Nintendo on Wii U stock situation in UK, price, no 3DS price cut, advertising, weak 3DS in UK, core Wii U focus
A portion of a Eurogamer interview with Nintendo's James Honeywell and Shelly Pearce...
EU: How much more stock will be in circulation above the amount of pre-orders?
James Honeywell: In terms of day-one it's almost totally sold through. But following that we'll have more shipments - all retailers have been told their allocation for the next few weeks so people can jump on a waiting list. Definitely for the first weekend it's going to be difficult getting one. If you see one, get it straight away!
EU: The Wii U is the most expensive console at launch since the SNES, why is that?
James Honeywell: Obviously the Wii U offers a lot of new features and a totally new way to play games. The reason we've brought out a number of packs is to allow consumers to make the choice of which they want to purchase on day one. Ultimately we've tried to bring out a number of things at different price points and bring lots of people in.
Shelly Pearce: I think it's good value for money considering it's quite a technical piece of kit. Ultimately the consumer will decide but we're confident that it is.
EU: What would you say to anyone who is on the fence with Wii U and is waiting for a price cut - especially considering how the 3DS price was dropped four months after it launched?
James Honeywell: The 3DS was a strong launch for us - we're hoping the Wii U will be just as strong or even stronger. As for whether there will be a future price cut we certainly have no plans for it at the moment.
Shelly Pearce: We have no plans for a price cut - if someone really wants it this Christmas they should go out and buy it!
EU: But your advertising campaign right now has the tagline 'What is Wii U?' It suggests you're still trying to educate people. The core fans get it - they're outside right now - but what about everyone else?
Shelly Pearce: We definitely do still need to educate people. The key thing is that the controller is the most obvious difference. I think people do find it misleading and we are trying to address that by making it clear Wii U is a new console. Our core fans get it but yes, when we talk to a wider audience we're aware we need to continue to communicate that. There will be lots of sampling activity, demo consoles in stores, things like that.
James Honeywell: We've sold a huge number of Wii consoles in the UK and that wasn't about going after everyone at once. It was about picking certain audiences and working our way through it. We're here tonight [with Wii U] to talk to the early adopters, the most loyal fans. If we can get them on board and playing it, taking it home and sharing it with their friends and family then that is very powerful and will help us to expand. It's not about speaking to everyone at the beginning. You can see from the crowd outside and the pre-orders we've got that we've spoken to some people and hopefully they can experience it and allow us to talk to others.
EU: Changing tack and talking about the 3DS for a moment, Satoru Iwata said that sales outside of Japan were still “weak”. Why do you think this is?
Shelly Pearce: In the UK it has a pretty strong momentum at the moment. Obviously Japan has just seen the Animal Crossing launch and sales have gone through the roof. Certainly we haven't seen that huge uplift here but I think we're at a tipping point. With sales where they are we're all looking to Christmas - maybe not for the same rate as Japan but it'll get there.
EU: Finally, do you think the Wii U target market is different to the Wii? The Wii ended up being criticised for becoming too much for the family market rather than core gamers.
Shelly Pearce: Certainly our focus right now at launch is on the core Nintendo fans. We're particularly catering for the avid people who will buy the console at launch. Next year we'll look to broaden the market - we've got games like Wii Fit U coming - so we hope we can get the balance of catering to all needs. But right now the focus is on the core fan.
EU: How much more stock will be in circulation above the amount of pre-orders?
James Honeywell: In terms of day-one it's almost totally sold through. But following that we'll have more shipments - all retailers have been told their allocation for the next few weeks so people can jump on a waiting list. Definitely for the first weekend it's going to be difficult getting one. If you see one, get it straight away!
EU: The Wii U is the most expensive console at launch since the SNES, why is that?
James Honeywell: Obviously the Wii U offers a lot of new features and a totally new way to play games. The reason we've brought out a number of packs is to allow consumers to make the choice of which they want to purchase on day one. Ultimately we've tried to bring out a number of things at different price points and bring lots of people in.
Shelly Pearce: I think it's good value for money considering it's quite a technical piece of kit. Ultimately the consumer will decide but we're confident that it is.
EU: What would you say to anyone who is on the fence with Wii U and is waiting for a price cut - especially considering how the 3DS price was dropped four months after it launched?
James Honeywell: The 3DS was a strong launch for us - we're hoping the Wii U will be just as strong or even stronger. As for whether there will be a future price cut we certainly have no plans for it at the moment.
Shelly Pearce: We have no plans for a price cut - if someone really wants it this Christmas they should go out and buy it!
EU: But your advertising campaign right now has the tagline 'What is Wii U?' It suggests you're still trying to educate people. The core fans get it - they're outside right now - but what about everyone else?
Shelly Pearce: We definitely do still need to educate people. The key thing is that the controller is the most obvious difference. I think people do find it misleading and we are trying to address that by making it clear Wii U is a new console. Our core fans get it but yes, when we talk to a wider audience we're aware we need to continue to communicate that. There will be lots of sampling activity, demo consoles in stores, things like that.
James Honeywell: We've sold a huge number of Wii consoles in the UK and that wasn't about going after everyone at once. It was about picking certain audiences and working our way through it. We're here tonight [with Wii U] to talk to the early adopters, the most loyal fans. If we can get them on board and playing it, taking it home and sharing it with their friends and family then that is very powerful and will help us to expand. It's not about speaking to everyone at the beginning. You can see from the crowd outside and the pre-orders we've got that we've spoken to some people and hopefully they can experience it and allow us to talk to others.
EU: Changing tack and talking about the 3DS for a moment, Satoru Iwata said that sales outside of Japan were still “weak”. Why do you think this is?
Shelly Pearce: In the UK it has a pretty strong momentum at the moment. Obviously Japan has just seen the Animal Crossing launch and sales have gone through the roof. Certainly we haven't seen that huge uplift here but I think we're at a tipping point. With sales where they are we're all looking to Christmas - maybe not for the same rate as Japan but it'll get there.
EU: Finally, do you think the Wii U target market is different to the Wii? The Wii ended up being criticised for becoming too much for the family market rather than core gamers.
Shelly Pearce: Certainly our focus right now at launch is on the core Nintendo fans. We're particularly catering for the avid people who will buy the console at launch. Next year we'll look to broaden the market - we've got games like Wii Fit U coming - so we hope we can get the balance of catering to all needs. But right now the focus is on the core fan.
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