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Iwata on Wii U's family offerings as compared to 'highly skilled' offerings of rival consoles
We have an offering of software for the end of this calendar year that encourages family fun at home. Nintendo is preparing a number of Wii U games for next year that greatly appeal to highly skilled users, but at the end of this calendar year, we have quite a few offerings that can be played by the whole family, dad and the kids, or grandparents and the kids. Other companies will launch new consoles (in the overseas markets at the end of this year), but I think they focus on targeting highly skilled users. Therefore, in that sense, though the competition will heat up because new game consoles will come out and there will be a “war of the game consoles” played out in media articles, we wonder if the target user will actually be the same. The games available at the end of this calendar year, “Super Mario 3D World,” “Wii Party U,” “Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games,” “Wii Sports Club” and “Wii Fit U,” all lean more toward family use, and we are targeting those who bought Wii and would be interested in the Wii U offerings. That is slightly different than what other companies are aiming for. Thus, in the sense that we attract consumers interested in this category of video games, I think the launch of other video game systems is also good for us because they energize the video game industry as a whole. Though there are some who take the view that intensified competition means overseas competition will be tough for Nintendo, no matter how Nintendo does domestically, I do not necessarily see it that way. This year, what Nintendo is promoting is, conversely, to stand out in the game industry for individuality. I believe we have become a unique value.
In regard to marketing expenses, at this point we do not plan on any particularly significant changes to the current forecast. However, there are probably many who look at the current first half-year financial results and feel that marketing expenses are increasing. In fact, there is a reason for this. Our financial results are all converted into yen. With the recent depreciation of the yen, marketing expenses spent in the overseas markets, when converted to yen, have increased. Please understand that the depreciated yen adds to sales while it also adds to expenses such as foreign currency marketing expenses when converted to yen. Given the current management environment, funds should naturally be used intelligently, so in that sense, we do not particularly foresee a significant deviation in marketing expenses at this point. - Satoru Iwata
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In regard to marketing expenses, at this point we do not plan on any particularly significant changes to the current forecast. However, there are probably many who look at the current first half-year financial results and feel that marketing expenses are increasing. In fact, there is a reason for this. Our financial results are all converted into yen. With the recent depreciation of the yen, marketing expenses spent in the overseas markets, when converted to yen, have increased. Please understand that the depreciated yen adds to sales while it also adds to expenses such as foreign currency marketing expenses when converted to yen. Given the current management environment, funds should naturally be used intelligently, so in that sense, we do not particularly foresee a significant deviation in marketing expenses at this point. - Satoru Iwata
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