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So that's the current situation and, finally, I would like to discuss what we are aiming at now. Our gaming population expansion strategy has been working more than we could expect. Now that we have launched Wii, what will we try to achieve? |
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Let me be very clear: Nintendo continues its challenges to expand the gaming population. DS has caused disruptive changes to the Japan market. In Europe and the U.S. DS will enter into a sales expansion period. Perhaps, we will be able to further expand the DS business in 2007. With DS we are aiming to achieve the larger market than GBA. To do so, we believe it's necessary for us to introduce new DS entertainment that is relevant to our daily lives. |
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Doing so will accelerate the sales of DS from "one DS per family" to come close to "one DS per person". This is our challenge. Even today, it is not uncommon to see multiple DS units played in one household. However, we will need to create a need for each individual to own DS in order to set an even stronger sales trend.
In Japan where DS has been revising sales records, the cumulative sell-through is expected to top 14 million by the end of this year, we are aiming to make DS the biggest selling hardware in the history of video games.
In North America, we are expecting the significant shift from GBA to DS to take place soon. Accordingly, we will proactively support the shift from GBA and will promote DS to largely sell in the U.S., the area which has the biggest market potential.
Europe is coming closer to the explosive sales that we have experienced in Japan. How we will be able to maintain the momentum and encourage a large number of potential customers to purchase DS will become the cause of the avalanche-like disruptive changes in the market.
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As for Wii, we shipped a significant amount of hardware in Japan and the Americas and they were immediately sold out. So, the initial sales were pretty good. However, it is not uncommon for game machines to enjoy great sales during the launch period. More important is how we maintain our strong momentum after the initial demand is met. To do so, just like we did with DS, we will need to realize gaming population expansion. Wii has the advantage because anyone can understand its innovative changes in user interface enabled by the Wii Remote and it has become accessible for more people. However, unlike DS, our customers cannot carry around Wii to encourage their friends to try it out. So, our initial mission is how to increase the number of Wii users at home. Most households have family members who play games and some who do not. We would like to break down the wall existing between game players and non-game-players at home and encourage non-gamers to play Wii. |
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We have adopted the Channels system for this purpose. Wii is embedded with multiple functions, aside from standard game playback functions, like the Virtual Console function which allows you to download classic games from past game platforms through the Internet. You can create your own playable caricatures with Wii. Wii can also display pictures taken with your digital camera. You can check weather forecasts, news and enjoy browsing the Internet. We are calling each of these functions a channel. I am sorry but I do not have enough time to explain each channel in detail, but our official web site list relevant information, including footage from our Wii Preview announcements held in September. If you are interested in knowing more about these channels, please visit our web page. |
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We have come to propose such unique video game hardware because we have been racking our brains to figure out how we could make a home video game machine that was relevant to every family member and how we could encourage them to turn the system on every day.
When we make this kind of proposal with our video game console, it is not merely a proposal of new entertainment. It's Nintendo's proposal for a new lifestyle. Nintendo is proposing a new Wii lifestyle.
To do so, we believe that we have to continue to offer a variety of software and channels that expand the definition of video games. For example, we are already publicly hinting about one of these ideas in the form of a "Health Pack". If we can actually create an application which is useful for everyday healthcare, it will be relevant for every family member and we may be able to create a situation where they are willing to turn on their Wii every day.
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Thank you all for your time today! |
