- Iwata saying 3DS hit 43 million
- Helping is next Pokemon, Tomodachi Life in June internationally
- 3DS third-party titles to come include Monster Hunter 4G and Youkai Watch 2 in Japan
- Wii U: want to regain momentum with 2 signature titles in Mario Kart 8 and Smash Bros.
- System update in June will speed up start up by 20 seconds
- First smart device app will be available by end of fiscal year
- This is called Mario Kart TV and will enable sharing of game movie and rankings available launch
- In June, Japanese users will be able to use SUICA transport cards for payments on Wii U through NFC
- On IP licensing: nothing to announce today, but Nintendo is looking at a joint agreement
- Limited profit, so Nintendo is looking at non-games usage for licensing
- Will launch figurine business called NFP – NFC featured platform
- Nintendo showed Mario figure across many games being used including saves
- NFP game and figures will be shown at E3
- 3DS will also get IR NFP reader so figures can be used across Wii U and 3DS
- Wii U target of 3.6 million units will need more manufactured than in current inventory
- Nintendo not experiencing a loss from hardware anymore
- More Wii U games at E3
- NFP has been in development since last year
- Nintendo would rather make not just make a figurine, but something that does more
- Nintendo hopes to show related games in development at E3 for the NFC tech
- Iwata saying that for this fiscal year (through 3/15), the goal is to increase profits
- 3/16 fiscal year: not grow dramatically
- 3/17 fiscal year: develop pillar for growth with growth
- Iwata: we are preparing for next generation hardware as always, when will it release? Difficult to declare
- Iwata: not hopeless or at a loss in coming up with something new, but until existing users are satisfied, we cannot release next hardware
- Iwata: for Quality of Life, don’t think too narrowly of Nintendo, we can make fun, healthy services… we know how to get people hooked
- Iwata: developers will move into new building in Kyoto around E3; currently teams are separate so will share more
- Iwata: have established Business Development department with outputs like NFP, entering into new markets, use smart phone platforms etc
- Not pessimistic on games, but want other pillars as safety net for games business, more of entertainment company