Nintendo Corporate Management Policy Briefing
On June 7, 2006, Nintendo briefed the media on upcoming technologies, providing a persuasive argument as to why investors can expect successes in Nintendo's risky, but innovative, ventures.
On June 21st, video footage, in addition to a slide presentation, was made available to the public at this site:
http://www.irwebcasting.com/060607/04/969fa340e1/main/index_hi.htm
This hour and a half long video speaks of how the DS has fared, and what can be expected of it in he future, as well as how it will work with the upcoming Wii, and more demonstrations of Wii technology. Satoru Iwato supplements his notes with slide-show presentations that show graphs of revenue of the latestspe DS games, comparisons of console sales, and demographics of all prospective gamers. But, more interestingly, he shows video footage of people enjoying both the DS and the Wii. Much of the conference shows different people utilizing the new features of the Wii and how it corresponds to its DS counterpart.
For example, a conductor comes out to show off the Wii's orchestra game. In this game, you use the Wiimote as a baton and control the dynamics of a symphony as it plays music from the Legend of Zelda series. The music goes as fast or slow as you move the Wiimote, though it is difficult to discern just how sections of instruments are handled.
Later, Iwato comes out with three other men to play a game of doubles tennis. Each of them swings the Wiimote as a tennis racket and hit the ball back to one another. On a large screen behind them, you can see their cartoon counter parts reenacting their moves. One man even demonstrates several details of the tennis game, and performs a backhand stroke.
Finally, there is a brief glimpse into a fighter pilot game in which you navigate a jet through mountains and ring circles using the Wiimote.
As for DS titles, Nintendo promises to provide more games for the hardcore gamers, as well as their newer intended audiences, inclusive of a Common Knowledge Power Trainer game and Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, which is compatible with the Wii in a very Pokemon Stadium-esque way.
All of this ties into the way Nintendo intends to revolutionize the industry. It claims that other consoles believe new technology to be limited to higher resolution graphics, more memory capacity, and lengthy games to keep buyers from going through games too quickly. Nintendo instead emphasizes that new technology can reach different areas that need improvement, such as less power usage, connection to the Internet 24/7, less disruptiveness, family-friendly gaming, and games that vary from day to day.
Nintendo is very concerned about reaching a wider demographic of casual gamers, especially increasing the presence of gaming in households. It strives to reach more family members so that no one is discontent with gaming. Additionally, it wants to be easy enough for new gamers to play, and challenging enough to keep the more hardc0re fans. Nintendo's path reaches more obscure demographics and make gaming less of an esoteric hobby. This is demonstrated well with the sales of the new Nintendogs and Brain Age games.