Nintendo Wii sales are down 21 percent. 21 percent! That's a lot. But Nintendo certainly hasn't given up on the Nintendo Wii.
In a recent financial briefing, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata stated that Nintendo is "always" developing new game hardware. So once a game console is finished, the company begins thinking about the next console.
This is not unique to Nintendo — it's competent R&D.
And just because Nintendo is working on future hardware, it doesn't mean that it is skimping on the current generation machine.
Iwata points out that while sales might be down, the sales targets the company had set were quite high. Nintendo is optimistic, and Iwata points to the Game Boy as an example of a game hardware that came back with a vengeance. "Everyone was saying that the Game Boy was 'finished'," Iwata said. "That's when a game called Pokémon entered the stage." Pocket Monsters Red and Green were released in Japan in 1996, and the titles became a cultural phenomena. The popularity of the Game Boy once again exploded, and, Iwata says, the handheld entered its most successful period.
Iwata admitted that it was not possible to predict when such hit titles would be released, but the company would continue develop new titles for players. He also added that the company did not think that the Nintendo Wii was in its final years and that it should reduce investment in new games.
株主・投資家向け情報：2010年3月期 決算説明会 質疑応答 [任天堂] [Pic]