Sorry of the late
release, but yesterday life was keeping me busy. The Star Fox Zero
Review also takes its time, because the game offers a surprising
amount of depth after you mastered its controls, and I like to play a
game thoroughly before rating it. So tomorrow is the day.
But enough chit
chat, because yesterday we got some pretty big news. Not all of them
good, but News nonetheless.
Nintendo had their
annual investor conference this Wednesday. They talked about sales of
their products, the past fiscal year and of course gave us a glimpse
into the future. So let's quickly summarize the most important
points, before we delve deeper into them.
- Miitomo is a huge success with over 10 Million Users
- Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing are the first two Nintendo series to get smartphone apps.
- The NX will launch worldwide in March 2017.
- Zelda U is now Zelda U/NX it will launch in 2017 for both consoles.
- This year Zelda will be the only game at E3.
Well
some of this news are hard to stomach. Especially the delay of Zelda
U, while quite understandable, is a slap in the face of many Wii-U
gamers. But let's start with the cold numbers first.
Sales:
The
''good'' news first. While the profit of Nintendo did dramatically
shrink, they didn't report a loss for the last fiscal year. 16,5
billion Yen (131,03 million €uro) means a decrease of profit by
60,6%.
The
sales of 3DS and Wii-U were quite sluggish the past year. The 3DS
sold 6,79 million units (8,73 million last year) and the 3,26 people
can call themselves now owners of a Wii-U (3,38 million last year).
So both consoles dropped beyond their last year sales, which clearly
shows that these two devices are on their way out.
As
for software Splatoon and Mario Maker proved to be the top sellers in
2015. Especially Splatoon surprised many with its success. 4,27
million units, over 1 million in Japan, are nearly unheard for a
completely new Ip. Mario also proved that he still has the ability to
pull in impressive Numbers. Mario Maker sold 3,52 million units since
its launch in September 2015.
On
the 3DS Animal Crossing remains the King. After the immense success
of New Leaf the spinoff Happy Home Designer managed to sell 3.04
Million copies.
If
you're interested, here is the list of the top 10 software titles for
each platform.
| Wii-U | Sales (Million) | 3DS | Sales (Million) |
| Mario Kart 8 | 7,5 | Pokemon X/Y | 14,7 |
| New Super Mario. Bros U | 5,19 | Mario Kart 7 | 13,26 |
| Nintendo Land | 5,07 | Pokemon OR/AS | 11,84 |
| Super Mario 3D World | 4,82 | Super Mario 3D Land | 10,73 |
| Super Smash Bros. for Wii-U | 4,8 | New Super Mario Bros. 2 | 10,25 |
| Splatoon | 4,27 | Animal Crossing: New Leaf | 10 |
| Super Mario Maker | 3,52 | Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS | 8,12 |
| New Super Luigi U | 2,49 | Tomodachi Life | 4,98 |
| Mario Party 10 | 1,76 | Luigis Mansion: Dark Moon | 4,82 |
| Wind Waker HD | 1,72 | Ocarina of Time 3D | 4,04 |
This
sales figure show that Nintendos first party games still have an
insane attach rate. Even on a struggling system like the Wii U
several games come close to a 50% attach rate and Mario Kart 8 is in
it's own dimension.
Lastly
let's talk about Amiibo. Say what you want about the small figures,
but they undeniably sell great.
Last
year 24,7 million figures and 28,9 million amiibo cards were sold. I
would even argue that Amiibo alone was responsible for Nintendos
profit this year. This of course means that the company will double
down even more on Amiibo. Expect even more use of them in further
Nintendo games. Sadly this will probably push them further down the
path of physical DLC, which they are dangerously close to already.
Smartphones:
With
the success of Miitomo it was clear that Nintendo would continue
their smartphone strategy. Many people were surprised when the first
app for smart devices wasn't a already known IP, but something
completely new. But now it's time for established series to enter the
mobile world. Unsurprisingly Animal Crossing will be amongst them.
More surprising is the second series chosen. Fire Emble. Well
surprising at first glance maybe. Nintendo is still a Japanese
company. The same goes for their mobile partner DeNA. With that their
primary focus is on the Japanese market. Fire Emblem and Animal
Crossing are both really popular in Japan and both series are at the
opposite end of the spectrum in terms of ''hardcore'' appeal. With
this move Nintendo can offer something to casual and hardcore gamers
alike.
I
expected Animal Crossing to be amongst the first series to get a
smartphone game. It's gameplay just fits. Interesting is Nintendos
announcement that they want to connect the smartphone version with
other iterations of the game. I guess that it will be possible to
visit Towns from other players across all devices. So you'll be able
to visit your friends town from New Leaf while you're on your
smartphone.
Fire
Emblem on the other hand may seem surprising at first. After all it's
one of Nintendos most hardcore series. But it's gameplay also is a
natural fit for smartphones. The tactical battles can easily be
controlled via Touch screen, and if they keep battles short they
perfectly fit into a bus or train ride.
One
thing is clear. Nintendo is continuing its smartphone strategy, but
they haven't lost focus. Their dedicated video game systems are still
the number 1 priority.
NX:
We
didn't get much news about the NX. Definitively nothing to squelch
the countless rumors. But we got a release date and an explanation
for it.
NX will launch worldwide
in March 2017.
Why not
at the end of 2016 to capitalize on holiday sales? Well Nintendos
president Kimishima explained it perfectly. This time they don't want
to have any software droughts with the new system. So they are making
sure that the NX will have an ample stream of software during its
first year and that made a later release necessary.
Also
they won't show of the NX during this years E3, but sometimes later
this year. I guess they don't want to give the competition much time
to react to their plans.
Zelda U/NX:
This
was probably the biggest news from the conference. The Legend of
Zelda for Wii-U will also launch on the NX. Well this alone wasn't a
surprise, but the second delay of the game was. It will now release
for both consoles in 2017, probably in march when the NX launches.
To say
that many Nintendo fans were slightly upset about this news is an
understatement. And it truly is a baffling decision. It robs the
Wii-U of it's last big game this year. It's pretty clear that
Nintendo now has officially written off their struggling console and
are fully focused on the NX. Another thing that shows this are their
E3 plans for this year.
Zelda U
will be the only playable game at the show. Even Tokyo Mirage
Sessions#FE, which launches in June, and Paper Mario Color Splash,
which is scheduled for 2016, won't be present. This year will be all
about Zelda. And while I expect a big celebration for the series 30th
anniversary, it still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Why not show
of Paper Mario?
If you
look at all these tidbits of information it's pretty clear that there
won't be anymore announcements for Wii-U games. Maybe even Paper
Mario has been quietly moved to the NX to serve as launch game there.
At
least for me the Wii-U had a good run. I own 23 games for the system,
download and virtual console titles not included, and with Tokyo
Mirage Sessions (if it's not censored to much) and Zelda the number
rises to a good 25 games for the system. That's ok and definitely
more titles than I own for the Wii.
At
least we got a new artwork for Zelda.
Wait
that's just a shot from the first E3 presentation. Sigh..
Anyways.
What are your thoughts about this delay? Will you get the NX or the
Wii-U Version? Or none at all?
And as
always
thanks
for reading
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