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DeNA West CEO Shintaro Asako talks about Marketing costs for licensed IP, & Nintendo

Tripon

Member
http://www.alistdaily.com/news/dena-west-ceo-marketing-is-more-expensive-than-creating-a-game

We've seen more and more mobile games based on licenses like Star Wars, Marvel, Kim Kardashian, and The Walking Dead. Will licensed IP be used more often in the future to bring in players to mobile games? Is it really that effective?

It's become a really difficult market for small and medium sized studios. The top ten mobile publishers have over a billion dollar valuation, so they tend to acquire bigger IP to distinguish their games from the rest of them. Those IP based titles give you must more efficient user acquisition. Some people spend a million dollars to create a game, some spend five million dollars to create a game. But really, the marketing the game – especially user acquisition – is way more expensive than creating the game itself. The reality is that by using IP, you get much better CPI (cost per install), versus a non-IP based title. So even if you have to pay 15% or even 20% to the IP holder, the efficiency of acquiring a user is quite high.

DeNA has entered into a historic partnership with Nintendo to create mobile games based on Nintendo's IP. What's the potential for these games in a mobile marketplace that's already crowded with titles?

Hundreds of millions of people have bought Nintendo consoles. Those are people who decided to spend a minimum of $200 just to get access to Nintendo IP. That number is already twice as big as the Candy Crush total user base. Not only that, every single person buying Nintendo devices spends an average of about $100 per year on software. So I have no question that when Nintendo's mobile games come out, at least 150 or 200 million people will try it. These people are super core Nintendo fans who used to spending $150 to $250 just to access the content. Let's say only 10% end up playing, and then those users pay $3 a month, that's still perhaps a $60 million dollar a month game.

More in the link.
 
Let's say only 10% end up playing, and then those users pay $3 a month
Hopefully that means that the micro-transactions are "fair" meaning totally skippable. Remembering Iwata's words about protecting the youth this comment could reflect that.
 

HK-47

Oh, bitch bitch bitch.
I like that Kim Kardashian is an ip on the level of Star Wars, Marvel and the Walking Dead.
 

Tripon

Member
Someone show him how Pokemon Shuffle is doing. You need more than a strong IP to make it big in mobile.

On the Google Play store, 16th on top free for apps, 89th top grossing overall, 2nd in top new free.

Under Games: It's 3rd on top free, 86th top grossing overall, 2nd in top new free.

Somebody with an iOS device can check for the iOS store stats.
 
Iwata had a hand in this so I am confident it will bring good things to Nintendo.

It's amazing how much Iwata's death seems to have elevated people's opinions of him. I can't speak for you specifically--perhaps you always looked at Iwata this way--but I certainly never saw this overall level of reverence on Neogaf prior to his passing.

Not saying it's right or wrong, by the way. Just an observation.
 

rpmurphy

Member
It's amazing how much Iwata's death seems to have elevated people's opinions of him. I can't speak for you specifically--perhaps you always looked at Iwata this way--but I certainly never saw this overall level of reverence on Neogaf prior to his passing.

Not saying it's right or wrong, by the way. Just an observation.
You weren't paying attention during the Wii and DS days then, since the whole blue ocean stuff that Iwata being at the center of was huge. The 3DS and Wii U killed a lot of the energy since then.
 

Kouriozan

Member
Let's see the very first how/what the game is before.
It's going to be an huge deciding factor if Nintendo's venture into mobile is worth it or not.
 
I had no idea Pokemon Shuffle was out on iOS already so I just downloaded it.

It looks.... really low budget. Lots of low-res imagery, awkward/poor translation, and a confusing menu system. You have to go through a bunch of menu screens and junk before it lets you play.

....This isn't a DeNA game, right? Because if this is the kind of quality I can expect from them, Nintendo would have been better off doing this on their own.
 
I had no idea Pokemon Shuffle was out on iOS already so I just downloaded it.

It looks.... really low budget. Lots of low-res imagery, awkward/poor translation, and a confusing menu system. You have to go through a bunch of menu screens and junk before it lets you play.

....This isn't a DeNA game, right? Because if this is the kind of quality I can expect from them, Nintendo would have been better off doing this on their own.
No, just a port of the 3DS f2p game
 

hongcha

Member
So I have no question that when Nintendo's mobile games come out, at least 150 or 200 million people will try it. These people are super core Nintendo fans who used to spending $150 to $250 just to access the content.

How can he think there are 150-200 million "super core" Nintendo fans today? This guy is delusional.
 

LewieP

Member
How can he think there are 150-200 million "super core" Nintendo fans today? This guy is delusional.
The mobile audience is comprised of a huge pool of people. Including people who maybe owned an original gameboy, a NES or a SNES. These people will still have a fondness for Nintendo ip fuelled by nostalgia, and will perhaps be inclined to try a Nintendo game on their phone.

There are entire generations of iOS and Android device owners for whom gaming is synonymous with Nintendo, whether or not they own current Nintendo hardware.
 

Memory

Member
It's amazing how much Iwata's death seems to have elevated people's opinions of him. I can't speak for you specifically--perhaps you always looked at Iwata this way--but I certainly never saw this overall level of reverence on Neogaf prior to his passing.

Not saying it's right or wrong, by the way. Just an observation.

Nah, the "Iwata needs to step down" threads were always 50/50, with 25% of the opposing 50% being people who never game on Nintendo systems anyway. I think the naysayers have respectfully stopped speaking down on him while the supporters are as vocal as they have always been.

