.

2009 marks Iwata’s return to the GDC stage since 2006 when he spoke about “disruptive development,” and introduced to the Western development community the philosophies on engaging new players and surprising existing players. In his 2005 keynote, Iwata discussed the next-generation console then codenamed “Revolution,” which has since become known as the Wii. Stay tuned for updates on what he will say in 2009!

Tags: Game Developers Conference, GDC, Keynote, Satoru Iwata