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The Donkey Kong Country series was a smash hit in the days of Super NES. After 14 years, this side-scrolling action game will return to Wii as “Donkey Kong Country Returns” this coming winter.
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We are collaborating with Mr. Hironobu Sakaguchi at Mist Walker to create an RPG game for Wii called “The Last Story.” As we want to take some more time to fine-tune it, we are planning to launch it on January 27 next year.
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Our development team at Nintendo has been working on the new "Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword” game with the aim to explore a new horizon in action RPGs by fully taking advantage of Wii MotionPlus. We are making preparations in order to launch this software next year.
Just like this new Legend of Zelda game, we are anticipating that there will be other new Wii games which require Wii MotionPlus.
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For the convenience of the users, Nintendo is developing Wii Remote Plus, which integrates Wii Remote and Wii MotionPlus.
We will announce the details of this controller on our web sites and through other media at some later date. -
And now, I’d like to discuss today’s main topic, which is, Nintendo 3DS.
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This is the exterior design of Nintendo 3DS.
Just like Nintendo DS, it has two screens, but the upper screen is a wide-screen on which you can enjoy watching 3D images without special glasses.
When you can play games in 3D, the characters can be seen in 3D, which will naturally increase the dynamism. In addition, you can feel a stronger sense of realism to interact with the worlds inside the games, and as you will be able to better comprehend the height, width and depth of the gaming world, you can more freely move around and explore the world. -
Because we were aware of these advantages, for many years, Nintendo has been exploring the possibility of 3D viewing and 3D displays. During the course, we have had the commercially unsuccessful experience of Virtual Boy, and there were trial and experimental products for which we were not able to make public announcements at all.
Some say that this year marks the first year of 3D. For 3D devices to be widely accepted by the general public, the chicken and the egg problem of applicable hardware and software must be solved. More specifically, for any 3D devices to be widely accepted, there must be attractive and appealing software. However, without the prospect of a sufficient installed base of the applicable hardware, software creators are not eager to pour their energies and resources into creating attractive software.
To make the game hardware 3D applicable is not a very difficult technical task. However, in the case of home console video game machines, only a small percentage of video game players today can hook up their machines with 3D television sets. With such a reality, we were not able to solve the problem of the chicken and the egg.
On the contrary, when it comes to a portable game machine, it integrates a game playback device and a monitor screen. We can provide any and all the consumers with the same environment as long as they purchase the portable video game machine. As far as 3D experiences are concerned, Nintendo believes that portable game machines have the overwhelming advantage.
It is said that significant differences exist as to how people see things in 3D. For Nintendo 3DS, we have incorporated the “3D Depth Slider,” with which the players can adjust the 3D effect in accordance with how they see or how they prefer to see things in 3D. You can even turn off the 3D effect altogether by pulling down the 3D Depth Slider to the bottom so that you will see the games in 2D as in the past. -
It’s been 6 years since we launched Nintendo DS, and the technologies that portable game devices can use have significantly advanced.
The resolution level has yet to come to that of home console machines, but the graphics capability for portable gaming devices has significantly improved.What you can see now are the screenshots from Capcom's RESIDENT EVIL: REVELATIONS. As you can see, Nintendo 3DS is capable of generating high-quality images. And, these are from "METAL GEAR SOLID: SNAKE EATER," which Konami is developing. I think these pictures give you a glimpse of the graphical potential of Nintendo 3DS.
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Last June, we showcased Nintendo 3DS at the E3 show, where we felt strong and positive reactions from the visitors. However, for the market penetration of Nintendo 3DS, we have no optimistic view about the challenge we will face.
We do not have such an optimistic view that the device to succeed and has the software compatibility with Nintendo DS, which has overwhelmingly penetrated into the global market, will be naturally accepted and become mainstream again. For the penetration of Nintendo 3DS, we recognize that Nintendo must cross new hurdles that weren't issues for other existing game machines. Let me explain about one hurdle. -
The 3D images without the need of special glasses must be viewed with your own eyes. Otherwise, you cannot comprehend their real value.
And, the existing marketing approaches to convey the appeal of software by TV ads, print media and Internet web pages, cannot communicate the attraction of Nintendo 3DS directly to potential consumers. Of course, we can install interactive units at retail outlets, but those who are not interested in Nintendo 3DS may not bother themselves to visit the retailers, so this cannot be an effective tools to convey the appeal to them.
On the other hand, Nintendo 3DS, as a portable game machine, has its own advantage of its carry-along nature. Please take a look at this video.