He also had a hand in Wii U.

He also had a hand in the Wii, DS & 3DS. No one is infallible, Iwata done great while he was here, don't hold one commercial failure against his otherwise awesome achievements. Wii U didn't live up to its potential and has alot of issues but the 1st party software output on the system is unrivaled this gen.
 
This is a good article in that it talks about how expensive user acquisition is for mobile.

Any publisher who thinks mobile is free money and easy road to success should be ready to develop and maintain a world class marketing campaign that keeps the userbase up with continual churn of users.

With traditional games you spend more on development but your marketing push can be focused and over maybe 6 months at most.

With mobile your dev costs are less but you are going to need to run the marketing machine at 100% possibly for years.. as long as the game is bringing enough money to justify it.

It really is a game of obtaining users who can spend money at all times.
 
It's amazing how much Iwata's death seems to have elevated people's opinions of him. I can't speak for you specifically--perhaps you always looked at Iwata this way--but I certainly never saw this overall level of reverence on Neogaf prior to his passing.

Not saying it's right or wrong, by the way. Just an observation.

I think this is only natural. The death of a significant figure in any industry is going to cause people to reflect on the kind of person that they were, whereas when they are alive, the impetus to do so isn't as strong.
 

Usobuko

Banned
Looking at P&D and Monster Strike that makes most of the money in Japan along with how lopside Nintendo IP performed on 3ds in the handheld department there.

Nintendo has a good shot but they must innovate a little. It has to be 'fresh' in the audience eyes.
 

Lynd7

Member
Just like the Wii U?

Doesn't matter if Wii U was successful or not, its the outlook and treatment of the audience that matters.

Iwata always has kept the best interest of the consumer at heart, no money grabbing unfair F2P, good value DLC, not jumping ship on Wii U really early, giving Wii U owners a lot of great Nintendo games to try and make their purchase worthwhile.
 

Tripon

Member
Guys, this isn't the thread to argue about Iwata's successes' or failures with past consoles. This is a thread to discuss DeNA's mobile strategy in particular with Nintendo.
 
Doesn't matter if Wii U was successful or not, its the outlook and treatment of the audience that matters.

Iwata always has kept the best interest of the consumer at heart, no money grabbing unfair F2P, good value DLC, not jumping ship on Wii U really early, giving Wii U owners a lot of great Nintendo games to try and make their purchase worthwhile.

As someone who recently purchased a Super Nintendo console along with a bunch of cartridge based games, despite having a U since near launch, the virtual console "drip" releases and input lag was not nostalgia friendly.

EDIT: I cut back my original post because I realized I was getting off topic, sorry about that.
 

udivision

Member
Made by Genius Sonority who used to make the 3D console battle simulators (Colosseum, XD and Battle Revolution) after HAL stopped doing the Stadium series.

Oh, Genious Sonority made it?

Can Nintendo get better developers to handle Pokemon spin offs? I seriously don't like Genius Sonority. Maybe I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say they're never given a big enough budget.
 

Shiggy

Member
Doesn't matter if Wii U was successful or not, its the outlook and treatment of the audience that matters.

Iwata always has kept the best interest of the consumer at heart, no money grabbing unfair F2P, good value DLC, not jumping ship on Wii U really early, giving Wii U owners a lot of great Nintendo games to try and make their purchase worthwhile.

Iwata always has kept the best interest of the consumer at heart,
That's why they lock content behind expensive cards in the new AC game and on-disc content in other titles behind Amiibos?

no money grabbing unfair F2P
So it was only after Iwata's death that they added pay-to-win elements to Steel Diver and Pokemon Shuffle?

good value DLC
Overpriced NSMB2 and Fire Emblem DLC is now good value? Not all

not jumping ship on Wii U really early
That I give you. ;)
 
Doesn't matter if Wii U was successful or not, its the outlook and treatment of the audience that matters.

Iwata always has kept the best interest of the consumer at heart, no money grabbing unfair F2P, good value DLC, not jumping ship on Wii U really early, giving Wii U owners a lot of great Nintendo games to try and make their purchase worthwhile.

Which is why the 3DS launched at $250 dollars.
 

sörine

Banned
NSMB2 and Awakening are 3 years old. Nintendo had some learning to do regarding dlc but they turned it around pretty quick. NSMBU, Pikmin 3, Smash 4, Mario Kart 7, Hyrule Warriors all give a decent to incredible amount of dlc content for the asking prices.

Amiibo locking is a problem though. I'd prefer a dlc option there for content.
 

Lynd7

Member
I think the main point I was trying to get across was that other CEO's in charge of Nintendo going mobile would probably not care a whole lot about quality and would probably try and squeeze people for cash like most do on mobile platforms.

So having had Iwata line everything up puts people at ease to a certain degree.
 

Chindogg

Member
It's nice to see how some people just can't help but go out of the way to shit on Iwata in a thread that has basically nothing to do with him.

Let's see what games DeNA pull out for mobile before making any judgements.
 

BY2K

Membero Americo
Which is why the 3DS launched at $250 dollars.

He overestimated the huge positive reception to the 3DS reveal. That's why it was priced that way. He dropped it not long after, apologizing and giving out free games (some of them still exclusive to those people, but that's another issue) to those who bought the system on Day 1.
 
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