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The former President Mr. Iwata passed away last year on July 11, and Mr. Kimishima was appointed president on September 16. Can you explain why two months were needed to choose the next president? |
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Kimishima: To the first question about the two months after the former President passed away, while he was still alive, he gave Mr. Takeda, Mr. Miyamoto, and myself clear instructions to ensure that operations would proceed smoothly. While running the business based on his instructions, we took two months to carefully consider what would be the best organization to put in place, how best to take on new projects, and who would be the right person to be in charge of what. About the "Iwata Asks" section, I do not have a background in game development, so I would not be able to give very interesting questions. Going forward, we will create opportunities to provide information in a fitting format about the background to our game development and the interesting aspects of it. Shigeru Miyamoto (Senior Managing Director, Creative Fellow): The former President Mr. Iwata and I had talked about how the "Iwata Asks" section had fallen into a rut, and we will consider what format will best suit this type of content. For the last question about smart device applications, Mr. Shinya Takahashi is leading this development and I will let him explain. Shinya Takahashi (Director, General Manager of Entertainment Planning and Development Division): Physical controllers for smart device applications are available in the market and it is possible that we may also develop something new by ourselves. On the other hand, I believe Nintendo's way of thinking is to look at whether action games are really not impossible (without a physical controller for smart device applications) to create and how we can make it happen to create such a game. I think we will make applications, and not just action games, in consideration of what best embodies "Nintendo-like" applications, including applications for everyone from children to seniors. |
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Nintendo's first application developed for smart devices was Miitomo. To the extent that you can, please share what you've learned from providing an application for other companies’ platforms and the response you have received so far. |
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Kimishima: Miitomo has been downloaded more than 10 million times (by unique users) since it was made available for download this March, and the number of downloads continues to grow. We plan to expand the number of countries where it is available, which should further increase the number of downloads. We are focused on the retention rate, which is how many users continue to play Miitomo. Miitomo represents our first attempt in the field of smart device applications. The communication style of the app is also a new challenge for Nintendo, as this is not just direct one-way communication, but rather communication through Mii characters. There are some points that we need to improve in these areas. Looking at future application development, I mentioned that we are planning to release around five titles (including Miitomo) by the end of next March. Of these, two titles (Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing) have already been announced. In future support for smart devices, if we have a good plan, we will make active use of any of our Nintendo IP without restriction. In terms of what we have learned, we are still in the process of learning as we have only just started the smart device business a short while ago. We plan to deepen our analysis of the overall smart device business and continue this conversation in some form in the future. Mr. Takahashi is in charge of development and will add his comments. Takahashi: What stands out most for us in terms of the response we have gotten from releasing an application on non-Nintendo platforms is the opportunity for people around the world who do not have access to Nintendo platforms to experience Nintendo's Mii characters with Miitomo. The different responses of various age groups in each country have also been very interesting to learn about. Releasing applications for non-Nintendo platforms is one challenge for us, and we will try all kinds of things as we continue this challenge. |
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This year's business report was given as a recorded narration. Past presidents have presented it in their own words, which was more impressive. How much can we trust the current President to carry this company called Nintendo? I would have been more pleased if the President himself had presented the report. |
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Kimishima: In presenting this year's business report, we decided to use a recorded narration, and that is indeed a change from last year. We gave this much thought. The concern was that my speech may not be clear enough to be easily understood. So I ask for your understanding that this different approach was part of the new things that we are trying out. I do appreciate your valuable input about the importance of presenting the business report in my own words. We will definitely give thought to what we should do in the future. We will also take into consideration your opinion on the candidate numbers posted on the proposal item on director selection. |